AJ's Fine Foods — Local services in Oro Valley

AJ Fine foods It's still a very upscale grocery store…. It has high-quality deli meats, i.think.the honey ham is outstanding and they sell wonderful roast beef at the meat counter. So they. Have a couple of different meatareasa. They also have great pastries and bread. Their fresh veggies area is small but high quality They have a great bakery and lots of choices of pastries, cakes,torts and bread. Most their mixes come from Europe.They also have a mini indoor sushi area where you can sit or get sushi to go. I know they try to use fresh Iocal, organic, produce, with fresh being the operative word in.there salad bar and their vegetable and fruit section. Produce is well organized and looks almost perfect. They are mostly local, and they have almost anything you could want at a high-end store megastore like Whole foods or some chain grocery store like Frys

They have a hot food line, their chefs, and prepare a corporate menu plus two additional items added with the chef's creativity. They serve breakfast 6am to 10pm, lunch 11 to 3pm and dinner 4.to 8pm…. You have to call them to get the menu… Their website also has the menu and the to go menu..…There is breakfast, 6am to 10 am on Saturday and Sundays. With an omelet bar on Sunday. They have a taco Tuesday from 11 to 3 PM. They also sell some pizza by the slice every day, which is outstanding. Thursdays They have lasagna lunch from 11 to 3pm and pasta from 4 to 8pm. They had Chicken Parmesan the day I was there. They have diverse collection of domestic and imported wines, beers, soft drinks, health drinks, and spirits. They have wonderful selections of single beers, health drinks, and soft drinks. Their rye whiskey, bourbon scotch, hins, and vodka have depth and quality. Across from their wine and whiskey area. They have a tasting area and a nice selection of cigars in humidors. They also have a nice selection of fresh meat and seafood in their counter area. it's for when you want to splurge. It's a top-notch food store with lots of high-end items. It's a gourmet food store. Remember, it's not about food only, It's also about expectations. Everyone is understaffed, so I always appreciate the service staff who are working. It's in a strip mall area, so parking was plentiful, but I could tell that it would fill up fast as it seemed to be one busy place. I found that staff were more than willing to help me and most of the time would actually walk me to an area that I had questions about rather then just give me a general directions and send me on my way. The store was clean and well organized, and They do a good job of trying to serve people the best way they can and make sure they have plenty of cashiers. If you're a person of a certain age, their already prepared items are extensive. They also have a wonderful fresh flower area. Again, you're gonna pay more. But the quality is worth it, in my opinion, especially if you're into gourmet food. Hot food options are really nice for someone of a certain age. It's definitely...

I was excited when AJ's opened. Having a ̶s̶u̶p̶e̶r̶ market only one mile away from home beat the ones 4-5 miles away (Safeway, Albertson's, Bashas, Other Safeway). At first it was great.

Now they don't staff the hot bar. Employees from the kitchen come in and out to replenish things but don't serve customers and don't call customer service reps.

Cashiers double-duty as shelf clerks and don't man the registers. Lines pile up. Then one comes but never calls for backup until the line complains.

There hasn't been a manager on the floor since Michael and his #2.

The bag dispenser over the persian limes (PLU 4048) has been broken (missing the metal bag separator thing) for over a decade.

They don't believe in "shrinkflation" so you don't get less... but you do pay a lot more. Double Safeway/Abertson's pricing on veggies, fruit, alcohol, etc.

But hey, let's talk about the positives: butchers are always around, great spirits, and the meat is great. Same for fresh seafood. A+ sushi is good. go for the counter as the prepackaged is old and pricey (that's why it's all doctored with ̶g̶r̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶s̶e̶r̶a̶d̶i̶s̶h̶ American wasab. avoid the coffee bar. Look at the display of "number being served" and the number on the next ticket. Usually off by 4-5... but half of those have already left. When they call the "next" number, nobody's there so they click it up and repeat until they get to you. Numbers also means wait time. Imagine if they had one staffer to do "just plain coffee, decaf, get your pastry" and one to do the "lattes, espressos, capuccinos, machiattos, pour overs, 4-or-more drinks, etc." wouldn't that be efficient. Yes. But AJ's doesn't think efficiency. If you've called the Phoenix number to request an order be brought out to you (good luck with THAT) you get the best parking. If you're an expecting mother (good luck and congrats) you'll get the next best parking. If you're mobility-challenged you won't get a pull-through for your van and you're the worst placed parked.

I used to be a big fan. Today I came in and just wanted some eggs and potatoes for breakfast. No cashier was to be seen. I called the store and the nice lady said she'd be by in a few minutes. I gave it a minute and left. (I left the eggs&potatoes in the cart and did not walk out with them.)

As I was halfway to the door (past her checkout register) she showed up and asked if I still wanted my [now cold] eggs. I said what I wanted was "good customer service."

AJ's - you need to hire an independent shopper to evaluate your stores. Your ambivalence to incompetence is now your slogan. Probably you...

This AJ’s has difficulty picking up the phone. Two days in a row it rang over 20 times before pick up. And what happened to Boars Head meats. Gone. The kid in the deli was clueless about high end meats like Serrano ham or prosciutto. Now the deli is a giant salad bar. Getting help in the store is almost impossible. One good thing is the sushi bar. I’ve know Yuki for 20 plus years and he’s in charge. The prices are really good and the quality is phenomenal. It doesn’t hurt to have a great seafood department to help. Sadly and lastly— where did the cheese department go? I found it now has meat slicers sitting on the work counter that used to be for cutting cheese. It’s a disaster and looks to be a mess. The meats are now in one display case all jammed together. No one is educated about the gourmet cheeses. Bottom line. When this store opened it was run like a tight ship. Phone picked up by 3 rings. Cheese department had a dedicated cheese manager. The meats were excellent not this brand carried now. That staff knew what they were doing. Good chefs and hard working deli staff. It’s all gone down hill. I was even told by an ex employee that the deli behind the counter was filthy!! That’s right FILTHY!! You wonder how I know so much about this department. Well... I was the manager of the “Fromage” department. I read most every book I could on cheese. I sampled the cheese and made suggestions for how to serve it. Yes I was an employee and a good one. But that’s no longer the way the manager Keith runs his ship. When I spoke to him about the phone issue he replied with he’d look into it and “after all it’s christmas” (implying they were to busy to pick up the phone. When he made that idiotic statement I looked around and noticed most deli kids were avoiding work and standing around pretending they were busy. That’s a sad state of management Mr. Keith. How you keep that place running is beyond my understanding. Maybe the people in the BASHA organization need to visit the store and see what’s going on and also try calling the store for information and getting 20-25 rings instead. I’d say if I was placing a huge catering order and they didn’t answer the phone well I’d go somewhere else. Somewhere customer service is number 1 like it used to be back in 2001 when it was opened. I remember the manager once saying to the staff- if you are part of the problem then become part of the solution. (Inferring that’s how you keep your job.) Good advice. But certainly not the motto...