Seafood City Grocery Store

You can find anything and everything here.

Always a great selection of foods, veggies, meats, and fresh seafood. Excellent Asian grocery if you can handle the smell of the seafood while shopping.

Best overall Asian market in St. Louis. But, contrary to the name, I would not buy seafood there. Seafood should not smell. If it does, stay away.

I have been to Seafood city so many times and never thought about Unilocaling them, well… here goes. If you like to cook (I am a gr8cook :), this place has some amazing stuff. Things you would never see in other stores, gigantic live fish they pull from huge aquariums and clean for you or, you can take them home and clean them yourself. Fresh shrimp, clams, oysters, turtles, frogs. The butcher section has all the regular stuff and, cuts I never thought of using before but have made some great meals with. The produce section is my favorite, fresh REAL bananas, the small finger size ones you see in the movies hanging from the trees. The produce choices are vast and always fresh. The place is huge, I think it is a old Schnucks. They also have anything you would need to cook asian style, the dishes and utensils to eat with and all types of rice, noodles and even candies. The frozen section has a multitude of fish, crab, conch, whole tuna. It is an amazing place and if you have not been there, you need to go just for a look.

Called ahead looking for Bronzino (Mediterranean sea bass) which they did not know the answer to. All the worker said was they had a ton of fish. Did not have any other options on a Sunday night so we went to take a look.
Overwhelming smell of putrid fish will immediately hit you as you enter the store. Find your way to the back of the store to see a ton of fish none of which looked fresh. The fish eyes were lifeless and rotten looking. The inexpensive prices will get you what you pay for. Nothing of high quality and of course did not have the Bronzino which we were looking for. Better wait for Bobs seafood to open before walking into this sad excuse for a fish market.

In San Diego, Seafood City is THE place to go to buy anything Asian, exotic, even Latino. This is THE place to go to buy those non-​traditional cuts of meat that most Asians and Hispanics grew up with. You know… brains, whole heads of cows, lamb, fish… innards of all types, chicken feet etc.
It looks as though they have the same things here, but for the most part, a major part of the seafood is frozen solid and the meats, well they look defrosted and just a little weird. Maybe that’s because they don’t have a big turnover at the store, even if they are right in the middle of the Asian part of town.
There is an extensive array of dried, powdered, boxed food, tons of noodles, sauces, spices etc, however, their fresh food and veggie section has much to be desired. My pics show half empty shelves, moldy ‘fresh’ noodles and expired foods. The veggies were wilted and they are bagged separately, so there is no picking through and getting exactly what you want.
I did stock up on the noodles and nonperishables and a couple of frozen soups but honestly, I avoided the seafood and meat section like the plague.
The place is also dirty, lots of water on the floor in the seafood section and the staff is only somewhat helpful, verging on plain old rude. Unless you absolutely have to, try to avoid the bathrooms. Interestingly enough, there were several women in the backroom, right by the bathroom, bagging the veggies and fruits. They all turned and looked at me in fright, then quickly looked away. Hm…

By far the best place to get the freshest seafood in St Louis-​less the fact we are landlocked in the middle of the United States. My mother makes it a point for me to drive her (over an hour away) to this store at least monthly to resupply her Asian stash. Talk about a rice hoarder.
Any way, there is a very large variety of fresh seafood including clams, live crabs, and the occasional bucket of live frogs. The bucket of frogs has become my boys’ favorite reason for making the trip. Lots of Asian finds you can’t get at a traditional Midwest grocery store at reasonable prices.

What can I say? This place is quite amazing! Not only can you get fresh as in «still alive and they’ll kill it at your request» seafood, this grocery store also carries a lot of Filipino products which I have missed so badly. I’ve been to Global Market in Kirkwood and have liked their selection but this place has several aisles of Filipino products, a sizeable variety of fresh vegetables and tropical fruits I couldn’t find anywhere else, and rare ingredients to some of the recipes in my collection.
Starting off in the seafood section: There are several rows of different types of fish including live fish still swimming around in tanks, crabs (live blue crabs even!), shrimp, octopus, squid, live turtles (not that I would ever eat turtles but you know), other shellfish, a good variety of fishballs that you can buy by the weight as well if you prefer and some seaweed. I was a bit overwhelmed by the variety but once I looked up and saw that they were actually fairly organized (names, assigned product codes, etc) and the price was very reasonable, I started having a much better shopping experience. I picked up a pound of catfish nuggets which was only slightly over $ 2/​lb and they cooked up well the same evening I bought them. I also picked up some plain, frozen fishballs but I still don’t know what I should do with them.
Going thru the grocery aisles was a bit of a challenge. I have to admit, the shoppers aren’t the most polite here. They kind of park their carts anywhere they please and they don’t care to move it out of your way even when you say please and excuse me but this is not really the fault of the grocery store owners. I don’t ever plan on coming here when I am annoyed because my patience was starting to run thin after I had to navigate through different aisles just to get back to the other side of the aisle where people were blocking the path. Another thing I noticed and got annoyed with was their parking lot. People were parking everywhere and so many vehicles were not within the lines. Just a fair warning, park away from these vehicles even if you have to walk a bit.
Other than my frustrations, I found so many things that reminded me of my childhood. I found imported snacks and candies I used to be fond of as a child and of course, I bought some!
When I finally got to the fresh produce and tropical fruits side of the store, I had a jawdropping experience and here’s why: jackfruit and more jackfruits! Okay, so many of you reading this might not actually care but as a child, my parents did not allow their children to eat jackfruits for very strange reasons. I always suspected it was because they didn’t want to share. However, I am an adult now and can purchase and consume my own jackfruit so I did just that! I didn’t buy a whole jackfruit but they do sell half of a jackfruit, too. It was $ 1.59/lb and half was about 9 lbs. They also had some dragon fruits that looked way better in quality than the ones I found at other grocery shops.
The store is impressive enough that this next thing I am going to mention will not deter me from stepping inside the store again and buying some things but I feel it is noteworthy. The cashier was a little bit moody. Before she started scanning my purchases, she answered the phone. I am guessing the person on the other line was trying to see if they had a certain product in-​stock and she told them that they do carry it there then all of a sudden, she sounded annoyed and said «I’m not allowed to tell you the price over the phone.» I’m not sure what that was about or if that truly is their rule. If it is, then it’s not a very good rule. Sometimes, when it’s necessary for me to make a purchase but I don’t feel like going everywhere to search for it, I like to call places to inquire so what would be so wrong about asking for the price as well? Maybe she just didn’t want to trouble herself with looking up the product price but I thought it was really bizarre either way. She acted like she was rushed after that and someone else finished checking out the rest of my purchases after she couldn’t find the price for the fish I had bought. Honestly, when I looked at my cart I thought I would have a huge bill but it only came up to roughly $ 70 — I was very surprised! I think this store is reasonably priced compared to the other international market I have been to and I will definitely be back.

It is a giant Asian/​ethnic supermarket stocking everything from bubble tea tapioca pearls to live seafood. I could wander around here for an hour looking at all the different food stuff. The frozen and fresh seafood selection is great.
Be aware of the reek. There is a butcher counter within the store. Smell of carcass and animal fat is pungent although I assume this is common with Chinese supermarkets.

Largest seafood selection. Everything else is fairly expensive. The meat section is not attractive in quality and price. Most of the dried noodles has no expiration dates. Beware. Large selection of veggies, and descend prices. Look for promotional sale for sauces in display. Good deal. Zero customer service. The cashier is all you got if you need any help.

Has a big selection, but it is too big, can’t find things easily. Just be careful to check expiration dates on food items. I prefer a smaller place. The lines are too long.

After lunch March 21, Kat V. and I went here for shopping. It was her shopping. I was only observing and understanding.
It took me a while to write this review, because I didn’t know exactly what to say, since I wasn’t the shopper. So, I coalesced my thoughts and observations and bring you this review.
It’s tough to get into the store considering the smell of fresh fish. Fresh fish is good. The smell is overwhelming. And we had just eaten lunch.
They have every fish under the sea in this store. There’s fresh, frozen, dried, reconstituted, live. Anything you want in the way of fish is here. You can bag your own, get help from the counter folks or get something prepackaged.
Once your olfactories get accustomed to the smell (which for me, was about four aisles down), you’re immune. That is helpful.
There are aisles for every food from another country, and they’re labeled well. Noodles, rice, spices, candy, pasta, anything you could want.
This is a huge, huge store. We were in there a long time going aisle-​by-​aisle. I didn’t see any brand or food that I knew. I couldn’t even read the labels. That’s OK. I was getting educated, and Kat V. was pointing out a lot of things to me in each aisle.
After all those aisles, we got to produce and the frozen-​food section. The produce selections were amazing and seemed to be so fresh — like just off the truck.
Frozen foods were mostly ready-​made products, but some ingredients you would need to make a fabulous dinner at home.
I learned a lot from Kat V. Thank you so much!

My favorite asian supermarket in the STL. I can always find my Vietnamese ingredients I need while here. There seafood selection is a hit or miss, but their meat and frozen foods are always on point!

This is the absolute best place in St. Louis to find that exotic fish or cut of meat that you struggle to find elsewhere. There’s so much stuff, it can be difficult to find that one thing you’re looking for. There’s tons to pick from! Just don’t expect much help from employees!

I have been a long time customer of seafood city! Even whenever I was at its two old locations. They have a great variety in seafood! I come here for their fresh seafood the most! They also have a ton of yummy snacks! If I can’t find something at the Olive supermarket. seafood city will most likely have it and vice versa.

Very fresh fish! You can buy it right out of the tank. Be prepared for the smell and it is freezing in the store but a wide variety of items.

Large seafood section — everything from fish to turtles… gulp.
The cool thing is they will clean and cut the fish for you; I’m not sure if there is an extra service charge for this.
The store definitely has a fishy smell upon entering, and one that permeates the store as a whole, but as a young ABC who frequented Asian grocery stores and Chinatowns, this wasn’t that big of a deal to me.
The aisles are very large and accommodating, and there were a few cashiers in the middle of the day. Parking lot is huge too. Great place and slightly cheaper? than Chinatown Market.

Mussels. Live crab. bottled soy milk. Squid. Baby octopus. Salmon. Giant sea turtles by the pound. I don’t know if I’ve had this much fun at a grocery store in a while. Flavored packs of soy milk «fruit box» six packs. An aisle full of assorted sauces. An aisle of noodle bowls and ramen. Amazing prices. Fresh, at least in the sense that some of the seafood was alive! And grab a pack of the fried plantain chips by the checkout, you won’t be disappointed.

Ok if you like authentic Chinese food and can stand the seafood smell. This place is for you.
You will find all kinds of authentic Chinese brands plus all kinds of fishes and related seafood at not very experience rates.
Place looks congested and doesn’t show a good use of space.
Note: announcements in the store are made in Mandarin or Cantonese. Not sure.

I’ve become a huge fan of the veggie section of this store since my last review here.
They still have a great selection of seafood and they still don’t seem to have my favorite potstickers but their fresh herb/​spice section makes me so happy!
They almost always have super fresh basil, fresh tumeric, fresh ginger, cilantro, culantro, mint, dill, and galangal. I use galangal for my favorite coconut lemongrass soup and I haven’t been able to find it in other stores on olive. I also didn’t see fresh tumeric at olive farmer’s market the last time I tried looking!
For these two ingredients, I decided this place gets to go up a star!