TW: Sexual Harassment I was so excited to discover this…read moreplace, as I need herbs on an ongoing basis for my business. It seemed cool and not of this time when I went in and saw all the jars and met the man who owns the shop. He gave me the herbs I needed and started commenting on my looks, saying he likes a woman like me. I was uncomfortable and wouldn't go back, but it got worse when he kept asking for a hug, to which I declined. Then he came out from behind the register area and tried to hug me. I pushed him off of me various times and felt super unsafe and just wanted to get out of there, so I booked it and never went back. I see many other reviews saying he's so cool and nice. I guess I was just his type. Gross. It's really sad because herb shops are hard to come by in San Diego, but thankfully Datura in North Park is a reliable apothecary with kind/ non-rapey staff to boot. So I get all my stuff there now.

I was on the hunt for Arnica and stopped by this location after researching a bit. The shop is…read moreunassuming from the outside and parking is on the street. Step inside and you'll see a vast array of labeled, empty glass jars. The shop owner is kind, knowledgeable and generous. He explained that he keeps his products sealed in the back to retain freshness, which I really appreciated. Though he was out of Arnica, I decided to purchase other items including a toothpaste powder that he recommended for tooth pain. I noted how lovely everything smelled and mentioned lavender was a favorite of mine. He disappeared in the back and then reappeared with a large bag of the most fragrant lavender I've ever smelled. It was from Provence! He offered me a sample to take home and I happily accepted. It continues to smell like lavender in my kitchen. No doubt I'll be back to support this local gem. Tip: this is a cash only vendor; stop by the ATM ahead of time.

This place has an impressive selection of spices. The store is clean, well organized, and easy to…read morebrowse. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy cooking or want to try something new! Free parking lot.

The prices are high but so is the quality!! I love my penzey's spices and think they really make a…read moredifference in recipes. They have several promotions too where you can get free spice blends or jars if you're subscribed to the newsletter. The staff at the store is always helpful directing me to different parts of the store depending on what spice I need. Parking can be tricky. There's a parking lot but it's almost always full.

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Haley Pham. She is warm, friendly, and communicates clearly,…read morewhich immediately made me feel comfortable and understood. I came to see her while dealing with a difficult cold while breastfeeding, and she was extremely knowledgeable and thoughtful in her approach. Dr. Pham took the time to explain everything and made sure the treatment would be safe for both me and my baby.

My acupuncturist recommend coming here for my tiger balm and Chinese / Vietnamese herbal needs…read more So glad I found this place, definitely a little hidden family owned gem. The family here is so sweet and you can tell they have an established relationship with their long term-customers. Inside, it is a very small shop, but don't let the size fool you, there's plenty different types of herbal medicine, spices, and Asian oils/balms to get. They sell little simple Asian snacks as well that you don't normally see often at the markets. This place would be gold if my grandma found out about it! Every year my grandma loves to gift Tiger balms/patches to our relatives and this place sells plenty of that all. There are different teas you could try out along with herbs and spices you can buy to make delicate Asian soups and desserts. A must stop by if you're into herbal/asian/holistic care. Customer service was great, very friendly people! I really enjoyed making a visit here and will come back for when I need more Tiger balm / lotions, etc.

Went with family to purchase some items....it's a nice grocery store....service was good....they…read morekeep the store pretty clean and organized.....they offer a wide range of fresh, frozen and packaged goods... I usually enjoy walking around the store to check out items.

I love 99 Ranch and will always regularly shop here but gosh I wish some of the things here could…read morebe improved. For one, why do their self check out machines work so horribly? I wonder if management just went with the cheapest possible models and well, you get what you pay for. The machines are very sensitive so if you try to put the packing bags you brought onto loading area of the machine, the machine loses its mind and won't let you ring up anything and this stupid alert won't go away unless a human comes by to fix it. Every single time I come to this 99 Ranch, I am fighting with this stupid machine. So much for automation taking away jobs, cuz the woman working these self check out area was working overtime, the poor lady. I am deducting two stars here because this is sooo friggin' annoying. I like wanna pull out my hair when doing this self check out. But beyond that very annoying self check out experience, this Asian grocery which carries many Chinese & Taiwanese specialties is a go to favorite for me. I love their ready made items including all kinds of zhongzis (Taiwanese, Shanghainese, Cantonese, etc.), they carry all kinds of baos, all kinds of ready made Chinese dishes like pig ear, tripe, bamboo shoots, etc. (IYKYK). I spend a lot of time here cuz Im always looking at all the different things they carry especially hot and popular items. Today, I was in here for about 30 min just looking at all the different mooncakes on offer! There are rows and rows of mooncakes from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China , etc. for purchase! I was in mooncake heaven! Overall, I love this supermarket. You will find me coming back again and again. But dang it, can you please replace those not working self checkout machines please??!!

My first stop after moving back to San Diego: my beloved local Nijiya Market Oh how I missed you!…read moreThis is my favorite of the 3 JP markets in SD. My home!!! First of all, thanks so much for being open on July 4th!! So appreciated. Happy to celebrate my United States of Nijiya today! When I lived in SD 3 years ago, Nijiya always had such an amazing selection of produce, shelf items, sushi, korokke, miso (I didn't see こだわってます today tho)... and today was no different even though it's a holiday. Super well stocked and clean, bright, welcoming. They always have like 5 different varieties of negitoro which is my fav. I can't even tell you how comforting it is to come back after 3 years in Ohio lol I love that they have herbs and plants outside. Can't wait to buy some and inevitably kill them by accident later :) Staff is always sooo sweet here. The line always moves really quickly. Fish quality is always so fresh and delicious. Maybe the bento boxes etc aren't as flashy as Mitsuwa (from what I remember) but they are tasty and not super expensive. I also love that they have so many types of korokke and yakitori. I am so glad to be back and soooo glad to get my comfort food & feeling from Nijiya today. いつもありがとうございます!!!

Located on 3860 Convoy street, SD. Plenty of parking but it gets super packed on the weekends. They…read moredo have street parking. Anything in Convoy area; from Thursday to Sundays are always packed. Decent size market; majority Asian ingredients and groceries are sold here. Fruits and veggies are fresh. Decent customer service. They have a lot of imported snacks, which is cool. I like trying new snacks & food.

The service is horrible posted on the door a few times do not knock. The owner does not answer the…read morebusiness number. If you pay him he doesn't deliver your product, if you pay him for a job or service he screws you over. Acknowledging what others say and what I'm telling you 2026 , this guy is a long time scammer. All Botanicas in north park and city heights are a fraud do your homework and find the best reviews and you decide. Definitely this Botanica doesn't deserve our business.

This botanica is not open for business. You can pray and text dude and hope the Santoro wishes to…read morereply otherwise you wasted your gas and time to get anything. Find yourself a new shop. Don't waste your time read the other reviews.

What a gem. Windmill has been a staple of the college area for both grocery and their legendary…read moresandwich and ready-to-go food selection. The nicest employees give the local small town feel but they have the resources of a full on chain grocery store. My faves: 1. Build your own sandwich 2. Cold and hot ready to go foods 3. Craft beer and NA beverage selection

I've been to Windmill Farms Market several times over the years. I've been coming more often…read morebecause they have a type of sourdough multi-grain and sourdough protein bread that I like from Izzio Bread Company. I liked that they steadily keep it in stock. I have purchased it at Target as well but they are not consistent in keeping it in stock as Windmill Farms. I in occasion pick up a bag of their locally lard fried corn tortilla chips and flour tortillas, which are very good. I also like that they have a coffee station. The ladies that make the hand made flour tortillas are always in good spirits and are up for good conversation when I visit. Same goes with the young ladies at the register. There's plenty of parking available here.

Small specialty boutique type food store located in a strip mall in Miramar. They specialize in…read moreimports from Europe, but I feel like there's a concentration from France. From cheeses, meats, breads, a pretty extensive frozen section, there are so many treasures you can find here. I came here with my cousin who was looking for some specific food items, side, and purchase anything myself on this trip. Partly because I was gonna be out all day and didn't want the food sitting in my car. But definitely if I plan better next time I'm in San Diego I wanna buy stuff to bring back home. Just a gem of a find. There also seems to be plenty of parking in the area as we parked pretty much right out front.

Am I a butter connoisseur? Absolutely, not. However, I do know that if you're interested in trying…read moreFrench butter, this is the place to go. I should have purchased the Beurre d'Isigny butter here rather than going to Paris, buying Bordier butter vacuum sealed butter, having the hotel freeze it, then paying extra for check in luggage since it's a colder storage area. Cuisenery didn't have Bordier butter but when I was doing my online research, I found that both of the brands I mentioned are pretty good. I actually liked my Beurre d'Isigny butter better, but that's more likely due to it being unsalted versus the salted version I bought in Paris (apparently, you MUST use salted on your bread per the Parisians). They also had a bunch of other frozen foods and condiments, including frozen escargot in puff pastry, frozen baguettes, mustards, and jams.

This was my second time coming here. This time I brought my wife's family for my birthday. They are…read moreFilipino and really wanted to try it. Everyone enjoyed it. Obviously there were things they have had differently or things they wished were served, but overall everyone was happy. The food was hot and delicious just like last time. I was happy to see they had different dishes this time around too. Although I enjoyed everything from last time, it was nice to try some new stuff too. The place was slam packed. Multiple birthday parties going on, so the atmosphere was very alive with conversation. It was like one big family picnic in there. Initially, they could not find my reservation, but they found it and accommodated us with a table right away and even threw in a Halo Halo for my birthday. The hostess was really nice and jovial. With the amount of people in there it got really warm and unfortunately with the door swinging open over and over there were flies, but there isn't much they could do to prevent that.

Surprised there was no long line outside since today was the Sunday brunch and read from other…read morereviewers to come prepared to wait. Upon walking up to the door, we noticed the closed sign but there was some tables filled already. Asked the young man if they were open or had a private party, he didn't even realize the closed sign was still on. He asked if we had reservations, we did not then he told us to wait outside to be called on, there were tons of empty clean tables, but we didn't argue. As soon as we stepped outside, before I could sit down we got called right back in by the other lady to come inside. Okay. Weird quick game of musical chairs lol. She explained to us how it goes. Drinks on this side of the room. Food on that side. Check. First plate: garlic fried rice (Sinangag), fried eggs, longoniza, Filipino spaghetti, lechon, and a bowl of arroz caldo. Also grabbed two cups, one for water the other for what the waitress said was mango ice tea (spoiler alert: no mangoes were hurt in the process of making this ice tea). Second plate: watermelon and pineapple slices, menudo, kare kare, ube pancake. First the sinangag tasted like it's been left out too long even though it was just brought out. Lots of hard pieces of rice. I decided to not finish it. Next, the fried eggs and longaniza. Fried eggs felt too rubbery for maybe just me. And the longaniza didn't taste anything like longaniza. No spices no garlic. Just a basic sweet hot dog. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just a hot dog. I can say the Filipino spaghetti did taste somewhat like actual Filipino spaghetti, sweet. But not too sweet but also didn't see any hot dogs in there! Now the lechon. Tasted exactly like fried pork. That has zero spices and kinda been out for a while. The arroz caldo had some shreds of chicken I think but I had to fetch for it in the pot. Unfortunately there's no boiled eggs to add but you can add everything else to it like the fried garlic, spring onions lemon etc. Now the drinks. What's up with the non mango mango iced tea? It just tasted like iced tea and if I was told that id be okay. But I love mango drinks and was looking forward to it. The water is the only thing I could say I wasn't disappointed with and only if I didn't have to get it myself I guess would be the only downside lol. I did try to get a second plate. Consisted of some watermelon slices and pineapple slices, menudo and kare kare with white rice. The kare kare and menudo did look like what they were called and that is about it in comparison to what I've had in the past. The menudo had no tomato paste taste to it and was rather bland and the kare kare was also bland. Their kare kare sauce was very watery, missing the thick savory peanut buttery taste. And unfortunately, it was the watermelon slices that made me quit and lose my appetite. It had a weird rotten taste to it. I almost had to vomit. First I thought it was soaked in something maybe vinegar, or I dunno. But I just could not eat anything else. I hope today was just an off day and the food is better. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll ever come back or even recommend my friend or family to come eat here.

I had so much fun exploring Tokyo Central & Main! What makes this place unique is that it's…read moreactually made up of three separate stores--two grocery markets and one dedicated to merchandise featuring everything from adorable Japanese plushies and cookware to cosmetics, electronics, and so much more. And yes...I had to explore all three! Both markets were bright, clean, and incredibly well organized. One of my favorite sections was the tea aisle. As someone who absolutely loves tea, I was in heaven. Their selection is huge, with everything from loose-leaf teas to powdered varieties that you don't typically find in traditional American grocery stores. I'll definitely be back to stock up on a few new favorites. I originally stopped in to purchase a matcha whisk set, but it was a little more than I wanted to spend. That didn't stop me from finding a few treasures, though! I ended up browsing the cookware section and picked up a beautifully designed set of reusable chopsticks along with beginner-friendly M-shaped training chopsticks. One unexpected highlight was getting to try a hand massage machine. It applies pressure to acupuncture points throughout your hand, and wow--it felt amazing! I'm seriously considering going back just to buy one. The produce section also looked fresh and inviting, so I can definitely see myself returning to shop for groceries. Plus, since my sons love anime, I already know they'll enjoy checking out the merchandise store with all the fun Japanese collectibles and character items. Whether you're looking for authentic Japanese groceries, unique kitchenware, specialty teas, or fun gifts, Tokyo Central & Main is absolutely worth visiting. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by--you'll probably leave with more than you planned, just like I did! And you already know you can always thank me later

I ordered a sashimi platter for a dinner party. You have to order 4 full days before pick up and…read morelast pick up is 5pm during the week. They tray had about 40 pieces of sashimi, large pieces but a bit uneven cut. It did come in an attractive plastic boat so great to bring to a party. The tray was $55, no tax, ordered online. You pick up at Customer Service near cashiers. I saw online they do Japanese sandwich trays as well and they looked pretty tasty.