Best and Worst Grocery Chains in the US
Based on customer reviews, these are the best and worst grocery chains across the country.
You probably have a favorite grocery chain you do most of your shopping at, even if you pick up a few specific items at one or two other stores. Curious how your personal rankings stack up against others?
A new study from Solitaired has determined both the best and worst grocery store chains, along with the worst individual grocery stores across the country. The results may surprise you.
For the study, Solitaire compared Google reviews from the 100 most populated cities in the United States in 2025, focusing on the first 30 grocery store results in each city. They used these 3,000 individual grocery store review pages in order to determine where certain grocery stores stood out or fell short for their customer service, prices, speed of checkout lines and food quality. Here’s what they found.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
10 Best grocery chains
By and large, the overall favorite grocery stores were local shops and farmers' markets, rather than nationwide chains. This signals a preference for supporting locally-owned businesses and the desire to find those specialty items that make a particular region unique.
While unique local grocery stores dominated the overall top 10 list this year, the study also compared ratings on major chains separately. Here's how those major grocery chains ranked among each other:
- Trader Joes: 4.65 average star rating
- Publix: 4.50 average star rating
- WinCo Foods: 4.47 average star rating
- H-E-B: 4.46 average star rating
- Aldi: 4.44 average star rating
- Stater Bros. Markets: 4.44 average star rating
- H Mart: 4.42 average star rating
- The Fresh Market: 4.42 average star rating
- Sprouts Farmers Market: 4.41 average star rating
- Harris Teeter: 4.39 average star rating
When comparing the top individual grocery stores in the U.S., Trader Joe's dominated the list, with 33 individual Trader Joe's locations ranking in the top 50. It was also the only major chain to crack the overall top 10.
Before you head to your nearest Trader Joe's, check out these 18 things you should know before shopping at Trader Joe’s.
No matter where you shop, one of the best ways to fight rising prices is with a good cash back credit card. You can earn hundreds each year just by changing the card you swipe with at checkout. It won't offset inflation entirely, but it helps.
10 Worst grocery chains
While local grocery stores dominated the top 10 list, major chains were definitely the most frequent offenders found on the bottom 10. In fact, three of the 10 individual locations with the lowest average star rating were all Walmart locations. Safeway also appeared three times. That's six of the bottom 10 spots taken up by just two major grocery chains.
With that in mind, the study also evaluate just the biggest names separately to come up with the overall worst 10 major grocery chains:
- King Soopers: 3.84 average star rating
- Walmart: 3.95 average star rating
- Kroger: 3.97 average star rating
- El Super: 3.97 average star rating
- Dollar General: 3.98 average star rating
- Save A Lot: 3.99 average star rating
- Fiesta Mart: 4.01 average star rating
- DG Market: 4.01 average star rating
- Safeway: 4.02 average star rating
- Foodmaxx: 4.03 average star rating
In addition to having the second-lowest average star rating across thousands of reviews, Walmart is also no longer the cheapest grocery store. Though the major retailer is working on changing its reputation by slowly phasing in more premium products that cater to wealthier shoppers.
Meanwhile, grocery prices are rising everywhere, making it even more frustrating for shoppers dealing with poor store conditions. Essentials like eggs, dairy and meat have seen price hikes, forcing consumers to stretch their budgets further.
Related Content
