Groceteria.com

Happy Tuesday!

https://www.groceteria.com/place/califo ... nta-maria/

I recall reading years ago that tri tip barbecue was invented at a Safeway location in Santa Maria, supposedly in 1952:

https://www.socaljetboats.com/whats-coo ... i-tip-bbq/

Not sure though if the oft-cited "Mill and Vine" intersection there is really where that Safeway was, or if it was somewhere nearby. 213 East Chapel on the list seems to be the closest to that area (and may be the correct location).

TheStranger wrote: ↑05 Feb 2026 22:06 Not sure though if the oft-cited "Mill and Vine" intersection there is really where that Safeway was, or if it was somewhere nearby. 213 East Chapel on the list seems to be the closest to that area (and may be the correct location).

Looks like Vine and McClelland used to run all the way through that area where the apartments are now and the Safeway ran the block from Mill to Chapel, so it would have been at the corner of Mill and Vine. The entrance may even have been at the corner, but the address was on Chapel. This would have been one of those long and narrow late 1930s/early 1940s stores that were Safeway's first "supermarket" prototype.

https://www.historicaerials.com/locatio ... 12/1961/18

The first photo is of the Safeway on East Chapel and Vine, the second of the Safeway on West Church. Both photos are from a Facebook Group "I Remember Santa Maria When". There are lots of other photos of old Santa Maria stores also.

East Chapel replaced West Church, and 1482 S. Broadway replaced East Chapel in 1967. East Chapel became the Santa Maria public library while the library was enlarged and remodeled. The building was then demolished for the high rise senior apartment building and the low rise apartments.