Mid East Market

This place has good energy and the people working there are bright and positive. I love supporting their business. I’m a vegan, but once in a while I will eat some lamb when I feel the need and I’m glad I found this place. Also got some pickles without chemicals in it and spicy middle easter salsa, which was great!

Amazing fresh meat is sold here with friendly service and good prices! I’m so happy to find them thanks to Unilocal!I was craving some lamb chops but was a bit sick of eating out, so what do I do? I Unilocaled for some halal meat in the area and found this. (Halal meat is one of the best meats I’ve tasted so I’m always on the look out for a halal restaurant or a halal meat market.)
And voila I found this place! I went on a Sunday and found the meat display case empty! What?! Then Nazaar, the son of the owner, popped out from the kitchen behind and said they still sell meat on Sundays, it’s just that they don’t bring them out. So I asked for some lamb chops. He brought out a whole rack and asked me to come to the back and watch him slice it up with an ever so sharp electric meat cutter. He also said they raised their lamb in their own ranch in Escondido, all grass-​fed too! The meat was never frozen, big plus!
I went home, fired up the grill, put those babies on my cast iron pan, set off the smoke detector, smoked up the whole house, choked and coughed on the smoke, and finally got to try the chops. Wow, totally worth the hassle!!! The meat was not gamy at all with very good lamb flavor and a delicate texture. I was like a ravenous lion tearing away the meat and fat from the bone with my teeth and fingers. My friend tried lamb for the first time and liked it too!
I also got some pistachios from the market. Really good and fresh. I’m not a fan of the Turkish pistachios though. They taste a bit weird to me. Also bought some Karoun mint yogurt drink for my dessert. Yum!
Can’t wait to try their other cuts!

Love this place. The meat is grass fed from Hanni’s farm here in San Diego. He is a great guy and loves what he does. Great service and can tell you all about the meat raised. Love this place and prices are very good.

The their garlic sauce is the best!!! I use it with cooking, artichokes, eggs, etc. Everyone is always nice when I enter, no complaints on my end!

I am so lucky a friend turned me on to this market. He kept giving me their garlic dip, which is insanely good.
I decided to check out the market myself and it is a wonderful adventure. The market staff are extremely friendly and patient. This is my go to place when bringing food to a picnic or hors d’oeuvres to a dinner party. They have a wide array of dips/​spreads, variety of olives and feta cheeses, freshly made hummus, dolmas and other wonderful offerings, including fresh deserts like baklava.
One of my next outings I’ll come prepared with a few recipes that I’ll research as they have a great variety of spices, bulk beans and grains, meats, breads, etc. Maybe I’ll get some ideas when I eat at the new Al Reef Mediterranean Restaurant in North Park, which everyone is raving about.
The market also has an eclectic selection of cookware and other household items that you likely wont find at most generic stores.
I really need to come and explore more as it seems the half dozen or more times I have been I’m always racing off to a picnic or to dinner with my appies and wine with these scrumptious treats. The last luncheon I served for six was strictly the food I found here, along with a mediterranean salad I made, and everyone raved about how authentic, fresh and wonderful it all was. Several diners said they would make the trek from North County just to buy some treats. The matriarch of the market helped me pick out everything and my guests were excited when they saw the spread I laid out for lunch.
Do yourself a favor and give yourself an hour to have some fun exploring and talking with the staff.
This place is truly wonderful.

If you cook with a lot of spices and enjoy fresh goat and lamb meat, this is the place you want to be.
I have been coming to this place for years and it never disappoints. All the cooking ingredients you could ever want when you are making Indian, Ethiopian or Middle Eastern dishes are here. The owner is a fantastic human being and make sure I enjoy each and every visit, which I always do. You can buy greens and beans by the pound as well as nuts and fruit by the pound. Their Halal meats are delicious, particularly lamb in different varieties. FIVE STAR Market

I have been here before to purchase some unique ingredients. Today I came in for some Pomegranate Molasses. I was also in search for figs. The store had both. The employees (might have been the owners) are always very nice and helpful. They have great spices and seasonings. There are other cool items in the store like coffee and tea sets. I also noticed some jewelry catalogs on the counter, I will look through the catalogs next visit. Parking is a bit rough and their outdoor trash bin takes up too much space.

Found this place when searching for a Halal butcher near where I lived.
Went in, and I have to say the food looks amazing. It doesn’t get much fresher or organic than this! The quality of food is seconded only by the Customer service, they will cut your meat ANY way you want it. Want 10 lbs lamb of Lamb with 1.5 inch — 2 inch haunch cuts? No problem. Also a pleasant surprise, they trim it prior to cutting, weighing, and selling it to you. Try getting your commercial marketplace to do that!
In addition, they readily answered our questions and even asked about how we were planning on cooking it, presumably to ensure a palatable meal would be had.
Finally, they were all too happy to show me pictures of what we selected for dinner. Organic show-​lamb … You can’t lose with this place, If your in San Diego, south of the 52, north of the 54, it’s worth your time to check this place out. You won’t be disappointed!

Epic lamb chops. This is the kind of store I like to buy from and support; friendly and knowledgeable owner/​operator. Totally worth going to if you like lamb.

Excellent store. Truly a gem in City Hights. I have been shopping here for 30 years, and hopefully for another thirty if They’re still there. Nezar, the owners son is insanely knowledgeable and passionate about everything in the store. Their meat is especally recognized to be always fresh and local. They have the best lamb in San Diego. They raise their lambs and goats here in San Diego and bring it in daily! If you don’t try anything else, you MUST buy the lamb. Awesome store.

A wonderful mom-​and-​pop store that will likely have every Middle Eastern spice you can think of. I ended up searching for a Middle Eastern market because I needed some unique spices for a recipe. Mid East Market came highly recommended via Unilocal,so off to City Heights I went.
The market is a bit obscure in the part of town it’s in, so do use a navigation device if you’re not familiar with the area. City Heights is not anywhere near my ‘hood, so I felt like I was in a different world. I definitely wasn’t in Little Italy anymore: o)
At any rate, I had no issues finding the spices I needed. One of the female employees (possibly the co-​owner?) was very sweet and helpful, guiding me to different products that I inquired about. She even patiently entertained my interrogatories regarding marinades.
Because everyone on Unilocal has orgasms over Mid East Market’s infamous garlic spread, I picked up a carton of that (a little pricey, in my opinion). I also picked up a tub of chili sauce. Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of the garlic spread, but I absolutely loved the hot sauce — I’d buy it again.
Unique, great place that I’ll undoubtedly be returning to.

Came here to redeem a groupon for the lamb sausages ($ 30 for $ 50). I was given approximately 5.2 lbs of sausage at an average cost of $ 7/​lb and the guy behind the counter said he was even giving me extra sausage… Where’s the value? Tried to question this but was obviously not getting anywhere so I figured I at least saved a few bucks at the end of the day. Cooked the sausage in a robust pasta sauce… The sausage itself was dry but in the sauce was fantastic and flavor was a bit spicy. Wouldn’t go out of my way to go here again however. Worth a try sure…

This place is pretty awesome. The owner guy is super friendly and always greets you with a big smile. The meat is also a good price and you get a good variety. Totally worth a visit.

This place is legit! At first I thought it strange that the meat display case was empty. But Nazar, the guy working behind the counter, showed me the walk in fridge where they hang their whole lambs and goats. Then he took a whole lamb, split it open, and cut several chops for me to order. They raise their own goats and lambs on a farm in Ramona, all organic and grass fed. Nazar seemed to take a lot of pride in the business.
I ended up getting the lamb chops and some lamb sausage. I havent eaten the chops yet but it’s always a good sign when the butcher tells you to not use any seasoning besides salt and pepper so that you can taste the natural flavor of the meat. The sausage was pretty good even though I way overcooked it since I didn’t realize that the seasoning had a red color! I also got a tub of their garlic spread. It’s delicious but really strong so probably not for everyone. Definitely a place worth visiting.

You must shop at this market. Excellent friendly customer service. Don’t let the size of this market sway you. They are more than just a butcher shop/​meat market. They have a plethora of items (spices, oils, nuts, fresh produce, etc.) My favorites are the spicy homemade hummus, homemade labneh, french feta, spicy garlic sauce, injera bread & freshly made lamb sausages. They also sell goat meat, which is pretty hard to find in the San Diego area. They often have fresh goodies like sambusas and sweet breads. If I can remember I think I’ve even seen borak too. If there is a spice or herb you can’t find at your local grocer try this place I’m almost positive you’ll find it.

At least, it DID get us in the door. But, word of advice, don’t bother with the Groupon. His prices go higher if you pull out that Groupon. But come here anyway. As a regular customer, the owner will treat you well. An enjoyable ethnic experience, this humble, little neighborhood store, located in a very eclectic cultural area of San Diego, is devoted to Middle Eastern, Halal meats, foods, and dry goods.
We came away with a couple of grocery bags laden with good cuts of lamb, ground lamb sausage, and various condiments. The butcher, whom I am assuming is the owner, brought a whole lamb out of cold storage and cut our chops to order. He explained the lamb comes from his farm in the nearby high country of Ramona, and is grass fed. We have yet to sample the meat.
Some freshly cooked, warm half moon-​shaped pastries were near the cashier. Better known as samosas, they came with three types of filling, beef, chicken, or vegetable. The beef was perfect, not spicy at all. The filling was very interesting, a rich green color from the parsley and peas, other spices and garlic, at $ 1 ea. The pastry dough was delicate and delicious.
And the store’s assistant, Karen, got as excited as we did when she noticed our interest. She is quite proud of their products. She took me around the store several times, introduced us to Lebneh, a dry yogurt that she recommended to eat with our samosas, also their homemade garlic spread, and the finely chopped green herbal mix and olive oil that is used to season the beef filling.
They carry many different types of imported feta cheese which we were allowed to taste.
Large buckets of seeds, grains, flours, beans, nuts, dates, lined up throughout the store. You can buy these in bulk rather than by the package.
A very enjoyable experience. For those who live in the San Diego area, be sure to stop by. Bring your open mind, appetite and creative juices. And hopefully, they will share some of their culinary secrets with you.

Great place to try out thanks to a Groupon for $ 30 for $ 50 worth of lamb chops and/​or lamb sausages. The staff was very friendly and helpful. For the Groupon, we got about 10 lamb chops, and they threw in some free lamb sausages for us to try. We grilled both the next night, and they were both very fresh and good. The lamb was fatty, too, so it had a lot of flavor. I liked the flavor of the sausage, but there were too many whole pieces of things in it to my liking. There were some small pieces of tendon/​bone, but on the plus side, there were also whole pieces of garlic.
This store is really cute and sells many items for a good price, like lentils, garlic spread, cheeses, and baklava. The meat prices were also very reasonable. The lamb chops run at market price ($ 12.99/lb at the time), and the lamb sausages were $ 7.99/lb. I will definitely pick up some more lamb if I’m back in the neighborhood.

So I am sure glad to find this place. The lady gave me the wrong cut of lamb, he let me return it & gave me the right cut. Mr. Hani was very nice & professional. Can’t wait to try my recipes.

This place is magical! I’m so glad it’s close to me. My favorites: 8+ different amazing olives sold by the pound, goat and lamb at the deli, homemade hummus, nuts and dates sold by the pound and super nice people here that are happy to help you out. Would like to see some more hummus options, but definitely not complaining. Love it.

As soon as I walked in I was greeted by both the gentleman and the lady in the store. It didn’t take long before I needed the help they so graciously offered already. I had a short list of unknown ingredients. Not only did I get help finding them but the gentleman in the store also offered advise on how to use the ingredients and explained how they were made. I left with more stuff then I originally intended too. Mainly because they had a wonderful and selection of spices/​beans etc etc.
I will definitely be back. Thank you!