Rabba Fine Foods Stores

Pros:
1. Staff are friendly.
2. It’s ²⁴⁄₇.
3. Very nice selection for a convenience store. I like the brands they choose to stock. They also have a nice selection of middle eastern products.
Cons:
1. A bit expensive sometimes.
2. It’s not an aesthetically pleasing place.
3. The tap (aka «paypass») credit card feature is broken, and rather than fix the problem they’ve just let linger for years (I see another Unilocaler has complained about this exact same issue.) I would prefer to pay with tap — particularly at what is essentially a convenience store.

Another one of the rare gems in the chain of Rabba stores located in the downtown core, this location close to the intersection of Yonge and Isabella Streets offers a great selection of grocery items, a clean and diverse produce section, a sizeable frozen foods section and a meat department. The store also offers made imported items not found at other Rabba locations such as marzipan (which I love!) and drinks. With great service at the cash wrap, and having prices that won’t break the bank, this is one of my main go-​to stores I head to when most larger chain stores such as Longos on Bloor or Shoppers on Sherbourne is closed for the rest of the night.

they are pretty good and I do love the Rabba radio
the staff are always friendly and smiling but …
sometimes the female staff do not help you put the purchased items in your bag
why do some stores assume if you have your own bag they don’t have to put the items in it??? especially while I am digging/​getting my wallet out of my bag they could be loading the stuff into the bag especially when there is a long lineup behind me
also I do not have good luck with their bananas
have bought organic and regular bananas
twice I bought organic and they stayed hard and inedible (never again)
same thing with the green regular bananas they did not ripen (never again)
this last time is the last time I bought some yellow ones they were all mushy and rotting on the inside

There are better Rabba’s around. This store has standard inventory, nothing special. The big drawback here are the staff. Be ready to stand in line or wait at the deli counter while workers ignore you doing little projects. These people have perfected «work slow». The store also needs an overhaul, it looks very dated. There always seems to be a Boss barking orders at the staff but the orders never seem to be Smile and help the customers.
Even paying is not efficient. I tried to pay by credit card, everywhere else I shop I just tap my card. Their machine says Tap but after I tap the cashier says it doesn’t work. This place manages to disappoint right up to the end. If the owners just tried a little harder this place would be good but they consistently are a let down.
If you need one item try Rabba. Anything more than that head to Loblaws Maple Leaf Gardens.

Was looking for ground beef. They had none.
It is open 24/​7, they have the basic items like eggs. The produce and meat does not always look fresh, so I get these items at Metro or Loblaws instead. Perfect location for emergency items. I also like that they sell croissants for 3 for $ 1. I am not sure if that is the case all the time, but definitely in the evenings. I use the croissants to make bread pudding – again because I am not sure about their freshness.

I enjoy most Rabbas for their variety and reasonable prices, but one star is too many for this place.
About 9pm I surveyed the meat counters, to find that almost all the meat was tired-​looking, off-​colour, and untidily strewn about. That was just scary.
I used one of their carts but had trouble navigating as everywhere I turned I had to plow through the large empty and full boxes left on the floor by the stockers.
The deli girl was pleasant, but there were no dolmades (vine leaf rolls), and no cabbage rolls, as there are in the other Rabbas. Both favourites of mine and a reason to shop at Rabba.
I bought cut-​up pineapple, which I later found to contain the mostly the hard centres which are inedible and usually are excluded from the trays. Wasted good money on this rip-​off and had to throw it away.
The cashier has no plastic bags for items that might drip.
The cashier has no elastic bands to hold together poorly packaged foods.
The cashier is bored and makes no effort to hide that.
She leaned on the counter and watched while I tried to pack my cloth bag with the groceries I bought. No effort to help.
Why is this Rabba (not the others I go to) still charging for plastic bags when the bylaw was revoked some time ago? Why do cashiers seem to think that if you bring your own bag, you can darn well bag your own groceries without their help?

Sometimes you feel lazy.
So lazy that you’ll buy groceries from a Rabba’s.
This place is convenient.
This place is expensive.
$ 1.79 for those tiny cans of favoured tuna?
The name should be changed from Rabba Fine Foods Stores to
Rabbas 24 Hour Stores of Convenience.
The produce is edible but not always pretty.
You’re going to want to wash everything… very, very thoroughly.
They have a deli section (which I have never bought anything from).
The packaged meat in meat section is portioned for single people.
They have a dessert section that has Dufflets pasteries!
It’s far from my favourite place to shop.
However, it’s 24 hours.
When I needed contact lens solution in the middle of the night and Shopper’s was closed… you were there.
If there was a life and death situation where I needed Miss Vicky’s chips… you were there.
Thank you!

I like this Rabba, I agree with Monica F.; their prices are out there. But the staff all seem pretty friendly. They are a bit all over the place; and all it takes is a smile from your end to make it a better day for both you and the teller.

Imagine what, Rabba read my review from 2010 and sent me a an email via Unilocal in summer 2010, apologized for any inconvenience and listed some things they would improve about that Rabba store. They also offered a $ 20 check in exchange for my address. I gave the address, but never received the check. I wonder whether they keep a database of all customers who complain (for a valid reason).
Here is my update since last year: I kept my decision and I do not buy anything from this Rabba store anymore. They used to be good, but since they changed the owner, I noticed few inappropriate things (see previous reviews).
Also, a friend of mine recently bought muffins that used to be REALLY good specifically at this Rabba location! Regretfully, these same muffins are now a lot smaller and contain a lot more oil/​fat than the previous ones.
I will stick to my decision and won’t buy anything from this store anymore.

I don’t mind this store. It is what it is. It’s open 24 hours and carries a huge selection of products — that makes it quite convenient if you ask me. The prices are actually pretty comparable to other similar stores.
I have shopped there many times — I like the availability of fresh produce, and especially the prepared foods.
Oh, and there’s a Green P parking lot right next to it — but even if you’re running in for a quick drink, pay for parking — i saw some guy get a ticket the second he started walking away from his car without paying.

The best part of Rabba is the hours. If you need something and the grocery store is closed they have all the basics. The staff at this location are friendly and helpful. Their prices are competitive also.