Chef’s Depot

I am not in the food industry and have no idea the wholesale pricing of the supplies and food. Therefore, I cannot comment from the perspective of someone who is in the trade. I am reviewing from a retail customer’s perspective.
The store is an eye opener to me as to the raw materials a restaurant uses. I didn’t know Italian wedding soup comes in powder format, in bulk no less. The second a-​ha moment to me is that the wholesale prices of the non-​meat groceries are not much lower than the retail prices, when retail grocers put them on sale. I wonder if grocery stores sell things at cost sometimes to attract traffics.
99% of the products are sold in serious bulk size, such as curry powder by pound, frozen turkey thighs in 9 kg box. Unless your family is very big, I can’t see you buying for personal use here.
There are some items sold in retail packages, such as bread, La Rocco cake, etc. They are not much cheaper than retail, but they look very fresh. The frozen meat in box is a deal. If you have a larger freezer in your fridge, I can definitely imagine going through 10 lbs of chicken breast in a few months.
We didn’t shop at the café, but I noticed that there was a decent eating area in the café.

The previous review was quite helpful, though lunch is not $ 3 as quoted, but $ 3.99 and up. Tried the $ 2 waffles breakfast and it was quite tiny in portion. Also ordered a cappuccino, which was decent, and the Udon Noodle Soup for $ 3.99 was pretty authentic. Chewy udon noodles with a proper broth. For that price though, it would’ve been better if there were some toppings in the soup. Was told by staff that their sliders are pretty good. One for $ 1.50, and there’s a deal if you get 3 of them. Will give that a try next time~!
Rest of the store is still being stocked, so it’s still a bit sparse. Selection of meats and seafood was great. Just need to work on the other areas.
Free 1-​year trial membership still in effect, but forgot to ask when they were ending the promotion.
Not sure if others will like this, but there were a lot of staff around that approached customers to suggest and introduce new food items.
Looking forward to when they’re fully stocked.

Imagine a Costco that dedicate to food and food only…
That’s what Chef’s Depot is about.
I dropped by during their soft opening (Grand Opening October 7) and as expected a lot of the shelves were empty. There are though some nonperishable good and frozen food available for purchase.
This place is huge and Seafood department looks really promising.
There is also a sit down eat in area, serving $ 2 breakfast and $ 3 lunch?! And Sakana-​Ya, a Japanese Seafood and Fish Market that used to be in J-​Town also relocated inside Chef’s Depot. Sashimi anyone?
The downside is most items are by bulk and membership of $ 25/​year for the shopping privileges. But now they are offering a free first year trial membership.
I will be back again and check out what they have. maybe some foie gras? Never know I might get inspired and cook more!