Safeway Upgrades to USDA Choice Beef

Safeway Upgrades to USDA Choice Beef

If you’ve been in a Safeway store in the Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia area you may have noticed that all their Eastern Division stores have upgrades from Rancher’s Reserve to USDA Choice Beef.  “The USDA grading system communicates to the consumer a level of confidence in both the safety and quality of the products they represent,” says Safeway Eastern Division President Steve Burnham.   “Choice beef is extremely high quality, just with a little less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be tender, juicy, and flavorful, well suited for dry-heat cooking.”  As a shopper that means you are getting a higher quality product.  This works great for me because we can’t always get out to a fancy steak house, so now we can stop by Safeway and get a nice steak for dinner.  Safeway sent me a giftcard to head out to my local store to purchase and try their new offerings with my family.  Any opinions expressed are my own.

Occasionally I love to get a good steak. When I was pregnant with my toddler it was one of my cravings.  When shopping for steak for dinner Safeway is always my first choice because I know they have high quality steak.  When I learned of the new selections I couldn’t wait to go out and try some for dinner.  With four kids our family tends to end up at restaurants the kids pick so a steak house is out of the running almost always.  It was nice to learn that Safeway new offerings were the highest quality for commercial stores. “Choice is generally the highest quality beef available in consumer retail as Prime is typically reserved for commercials kitchens in restaurants and hotels,” Burnham says.  “Here at Safeway, it’s critical that we maintain a viable balance between the quality of our product and the price point at which we deliver that product to the consumer.  By offering USDA Choice meats to our shoppers, we can unequivocally promise a top-quality beef product at reasonable prices.”

Upgrading to choice wasn’t all that Safeway recently did either.  They are also expanding their produce offerings to include fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, available in refrigerated “grab-and-go” cases from their two present locations into approximately 30 new stores over the next two months.  “Our newest stores – in Upper Marlboro and Alexandria (King St.) – opened with these cases and the fresh-cut product,” Burnham said.  “The response was so positive that we are now retrofitting another 30 stores.”  The addition of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables – all prepared on-site by each store’s produce staff – offers consumers the convenience of purchasing a wide assortment of items from basics such as diced onions, sliced peppers, melons, strawberries and fruit salad to hummus and salsa.  “These products, all value-priced, provide a healthy-lifestyle alternative for our customers,” Burnham says.

Safeway had so many great selections that I wasn’t sure what I want to make for dinner besides the steak.  I knew seafood was going to be on the menu as well because Surf and Turf sounded like a great way to go.  So we checked out their seafood offerings and ended up getting some fresh shrimp for dinner that night and some frozen shrimp for later that week.

I couldn’t wait to get home and make dinner that night.  I had a full menu planned.  For my the adults I made Deviled Eggs, Avocado Deviled Eggs, Steamed Broccoli, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Shrimp Scampi and Grilled Steaks.  I made some baked chicken strips for the kids because they don’t eat steak.  I also made a Lemon Velvet Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting for dessert.  Everything was amazing.  We even got fresh cut flowers for the dinner table at Safeway.  Check out our delicious dinner below.

We truly enjoyed our dinner and we plan to do it often thanks to the amazing selection of USDA Choice Steak at Safeway.  So next time you’re looking for a great steak shop Safeway.