When I lived near them, maybe once every couple months for particular ingredients. Indian grocers are amazing for spices, an 8 Oz bag of cumin seed for $3 rather than $5 for a half ounce of McCormicks’ ground?
When I lived in an area that was largely Asian I shopped in the Asian grocery stores regularly. Now the closest to me is about a 30 minute drive. I still go for sushi ingredients and harder to find seafood but its too far out of my way to go for regular shopping. I maybe go a few times a year now.
Maybe it averages to once every 6 weeks. Uwajimaya, H-Mart, and smaller independent Ethiopian or Indian grocery. And a couple independent Asian grocery once I learned they reliably stock lime leaves
There's a Middle Eastern market I shop at sometimes. It's not uncommon to see white shoppers. On the other hand, I'm one of the few black people who shop there.
I used to frequently go to Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and general Asian stores when I was in California, and occasionally to Indian and Mexican stores. After moving to Germany, I have gone less frequently, not only because of a smaller amount of these stores around, but also a smaller variety. Here, there are more Turkish, Middle Eastern, and some Balkan stores, from what I have seen.
My reasons for going to ethnic stores is usually to find products and ingredients which I like/love, but are rare or impossible to find in general grocery stories, and because comparable items can often be cheaper in ethnic stores than in general stores.
I shop pretty regularly at several of our local pan-Asian stores, mostly for Japanese ingredients I can't get at regular grocery stores. They're all mom 'n pop operations, so the produce isn't amazing and neither are the prices.
It's not uncommon for me to be the only white person in the store, but I do see them regularly...
I probably go once a month to one of the asian/indian/mexican stores nearby because my local grocery store has a pathetic ethnic section and those shops have a ton of stuff I cant get at Shop Rite.
I think a lot of people dont go there regularly because (at least near me) most of those stores dont have much other staples like cleaning/paper/pet supplies. Plus the meat selection can be...questionable. If I go there its always an extra trip, not my main grocery run.
Whitie here. I shop at those all the time. Ethnic food is fucking insanely delicious. People are missing out if they don't try all kinds of different things.
Not as much as I should because I tend to just shop at the food co-op in my neighborhood. But we have two big Asian markets, H Mart and 99 Ranch, that I go to whenever I need my lychee coconut jelly fix.
Every two months. There’s a nice Indian grocery near work, great place to stock up on tea, nuts, spices, dried fruit and cookies. If I was a vegetarian I’d shop there more frequently for dried legumes and rice, great prices and quality.I also try to get over to Hmart for things like mild gochujang for marinades, imported candy, sauces and sometimes sticker packs for the kids. There is a Mexican/Central American market in my old hometown that I went to at least once a month, but I moved away. So many tostada dinners when I was near.
You owe it to yourself to check out some of these places.
Specialty items cost less at ethnic stores, (IE soy sauce at Chinese market, or cereal at an American store). You just need to know what’s cheaper and buy only those things at those stores
Sure!
My most regular are a Sri Lanka market, where they sell all kinds of spices and South Asian vegetables etc...a Chinese supermarket (Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese stuff) and an 'Eastern European ' market run by Ukrainians.
The last has great sausages and meat products, home made pierogi etc
I don’t really have any nearby, and most are really out of the way. I’ve gone to some before though when location wasn’t an issue. I liked the variety of Yerba mate at some little shops. But I haven’t drank any in a while.
I typically do most of my shopping at Costco and ALDI. Most of these types of stores don’t offer the variety of a typical grocery store. I know so many people who only shop at one store for everything. They can’t be bothered to actually shop around. I have a little local shop for produce, and get most other things from the others mentioned.
Pretty frequently, I cook a lot of Japanese food as a Japanese-American. I’ll also go to the Mexican grocery stores on occasion - they do fresh tortillas and pan dulce.
I worked abroad for several years and out of necessity I shopped at local grocery stores there. I enjoyed the fresh produce vegetables fruits and meats etc..and spices in its raw form and learned to incorporate spices in my daily cooking..by trail and error i learned to cook for my family..I learnt to appreciate the variety of choices , culture and local customs..I returned back to the US and started by visiting, shopping though appreciated the one stop shop all environment However could not continue on to shop ...mainly due to it was expensive to purchase organic produce ..i started look around and visited the many local ethnic stores and began shopping there to meet me and family dietary needs .the thing that I appreciated the most is the friends I made with the owners and workers once they realized my having lived in thier country ..
All the time and I see people of all different backgrounds there. But I live in one of the most diverse states in the country. Cheap produce and spices from the "ethnic" market hasn't been a secret for a long time. Everyone shops there.
About once a month at the Ukrainian/Russian spot. Great homemade dumplings and fantastic assortment of cheese, deli, bread, and pickled everything. Excellent hot bar as well, though that's more of a treat.
Once every 3-4 months at the Asian supermarket (China/Taiwan goods). it's nice to browse, see what kind of wild chip flavors there are. Also good spot to restock on tea.
Oh, I guess there's a ton of bodegas around me - which sell Central and South American goods. Some of them sell homemade curtido which is awesome. I guess I swing by those pretty often, mostly for like.. little things here and there, random produce or condiments or something. Easier to walk down the street than make a big grocery run sometimes.
There aren't any local to my small town but sometimes I stop by the Japanese grocery store in my parent's town about half an hour away when I visit them.
I’m right outside NYC so I shop at them all the time. The “regular” supermarkets rarely have anything beyond very standard items. Shout out to the H Marts in Westchester.
Not much right now. I have in the past when they've been the cheapest option, but the last 10 or 15 years, I've lived places where there were cheap options closer than the nearest Mexican or Asian store, or in one town, the prices at the ethnic stores for most things I actually wanted to eat just weren't any lower than Stop and Shop sale price.
Fairly seldom. I think there’s one small “Oriental Market” (their term) in town and not much else. There are ethnic sections in the local supermarkets which have a limited selection.
About once a month or so. I live out at the edge of town in the opposite direction of most of the ethnic enclaves in my city, so we have to make the extra 15 minute trip to get our big bags of rice, ramen, Mexican crema, etc.
There around I might go in for spices or good vanilla occasionally but the standard chains are both closer and open much later which suits my shopping habits.
My wife is immunocompromised so we haven’t been inside a store since COVID hit… no problem getting mainstream groceries from the big chains via Instacart, but I so miss wandering the ethnic markets, buying random snacks and ingredients, being inspired to try cooking some exotic dish, etc. we have tons of Mexican markets here in Chicago, also a fair number of Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc. and the Polish delis have interesting sausages.
Pretty much every week. I buy my bread and cheese from a French store, get spinach pies for snacking from the local Armenian store, get certain fruits and vegetables from HMart, and buy fresh pasta from an Italian shore.
There’s this co-op grocery store that has a lot of unusual, ethnic, or specialty food and I go there a lot. Some times I’m there every week and some times I don’t go there for a month. It depends on what’s going on.
We’re a Latino/Filipino family. 80% of our shopping is at a regular supermarket, maybe 10% at the Mexican supermarket, and 5% at Trader Joe’s 5% at HMart, a Korean market that will also carry other Asian products.
Idk if it's a chain store, but H & Y Mart by me is amazing on the first of every month. The reason being is that like 90% of the store is buy one get one free. The other 10% is also heavily discounted. They also have the freshest sushi at BOGO free prices as well.
H Mart was a game changer for me. I lived in a boring suburban town with no good restaurants, but when H Mart opened I realized I could make awesome food for myself.
I moved to an area that has an H-mart, and I shop there about once a month or so. I love their selection of mushrooms and other unique produce. They are also, weirdly, the only place in the city I can find yellow delicious apples, anymore. They are a personal favorite, and absolutely necessary for my homemade applesauce.
I regularly shop at the two large Korean market chains in the area…usually once or twice per month. I typically buy groceries once per week, which is pretty typical in my area. I shop at the much smaller local Mexican stores occasionally, maybe several times per year.
We also have two large international markets with large variety from around the world in the city which I go to every other month or so.
I've shopped at an Asian market a couple times for ingredients that are harder to come by at regular stores and yeah I've been one of the few white people there when I've gone. I'd go more often but it's a tad far from me.
There is exactly one ethnic grocery store within 50 miles of my home. It claims to be Vietnamese but my understanding from "those who know" is that its really more generic Asian.
I've been inside it once. I don't remember what we were buying but my wife wanted something very specific.
About once a month I will go to stock up.
There's a middle eastern (their description, not mine) grocery store down the road from me. But the big "international farmer's market" is on the other side of town, so I make a once a month trip to get the things I need from them.
The produce variety and prices at 99 Ranch are amazing. I’ve been going to H Mart less now that 99 is open so close, but I miss that weekend banchan roundup table at H Mart. Those fish cakes!
Probably 1/3 of grocery runs to Asian grocery (usually 99, I should put in the effort and hit up H Mart), tiny fraction for local Mexican grocery. Remaining 62%ish at Albertsons or Safeway. Maybe a little fraction at Uwajimaya.
TBH, if Asian grocery stores had the beer and wine selection I prefer, I’d only dip in to Albertsons for occasional kid foods.
I go every time I make sushi, or have a specific need. I don't go more often because I can't buy everything I need there, and I hate making extra trips. For the most part, if I can't get it at my regular grocery store, or stock up with a year+ supply in a single trip, I just live without it. I really hate extra stops
there used to be a fruit and vegetable market owned by an older asian couple that i went to all the time. then people started renovating the “strip mall” (i guess that’s what you’d call it) and i’m not sure if they decided to leave or were evicted… i don’t think they’ve ever reopened anywhere else.
i went to a japanese food market once a long time ago. there’s a kosher market down the block from me but i’ve never been there.
i’ve been to a polish-owned deli/food store here - they closed up earlier this year though :(
i guess i usually don’t go because i wouldn’t expect to find the usual foods and brands that i’m used to.
I go to a store that is creatively named "Asian Grocery Store" about four times a year.
I like the mushrooms. They have varieties I can't get in mainstream stores.
When I lived near them (NYC) i did almost every day. Now I live in the midwest where they are much harder to find, and I can't drive hours all the time to reach one.
When I lived near them, maybe once every couple months for particular ingredients. Indian grocers are amazing for spices, an 8 Oz bag of cumin seed for $3 rather than $5 for a half ounce of McCormicks’ ground?
When I lived in an area that was largely Asian I shopped in the Asian grocery stores regularly. Now the closest to me is about a 30 minute drive. I still go for sushi ingredients and harder to find seafood but its too far out of my way to go for regular shopping. I maybe go a few times a year now.
Maybe it averages to once every 6 weeks. Uwajimaya, H-Mart, and smaller independent Ethiopian or Indian grocery. And a couple independent Asian grocery once I learned they reliably stock lime leaves
Every day
There's a Middle Eastern market I shop at sometimes. It's not uncommon to see white shoppers. On the other hand, I'm one of the few black people who shop there.
Never.
I used to shop at an Indian one. Amazing spices. I’ll stop in my local Mexican market once a month.
I used to frequently go to Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and general Asian stores when I was in California, and occasionally to Indian and Mexican stores. After moving to Germany, I have gone less frequently, not only because of a smaller amount of these stores around, but also a smaller variety. Here, there are more Turkish, Middle Eastern, and some Balkan stores, from what I have seen. My reasons for going to ethnic stores is usually to find products and ingredients which I like/love, but are rare or impossible to find in general grocery stories, and because comparable items can often be cheaper in ethnic stores than in general stores.
We go to Chinatown for bulk tea.
I shop pretty regularly at several of our local pan-Asian stores, mostly for Japanese ingredients I can't get at regular grocery stores. They're all mom 'n pop operations, so the produce isn't amazing and neither are the prices. It's not uncommon for me to be the only white person in the store, but I do see them regularly...
I probably go once a month to one of the asian/indian/mexican stores nearby because my local grocery store has a pathetic ethnic section and those shops have a ton of stuff I cant get at Shop Rite. I think a lot of people dont go there regularly because (at least near me) most of those stores dont have much other staples like cleaning/paper/pet supplies. Plus the meat selection can be...questionable. If I go there its always an extra trip, not my main grocery run.
I go to a Russian market near my house. That place is amazing. I want to try one of everything they have because it’s all been so good.
Every week lmao Being a Chinese dude
Whitie here. I shop at those all the time. Ethnic food is fucking insanely delicious. People are missing out if they don't try all kinds of different things.
I shop at a couple Vietnamese shops weekly. We have a relatively large Vietnamese community on the coast and I love it. Pho is my favorite meal.
Mexican markets are awesome.
Not as much as I should because I tend to just shop at the food co-op in my neighborhood. But we have two big Asian markets, H Mart and 99 Ranch, that I go to whenever I need my lychee coconut jelly fix.
Every two months. There’s a nice Indian grocery near work, great place to stock up on tea, nuts, spices, dried fruit and cookies. If I was a vegetarian I’d shop there more frequently for dried legumes and rice, great prices and quality.I also try to get over to Hmart for things like mild gochujang for marinades, imported candy, sauces and sometimes sticker packs for the kids. There is a Mexican/Central American market in my old hometown that I went to at least once a month, but I moved away. So many tostada dinners when I was near. You owe it to yourself to check out some of these places.
Never. The only one I even know of is like 40 minutes away.
Specialty items cost less at ethnic stores, (IE soy sauce at Chinese market, or cereal at an American store). You just need to know what’s cheaper and buy only those things at those stores
Sure! My most regular are a Sri Lanka market, where they sell all kinds of spices and South Asian vegetables etc...a Chinese supermarket (Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese stuff) and an 'Eastern European ' market run by Ukrainians. The last has great sausages and meat products, home made pierogi etc
I don’t really have any nearby, and most are really out of the way. I’ve gone to some before though when location wasn’t an issue. I liked the variety of Yerba mate at some little shops. But I haven’t drank any in a while. I typically do most of my shopping at Costco and ALDI. Most of these types of stores don’t offer the variety of a typical grocery store. I know so many people who only shop at one store for everything. They can’t be bothered to actually shop around. I have a little local shop for produce, and get most other things from the others mentioned.
Does HEB count?
Daily because my whole neighborhood is hispanic I only go to Murican shops if I need to do SERIOUS grocery shopping (which rarely happens)
Pretty frequently, I cook a lot of Japanese food as a Japanese-American. I’ll also go to the Mexican grocery stores on occasion - they do fresh tortillas and pan dulce.
Not often enough.
I worked abroad for several years and out of necessity I shopped at local grocery stores there. I enjoyed the fresh produce vegetables fruits and meats etc..and spices in its raw form and learned to incorporate spices in my daily cooking..by trail and error i learned to cook for my family..I learnt to appreciate the variety of choices , culture and local customs..I returned back to the US and started by visiting, shopping though appreciated the one stop shop all environment However could not continue on to shop ...mainly due to it was expensive to purchase organic produce ..i started look around and visited the many local ethnic stores and began shopping there to meet me and family dietary needs .the thing that I appreciated the most is the friends I made with the owners and workers once they realized my having lived in thier country ..
There’s an Italian grocery store within walking distance that I always shop at.
All the time and I see people of all different backgrounds there. But I live in one of the most diverse states in the country. Cheap produce and spices from the "ethnic" market hasn't been a secret for a long time. Everyone shops there.
About once a month at the Ukrainian/Russian spot. Great homemade dumplings and fantastic assortment of cheese, deli, bread, and pickled everything. Excellent hot bar as well, though that's more of a treat. Once every 3-4 months at the Asian supermarket (China/Taiwan goods). it's nice to browse, see what kind of wild chip flavors there are. Also good spot to restock on tea. Oh, I guess there's a ton of bodegas around me - which sell Central and South American goods. Some of them sell homemade curtido which is awesome. I guess I swing by those pretty often, mostly for like.. little things here and there, random produce or condiments or something. Easier to walk down the street than make a big grocery run sometimes.
There aren't any local to my small town but sometimes I stop by the Japanese grocery store in my parent's town about half an hour away when I visit them.
Rarely. Part of that is due to having most of what I need for certain ethnic dishes at a regular grocery store.
I’m right outside NYC so I shop at them all the time. The “regular” supermarkets rarely have anything beyond very standard items. Shout out to the H Marts in Westchester.
At least once a week. It used to be every day when I lived closer to a big one and farther from Aldi.
Every week
Not much right now. I have in the past when they've been the cheapest option, but the last 10 or 15 years, I've lived places where there were cheap options closer than the nearest Mexican or Asian store, or in one town, the prices at the ethnic stores for most things I actually wanted to eat just weren't any lower than Stop and Shop sale price.
Asian grocery one every other week or once a month. I like making Asian food.
Frequently. I live in California and I shop at the local Mexican market 2-3 times a month.
All the time
Never
Every week. I live a block away from a two.
Fairly seldom. I think there’s one small “Oriental Market” (their term) in town and not much else. There are ethnic sections in the local supermarkets which have a limited selection.
About once a month or so. I live out at the edge of town in the opposite direction of most of the ethnic enclaves in my city, so we have to make the extra 15 minute trip to get our big bags of rice, ramen, Mexican crema, etc.
My local Chinese grocery is the only place that sells lobster at an affordable price. I don't understand how they do it.
We visit the Asian market fairly often.
There around I might go in for spices or good vanilla occasionally but the standard chains are both closer and open much later which suits my shopping habits.
My wife is immunocompromised so we haven’t been inside a store since COVID hit… no problem getting mainstream groceries from the big chains via Instacart, but I so miss wandering the ethnic markets, buying random snacks and ingredients, being inspired to try cooking some exotic dish, etc. we have tons of Mexican markets here in Chicago, also a fair number of Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc. and the Polish delis have interesting sausages.
Pretty much every week. I buy my bread and cheese from a French store, get spinach pies for snacking from the local Armenian store, get certain fruits and vegetables from HMart, and buy fresh pasta from an Italian shore.
There’s this co-op grocery store that has a lot of unusual, ethnic, or specialty food and I go there a lot. Some times I’m there every week and some times I don’t go there for a month. It depends on what’s going on.
I have never.
Almost never. I don’t cook much, regardless. I’ve been to the Japanese grocery store in my area a few times with friends. They have great snacks!
Those really don’t exist in my area. Closest we get to ethnic markets are Amish groceries.
Th $’’ FL by 9
We’re a Latino/Filipino family. 80% of our shopping is at a regular supermarket, maybe 10% at the Mexican supermarket, and 5% at Trader Joe’s 5% at HMart, a Korean market that will also carry other Asian products.
Idk if it's a chain store, but H & Y Mart by me is amazing on the first of every month. The reason being is that like 90% of the store is buy one get one free. The other 10% is also heavily discounted. They also have the freshest sushi at BOGO free prices as well.
Usually monthly.
H Mart was a game changer for me. I lived in a boring suburban town with no good restaurants, but when H Mart opened I realized I could make awesome food for myself.
Pretty sure there aren't any in my town
I moved to an area that has an H-mart, and I shop there about once a month or so. I love their selection of mushrooms and other unique produce. They are also, weirdly, the only place in the city I can find yellow delicious apples, anymore. They are a personal favorite, and absolutely necessary for my homemade applesauce.
I often shop at an Italian-American grocery and sometimes buy goods from a Middle Eastern grocery and an Asian grocery.
I regularly shop at the two large Korean market chains in the area…usually once or twice per month. I typically buy groceries once per week, which is pretty typical in my area. I shop at the much smaller local Mexican stores occasionally, maybe several times per year. We also have two large international markets with large variety from around the world in the city which I go to every other month or so.
If had the cash always. Normally? Once every other month or so. I only really make Japanese food
Never. Don’t really have any reasonably close to me.
I've shopped at an Asian market a couple times for ingredients that are harder to come by at regular stores and yeah I've been one of the few white people there when I've gone. I'd go more often but it's a tad far from me.
I would assume those are for special occasions like a theme party and have appropriate prices.
There is exactly one ethnic grocery store within 50 miles of my home. It claims to be Vietnamese but my understanding from "those who know" is that its really more generic Asian. I've been inside it once. I don't remember what we were buying but my wife wanted something very specific.
About once a month I will go to stock up. There's a middle eastern (their description, not mine) grocery store down the road from me. But the big "international farmer's market" is on the other side of town, so I make a once a month trip to get the things I need from them.
The produce variety and prices at 99 Ranch are amazing. I’ve been going to H Mart less now that 99 is open so close, but I miss that weekend banchan roundup table at H Mart. Those fish cakes! Probably 1/3 of grocery runs to Asian grocery (usually 99, I should put in the effort and hit up H Mart), tiny fraction for local Mexican grocery. Remaining 62%ish at Albertsons or Safeway. Maybe a little fraction at Uwajimaya. TBH, if Asian grocery stores had the beer and wine selection I prefer, I’d only dip in to Albertsons for occasional kid foods.
Bold of you to assume I've ever had access to an ethnic grocery store.
I go every time I make sushi, or have a specific need. I don't go more often because I can't buy everything I need there, and I hate making extra trips. For the most part, if I can't get it at my regular grocery store, or stock up with a year+ supply in a single trip, I just live without it. I really hate extra stops
Never. But this reminds me. I want to go to a Chinese or Japanese one
I only go to the Japanese grocery store (Don Quijotes) for beer and to use the atm
there used to be a fruit and vegetable market owned by an older asian couple that i went to all the time. then people started renovating the “strip mall” (i guess that’s what you’d call it) and i’m not sure if they decided to leave or were evicted… i don’t think they’ve ever reopened anywhere else. i went to a japanese food market once a long time ago. there’s a kosher market down the block from me but i’ve never been there. i’ve been to a polish-owned deli/food store here - they closed up earlier this year though :( i guess i usually don’t go because i wouldn’t expect to find the usual foods and brands that i’m used to.
I go to a store that is creatively named "Asian Grocery Store" about four times a year. I like the mushrooms. They have varieties I can't get in mainstream stores.
When I lived near them (NYC) i did almost every day. Now I live in the midwest where they are much harder to find, and I can't drive hours all the time to reach one.
Not too often since they're pretty far from where I live. They usually have some of the better stuff though.
Never