Gene's Fine Foods — Attraction in Pleasanton

Update! Upate! Changeing my review from 2 stars to 5 stars! No more foul odors upon entering the establishment!! The fish Dept. Is now the very best in Pleasanton. Someone must have read about my expirence shopping here. Thanks for a major improvement. Congrats!!

Upon entering the front door, one will be greeted by a distinct foul odor! This coming, obviously, from the fresh fish dept.! It's not only some of the fish that stink, but olso the "ice bed" upon which the fish lie! When the ice bed is not replaced on a daily basis, stink will be the result! Obviously!! Fish are a super high bacteria item! Fish juices dripping on ice will cause the stench after a few days! Managed a supermarket with a fish dept for 42 years! I should know!! Other than the smell, nice...

They have a huge meat counter with everything you could want. Even dry aged beef. The produce was perfect, not a single wilted pice of lettuce. The staff are super friendly and the atmosphere is amazing. They have a lot of metal accents around the store and they really made shopping visually pleasurable. Oftentimes I have been to grocery stores with cracked tiles and dirty windows, and that kind of thing really makes you not want to eat the food there, bit that's not the case at Gene's. Absolutely I will come back here and shop, and I will recommend it to my friends. It's even cool just to walk around and...

I really want to support local businesses but sometimes they make it really difficult. Like I don't understand how in 2025 when people have so many allergies (or are particular about what they put in their bodies) a store can just refuse to put on the label what's in their prepared foods. Transparency seems a no brainer for any good business.

Beyond that, I had trouble finding what I wanted (no Love beets?), and others were overpriced (cottage cheese). The latter of which I'd be fine with if they consistently impressed, which...