Tian Lai is a little grocery store but they pack in all the basic necessities anyone cooking Asian cuisine could generally want. The store is well kept and prices are fair for the area. They have pantry items, sauces, baked goods, snacks, fresh vegetables, and frozen items just to name a few of their selections. Some examples of items I saw when shopping: - Baby bok choy - Dark and light soy sauce - Star anise - Black cardamom - Mei fun noodles Service was speedy and prompt. If you're in the area Asian grocery stores can be limited so this is a decent option for supplies. read more

I love this pace. It has everything I need for Asian cooking. The prices are very good, especially for fresh vegetables. The people are very nice. read more

I love this grocery store! It's definitely smaller but you'll find everything and anything you're looking for. Plus the staff is so nice! There's a lot of things I can't find at 88 marketplace even so if you're in the northwest suburbs definitely check it out! So good!! read more

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the rough translation of the name "From heaven?" I dunno about that, but holy crap... five full plastic bags full of tofu, meat, and veggies... for only $40. Only at an Asian grocery store. Given the small floor plan, there's only so much that'll fit, but it's a pretty convincingly serious selection considering the constraint. I wouldn't recommend the quality of the greens, but the meat looked in good order and the freezers were stocked. If the Chinese church-going evangelists out front try to sucker you into coming to their Sunday morning service, do like I do: pretend you don't speak a lick of Mandarin. read more

Tian Lai Asian Mart - biz card - Grocery Near Me - Palatine, Illinois

Although this place is somewhat of a drive for me, but when im craving some asian food and dont want to drive all the way to china town, i come here. I know on the weekends, they bring back tons of bread (buns) and roast duck, chicken etc.. from China town. They have a small variety of produce that you may not find at regular grocery stores. Their meat section at the back is VERY fresh too. This place does not smell like some of the asian marts that some people might remember. Fairly clean, well priced and have a good variety of items you may need. They also have a good selection of instant noodles and canned goods as well. I usually stop by on the weekends between 10:30-11AM. This is when the variety of the cooked foods they bring back is fresh and stocked up. You may also call and have them reserve things for you if you'll be there late. This place is located in a plaza, next to sushi para and this indian restaurant, while kinda surrounded by car dealerships. read more

This Chinese grocery mart is at the end of the strip mall next door to Sushi Para and sells primarily nonperishable packaged and canned foodstuffs (i.e. noodles, sauces, candy [Hi Chew!]), some frozen (dumplings), a bit of produce (i.e. gai lan/Chinese broccoli), live seafood (fish, sometimes crab), and dining utensils. Prices vary - some things are hella cheap (chopsticks), while some of the nonperishables are pricier than I'd find elsewhere. They no longer seem to have Qupie (Japanese) mayo. Bummer. Just a FYI - beware of mislabeled items. I thought we were buying a container of jelly candies (as it was labeled on the front), but when we got home and opened some, found that they were little chocolate-hazelnut cookie rolls. Turns out the back label noted they were chocolate-hazelnut. Erm? They're good, though. Just check packaging in case there may be discrepancies! Other than that, if you're unfamiliar, it's a neat cultural experience to browse a bit, especially if you're dining next door or at Pita Pita and have some time to kill. read more

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Save a trip downtown if you want Chinese kitchen products. They have a good selection of sauce and staples for Asian cooking and the best part is the prepared foods sold on the weekends. Chinese roast duck and BBQ pork plus other prepared foods. A busy place! Prepared foods are from Richwell which has a branch in Skokie. read more

I love this shop!! Its right next door to Sushi Para. They have a good selection of meats/seafood and veggies. I always get the spare ribs whenever I am here. The person who prepares the meat speaks English and take instructions well. For example I purchased 5 lbs of spare ribs and wanted them packaged in 3 bags,he did it for me.In other places I have to use sign language. It was here that I discovered egg tofu and seafood balls( found in the freezer section). The owner is always at the checkout, she is very pleasent. I was looking for scheuzan peppercorns and couldn't find it, she helped me out and also, gave me suggestions on substitutes for some other items. The vegetables are fresh and grit free. I love the water spinach, when I get it from other places, I usually have to wash the veggies N number of times, before it is grit free. They have bakery items, I have never purchased them so I do not know how good they are. I see the Chinese/Korean people buying them by the armload, so I am guessing it must be good. The only down side, sometimes it smells really bad.It happened twice in umm maybe the 20 times ish I have been here. read more

This is where I go to get my red cargo rice that I can't find anywhere else. I find it to be very reasonable at 6.99 for a 5 lb bag when the same bag goes for $20 + shipping on Amazon. The store is 3 isles wide & it was a little hard to move around in b/c it's been crowded the 2 times I've been there. I'm not familiar with a lot of Asian foods but they offer fresh meat & vegetables as well as packaged noodles, candies, crackers, dried foods, & condiments. They also have medicines & supplements behind the counter. I don't think the cashier spoke much English so I couldn't really ask any questions about them. If your looking for a hard to find item there might be a chance you could find it here. read more

Tian Lai Asian Mart - 6.99 for a 5 lb bag of rice. - Grocery Near Me - Palatine, Illinois

My friend purchased a tilapia and I believe some small items such as ginger and cilantro. All of this fresh and delicious stuff for less than $10 and when we brought it home to make a dinner a few minutes later, it was AMAZING! Lots of Asian staples and typical of other Asian grocery stores around the country. Some workers speak native Mandarin; others speak Vietnamese but don't be deterred if you speak neither. We got our service in English. read more

Great products but didn't seem very clean. The crabs were just in cardboard boxes and the water that the fish were swimming in looked filthy. read more

Tian Lai Asian Mart - Crabs in a box - Grocery Near Me - Palatine, Illinois

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Great selection and not bad prices. I was able to find what I was looking for pretty quickly ...litte bags of szechwan peppercorns for about $2.50 each The girl in line in front of me tried to use a card to pay for $8 worth of stuff and the woman made her pay with cash!!? So of course I heard that and plunked my card down for my mere $10 worth of goodies. Not sure why but she didn't say a word to me. So maybe bring cash for purchases under $10? I dunno. What else, what else....oh it's small and it smells kinda funky due to all the conflicting odors. read more

Most of the products are expired. You can check expire dates on the bags. Can't believe they are still for sale in the store.

The staff is really nice and patient. The kinds of merchandise are abundant. There are kitchen supplies，fresh meat，vegetables，fruit，snack and OTC drug. And they have cookied food and fresh fish from Friday to Sunday. The price is reasonable. I'm really satisfied everytime. On weekends，it's really crowded！ read more

Seriously, what's wrong with the Chinese groceries stores in Chicago area? The ones in Chinatown are crowded and small, the ones in the suburbs are even smaller, less items to choose from, and more expensive! The checkout line is long, especially weekend, because the store does not have barcode system. There're only three isles, selling basic items... and sadly this is the "better one" around the area. (Compared to Family Oriental Mart in Vernon Hills, which maybe selling a hundred items, and Asian Mart in Mundelin on Townline). And 5 stars for this store because it's selling the tufu and seafood balls and next to Sushi Para, which charges $17 and fill you up with rice? Com'on... The only thing I recommend is the egg tarts that they sell. I don't know where they get them, but they're good. I'd love to know which bakery makes them. By the way, you can only use Credit Card if your transaction is over $20. read more

This is a really nice Chinese grocery store. It carries everything you need to cook authentic Chinese meals. So it doesn't carry hundreds of items, but you don't need hundreds of ingredients to cook. And wow check out the huge bags of brown rice. I LOVE this store! read more

All i have to say is, after checking out several asian grocers in the area: asian mart in mundelein, mitsuwa in arlington heights and seoul market is buffalo grove, and h mart in niles, i have finally found my asian grocer nearby that i can depend on for my asian food staples. The prices here are reasonable and not outrageous such as asian mart, where the only reason why they are in business is due to the fact people dont want to drive all the way to chicago, but they doubled the price on everything. Mitsuwa has a better food court than actual grocery, plus i am not huge into japanese grocery. Seoul market, the lady is pushy and it's all korean based. H mart in niles, also ver korean based, rude cashier, confusing isles, the farthest from the burbs. This place has your dumplings, mainly pork based though, 1 selection of veggie and 1 chicken. A full isle of egg noodles and rice noodles. 1 full isle for sauces. Two isles od freezer goods like seafood, scallion pancakes, buns, soy noodle. Baked good by the register, a decent produce section that is fairly priced. Free chinese newspaper if you can read chinese. 2 cash registers, $20 minimum for credit and debit card transactions. A good selection of jasmine rice. I think you can also order chinese medicine here, i saw someone picking up their order. The store clerks were very friendly, asked if i needed help, said thanks after i checked out and said bye to me when i left. Also there is no detectable odor at this store, which is surreal for any ethnic grocer. I will be back!! read more

Still consistently dependable. Credit card minimum upped to $20. Chinatown birthday cakes are available for order to be picked up at store with advance notice. read more

Reasonable price but the cashiers are rude. They make a big deal about accepting card payment if you buy something less than 20 dollars. one time the cashier literally yelled at me because I don't have cash on me and she doesn't want to accept my card payment since it's under 20 dollars. read more

If you're looking for a decent Asian Grocery Store in the North Suburbs of Chicago, then this is it! Asian Grocery Stores are great because you can find some frozen foods, vegetables, and sauces that you cannot buy at a normal grocery store. You also tend to spend less at Asian Grocery Stores for how much you buy compared to places like Jewel Osco, Dominicks, and Whole Foods. read more

For a little hole in the wall place, this Asian store is a good place go with a better selection than I thought they'd have. The owner or guy that just works there was nice and friendly too. I do hear that on weekends this place gets packed. read more

Be very careful what you purchase here. Some of the food products they sell (such as bakery) are expired.

Tian Lai store was a good local store when it started years ago. The ownership has changed hands several times. The current store practice become dishonest and cheating: 1) on-shelve item prices do not match the cashier counter changes. 2) The LCD displays facing customers are removed, so customers do not see the actual charge at the check out til reviewing receipt after shopping. For example, Beijing yugurt in the cooler near the meat counter is priced for $.99/cup, at the cashier, it is charged for $1.99 (when I asked the cashier after reviewing my receipt, I was told that $.99 tag was for bean spouts which was on left side of the same cooler.) Another example a 5-lb bag of sugar labeled for $.99, cashier charged for $3.99. These may seem to be a minor misunderstanding on customer side,, but mix matching product and price tags on shelves are designed to mislead customers, and customers can see the actual at the cashier live. Overall, shopping at Tian Lai becomes a unpleasant, trap avoidance experience for customers. The dishonest practice should stop. read more