I was at Northgate Market in Santa Ana today, to pick up some ceviche. For those of you outside of California, Northgate Market specializes in providing Latin American centric groceries and authentic Hispanic pre-prepared deli-style food service. I love their ceviche. Not only is it the best price in southern California per pound, but it is the most delicious and freshest I have ever tasted. I went to the "Pescados" counter and ordered a pound of Ceviche de Camaron and a half pound of the their Senegal Style Ceviche de Camaron as well. The lady working at the counter looked at me and shook her head. She said, "Estas segura?". ( are you sure?) " Es muy, muy picante". I said, "yes", "Si". "Me gusta mucho spicy" I said in my "Spanglish". She shook her head in disbelief, looked at me right in the eyes and started walking backwards holding up one finger. "Un Momento" she said. She then called in the back for someone, not breaking eye contact with me. Another lady came out and asked the first lady something , ( I did not hear). The lady she called out for, walked up to the counter, her brow furled. "Ma'am", do you understand that she is telling you that this ceviche is very, very spicy?". I nodded my head and said, "Yes, I love hot food". "Es mi favorito". My Spanish sucks and I am embarrassed at my accent when I try to speak it. But I think I got the point across. They both shook their heads and with their eyes opened even wider in disbelief. The first lady handed me my tubs of food and I was on my way. It occurred to me when I got home and I was both crying, sweating and my nose was running while eating this ambrosia of spices; I wouldn't have believed me either. My dishwater blond hair, blue eyes, and middle aged, pasty skin does not come across to anyone as someone who enjoys that kind of pain in their food. I laughed as I took that last bite of my lunch, "The lady was truly worried that she shouldn't sell this to me without getting a second opinion." She was trying to do me a favor. It was sweet really. So anyway, NorthGate Market is just the best . They really care about their customers. read more

Authentic Mexican food as its best! Very accommodating and lots of varieties. They even have a tours for middle school kids. Very huge! Parking is free. The place is well maintained as if you see a little city of Mexico. People are so nice too, some know how to speak English so you will never left out. One thing that i like in these Market, is how they'd prepared the food, in front of you. they got a huge churros maker and also different varieties of tortilla , sausages and a lot more. Just go and try it! Enthusiast like me that went there for a first time. i enjoyed every bit of it a lot! And wanted to go back for more. read more

I love a good market. This one is smaller than the ones I'm used to. Plenty of parking. I love that they have products from specific countries and they mark it with a large sign. Staff are good. Place is very clean. read more

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Love coming to this store when I'm in the area. It's close enough to the 22 freeway and can grab lunch or groceries before heading home. I am a fan of their hot bar ($9.99/lb), they serve traditional Mexican food that you can't get at a fast food joint. It's sold by weight, so you pay for what you get. The hot bar also has giant pressure cookers with: chocolate champurrado, avena(oatmeal), and (forgot the third item). They always have the best ceviche options, my favorite is the Aguachiles (spicy shrimp concoction, perfect for when I'm gracing an al fresco lunch). My second favorite is their agua Fresca stand that usually offers about 5-6 different flavors to choose from. My favorites are fresa (creamy strawberry) and Jamaica (hibiscus). You can also mix two or more drinks; my favorite is mixing pineapple with the green cucumber chia lime, so good! Lastly, they offer self-checkout registers for people who are in a hurry and paying with card. The store is always busy, but everyone gets served quickly. read more

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Are you looking for the Northgate with the food court and bar? This is NOT that one. The one with all the amazing food stalls and bar that you see on social media is located at: 2300 Harbor Blvd Costa Mesa, CA 92626 ------------------------------------ I saw someone's review of this location with a photo of a marg, so thought this was the right spot but it's not. Anyways, it's still great super market and I got a lot of shopping done here but we still ended up going to the other one to eat after. Great price on a dozen roses for $13.99! read more

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We have driven by dozens of times on the way to local restaurants but my better half thought it would be a good idea to stop by and eat some genuine birria tacos. And yes, 100% genuine, consommé, Mexican rice and frijoles, all on point and not spicy which kind of surprised me.... probably a lot of the clientele would be taken aback by a higher level of spiciness. OK deal, not cheap, but a double meal for $36 plus tax is kind of normal nowadays. Loud cafeteria with competing noises and music.... not quite suitable if you feel tense. After our meal we walked around the store which is very entertaining, a Mexican food theme park more or less. Deals? Yes, plenty of tortilla chips brands for sale, all definitely better deals than at your typical Trader Joe's, Stater Bros or Whole Foods but there are plenty of other Mexican stores that will easily match it. Still, the selection here is massive and it's just fun to visit as well. Friendly service by the way. read more

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First time here. I am familiar with Korean and Persian Markets similar to this layout but the things that stood out was that it was more enjoyable and clean which made us want to hang out, shop, eat and drink. I especially enjoyed the various types of places to order food from. There was live entertainment AND Dodgers game on the outdoor patio TVs. We enjoyed Mezcal Margs, affordable and delish. Start with tacos, then go to tamales, then share a bowl of soup, finish off with a dessert with Churro bites. Groceries, restaurant food, and drinks were all priced for everyone to enjoy! I'll bring the kids next time! read more

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It's a grocery store and food market slash plaza type feel it's cool. The fruit and veggies are beautifully set up and presented it's so clean and appears well organized. I heard so much about it I had to check it out. My group ordered tamales, asada, enchiladas, ceviche, watermelon juice, cokes, tortas and churros. The asada $26 a pound as good and cooked fresh on the spot. The churros were hands down the star! Everything else was like whatever. It's a cool place to check out and great for groups! read more

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Flies all over the chicken and the meat pretty disgusting I've noticed when they help people getting their Seafood they don't even change their gloves they leave on the same gloves touching the meat and the chicken nothing but contamination and flies all over the chicken was pretty gross read more

Porque serâ que no hacen tamales ricos? todos se ven y estan viejos y para muestra aqui les pongo la foto del tamal de "fresa" que estaba muy grasosó y para acabarla de fregar se suponia que era de "fresa" y tenia "mermelada" de fresa de un color negruzco nada apeteciblè y de un sabor nada agradablè se le ovida meterle sazón y alegria al producto :-/ quièn chingados hará esos tamales que los hace con odio y sin ganas por lo que veo ya que estan fatalès y asquerosós, sobre aviso no hay engaño asi que ya saben. p.s. ni pasitas mi ciruela read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Me arrepenti de haberlo comprado, desperdicie mi dinero - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California

I'm not sure why I've never stumbled across this Market BUT I highly recommend! The vibe is so fun, especially in the evening! The Food Hall is amazing! We had the Birria Tacos and they were delicious! There are so many other little food stalls to try out and I will include them in my pictures! Next time I'm definitely trying the sushi place! We also partook in the happy hour! Highly recommend! Margarita was awesome! After dinner we did some shopping. Their produce is amazing and they have a fresh tortilla area along with other products being made on site! Salsas!!!! Just come and see for yourself! We left with churros and pastries! As we were getting ready to leave they were setting up for entertainment this evening so we're definitely gonna have to try and come back one night to enjoy the music. They've got a wonderful outdoor patio setting with heated lamps. So come & stay awhile! read more

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This place has everything I wanted and needed. The chicharrón was amazingly delicious. I'll be back. Parking was good. It was busy but worth the walking around and friendly people at the store. The ladies were very friendly and helpful to me. Thank you so much. read more

Refund my 185 dollar day I spent at your location. Visited 3 spots. I'm not hurting for the 185, I just want people to know you come here expect high prices and poor quality and shit customer service. Keep it never again, raw food small portions 4 pieces of meat 81 dollars a half a cup of rice order served at different times up charge for premium protein not even on the menu. Ridiculous. I have pics and receipts. This place trying to be like Disneyland, for Mexican food. This was at the location near Costa Mesa not Westminster. read more

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As an adult the most exciting thing I do is weekly grocery shopping. This place feels like a celebration, somewhere I look forward to coming. read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Seating on tables by the live band. - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Always crazy busy!!! Massive checkout lines and tons of people. Great stuff just pack your patience.

Be prepared on the clossing hrs , restaurants inside Northgate they closed at 9pm NOT 10pm

Bar have watered down mezcal. Took 2 shots worth of and sipped on it. Thought something wrong with it and compared it to the bottle i have home and its night and day. Also bring back beer pitchers. read more

Wow i remember when this spot used to be stater brothers. Shows you how long it's been since I've been here. Anyway, I'm glad Northgate came to the neighborhood. Today was my first day here while visiting my folks. Wow it's beautiful so glad we came in today. Lots and lots to see...and yummy food. read more

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We've bought here quite afew times at this Mercado, but for the holiday season we thought to get all our tamale masa here like we did last year. This year we saw two new flavors for us anyway. We got the original, strawberry, and the pineapple. But this year, we also saw there was the Guajillo chili masa for the tamales and a pumpkin one. Well, we haven't tried the chili one. We cooked pumpkin one, because we were really excited about it, but when we finally cooked it today was extremely tangy to the point I thought it went rancid, but the pineapple and the strawberry were delicious and Tasted amazing as usual. I don't know if the pumpkin one is supposed to taste nasty or supposed to be sweet, but we were extremely disappointed because usually everything is pretty good quality and very good tasting at this location. It did not meet expectations at all. It was a waste of seven dollars. And absolutely disgusting I even had family members try it to make sure I wasn't crazy because it was hard to believe that it came from Northgate Mercado. I guess I should have second guessed buying it from the fact there was only one bag. We thought it was popular and going to be sweet, but it was disgusting which is really sad because we love so many things from here. Also, a lot of the fruit masa was sticky on the packaging and we had to keep going back to wash our hands. It got all over the cart, got all over our clothes, skin, and on other things we were purchasing so it wasn't clean and it was very strange cause usually this place is very tidy. I feel that maybe there's too much hype and they're starting to slack off and not having as much standards as they did when they first opened. It's really sad because it seems like a very comfortable and inviting for the community, but if quality is lacking and cleanliness is also lacking, I'm unsure if it's worth going back. We didn't really run into anybody to have any comments on the service there, but I did not like getting dirty looks for getting napkins from some of the cooks near the soup. It made me feel uncomfortable. The bakery lady was friendly, but put my bolios with the sweet bread in a tight bag when I asked them for a box or to separate so when I got home two empanadas were smashed and my bolios were covered in chocolate and sugar. Which is not ideal when they are supposed to be for sandwiches for the week. read more

This grocery store is great. We stopped for a couple essentials but it was dinner time & wow the hot food smelled good! The Mexican food is great. Ceviche, meat dishes, sides and some excellent tamales. It was 5 pm and the food hall was BUSY !! Well supported by the locals. Always a good sign. Service is good and the market is clean. Produce is fresh and many choices. read more

We really enjoyed the food, desserts, and beer! We had the black ceviche, mixed ceviche, tacos, guacamole with chips, and some treats from the bakery. Everything was delicious! The only challenge was finding a seat since it was the weekend, but overall, it's a great place to visit with family. read more

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Decide to give this location a try and sooo glad we did. It's huge! Clean and well-organized. Workers were friendly. We came primarily for carnitas and rice. The carnitas were fresh, moist, and not greasy. Just the right amount of saltiness. The rice was fluffy and good. There was plenty of other cooked meat including barbacoa. The bakery had a selection of ready made cakes and I like that they sell smaller portions of their desserts. Flan was $11.99 for a 6 inch pan. It was silky smooth. Recommend this grocery store location. Worth the drive. read more

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Such a fun, vibrant, and family friendly place! Love all the food options, the churros are amazing, and the decor, live music, and fresh groceries are great too! Feels like a fiesta every time! read more

Food is excellent! It's a fun and lively atmosphere. It's now a go to for our out of town visitors

Double check your cake before picking it up and ask if they made it correctly. For almost $60 to receive the wrong cake flavor and filling, not worth it if I'm not receiving what I asked and paid for. I placed the order 3 days in advance so they had a few days to go over all their cake orders I'm sure. I asked to pick it up at 1:00pm, I get there around 1:15 and the cake wasn't ready. The guy told me 30 more minutes. I don't live far so I decided to go home and come back. I ended up picking up my cake around 2:15. Another problem was I ordered a tres leches cake with banana filling and received a chocolate cake with oreo filling. Mind you I did say I wanted the outside of the cake to be decorated like the oreo cakes they have on display but my receipt is clearly marked correctly on what cake flavor and filling I chose. If I received what I asked for everything would've been perfect! I'm just saying the bakery department needs to do better. read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Cake receipt - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Whenever I come to this market I find everything that I need to make family meals. Meats, cheeses and deli meats are always fresh. This market never disappoints. read more

This grocery store has became my go to place for shopping. The store is always clean, well organized and always fully stocked. The produce is always fresh and I really appreciate the wide selection of organic and specialty items. The staff is very professional friendly and welcoming. It is also very affordable. I DEFINITELY recommend making this your daily grocery store. :))) read more

This is a newly opened Northgate Market and it looks fabulous inside. They have lots of new features than the others do and naturally they were very busy today. The soup bar is the best. The chicken mole was great. The isles are clean and it is bigger than other Northgate markets. Will keep coming here to for certain things. read more

The market has a lot of different products for varied cultures. The store is clean and the produce is regularly checked for freshness. The market has a good Bakery and there's freshly made bread more than once per day. There's also a good tortillería. Let's not forget their meat department which carries varied types of meats. Flowers are readily available and in different forms. I highly recommend this market. read more

As of 11/10/22, this is Northgate Market's newest location. it's so new and squeaky clean! To me, Northgate is kinda like Mexican version of Hmart. It's the gateway for non Mexicans (or Koreans) to explore and discover. Not the cheapest but super clean and some nice pre made stuff. I heard somewhere that this will be the blueprint for their stores going forth. Things to get down on: The Guacamole Bar. Northgate has a person that will custom make you guacamole. They will even let you taste the product for final approval, or adjustments. The Cerviche Bar. Disclaimer, yes there is better. However, this place is consistent, clean and almost always on the better end of the spectrum. While the Aguachile is not James Beard award winning, it is pretty darn good and convenient. The Meal Deals. these are all very good value for money and better than what most of us could do on our own. Tortillas. These are made almost every hour and are pretty darn good. Unfortunately, the prices are not swap meet level, but it's definitely not Mexican Gelsons. Check it out. Get down on it. read more

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This place is an experience. There is action everywhere. There are street vendors, food stalls and people everywhere. If you suffer from sensory overload, avoid this place. If you want a lively environment with good food and the feeling of an afternoon well spent, go here on a Sunday! read more

I love northgate but recently for the last 2 months I have been going and there's always something, yesterday I had gone to the store for 5 pcs of premium bread and when I decided to have it for breakfast with my coffee this morning the bread was so hard my fingers imprinted on the surface of the bread and I didn't even get to pull it apart. Horrible 0/10 def considering switching my grocery store. read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I shop here all the time. They have self check out and easy parking access. The meat is fresh and they always have sales!!!

Great churros and nice workers but the salsas are so disappointingly bland, and the tacos, ceviches, burritos, and guacamole are all meh or fine. read more

I have to admit, I absolutely did not expect what I found inside this grocery store. It was beautiful with a variety of different aspects. The selection of groceries was fine, but the other different sections to eat at were not only serving nice food, but the settings were interesting and beautiful as well. Very authentic staff, I went back a few times, and every person there I ran into was genuinely happy to interact with you and help. Clean place as well. read more

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Wow, I really love this new location! First of all, if you've been to their old location, tiny place on the same street couple streets down, you know this is a HUGE upgrade! I went there last night for some last minute shopping. The new location is huge and clean, very spacious. They installed very high-tech equipments here. There is a self check out for 15 or less items (no alcohol), and you have to scan your receive when you leave that self check-out area. It was crazy busy provided that it was very close to Christmas. They have all kinds of hot and ready made food there. There is the hot food section, salsa section, and the hot food deli sections too. You can also get hot tamales in the varieties. All the aisles were big and spacious and they have all kinds of items. It's such a treat compared to the old locations. Their produces are good qualities. Their quality standard is like Ralphs' almost. I'm so happy to have this new location, though it's a bit further but not too bad. Much bigger parking lot also. read more

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I think our family had tried everything and so far thumbs up! I had the fish tacos and were pleasantly pleased. Service is always a 100! The people who work here have the experience needed for such a huge establishment. Ambiance is like a Mexico Disney Land! I did a photoshoot using a lot of items they had for sale for our salsa. Everything's fresh and the waters were amazing! Ty for making this! Now come to Colorado location Parker Colorado! read more

5 minutes before closing man at front door literally closes door in front of me telling me that they are already closed and even if they let me in the cashiers are closing and I won't be able to shop. What a slap to the face Northgate I hope your employees get better training with a brand new store. read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Photo of me 5 minutes before 9 - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This location is much bigger than the other location. It feel like it has more options. It more spacious. It's bzy ok the weekend. Parking is free. Custoemr is great and fast. read more

A couple of days ago I stopped at Northgate to buy some bread. They didn't have the kind I wanted, but they told me to come back later in the day. I went back and they still didn't have it. I spoke to the store supervisor, Joshua, who made sure I had the bread delivered to my house- hot, right out of the oven- and for free! That's superb customer service. I'm very impressed. Thank you! read more

Northgate Gonzalez Market - Bread delivered to my house. Free! - Grocery Near Me - Santa Ana, California