Hong Kong Supermarket of San Gabriel

I don’t normally write reviews that are less than 3 or 4 stars, but this market has disappointed me every time I’ve been there! How is that even possible? Well read on, my friends!
I usually buy my Asian groceries from Arcadia, but since my mom lives nearby I decided to go back to this market and give them another try. Worst mistake! The checker overcharged me $ 25 on a small bag of peanuts! What?! How can you make that mistake on $ 1.98 product? When my total came out to $ 65 I decided to do some investigating, and I was right! I was duped! They don’t speak English very well, so there is a lot of things they get away with with. This is the second time they did this to me, needless to say, I won’t be back.

Like coming here when I don’t wanna venture too far deep into Alhambra or Monterey Park to go shopping. Currently, it’s called Hong Kong Supermarket, but they’re gonna be called Good Fortune Supermarket in 2016. They’re in the process of renovating right now.
Clean and well stocked market. Friendly employees. Mom likes coming here to buy the Fuji apples and Blue Jay Mountain Brand Oranges. Sometimes, they got other fruits on sale too. The veggies and seafood here are kind of expensive here, but the fruits and meats is what Mom usually buys from here.
I’ll update the stars later on when they have their Grand Opening of their new store. For now, it’s still in Hong Kong Supermarket brand. Parking lot is easy to park in and pretty big. They share it Banh Mi Che Cali.

This is not the cleanest place but you can find things that is more Cantonese than other markets.
I come her once in a while. Bad parking and for sure ding city here. No one seems to care here whether it is their car door or the cart

Good for Chinese daily life. not quite formal but the price is good，all are fresh，just be careful for fruits

Just like every other Asian supermarket, it has anything you can think of in an Asian supermarket. Lol
It may not be the best supermarket because I don’t even think there’s such thing as best. But when comparing to the Monterey Park location, this is absolutely a nicer market. It’s a lot bigger and more organized. Which it has more variety of fruits, vegetables, snacks, etc.

Hong Kong supermarket used to be «the» market for the Chinese in the SGV back in the day. Today that title has gone to the 99 Ranch chain. Such is business.
This market is clean, well stocked and organized. The staff seem friendly and helpful enough. It has what I need. The produce, fresh vegetable, seafood & packaged selections are pretty decent. Parking is never a problem because the lot is large enough and street parking is also readily available

I been shopping there for years. Shopped there so often that all workers in fish department know who I am and my parents. We hardly goes there now because not much of choice of seafood that we like.
Pro
Large variety of section of international foods
Meats is fresher than other places
Large section of vegetables — there always someone keep stocking up.
Vegetarian foods is cheaper than other market
Price is okay
Inside food court
Con
Fish is not a fresh as like usually to be
Seafood tanks always look like it almost empty
Parking is horrible on busy hours except the holiday and weekend. Watch out Asian driver, they will fight over for parking spot
Bag your own foods at Checkout
Worker is not friendly

I don’t know what people are talking about saying this place is rundown and dirty. NOT AT ALL! It’s clean and beautiful and has some of the best seafood deals I’ve seen plus the condiments section is WAY better than the Ranch Market. This place is GREAT.

I’ve been coming to this market for almost twenty years now and it’s just a good reliable market. Not too large so if you are looking for a more unique item, this market may not have it. The prices are decent and the staff is friendly (Asian-​friendly of course) and the market is clean. Yay for that rarity!

Dirty and run down market. They repainted the outside recently but don’t be fooled. You were forewarned. If you want to know what an outdoor market with amonia+beach
smells, please come and visit. If you are in a good mood, stop by the meat or seafood area so you can leave in a bad mood. Their frozen stuff is okay, that’s because they don’t have to prep it.
Go to instead to 168 or Trader Joes, or the Ralph’s in Temple City.

Man, compared to some other grocery stores on this area, this one had definetly got them beat on age. It’s been here ever since I can remember. Selection is not as great as other places, and the store is not that clean ether, but there prices are sometimes less than other places. The parking lot is a bit of a hassle to get through though, especially on busy days.

Don’t ever come here, seriously. I recently went here to buy meat for dinner and I was so disgusted at what these shady people tried to do. I bought a pack of sliced beef which looked really fresh (appearances lie!). Apparently, underneath a layer of fresh beef was a layer of old expiring beef. When I went in for a refund not only were the workers inconsiderate, but also they were reluctant to give me my money back. Please do yourself a favor and save yourself time by visiting another supermarket.
PS. Check out pictures.

Hadn’t been here in a couple of years and noticed, compared to other Asian supermarkets, that this has a lot of flaws. HK is limited in choice, a bit cluttered, and one of the nastiest I’ve been to. Standards in Asian supermarkets are far improved now over the 80’s and 90’s. This one seems to still be in a time warp.
The stench of «seafoo» is all over, which I thought wasn’t an issue anymore in Asian supermarkets. The fruit selection was meh and it can be hard to find items here. There’s no cooking oil around (like Wesson, Crisco), save for ones made in China (which I wouldn’t touch with a 40-​foot pole). I looked for a particular brand of peanuts, and didn’t find them in the snack/​peanut section, but somewhere else in the market.
99 Ranch is substantially better, and I’m sure there are other better supermarkets out here.

You know, I don’t think I like Hong Kong supermarkets too much. This one in particular is lacking in variety, and everything’s a tad more expensive than if I were to go down the street to 168. I usually only stop by here if I’m getting something at Banh Mi Che Cali in the same plaza and need something from the store. Otherwise, I’d rather drive a little further to SG Superstore or 168 to do my grocery shopping.

Not sanitary…
I went here today and I believe I was on aisle 8 and I saw something that changed how I viewed this supermarket. But before I get there, I’d like to say this place has a large variety of asian products and that’s the good part of it. So I was walking down an aisle and I saw Mouse of Rat fece. It was a horrible sight. I was very disgusted and it made me feel uncomfortable. But overall its a pretty good market.

I stopped at Hong Kong Supermarket of San Gabriel on a Sunday evening. It has a wide selection of items crossing over all of Asia. I saw Japanese products as well as Korean and Chinese.
It has a seafood section in the rear. Its meat variety covered all the bases. The produce area was large.
Prices were very reasonable. What’s most impressive is that it’s clean and it smells clean.

I felt like I entered the Twilight Zone upon setting foot in this supermarket, although it is rather small for a supermarket status. This isn’t like most of the Chinese supermarkets. In here, they actually know what customer service means. My sister and I came here to do our weekly grocery shopping. We found some jelly drinks on sale, so we wanted to buy the full box. We didn’t see any, which means we have to ask for help. It would be paradoxical to do that at any other Chinese supermarket, except this one. We actually found an employee who was willing to help us… imagine that. He located the box and helped take it down for us too. Wow!
When we went to check out, the cashier actually greeted us, which hasn’t happened to me at a Chinese supermarket before.
Their grocery selection and prices aren’t bad either. We found all we needed and didn’t pay over $ 30. Not bad for a week’s worth of food. I’m giving this supermarket 4 stores for their service and selection. It’s rare to get this kind of service at a Chinese supermarket. The experience was definitely positive. Now I know where to get my Chinese grocery. And the store is conveniently located within a mile of my house too!

They have a surprising amount of Sichuan sauces here. It’s not just Cantonese as the name would suggest. Fresh fish doesn’t look it, I never see anyone buying. It’s big, and a good variety here. Cheap too.
They are one of the few places around that have WantWant Milk in the can!
Try not to use the washroom here. Seriously. You don’t want to.

I always go here if I need to grab something for a quick dinner because it is on the way home from work. I have noticed that if you come later in the day, they tend to run out of items in the meat section. I guess they only buy a small portion everyday to make sure things are fresh daily. Their beef is priced ridiculously, I bought some frozen sliced beef for hotpot before and it was like $ 8 while San Gabriel Supermarket have them for $ 5 but Hong Kong’s sliced beef tasted better so why not and I didn’t want to drive anywhere else just to save $ 3.
They frequently have specials for their seafood section and very large shrimps sometimes are $ 4.99/pound, tasted very fresh in my opinion. They sometime have dead lobster that they scooped out from the tank for half price, which wasn’t bad either since they check their tanks regularly and scoop out any dead one right away and put it on ice so the dead lobster’s meat is not soggy and nasty like those that has been dead in the tank for days.
(FYI: Bought a dead lobster on ice from 168 Market on Last Tunas once ughhh. Never ever will I do that again! If you are buying a dead lobster, buy the average to smaller size ones. They big ones like at 168 are not good.)
Their chicken meat seem to be healthier compared to other Supermarkets. I noticed that when I boil the chicken breast, there aren’t as much impurities floating in water as the chicken breast from other markets.
By the way, there are plenty of empty park spots to the right of the supermarket but everybody always drive around the front parking lot looking for parking spaces. If you come during busy hours, just park over to the right and walk a bit rather than wasting gas looking for a spot right in front of the market.
If anyone goes by this way often, they are building the 168 Supermarket close by :) Can’t wait to give it a try.

I LOVE discovering the food and culture of foreign soil. It is one of the truly great things about Unilocal to me. Sharing recipes and restaurant tips with friends of a multitude of cultures and backgrounds has proved to be a grand blessing in my life.
Shopping at ethnic markets, I find myself smiling and sharing advice with strangers I might not otherwise meet any other way. I’ve been taught how to pick out a watermelon from a Nigerian woman, I’ve shared my stuffed squash blossom recipe with a kind Japanese woman. I look forward to trying new ethnic shops and restaurants like I look forward to traveling.
The strip of San Gabriel that houses Hong Kong Supermarket of San Gabriel, is an area that does not resemble the United States. I love it. The signs and billboards are all written in foreign languages whose alphabets I do not recognize. –The menus too. It makes me smile to see such an exotic scene in my hometown.
H. K. market was under construction, the first time I went shopping here. The floor was filthy, parts of the store were partitioned off behind plastic sheets. Forgive the construction right?
Incredible prices throughout the store. Five star deals. Especially for a person with allergies such as mine. I’m taking Japanese cooking lessons. Specifically to not be robbed of one of the world’s most delicious cuisines/​the cuisine I am most allergic to. I’m gluten intolerant.
My cart skidded around the muddy floor while I threw bottles of Tamari into my cart at less than ½ the price of other stores. *Especially Whole Foods. If you are turned off by dirt, I would skip this market. I am pretty easy going, so a little dirt on the floor won’t stop me at all.
When I got to the fish department, I witnessed a little blue crab escape his bucket and make a run for it. I tried to tell the man behind the fish counter about the prison break, but he did not understand me. Me trying to hand signal the scene of a runaway crab? Must have made for a hilarious sight! But no one in the fish department spoke a word of English. Lucky break for the crab!
The butcher. Fillet Mignon for only $ 4.99 per pound? Holy smokes! I tried to order a couple pounds from the elderly gentleman behind the counter when my number was due for service. «We all out!» he said despite a huge piece sitting there. I left and walked around the store confused. I was the only non-​Asian in the store. Curse my dirty blond hair for keeping that steak from me!
After failing to find any prepackaged meats elsewhere in the store, I returned with questions. But no one behind the counter would answer me. «We only speak Chinese here! You go home!» Yelled the butcher. His two cohorts just shrugged and laughed. At which point, a kind customer started yelling at the butcher in another language. (what a nice guy!) The butcher yelled back at him. Tender-​hearted me, sulks and leaves the meat department empty handed.
The cashiers were very nice. Other than the incident at the meat department, I found some great stuff for great prices. I left with a little lump in my throat, feeling discriminated. I waited to write a review, fearing my emotions would give an unfair 1 star to the market.
I returned to the market a couple of months later determined to be served despite my nationality. On my second visit, I noted that this is the dirtiest market I’ve ever seen to date. Floor? Filthy. Shelves too. Construction complete. I might wear gloves here if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.
Again, I was the only non-​Asian. I marched in and demanded to speak to the manager. There was no management to be found. «I’ll wait!»
After about an hour, a store manager arrived. Despite how long I had waited, the people behind me were served first with a return. No biggie.
I told him my story about the steak, the butcher, etc. and asked for help securing a steak. *Still on sale for only $ 4.99 per pound?! How do they do it?!
A younger butcher sold me the steak with a smile. The manager told off the older butcher for me, at least I think he did? In Chinese. But I was standing 2 inches from the yelling, and I felt awkward and awful. The manager helped me buy a beautiful salmon fillet from the fish department too.
At the check out, I noticed a charge of 25 cents per plastic bag, no available paper bags. Even the evil giant Ralph’s only charges ten cents a bag for the more planet-​friendly paper bags. I bmo bags.
When I got home. The salmon was incredibly fresh. The fillet was a higher quality than Whole Foods and other «clean» markets. 5 stars for the food.
Although I am only fluent in English, I can order food & haggle for goods in 6 languages. Next up? Mandarin. Then I am going to give the butcher a piece of my mind!
Despite the tough love and the little bit of dirt around the edges, I would return to this market. I refuse to be refused. And so should you.:)