WOW! WOW! WOW! What a great experience last week…read more Was looking for a little something special for Valentine's Day and didn't have a clue. I passed by this Italian specialty food shop and decided to go in. Once I walked in I was greeted by the nicest woman, Julie (or was it Julia sorry), asked if I was looking for anything in particular. I told my V-Day dilemma and she embraced it. She started by going over cheeses and meats and telling me how to make a romantic charcuterie platter. It was awesome!!!!! Then we talked wines and man does she know her Italian wines! I spent probably about almost an hour there and enjoyed every minute. At the end I left with a beautiful wheel of La Tur (and if you don't know what it is go in and find out!!!) and a bottle of prosecco. I will definitely be going back and hopefully Julie/Julia will be working. Good job considering how crazy things are. Thank you!

I'm always looking for a fresh, delicious, peppery olive oil for my salads. I happened to walk by…read moreSotto Casa today and bought a bottle of olive oil. I just got home - poured a tiny bit into a shot glass, took a sip, and WOW, it is soooo good. Thank you Sotto Casa! I bought Le Fonti Olio Extra Virgine di oliva Italiano - Fattoria Le Fonti, Panzano in Chianti Italia

This corner produce market is at a landmark location in the heart of Chinatown's shopping area…read more Located at the corner of Stockton and Jackson Streets, this store is better identified at Orange Land (chaang dei in Cantonese) by most old time locals and those who grew up in the neighborhood. I still remember the huge bins being filled with Sunkist oranges or apples from clearly marked Washington State boxes. Let's not talk about the prices back then. Well, the family retired and either sold the business or subleased it to another produce seller for many years. Fast forward thirty years, and those bins are now filled with a variety of vegetables, mostly grown in central California (Jackson vegetable shelves - Yelp). They still do have a small selection of fruits inside the store such as bananas and durian, but vegetables are the focus here now. Wanting to cook my Cantonese version of jia jiang mein (dry noodles topped with a brown bean paste sauce with ground pork and a variety of ingredients). On a weekday afternoon, my mission after trying another store and coming up empty took me here. I was able to get my bag of water chestnuts (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=pkcChPHV2bqVekWFUbVvfA&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) which we minced and added to my sauce. They were fresh and crunchy with little if any bruising or soft spots. I've bought green beans, Napa cabbage, and kaboucha pumpkins here in the past so they do have a decent variety of vegetables. Do be careful under the current situation in shopping here as the walkways to the cashier are quite narrow and sadly many locals still do not observe the social distance protocols as they should. They also offer a limited supply of Asian cooking sauces and condiments on a shelf inside the store. Glad I was able to find a hard-to-find ingredient here.

There are many choices in Chinatown to shop for Asian vegetables, dry goods, condiments, meat and…read moreseafood, bakeries items, Chinese deli foods, and more. But where do you go to shop? Having grown up near Chinatown and shopping there with my parents over the years, I've become familiar as to which stores to shop for specific items as these were their go-to's. Located at the corner of Jackson and Stockton, you can't miss Vegiland. It's gone through several ownerships so the name has changed over the years. There's display bins of vegies by the entrance with bins on the Jackson St. side of the store. This is where I get my gai laan / Chinese broccoli and Yau choy as they are in bundles or packed in bags if you get the mue or the tender stalks of the veggies. The two aisles inside are on the narrow side and to pay, the waiting line is on right side of the store and there are usually two cashiers. The line usually goes quickly. They do have a small selection of condiments and frozen seafood. But for Asian veggies, it's my go-to for freshness and quality.

This is really just for the cashier. They have great prices on alcohol and other stuff, but when I…read morewent to pay for my item a tall, disheveled, lady appeared behind the plastic screen. She rang me up and I gave her my card, since it said they accept cards, and did not specify a limit. She immediately yelled at me! I did not understand her. It's should have been sign for me to just leave, but I found some cash. She got even more irritable with my large bill! It was evident I was not welcome there.

My dear friend introduced me to her "secret" local produce market, a destination that has become…read morepart of her ritualistic Sunday shopping stops. I'm so thankful that she shared this shop with me! It's amazing what $10 can buy here. The selection is always changing, so I go in with an open mind and sans shopping list. Today in the middle of my visit I became inspired to cook a veggie stew with the items I picked out. My crockpot will be full of goodness soon! Today I checked out with 2 giant reusable grocery bags full of goodies for $8.93. Take that, Trader Joe's. My review would've been 5 stars but they were out of strawberries

Huge supermarket. Got some snacks. They offer a big packet. I found similar snack of triangles but…read morebetter in quality and fragrance in traders joe. They have good chinese stir fry sauce like plum sauce, garlic , soy sauce. Very small space to walk around. Cash only.

Since I found myself in Chinatown for lunch recently I wanted to pick up some produce for my weekly…read morevegan stew. At Dong Hing Supermarket I bought: bitter melon okra mushrooms chives jalapeno pepper bell pepper broccoli tomato and okra. All the produce was reasonably priced yet the bananas I was looking to pick up for my daily smoothie were overly ripe Overall this was a great market for vegetables yet decided to get my fruit elsewhere. One exception is they carry durian here which is an exotic fruit that I love and while can be an acquired taste it is hard to find. I would definitely return here the next time I was in Chinatown yet would not go out of my way to go here unless I was going to get durian as a special treat!

Alonso (Mexican) Food is at Kaiser's farmers market. this is the only market i've seen where Alonso…read moresells Mexican food but not baked goods, only cookies. offerings: tacos, enchilada, burritos, tamales, plates, tortas... eats: chicken en mole, asada tacos @3. -large sized tacos with moist, chewy, tasteless proteins salsa/flavoring very bland. -lemon squeeze, chili piece, radish slices. chocolate chip cookies (6/$5) -cookies buttery flavorful with strong white/brown sugar tastes. little chocolate chip taste. cookie hard texture not soft. frijoles refritoes: -food assembled to order. proteins, tamales premade. -only middle east other food vendor. mexican most popular

When it comes to food delivery, Cuchine is my new go-to. Not only is it convenient, it has a…read moreneighborhood feel. I have ordered both for delivery and for pickup directly from the chef, and have had great experiences every time. Since the food is made by chefs in the neighborhood, the food is always hot and fresh (unlike Sprig) when delivered. On nights where I have a little more time I like to pick up from the chefs and have a short conversation with them, they are always so friendly and appreciative that I am eating the food they have spent the evening preparing. The chefs always include a personalized note with the meals which is another thing I really enjoy. I am also very impressed with the quality of the food for the cost. These meals rival some of the best restaurants in the city for a fraction of the cost, and I can enjoy them with my own wines in the comfort of my home ;) Dishes I have tried and highly recommend: -Fried Chicken by Summer -Goulash by Carolyn -Fondue Parmesan by Veronique

This is as good as it gets. Home cooked meals from your neighbors. I ordered a quinoa bowl with…read moreroot vegetables and other goodies. It was delicious. It was delivered to my front door, hot and fresh with an arugula salad and a slice of gluten free banana bread which was also yummy. And the price is right. I will order again and again.

One of several small business, Asian ethnic food stores on Irving Street. They have fresh warm…read moretofu milk in the AMs, sushi (California roll and vegt maki) on the counter and Chinese newspapers. A limited meat and seafood counter off to the side, produce (not very fresh looking) in the rear and packaged noodles, won ton/egg roll wrappers in the refrigerated section on the left. It's not as popular as the larger Sunset Super Mkt down the street but some of their vegts near the front counter (bok choy, Chinese broccoli, etc) look fresher with dark green (not wilted or yellow) leaves. Bins of frozen prawns, tanks with clams & lobsters (seasonal) which are higher priced than Sunset Super. You can find bottles/jars/cans of Asian sauces and pastes, dried/packaged noodles (ramen and others), Pocky stick (the new orange-flavored), Dandy's shrimp chips, Hawaiian soda (Aloha brand) in the fridge. The fresh fruit in bins outside surrounding the store can be cheaper compared to 22nd and Irving market.

prices of vegetables and raw meat is inexpensive & fresh!…read more [what i got:] 1) lean pork: $1.64 (1/2 lb) 2) bundle of green onions: $0.39 3) pack of 4 garlic: $0.69 4) white onion: $0.70 5) salt: $0.59 6) ground pepper: $1.79 (most expensive out of all!) total: $5.80 my face expression looked like this: 0___o then to: ^____^ W-O-W!!!

I love this place for the fresh rice noodles. It's the only thing I buy here, but I haven't found…read morethem anywhere else.