Fiesta Mart

Unfortunately, this is the closest store near my job that I can check the sales on before going to the store. There is a Seller’s Brothers grocery close by too, but I don’t think they advertise their prices, so Fiesta gets my business by default. Granted, I am a Fiesta fan, but not of this location because of the location.
Headed South on Wayside, the lanes narrow and decrease. Accident waiting to happen. Secondly, it SMELLS – well this area usually smells horrific anyway, but the smell definitely helped me expedite my shopping on limited time. The most important concern of all, GETTING OVERCHARGED! I had checked the ads for ice cream and soda to do a float party at work. Since Fiesta was offering more name brand variety of sodas on sale, I decided to get everything on one place. In a rush, I picked up 4 containers of ice cream. I did not notice in the sales paper nor on the sales tag that the ice cream priced at 3.99 had a limit of 2. I noticed the price was high and was hit with the late notice of the limit 2 price. Since I was on a budget, I asked to cashier to remove the other two containers. Again, limited on time, I did not want to go back to the freezer section and get back in line. The cashier was nice enough to take my suggestion of making a seperate purchase for the other two gallons at sale price, but I failed to notice that she rang me up for 5 gallons when I only purchased 4 and took off only 2 gallons at regular price! If I hadn’t been in a rush I would have checked my receipt like I usually do and gotten that straight before I left the store. Now I have to go back and see if I can get my money back. Lesson learned: Haste makes waste!

Situated across from the Gus Wortham municipal golf course, this Fiesta grocery store hulks a good distance back from busy South Wayside. On a hot summer Saturday, I had a craving for some lovely items from a panaderia. Ended up with a magdalena and a cabeza de pina (both for 89 cents total). Both items were way too dry.
What spoiled my trip here were a variety of factors:
* Parking is quite the clusterf*ck of cars skewed at all angles despite the painted lines.
* Many of the cars were occupied and the doors splayed open into adjoining empty spaces — further compounding a safe landing into an open space.
* The in-​store café was jammed to the gills of people copping a squat in every seat of every table with hardly any purchased items. I’d label this as «loitering».
* Fiesta Marts can be — oh, what’s the word? — tatty. But, this one felt tattier than normal. Definitely more than the Kirby store near me.
* The checkout was slow despite lots of open lanes — had the added torment of a mother and her 3 small children in front of me buying a tub of ice cream and a box of cones. The mom was on a cell phone chat during the process and only interrupted her chat to loudly berate, then make cry, one of the children. The irony was she was wearing a t-​shirt that said: «Be Nice» on the front. She shouldn’t wear that shirt if she’s not going to live up to its mantra. At least, she should have worn the «Be a Hypocrite» one.
* Had to correct the cashier on the price of the purchase. Oh, wait: The true full price to my psyche has yet to be determined but I had to correct the cashier on the cash cost.
All in all, this stop was a flop. Not as big a flop as the Soviets invading Afghanistan or as big a flop as New Coke but still a flop. If you’re in the neighborhood, keep on driving. And, «Be Nice» or I’ll have to repo that shirt from you.