Chinatown Food Market

One of a kind experience… Picked up a few things while I was down there this weekend and my kids enjoyed looking around seeing all the interesting things that were for sale. I would go back if I lived closer!

This place has been open for years and was once one of only a few Asian markets in the area. Over the years there have been some improvements but it is nowhere near as nice as 888 international market but it has a decent selection with several different brands of similar products and is so much closer and convenient than 888.
There are several different aisles for snacks, Japanese ingredients, canned food, but the majority of the store’s products cater to Chinese cuisine. In the back is a large freezer section and butcher. This is an excellent place to find decently priced off cuts or more exotic meats. There a large array of fresh fish and seafood that can be cleaned and cut to your preference.
They also have foreign beers and Vietnamese style baguettes perfect for making your own banh mi or sandwiches. Definitely grab a few of these at the checkout.

Although the smell can be a bit strong, this place is so neat! So many different items for so many Asian meals! I love all the unique candies. The noodle selection is ridiculously amazing!

Legit for what you need. I like to get some produce, spices, rice paper, rice noodles, sauces here. They sell live/​raw fish, so yes, there is a smell, but it’s not a big deal. Like another reviewer said, it’s like a fish market on the coasts, but they’re just located in the Midwest. Check it out.

Live Blue Crab!!! Find that anywhere else in Kansas City I dare you! People complain about the smell in the fish market but I have lived in Florida and can tell you every fish market has a smell unless everything is always frozen and never thawed. If you want all frozen and sterile I would refer you to your nearest Walmart. Also, live crawfish/​mud bugs. Awesome! One of the downsides to this place is it can be tricky to find prices on some of the items.

Great store with tons of fresh, frozen and packaged Asian products. My new go-​to place for Asian ingredients.

This place was in the River Market area and I always drove by but never stopped in. The parking lot was small but parking wasn’t a problem especially when I came here with my coworkers on a Tuesday after 12pm. Through the front door, there was only one automatic door to enter and one automatic door to exit. The first section was the snack aisle and I totally missed the Pocky and Hello Panda snacks. Those were on the left immediately upon entering this grocery store. One part of the store smelled like chemicals and was pretty strong. There was one whole aisle that had a lot of different tea which was nice. The rest of the store was nothing special and not a whole lot of choices when it came to produce. I only bought a custard bun ($ 1.59) near the front register since I didn’t really need anything. This place was okay to me.

As soon as the doors open, a strong smell of rotting fish or whatever will invade your nostrils. Be ready for it but do not let that intimidate you from visiting here.
The Kinkin Food truck sits outside. Leave that alone. Reward yourself after you’ve entered this establishment. Inside your nose will adjust to the smell and you will be able to shop. The fresh seafood is in the back.
Asian congee jello to fruits and veggies you won’t be able to find at the American supermarkets, you will find it here. There are even bowls, chopsticks, and other goods. One thing I’ve never seen as many other Asian markets I’ve been to is the freezer where you can purchase meat balls and hotpot items: $ 2.99 per pound I believe.
It’s dirty and a little disorganized. I wasn’t sure where to start the check out and I spent some time back and forth between the aisle looking for items that normally are together at most stores. Worth to visit at least once.

My favorite part about this store is the fish department. Live fish and very cheap. The part that I don’t like is the smell in the store when you go in. Great fresh vegetables and fruits as well.

I love this place for the experience, not for the smells. I love this place for the people watching, teas, kitchen supplies, random finds, but not the fish.
If smells bother you, DO NOT come here. There’s no avoiding it. It’s overwhelming.
I visit at least twice a year. It’s just… I don’t even know. There’s so much to look at and things you’d never expect to see. Shrimp flavored roasted peanuts?
It’s hard to rate this place because it’s not your usual stop or market. Just go check it out sometime.

Perhaps I am biased and is spoiled by the many Asian stores near me, but I was a bit disappointed with what Chinatown Food Market has to offer.
Yes, they do have the fruits that I have grown up loving. Yes, they have the vegetables that I cannot find in ordinary American groceries. Yes, they have my Asian sweets. But they just are not up to par with what I am accustomed to when I do my grocery shopping at Asian grocery stores.
Again, maybe they are the best in the area, but as someone who has so many choices here in CA, I know they can do better. And I do wish they do better and flourish. The people who work there were pleasant and I know that even with the unimpressive first impression, I most likely would stop by again if I find myself in KC.

When I say this market has everything, I mean they have everything. The fish market is fresh and huge. Fresh vegetables and fruits you can’t find anywhere else. I’m there at least twice a week. Great place.

What annoys me the most about this place is the lack of price tags. Majority of the shelves have no price tags on them so you’re to play the guessing game or hope to find an available employee to ask what everything costs.
Cleanliness is an issue. Most Asian markets don’t always look spick-​and-​span but this store makes me think twice about purchasing foods that are not already packaged. Other than that, the store is pretty well stocked.

So this is what I’m saying… They need to clean this place up. It’s starting to get disgusting. The shelves are bare and they are not labeling prices correctly every item I bought was 30 cent to even $ 2 more than tagged. 50% of items are not tagged so you don’t even know what price it is. People are hella rude whether they be Asian or Hispanic… They operate under the assumption that they are the big dogs in a small market and people won’t drive to Overland Park to 888 or Oriental Supermarket.
Drive down to the OP markets… You will get more selection, better service, know what price things are before being up-​charged at the register, and don’t even get me started on the putrid seafood section. Unless you’re a Baller and don’t care how much you spend on Asian stuff and like paying people who couldn’t care less about you shopping there… Then go elsewhere!

Well stocked and fairly priced. A really great and big store with all kinds of specialties fond in the Asian cultures. Interesting produce, and fun pre-​packaged good with exotic ingredients.
Its not fancy, its not gourmet, its more blue collar Asian, and that’s A-​OK by me.

Living in Johnson County, I’ve always been spoiled by having 888 International Market nearby. That place is much bigger and cleaner than this place. This place is a great option for people in the Northland or people who live closer to downtown. Decent selection and fairly friendly to get in and out.

There are a few people reviewing this supermarket that probably shouldn’t be. I may be one of them.
That said, who are we to place our midwestern European values on this store? Yes, Chinese grocery stores smell different than Hy-​Vee, Dillons, Hen House and the others. It’s a cultural thing. The latter also don’t sell pork bung, intestines and chicken feet. Products have a different kind of shelf life in places where people are poor. They sell it here because people need and will buy it. There’s a demand. They’re different than us and that’s a good thing. The rest of the world doesn’t conform to white Johnson County standards. We could all learn a little from that and would be better off if we did.
I keep ending up here and it’s because I keep finding products I dig like Vietnamese phở and Korean ramen that’s way better than the crap most of us grew up with (especially if you lived in an apartment in college). Sour dumplings in frozen form, great canned fish products (eel, sardines, etc.), great hot sauces (Mexican even, several srirachas) and interesting soys. For some reason this store seems to have branched out into a fair selection of Hispanic foods and that might be because they’re employing people with those tastes. Did you notice?
I can entertain myself just by shopping here. My only real beef is the cleanliness. Cultural differences aside, there’s no reason to run a store turning this much inventory and not have someone on staff mopping the floor daily. They could do better.
Otherwise, I’m so glad the city has a store like this, which along with other grocers like Hung Vuong make the River Market area of KCMO a lot more interesting.

Yes, it’s a huge Asian market with a huge fish smell, but that’s not all my friends!
Chinatown is packed full of goodies and hard to find products… and not just Asian products either. They have a large hot sauce section, quail eggs, jackfruit, and all sorts of flour types just to name a few things. They also have dishware, pots, decorations, giant rice bags, etc. Their goods are very reasonable, except the Walmart brand cream cheese I saw for almost $ 3, but I’m guessing that’s a convenience fee?
My only hesitation with this place is the fish market. It’s a «fresh» fish market so you’re going to see whole fish on beds of ice. The smell is strong enough to suggest some of it’s not the freshest, and a close look at the fish’s eyes will confirm your suspicions. I’m sure you can have them dig around for a fresh one, but I think I’ll pass for now. They do sell hard to find seafood here, such as skates (not that I would know what to do with one), live crawdads/​fish, and live blue crab. They also have live lobster.
The staff is friendly and helpful, but they can be hard to catch on a busy Saturday. You may also have a little trouble communicating what you’re looking for, but if one staff person doesn’t understand, then they will ask others who do.
In short, it’s a trip, and I always see something new each time I go!

This place is chaos. Every aisle is stuffed with products, mostly of Asian origin, but also from other far reaching corners of the globe.
I’ve heard a lot of mention of the fish smell and that part is true. It smells like fish. Strongly. It’s better in the store than in the actual fish market naturally, where I really could not linger.
But for fresh, frozen, canned and packaged goodies and exotic foodstuffs, you can’t go wrong.
Japanese candy? Check! Middle Eastern spices? Check! Thai sauces? Check! Crazy soft drinks from places you’ve never heard of? Yeah, they have that, too.
They also carry housewares and dishes and cleaners and gifts and a truly impressive selection of lucky bamboo plants.
This is worth a trip of exploration, probably several.
If you can’t take the smell, just put a little Vicks under your nostrils. ;)

We’re huge fans of a Asian market places and we were a bit underwhelmed by this place. It’s definitely a good place to stop for necessities, but we couldn’t find a bakery and you lose at least one star for not having pork buns available for purchase when you’re this big.
Upon walking in, the overwhelming smell of fish/​ocean/​seafood smacked us in the face and made concentrating on much else difficult. Not sure if the tanks had warmed overnight or what, but it was pretty intense and it’s not something that normally bothers us.
Upon entering you will be greeted by a hilarious sign that displays a number of animals that I think were available for purchase — it includes what we believed to be a rooster, but may have been a coughing chicken. Hilarious none-​the-​less.
The selection of large eyed cats that wave was impressive and the afternoon was topped off by witnessing a family of 6 that was taking turns picking out lottery scratch cards near the exist — pretty sure the 5 year old won a few bucks.
Worth checking out and if they have a bakery it gets bumped up immediately. Large area in the store and if the fish aren’t hazing your olfactory system, I’m sure it’s much more pleasant!