've been a customer at this Cardenas location for years, and the pattern of dismissive treatment toward English‑speaking customers has become impossible to ignore. On 3/20/26 around 6:15 PM, I asked an employee named Jessica for help locating a product. She repeatedly tried to walk away, refused to assist me, ignored a photo of the item, and even misrepresented what another employee said when I asked her to clarify. Another customer had to step in because she would not help. What concerns me most is the clear difference in how customers are treated depending on who they are and what language they speak. Under California Civil Code § 51 (Unruh Civil Rights Act), all customers are entitled to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, and services regardless of race, ethnicity, or language. My experience fell far below that standard. This store publicly promotes its mission and values about respect, inclusion, and community -- but the behavior I experienced does not reflect those values at all. It feels misleading when the branding says one thing, but the customer service shows something entirely different. I've submitted a formal complaint to corporate because this is not an isolated incident. I'm speaking up not only for myself, but for the many customers who may not feel comfortable asserting themselves. Everyone deserves basic courtesy and equal treatment, and no one should feel like an underdog in a grocery store. read more

Found a great sale on wed/thurs for chicken cooked. Bought 3, waited 20 minutes for the order. Walked the store bought some produce and spices. First visit, will not be my last visit Staff is helpful, prices on things vary depending on what it is...high low, shop smart. Busy place on a Friday afternoon, lines move quick in the checkout. Aisles were clean, didn't see any bad produce. Parking is fine read more

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My first impression was walking into the market. The parking lot was grossly filthy. I didn't want to even go inside. It was so disgusting. Don't think I'll be going back. read more

We understand that it was close to closing time, but many people are also getting their groceries done late, and three specific workers kept rolling their eyes and gave an annoyed face whenever they saw a customer. This visit was completely unexpected since we've been to this location and the workers are usually friendly, but the three workers weren't nice or understandable to the shoppers. read more

Updated review: STILL BAD PRODUCTS!!! Elderly father in law picked up milk from here for my kids August 6th.. date on the milk August 5th 2025.. Only realized after it was given to my kid, she said it tastes bad.. looked at the date.. EXPIRED! 2 years later from my first review of this store and no improvement with this store.. Thankfully, we have a New grocery store in Hemet.. save your money and go to Vallarta !! read more

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Yesterday i had purchased chicken drum sticks june 13 I was gonna start to cook them and they smelled funky so i started to look at the stickers to check what day it was packed and it had two different stickers one was from that june 9th and the second one said june 12. The meat was rotten so JUST A FYI TO EVERYONE WHO COMES ACROSS MY RBEVIEW PLEASE CHECK THE MEAT STICKERS. THIS IS DISGUSTING, I WILL NEVER PURCHASE MEAT FROM CARDENAS AGAIN. I did go back to the store and the cashier gave me an exchange but also told me the management doesn't take the complains seriously. I'll be reaching out to corporate and the bbb. This store needs to remodeled or revamped and the meat department needs to be reviewed for the cleanliness and the pictures on the yelp are lying it does not looks like that for the inside read more

Cardenas Markets - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

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Hi, I not recommend this store for anybody all departments. Their customer service is sucks. Start with the bakery. There's a lady tall lady brown skin. She's so rude. In the hot food same thing the service is sucks so I never recommend a store is really a better customer service Murrieta other locations but San Jacinto is the worst customer service. If you don't have to go another place that's the last axion but that's the worst customer service I ever had. I not recommend I not give a one star none... read more

Unorganized food counter, dirty and empty pans. They were out of their $6.00 chicken special and after waiting in line to order for 15 minutes I was told that it would be an hour wait. This is not the first time this has happened to me, why don't they put up a sign telling what time the chicken will be ready rather than having to wait in line to be told! They need to get someone in their store that knows what they're doing. They know that they are going to sell a lot of product on their special so plan on more production. Last time I go here for their dried out chicken and bad attitudes! The new Vallarta market is my new stop!! Clean, pleasant and relishes food! read more

If I could give them 0 stars I would. The cashiers there seem to be required to have a bad attitude to get hired. The cashier who rang up my items today seems to be mute, allergic to making eye contact and smiling. That's how most of them are. read more

Went in there today, got some produce and let me say I loved it. Multiple check stands open, the cashier had great customer service, and over all great experience. And LOTS of carts were available. read more

If I could give them 0 stars I would , they cross contaminate the utensils they use for the meats , I came for taco tuesday since I heard they had a deal and the guy serving literally used the same scooper on the cabeza, chicken and Carne asada , I wonder if they were doing that all day(yes I should've walked out and told him never mind but I was trying to give it a chance ) clearly they don't follow the correct food handling procedures, not only that the guy asked more than once how many tacos I wanted and he still gave me 4 after I told him I wanted 5 at least 3 times the meat was full of fat pieces and really gross , I don't recommend buying their hot foods read more

I went to get a cake and three employees working at the bakery stood there talking instead of helping me I had to say "si me pueden atender?" In order to get their attention. Got a cake and asked a girl to write "felicidades mamá" and I got home and it looks like a 8 year old wrote it. I called the store to see if anything could be done and they said no because "you were there to watch them write it and could've said something on the spot". The employee wrote while maintaining her conversation with her coworkers so maybe if they focused on the customer they'd be able to write properly. read more

Cardenas Markets - a birthday cake with fruit on it - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

Sadly all comments are made, some comments more than a year ago, and Cardenas still doesn't do anything to change. "We will send to the administration , well send to out team, well do something that is never done. Sorry the management is HORRIBLE!!!! by the way the cakes they are at the same level,,, HORRIBLE I got cakes and sadly those cakes were salty,, expired and bad,, it ruined parties and my friends got very sad! Well at least I am sure Cardenas will send this comments for someone,,, but at the end will be the same!!! read more

If I could give zero I would. PS I really don't mind spending money on food, I DONT. It is what it is. But $11 for a burrito that was thin (the width of the churro I order and half the size of the burrito) not even filled. Not to mention the $16 asada fries no fork given. If you're gonna have high prices give us what we pay for. DEFINITELY not what it use to be. They use to give you what you payed for. read more

In the few times that I have ventured into this store, I've had mixed experiences. On some occasions, there seems to be a lot of stress and anxious energy in the air... not sure what that is-- but generally translates to people without patience standing in long lines at the checkout, a sort of general malaise and a chippy attitude from some of the folks who are waiting on those customers, and a nervous sort of feeling that I need to pay for my three pounds of asada, and yell "Hay Te Huacho"... Other times, the place is more tranquil, and people seem to be doing OK with one another. I can't explain it either. Regardless, there always seems to be several deals here on various items. The store offers smoking specials on produce, and I come here when I need to get a big bag of tomatillos or pasilla chiles or nopales or whatever. For the most part, I come in here to get carne asada or some pollo preparada for the grill, and then run for the checkstand. I've toyed with the prepared food counter and the aguas frescas at other stores, but haven't troubled it here. Give them a look and save a few bucks. read more

People that work here seem to always be mad. Especially the cleaning lady. She is racist, rude, and threatened to call the cops on me and another person. The manager walked by and told a man to use the woman's restroom because the cleaning lady was taking forever cleaning 1 stall. So I asked her for the code and I let the man go in. Mind you, he went in there alone and the door was locked behind him. I told him to go because he had been waiting a long time plus he is diabetic. As soon as this lady heard the door close she started yelling saying she was gonna call the cops and the manager. I told her I was gonna wait for her to call the cops and the manager but she never did. I got upset because everything she did was unnecessary. Everyone that works in customer service needs to be nicer . Is they don't like people just stay home. read more

I was so delighted to find this store. It doesn't look that great from the outside but... let me tell you... inside is amazing! Coming from San Diego and leaving my Northgate Gonzales market behind really hurt. You never truly know the things you have until they're gone. They have the carniceria, handmade tortillas, a great fruit and vegetable section, and an amazing bakery section. The prices seem to be a bit on the high side but they have things I have not been able to find at the regular markets or even Walmart. The store is very clean and so is the woman's bathroom. I will absolutely be coming back here again. My only caution about this store is their parking lot. read more

This store is really rough to navigate. They have way to many aisle displays and items on stands. The grocery carts are to large to move around the facility. Cardenas needs to have more shopping items for the active customer. With that said, they do have many items that reflect other cultures that really taste good. Cakes, cookies, desserts are plentiful. The staff here need more training with customer service. Management needs to take a more active role and participatio read more

Not only is it expensive. They overcharge for everything. Instead of charging 10 cents for bags, you hey charge 15 cents. They don't offer to bag your groceries. They expect you to do it. Most cashiers have a face like they don't want to be there. Horrible service. read more

Don't recommend buying meat here, one of the workers said they sell meat even when it's expired...plus the staff is rude and unprofessional, it's not our fault U don't want to be at work. read more

No carts available. I had to go chase a cart down at the parking lot and bring it in so I can start my shopping. Place was semi full. Not very accessible to walk around. Pallets of hominy sitting on the ground so no space to walk. Products are same as all the other locations. I really like Cardenas but this location doesn't fiction like any other one I been at. Looks like management can do more to make this a good destination to shop. When I went to pay for my stuff there was the self checkout line and the regular lanes. I opted for the regular lane and when the lady scanned my purchases. One item I got didn't have a price tag and she asked me to go get another one? I told her she could just put it aside since I won't be going all the way to the back of the store to grab another. she asked me how many bags I wanted I responded two please. She went ahead and gave me my bags for me to bag my own stuff. Lol. She did the same thing to the other people in front of me. That leads me to believe that the cashier doesn't help you bag your items like they should. Otherwise why be there? I frequent the store in Murrieta and I love going there. I will definitely not be stopping to this one ever again. Too bad the costumers here seemed to be already acclimated to this way of service. Too bad. Customers deserve better service. I bet that when a competitor market comes around they will be turning away from here. Word of advice for the people that manages the store. Your team members (employees) only do what you ask. If your expectations are that low that you let them just do enough work to get by they will. My cashier was Patricia R. read more

Cardenas Markets - Receipt - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

The San Jacinto store gave me two dried old fish that were not edible. The one in the picture doesn't have any meat on the fish! I believe it was because I am old, disabled, and white, that they thought they could get away with selling me inferior food. I will never shop there again as this experience was so disappointing. You really don't know what you're getting as they tape up the boxes and put them in a bag and tie the bag in a knot. I had no idea what I was getting until I got home and looked at the mess they sold me! I tried calling the manager three times and he never picked up. I went to the store to show the manager what I was sold and he never came to the front to address my issue. Eating out is a treat living on a fixed income. This was far from acceptable. This market will never see my money again! read more

Cardenas Markets - The fish I was sold! - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

Worst Cardenas in the Inland Empire. Lines are always crazy long and the staff just stands around talking and gossiping

My mom said she went shopping for grocerys and saw that the starberrys were rotten so she saw a worker let her know that the stawberrys were rotten and visibility rotten and she made a stupid joke and proceeded to do nothing and ignored my mom You can tell they dont have high expectations or give a shit for the food if the worker did nothing of the rotten strawberrys read more

Went at 7am thinking... warm fresh pan dulce... nope yesterday's stale pan dulce, one bite and into the garbage.

One day before fathers I came in to this store to get everything the meat ready for Father's Day I came home started cooking everything I started tasting it had a taste of cleaning Clorox it tasted like cleaning product it had a odd taste thank you guys ruined all of the 4lbs of meat ...I think in such big days you guys have to have a great presentation in meat please train ur employees to clean everything right and don't leave chemical water around meat clean right read more

The last three times I went into the store. They had no carts and only one checker, there were at least 30 people waiting to check out. we went to self check out and I needed help because we had produce, the checker who helped us was very rude and really gave us attitude. I have decided I will never go back there again. This store is really going downhill unfortunately.. read more

Chorizo from the carnicería is waaay too oily full of fat not enough chorizo this was my third time buying it hoping it was just a bad batch but no... I won't buy from here any longer. read more

Rude rude and rude !! Bakery people were really rude special the lady upfront by the cakes they need to hire nicer people in bakery, it doesn't cost them anything to be nice to people Terrible Customer service -1star read more

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE SERVICE!!! There have been several instances where I have been appalled by the staff at Cardenas Markets. Very curious if they even care as they are always busy anyway and they obviously don't appreciate their non Spanish speaking customers 1. I went in to grab some prepared food from the cocina. The lady working the register immediately made a face and was visibly irritated that I was ordering in English. She even had the audacity to ask if I even spoke Spanish. I speak a little Spanish that I have learned in my years in the trucking industry but it is very raw and wouldn't want to use it out of respect to the people who may be offended by the dialect and improper way I speak it. From then on it was obvious she was displeased with me and showed it in my portions of cocido.... There was hardly any meat in my soup which is absolutely ridiculous.Strike one 2. I was at the express checkout and your checkout person early in the morning told me, she didn't ask me, but she told me to let the lady behind me go in front because she had less items than I did. I do not need your employees telling me how to be polite. I already had intentions of doing such, but to be told to do something like that is not the job of your employee. To add to the fact that again,Your employee asked if I spoke Spanish after I said good morning and again when I replied no I was given an attitude. Strike two 3. Walked in this past weekend to grab some fresh champurrado and pan dulce for the night. My kid was getting pan and some clerk/stocker cut in front of my kid to stock the breads, my kiddo was too short to grab the tongs and she asked your stocker for help and she walked away. My kid is NOT TO BE IGNORED! I get it th Place was packed and you have to buy the champurrado in the bakery. I was in line as was another lady behind me. When I was up next your clerk let some people from the side get in front of us. I exclaimed "yo" and the gal behind me said "hey wtf". You clerk looked at us and said , yeah I'll just help you next..STRIKE THREE CARDENAS! It's very obvious by these three incidents that if you're not Spanish speaking then you are not welcome here. Your low star rates prove that your service is substantial bad. STEP IT UP! read more

I have to give this place 5 stars, it's like being in a different country when you walk in. Food: The food is very good and reasonably priced. Very authentic and lots to chose from. Groceries: Lots of stuff you wont find at stater brothers but a good variety to chose from. Great for making authentic meals. The prices are very good and they always have sales. Don't forget to check the beer section, I've seen a 30 of Tecate for $15. Staff: The staff is friendly and helpful but be warned, if you do not speak Spanish you might have a hard time understanding what's going on and not all employees are bilingual or fluent in english...But all are friendly. read more

Cardenas Markets - Cardenas in San Jacinto, CA - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

Cardenas is one of the Big Hispanic market there over pricey in there vegetables and other items. Gets very busy they should expand the market more. The lines are always long nearly can pass by most of the cashiers or in the meat market staff are not friendly at all. They need to be more friendly and happy .Most of the staff is elder person that are eager to work , but they don't have that customer service in them. They need more training on how to work with the public. I go every week spend between $100 and $150 . Being the only Big Hispanic market around that's why I go. But there lack of customer service is bad not professional at all. Overall I just go and buy my groceries. Tamales at the beginning the good but once you start eating them they get dry and dry . Thank fully I had my champurrado of cajeta very delicious. I love it.Once again tamales are very dry. Thankfully I had a drink Otherwise I would be choking. Tamales are out in catering trays it absorbs all the moist. They need to monitor the food good. read more

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There's a women named WENDY who is literally the worst. My mom's card wasn't working with their old machines and she didn't do anything to help us. To top it all off while I was typing in the account number she pressed a button on the monitor that cut me off and then told me it didn't work. She belittled us and acted as if we didn't have money. Why on earth would we go to Cardenas, get a basket of food, and not have money? Also if you're going rude and don't like your job QUIT! There are plenty of other NICER people who would be happy to help others. Hay una mujer llamada WENDY que es literalmente la peor. La tarjeta de mi madre no funcionaba con sus máquinas antiguas y no hizo nada para ayudarnos. Para colmo, mientras escribía el número de cuenta, presionó un botón en el monitor que me interrumpió y luego me dijo que no funcionaba. Ella nos menospreciaba y actuaba como si no tuviéramos dinero. ¿Por qué demonios iríamos a Cárdenas, obtendríamos una canasta de alimentos y no tendríamos dinero? Además, si te vuelves grosero y no te gusta tu trabajo, ¡SALE! Hay muchas otras personas NICER que estarían felices de ayudar a otros. read more

Do not recommend this market, order a cake that was already $$ enough only to receive horrible customer service In Which no communication at all and a damage cake.....was not what I expected. read more

Omg went in to buy some Nopales & they look like this :O Disgusting !!!!! Can't believe what the lady told us...... "We still selling them like this since our truck didn't come in to restock" SMH read more

Cardenas Markets - Mexican Near Me - San Jacinto, California

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I love coming here idont know why a lot of people talk about this store they actually have Mexican medicine that other stores don't have . do you research people don't judge a book by its cover read more

Yesterday I had the worst experience. I go here a lot and truthfully it's never a pleasant experience because majority of the workers seem to be so unhappy to be there. However yesterday took the cake. I went yesterday to get fresh cut fruit and an agua Fresca because it's so hot. When I went in I waited at the fruit counter for a bit with no acknowledgment, left and came back. The lady at the counter finally helped the man waiting as well but then asked what I needed, I asked for fresh fruit and she said no she's closed. Really? It's early evening, store doesn't even close till 10. How hard would it of been to put fruit in a container? I really believe it's because I'm a white woman because I get passed over at this store to have others helped before me all the time unless I'm with my husband who's Hispanic. Usually I let it go but yesterday just felt different and I felt embarrassed or humiliated. Even the man she was helping looked at me like what was that about? This store really needs to step up their customer service and be more welcoming to EVERYONE equally. I'm not sure I'd come back after that experience because it was a horrible feeling. read more

I went there again today and as you all know the Government cut the fee for bags for 90 days and you can't take your bags in so why they are saying they are out of bags I find this funny that Out of a sudden they are out they been having them everyday till now and the prices are way higher than even Walmart and that all the time read more

Tienen cucarachas /they have roaches in their bakery and the girl got kinda mad when I told her she give me soo much

Not a bad place to shop, it's a lot of Spanish groceries but it's a little better than some markets, the music is good for shopping you might want to dance while grabbing your items. I recommend this to all my Spanish friends. read more