Joe V Smart Shop

Great service and not that crowded like the other joe v smart shop I’ll be coming back to the store

I really like this establishment it has low prices and is always very clean. the only thing I think they should change is the temperature around the checkout area. it needs some fans and\or another ac system

The parking sucks!!! Employees take all of the front parking spots & the costumers are forced to park towards the end of the parking lot.

Okay have real mixed feelings about this place, is it HEB well yes and no. Is it as clean as an HEB absolutely not, does it have similar products yeah about 50% of what you’d find in HEB you’ll find here, albeit clearly angled towards Hispanic shoppers which is a shame normal things you’d find in an average grocery store like arugula they don’t have, 40x types of spinach and romaine but nothing nice lettuce wise. Same with the cheese, if I need Cojita or Queso Oxaca they have 40 types but something mundane like a ball of mozzarella is no where to be found. Meat department is pretty interesting though, did get a good deal on some Smithfield baby back ribs, however beyond the meat and produce this stores kind of a bust. All those niceties you’ll find at HEB, boxed dinners, cool sauces, italian sodas, etc aren’t here, again reinforcing the fact Oak Forest direly needs a real HEB. Prices are good, service is non existent, about on par with your average Wal Mart/Sam’s club, impossible to find anyone to help you — you can tell they don’t care. Customers are fairly inconsiderate borderline rude, letting their kids run buck wild without a hint of discipline (sin modales). I won’t make this my go to grocery store, but it’s nice if I need some of HEB’s products and it’s close to home. They could really clean up both the store and parking lot, it’s pretty nasty.

Fruit is great quality, and everything here is 10−20% cheaper than most other stores around. I feel lucky we found this place. Not a huge selection but still have name brands.

This place has good and bad. First I will start with the good. I like the fairly good selection of food for a low cost. I also like the fact that I can get whataburger condiments here. It is really cost effective.
Con: don’t go during dinner time because you will be waiting for awhile to check out. Also there are not a lot of people there to ask questions so it’s hard to get a staffer and ask them what you need. Also they don’t take credit card and you must bag your own groceries or the salesclerk will do so for you.

They don’t anwer the dam phone when they do they keep you on hold and don’t come back to let you no anything.

I used to stop by Joe V every now and then because it was right next to my office. Store stocks a lot of processed junk. Think of it like a really big convenience store. There’s plenty of cup Ramen, mystery meat hot dogs, and flavored tyson chicken chunks in plastic bags, but they don’t stock more than a handful of healthy produce, dairy, or meat options. The aisle are full of boxed meals with few condiments or actual ingredients. This budget food store is planted right in the middle of the 290 area, where a lot of lower income families live. All it does though is contribute to rising obesity rates among the little ones. This neighborhood could really benefit from a grocery store like Aldi, which carries real inexpensive food.

Low-​end all around. This is not the place to shop for quality food. I’m waiting for someone to bring a much needed mid-​range to high-​end grocery store to the area. Until then I’m still going to shop the HEB near Bunker Hill.

Love this place! I do my weekly grocery shopping here and supplement what they don’t carry with Walgreens or CVS (depending on who has the better sale).
Pros–
CHEAP PRICES
Organic produce
8 for $ 1 bolillo rolls (great for cheesesteaks)
Awesome meat selection
$ 20 meat bundles
Good variety of dairy, cereals, and Hispanic foods
Bulk staples
Cons–
Not the freshest produce but it’s cheap lol
Not the biggest selection of snacks
Not so friendly employees
Lackluster paper product and household supplies selection
Other than that Joe V’s is the place to shop for all your grocery needs just stop at a drugstore for paper products, household supplies, and toiletries and you’ll never have to go to Walmart!

It’s crazy in here but the cultural experience is also interesting. Everything from food stuffs to limited pharmacy items all for cheap bargain prices.

I like grocery shopping here. I was able to get a weeks worth of food including breakfast, lunch and dinner items for only $ 15.You can’t beat that!

Even-​though lower version of HEB it has few good deals. I get to stock up in fruits and vegetables. I like that I can get lots of food and stay in budget. I just don’t like that isn’t as clean as should be, especially the parking lot. Also avoid going on Sundays because is it madness.

I really like shopping at HEB because of the many selections they have BUT sometimes we want to cut prices and shop smarter to save money. Well Joe V’s is one of those grocery stores that has a lot of the HEB products/​brands for a low cost. Hey, so you won’t find all of the samples of sushi and freshly squeezed HEB $ 6 orange juice but you will be able to purchase a basket of groceries for much less than you can in most other stores…

Wow – what a deal. Great prices on many things. Just watch for expiration dates, hold onto your wallet, and don’t make eye contact with anyone and you should be ok.

My first visit here, I didnt know what to expect. A coworker of mine highly recommend this place and said they had great prices, and that it was owned by HEB. Now, I LOVE HEB, and this place is only about 5 minutes away from my house, so I decided to give it a try.
I went on the first Saturday of the month, and that was a MISTAKE. People were dragging two shopping carts around FILLED with the most random assortment of food it was unbelievable. One woman, no lie, had a cart filled with loose Gatorade bottles, Mexican Coke, bottles, and other soft drinks. I don’t know why she wasn’t buying cases, but I was apprehensive to see the rest of the store if this is who will be checking out in front of me. When I asked my coworker about this, she just laughed and said don’t go right when people get their food stamp money. Wish she’d told me that before!
They have about 15 check out lines, and they were all slammed. I mean, backed up, snaking through the aisles. I was only picking up 3 or 4 items, so I went to the «express» lane, which had about 15 people in front of me. All of them had the maximum amount of items (15 per person) and I thought it was shady how they’d split their purchases to be under that limit. Mom would buy 15, dad would buy 15, and their two kids all had 15 items. I wish they had more regulation over these lines, because 30 minutes later I finally made it to the check out.
Another thing I didn’t know– they don’t take credit. Debit, cash, or Lone Star (food stamps) only. Luckily I had a few dollars in my pocket to pay the machine at the check out — yes, you pay a machine, not even their cashier.
Another not-​so great surprise– You have to bag your own groceries. This isn’t the biggest deal, but it slows down the check out process immensely. When someone with two grocery carts full of items is trying to bag that many, and then pay with cash to the machine, it takes a good 5 minutes extra for each person in front of you. Even Wal-​Mart bags the groceries for me, so I was less-​than-​impressed with their «save money by bagging your own groceries» policy.
I wouldn’t come here for any main shopping, but since it’s so close I do stop by here every now and then when I just need an item or two. They do carry HEB brand food, including HEB pre-​marinated fajitas, which are delicious. If you’re looking for low prices, and don’t mind waiting in a long checkout line, you may fall in love with this place. For me, I’ll continue to go elsewhere and pay a few pennies more for the convenience of having someone else bag my groceries in an efficient manner.

After visiting tonight, I am going to up my review to 4 stars. I confirmed that Mexican half liter Cokes in glass bottles are 99c which is a fantastic price. Below is an example of some low prices:
Trolli brite crawlers: 87c
Sabritones chips: on the bag it says $ 2 which all other stores charge, here they are $ 1.74
Takis or Churritos: $ 1.93
Boneless skinless chicken breasts same as you would find in any store: $ 1.95/lb
Dr. Pepper 12-​pack: $ 3.68
Simply Limeade/​Lemonade: $ 1.97
Fresh bolillo rolls: 8/​$ 1
Unlike other discount stores, they accept coupons, so you can save even more. On this trip I also found blackberries, a variety of frozen sweet potato fries, and noticed a small selection of wine. However, I think some of these items are not permanent offerings, but come and go. Nonetheless, I’ll be back.

Joe V’s is HEB’s attempt to cater to the Sam’s Club customers with their interpretation of a warehouse market. Selection is incredibly limited and features a very high percentage of HEB private label brands. My guess is that HEB is actually targeting the small business customer such as small restaurants and vendors, because very little attention is paid to merchandising the products beyond creating large displays with prominent pricing. Given that the prices are not incredibly compelling, I am not sure why the average customer would want to shop here.

As a big fan of HEB, I was shocked at how inadequate this store seemed. I stopped by on opening day (31 Aug 2011) to check out selection and prices. Selection was minimal (only two brands of ice cream, zero fresh herbs, no organic milk, hardly any wines, but cheap no-​name motor oil next to the freezer section?!). Talk about bare-​bones and stripped — it’s kind of like being in a cross between Fiesta and a low-​rent dollar store. While I understand that Joe V is meant to appeal to the Latin immigrant community with low income… I couldn’t imagine why that segment would really shop here either as time goes by. Prices aren’t much lower (if at all?) than Wal Mart /​Mas, and those stores along with Fiesta have far better selection than Joe V. I may not be Joe V’s target demographic, but I am always open to interesting places that can offer something that competitors don’t. Joe V doesn’t offer any compelling reason to shop there and needs to step up its game. Frankly, HEB, you can do much better.