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[S.F. Jude Terror]

Anyone shop there? Is it worth it?

[bkthomson]

My family call it the $200 pork-chop. Meaning you go there wanting to buy pork-chops and you end up spending $200 on all this other stuff. Costco is very, very dangerous.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

With a family of five though, we spend a ton on groceries anyway. So I figure as long as we buy shit we will store and use, it won't be a waste. Don't intend to buy electronics or anything.

[Benderbrau]

I anticipate Jude buying a crate of Chocodiles

[sdsichero]

I anticipate Jude buying a crate of Chocodiles

Just one?

I don't have to buy groceries or anything (no big family) so although I have membership and do go there now and then, it really isn't that useful for me. They were way better a few years ago, they don't carry as many things as before.

[Victorian Squid]

I found the best Asian grocery I've seen since I left Chicago five years ago and stocked up on all kinds of things I haven't been able to find anywhere else. Curry pastes, Shao Hsing cooking wine, fresh fried tofus, homemade firm tofus, certain kinds of chili peppers, fresh rice noodle sheets (the thick pad see ew kind), giant bunches of yu choy, etc etc.

Hmm...I thought yu choy and choy sum were the same thing and I'm right. No gai lan though.

[Cat-Scratch]

Anyone shop there? Is it worth it?

Yup. It's great for some things you may want to buy in bulk and some stuff that isn't. Not a place to go to on a regular basis unless you have a small fortune to spend each week or so on food, clothes, etc. .

I like it for getting cold cuts, cans of chilli and stuff like felafel. The odd baked good too. My father loved it for those giant family sized bags of chips.

Best to take friends or family with you as a group outing to purchase stuff. Makes it easier.

Stay away from the candy aisle.

[Cat-Scratch]

I found the best Asian grocery I've seen since I left Chicago five years ago and stocked up on all kinds of things I haven't been able to find anywhere else. Curry pastes, Shao Hsing cooking wine, fresh fried tofus, homemade firm tofus, certain kinds of chili peppers, fresh rice noodle sheets (the thick pad see ew kind), giant bunches of yu choy, etc etc.

Hmm...I thought yu choy and choy sum were the same thing and I'm right. No gai lan though.

Really? Never seen anything worth while like that there. But then, this place has a huge Asian community and tons of stores to go to.

[Victorian Squid]

Really? Never seen anything worth while like that there. But then, this place has a huge Asian community and tons of stores to go to.

There are small groceries here, but the selection at them is usually poor and the produce has the not-so-fresh feeling. Or the refrigerated units will seem like they weren't actually plugged in. There is no Chinatown here.

This was the size of a regular grocery store, bright and clean, with good produce and a much, much wider selection considering it is a pan-Asian market and not exclusively Thai or Korean or Japanese, and the prices were much lower of course than I often pay here at specialty groceries. Mostly I would shop in those areas in Chicago so when I moved away it was kind of an adjustment for me. At first, I would walk up and down Kroger's aisles and leave with hardly anything after 45 minutes. Even my friend I took with me today, she said I seemed much more at home shopping there than anywhere else.

So, I was happy.

[Victorian Squid]

This is their chain:

http://huaxin.us/

In 1997, Jay Yang, a native of Shanghai, China began his business with a group of highly educated young engineering professions (graduated from Ohio colleges) in Columbus, Ohio. Yang sold Chinese foods and daily grocery mostly to Chinese professors, graduate students, and visiting scholars who come to the state Ohio as the first generation immigrants. Yang named his business Columbus Asia Market (CAM), after the goal where he put all his efforts to meet very unsatisfied grocery needs of Chinese immigrant families in central Ohio and also to serve as a window to introduce Asian food culture to Ohio Americans.

CAM began its outreach to non-Chinese clientele offering fine food products, kitchenware, and gifts from China. Cam continued to develop and expand its customer base by catering to the needs of the shopper, which now included second and third generation Asian Americans as well as non-Asians. This outreach included expanding the product mix to include more than 10,000 items from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and many other Asian countries. Products such as dry food, snacks, noodles, bakery, sake, can food, on-site prepared food, kitchenware, Asian book, music, and cosmetics are sold with competitive prices.

With more than 13,000 square feet, CAM now is the most comprehensive and largest modern Asian grocery store in central Ohio. Designed and operated by a group of highly educated young engineering professions, CAM demonstrated a good example of combining the modern technology and management system with the traditional Asian food industry. CAM established a strict quality control system. From the very beginning of product transportation through receiving, storage, packing and displaying on shelf, every step has been detailed to strictly follow the operation standards. CAM believes good customer service is paramount. It has been well known for its quick response to customer concerns. Because of the success in Columbus, CAM has opened its second store Cincinnati Asia Market in 2002 and its third store Cleveland Asia Market in 2005.

In the past ten years, CAM is the destination store for Columbus Asian Americans. It is also a window of the Asian food culture for central Ohio Americans. Professors, students, adopted kids families, local residents all use CAM to meet their Asian food cooking needs. To best serve its customer, CAM only selects products from reputable suppliers. Its produce directly comes from California farms. Its meat products are ordered from Chicago. Its seafood is purchased from New York and Boston area.

Current Columbus Asia Market, Cincinnati Asia Market, and Cleveland Asia Market are all located beside the main highway and inside the big shopping center with large-scale parking place. Their shopping environments are big, neat, and comfortable.

Columbus Asia Market not only serves the customer, but also the community at large by promoting Asian food cultures, sponsoring cultural events and shows, distributing educational and informational materials, and contributing to local organizations and societies such as Asian Community Service, Tzu Chi Foundation and Ohio Contemporary Chinese School. It has worked with the Ohio State University Agricultural department to help promote high value agricultural products. As was designed ten years ago, CAM has been serving as a window to introduce Asian food culture to the American society in the Midwest area and also to help enrich the diversity of Columbus city life.

[achilles]

I found the best Asian grocery I've seen since I left Chicago five years ago and stocked up on all kinds of things I haven't been able to find anywhere else. Curry pastes, Shao Hsing cooking wine, fresh fried tofus, homemade firm tofus, certain kinds of chili peppers, fresh rice noodle sheets (the thick pad see ew kind), giant bunches of yu choy, etc etc.

Hmm...I thought yu choy and choy sum were the same thing and I'm right. No gai lan though.

How does that differ in flavor and use from Mirin? It's funny, we've got a big Chinese community right here, (Irvine's practically all Chinese it seems at times), but no real decent Chinese groceries. They all seem dirty and they smell. Not like the spotless Japanese groceries we have. Those have everything, even uni if that's your pleasure.

[achilles]

A tip about Costco. Make sure you've really got the space to store what you buy, especially perishable foods. You'll need a big freezer to make it really worthwhile to get the meats.

[Victorian Squid]

How does that differ in flavor and use from Mirin? It's funny, we've got a big Chinese community right here, (Irvine's practically all Chinese it seems at times), but no real decent Chinese groceries. They all seem dirty and they smell. Not like the spotless Japanese groceries we have. Those have everything, even uni if that's your pleasure.

It is much drier than Mirin and not as sweet.

Yeah, those small 'n' smelly groceries are the ones I try to avoid as well. I know in Chicago, on the weekends people would drive in from all over the surrounding midwest area to stock up on fresher seafood and groceries from the good stores.

[guitarsmashley]

frozen individually wrapped chicken breasts. Fish portions too.

[Victorian Squid]

Costco is for the diapers and macaroni crowd.