99 Ranch Market

Ranch 99 Market is located in Kearny Mesa just east of the 805. The store is primarily a grocery store, but there are also little noodle counters as well. The grocery store features a wide variety of asian foods, including items from Thailnad, Vietnam, China and Japan. I even found a few Indian things. The fish section has live fish, as well as a lot of different whole fish. There is also a fresh bakery as well as a take out deli with all kinds of yummy dishes. The most fun is just to peruse the store and discover something new. There is also a small housewares section that sells soup bowls and other asian-style dishes. Parking is ok. Easiest to park on the side of the store and walk around. more

This is the Vons or Albertson's equivalent for an oriental grocery store, and then some. The sheer size of this place always impresses me, but not as much as when I find something new in there for the first time. They have all kinds of oriental foods, with large selections of noodles, pastries, juices, sauces, and other goodies to make you a superstar oriental chef. But the most impressive thing about this place is the ginormous selection of fresh fish and crustaceans to rival any fish market on the east coast. The prices are better than reasonable and the place is also exceptionally clean. Two big thumbs up. more

My mom lives near Monterey Park, mecca to the 99 Ranch and all large asian grocery stores. So I guess I am a little spoiled in that regard. The 99 Ranch in Clairemont Mesa is a smaller, grimier version of the ones you will find in LA (or northern CA or WA for that matter). The produce section is large in size, but you really have to check and double-check whatever you are buying for freshness. I can't tell you how many fruits or veggies that I have brought home only to discover that they were in pretty sad condition. I don't know about you, but the meat department there kind of scares me and I would never consider buying seafood there as it is on the smelly side. One of the main reasons that I originally would go to the 99 Ranch is they have this particular kind of tofu I like. Unfortunately, for some reason or another, they don't seem to believe in stamping it with a freshness date and it's packaged so you have no idea how fresh it is. The other thing I make the trek out there for is the enormous sacks of rice. They used to have a bakery but it seems to have been outsourced, so now it is just trays with baked goods. If you need help finding something or need any sort of special assistance, I can tell you right now that you might as well forget about it. 99 Ranch is not exactly going to win awards with its idea of customer service. The cashiers are usually pretty surly too. 99 Ranch has pretty good prices on its dried goods and sauces. I also pick up my "Little Schoolboy" cookies (from France) there as they are always cheapest there. It probably has the best selection of Asian foods in the San Deigo area, but that doesn't mean it's all that great. If a nicer, cleaner, friendlier store came along, I'd be there in a heartbeat. more

While most Asian stores wreck of fish, this one doesn't. They store is overall pretty clean and is all pretty organize. The workers don't know English very well but with practice, you will be able to communicate with them through signing and hand motions. This super market also has a strip of misc. chain stores inside. You can be shopping for jewelery walk a few paces and buy car parts. You can't do that anywhere else. There's a little restaurant in there as well that is a Must try since they have noodles for less than 3 dollars a bowl. more