A & C Supermarket

This Asian supermarket is located right by where I live so it’s my «go to» store. I like to stop in during the morning hours. There aren’t many people there during the morning unless it’s a Sunday. I’ve been on Sunday’s before and it’s like a scene from China town where everyone is fighting for the best veggies and seafood (reminds me of San Fran — China town in the mornings).
I’ve checked out the food bar but nothing ever looks appetizing to me.
There are many cash registers but there are only one that’s open. Most times, it’s just one cash register which creates a long line. Overall, it has everything that you need to cook Asian dishes.

Cheaper than Grand Asia Market. The same thing sold here is cheaper than Grand Asia market

It’s nice to know that I don’t have to drive all the way to Cary or «North Raleigh» to get Asian grocery items. Yeah, Grand Asia is the more popular place but where I live (⁴²⁄₅₀) A&C is more convenient and has everything I need for basic Asian cooking. That and it’s on my way home from NCSU. They have fresh produce, fresh seafood, plenty of cookware and kitchenware for the home. For more unique items, I will go to Grand Asia for Chinese, S Mart for Korean items or Bitter Melon in Angier for Filipino and Toyo Shokuhin for Japanese foods. The «restaurant» side is not bad either, especially when you get there just when the food comes out hot! Yummy. I just wish we had more choices closer to Garner but only time will tell.

If you’re shopping for groceries, the safer bet would be to shop at Grand Asia. You may find some things cheaper here but be careful as many items are past due. It really only earns at least three stars from me because of the awesome meal you can buy in the dining area. As someone has mentioned below, it is a LOT of food. $ 4.99 w/​student ID and $ 5.79 without. Great tasting food. You get rice and you get three choices of what you want. I would recommend the sweet pork, chicken, and spicy chicken. I won’t be returning to shop here but rather to get really good, really affordable lunch/​dinner.
Edit: I came back a dropped one star on the food area because if you’re eating, and the guy just decides he wants to clean the floor, he won’t give two sh*ts about that fact that you’re eating. He will mop your feet and everything. So be aware, if you eat here after 7pm-​ish, get it to go. Because the guy will mop right beside you with whatever chemical and it will be all you smell.

If you know what you’re looking for they have a lot of fantastic ingredients for a wide variety of Asian cuisines. The restaurant in the front of the store is pretty good too, although not as good as the one at Grand Asia in Cary.

I’ve always wanted to stop in and finally had the chance to do so. It was a quick stop but from what I could see, they have a large variety of items. I did buy some expired tofu. It was over a month old and that’s not bad compared to the other Unilocaler who’s item had expired over two years ago. I will pay more attention to the dates next time but plan to revisit to check everything out in the store. This is the third review reminding you to check expiration dates at this store. I understand not being wasteful but there is a reason we have expiration dates on food items.

This place has the cheapest lunch in town! You can get a meal box with rice and 3 sides for only $ 4.99 with a student ID and $ 5.79 for everyone else. The quantity of food that they give you is huge and the options for the meal box are all very authentic. Whenever I come here with my family, we would go for the 3 course meal. It comes with steamed fish, half roast duck, and stir fired vegetable.
The fish is steamed with soy sauce and top with ginger and scallion. It is very well-​seasoned and the meat tends to be soft and tender. However, the fish is sometimes not scaled well. I love the roast duck here. It has really crispy skin and right amount of smokiness. I do wish that it is more consistent in the salt level. It has the tendercy to be very salty once in a while. The stir-​fried vegetable is always very good. The type of greens used is different every time I go. I like enjoy the strong garlic flavor from the large pieces of garlic that are visible in the dish.
Aside from the meals, there is also a bakery section. For the cakes and buns, you get 2 free when you purchase 8 of them. The slice breads are buy one get one free.
This grocery store carries lots of variety of food. I would not recommend getting the fresh meat here as they don’t get lots of traffic and might not be the highest quality. I never had the same problem with the seafood since I would go for the live tilapia. I am not sure about the rest of the selection.

I love this place. I haven’t done a lot of comparison with Grand Asia because this place is closer to my house, but this place seems to have a pretty good selection and good (cheap!) produce. It’s a little overwhelming looking at racks covered with different brands of soy sauce or noodles or whatever, but I can usually find what I’m looking for (sometimes by asking other customers for help) and it’s inspired me to get more adventurous in my cooking.
Two things I really like about this place: (1) The food court/​cafeteria, where you can get a big plate of food for less than six bucks. I have no idea what anything is, but I point and they tell me what kind of meat is in each dish and I pick what looks good. They’ve got a spicy chicken dish that’s particularly yummy. (2) They have a selection of cooking equipment and restaurant supplies as well. I got a great wok for like $ 15 and they have all kinds of stuff from rubber gloves and salt shakers to rice cookers and giant three-​foot-​wide woks.
Finally, it’s clean, not crowded, and there’s always room in the parking lot. So glad to have this nearby.

I recommend Grand Asia Market any day over A&C market.
I shop at the Grand Asia Market all the time with my mother, and there is a much larger variety of food from China, Japan, Korea, as well as many other countries, and they are always very well stocked. When I can’t find what I’m looking for at Grand Asia, the associates go above and beyond to help, including going into the stock room to search for the product.
A&C does not have as much variety as Grand Asia, and the associates are not as helpful.
Worst of all, all of the frozen items I purchased had obviously been thawed out, and one product was tore open and visibly spoiled, and had to be tossed. I am very dissatisfied and will never return to A&C.

Sometimes I just have something on the brain.
It’s been a while since I made my way over to A&C.
Since Grand Asia Market was both figuratively and literally «dry» earlier today when I went to get some plum wine, I decided to revisit A&C tonight.
It was better than I remembered. The aisles are wider and better stocked than GAM. Tons of dried, preserved fruit. I grabbed some waxberry, which I’ve never tasted before, and it’s delicious. Like a mix between a cherry and strawberry (pit included).
The selection of Thai food/​dessert is much, much wider. I am particularly fond of a dried banana/​pistachio/​caramel that they previously carried. Settled for some lemon/​lemongrass sugar wafers instead.
And cleaner. The store is much, much cleaner than it was before, miles better than GAM. They had just finished a fresh, storewide mopping when I arrived.
The offerings are all attractively merchandised, the store is well-​lit, and everything looks fantastic.
Their dessert/​bakery section is full of more pre-​made cakes and buns, so I guess GAM has a leg up there.
My nose knows the place is better, as the nasty off smells of the fish/​meat area over at GAM are not present here. Just because you have a fishmarket doesn’t mean it has to smell bad. I was in a fish market in Ireland of three times the size that still smelled of the sea, and not so much decaying fish.
The checkout area, while still old, had an updated POS system.
And yes, they had not one, but two varieties of my plum wine. My brain can shut up now.
BOTTOM LINE:
Better selection. Better merchandising. More organized. A cleaner store.
A&C was and is my Asian market of choice, for the foreseeable future.

So happy that I have found another option other than just Grand Asia!
Produce Section
The produce section is quite large and there is a very good variety of fruits and veggies, especially for a Chinese grocery store in this area. Grand Asia’s produce section is smaller than this. The prices are higher than I am accustomed to in California, but that’s something I’m learning to deal with out here. There’s also a very good seafood and meat section suitable for your hot pot needs, too.
Groceries
Very good variety! I was able to find certain items that I don’t think I was able to find at Grand Asia. There’s a great selection of snacks, noodles, candies, instant noodles, rice, spices, different variety of grains and rice, etc… I feel like this place caters more to the local Chinese population, which makes me very happy.
Deli and Bakery section
No bubble tea. Their bakery section is small and limited, but you can find the basics such as cake rolls, sesame balls, sweet breads, etc… But that is something I can live without given the givens. Their deli section is reasonably priced and has a good selection. The day I stopped by, there was steamed fish, squid, a few tofu dishes, meat dishes, veggie dishes, etc… Everything I tried was delicious. Reasonable portions– my dad and I were able to split one lunchbox and still be full. They also give students a discounts for their lunchboxes! It’s like $ 4.99. Just make sure you bring your student ID!
Final Answer
If you need your good ethnic Chinese products, this place is definitely the place to go. If you can’t find what you need at Grand Asia, chances are you can find it here.

I love the bakery. The baked goods are not as buttery as Grand Asia Market’s baked goods, which is a good thing because I don’t like butter. Also, A&C has baked items that’s not available at Grand Asia. I love bread, so that’s enough to make me go back.
Some of the packaged foods look like they have been on the shelf for a while. The obvious signs include a little dust on the packaging. This is somewhat expected in ethnic grocery stores, even Grand Asia, especially for items that are not so popular and do not sell well.
The vegetables, though, are fresh.
Also, the staff is friendly. A staff member took me throughout the store to find something that I wanted and could not find.

I love the fresh veggies. and before I became vegetarian I used to get the live tilapia.. and everyone there is very helpful.

After driving all the way to Durham to visit Li Ming, I learned that A&C was a lot closer to me and under the same ownership. So… I made the trip. A&C is located in a semi-​rundown area, but that just makes it a gem in the dust. It’s the largest asian supermarket I have ever been to!
Walking in, you can definitely tell it’s owned by the same person/​people that own Li Ming as the setup is similar. Immediately after walking into the store, you see a small area of baked goods and behind it is the «food court». Same prices as Li Ming and similar selections (though not as many). Choose three entrees and it’ll only set you back $ 5.79! ($ 4.29 for students) The rest of the supermarket is HUGE, but honestly there’s probably the same amount of stuff as Grand Asia, just more room to walk about.
There’s fresh seafood and a small area of meats and a big area of boxed instant noodles and bagged rice. Basically what you would expect from an Asian supermarket. Prices are generally the same – some items I picked up were cheaper at the other markets and some were more expensive… so it kind of evened out to be the same as going somewhere else.
If you live in the Raleigh side of the Triangle and don’t want to make the trek over to Durham to visit Li Ming, then give A&C a try!

Large Asian supermarket. Store is cleaner each time I visit. Staffs are helpful. Decent prices on a lot of things. I visit another asian store afterward and found that I had paid too much for much of the things I had purchase from this store today. Meat and seafood are generally inexpensive compared to other stores.

Visited here about two years later, and the selection has greatly improved! Some of the prices are slightly cheaper than Li Ming’s too (also run by the same owner, as I was told). I like how this place isn’t super crowded like it is in Grand Asia Market during the peak hours.

A & C is one of the 3 Chinese Supermarkets in the Triangle area (the others being Grand Asia in Cary and Li Ming in Durham). A & C is personally my least favorites of the three. It’s out of the way (from where I live), the place is cold so it makes trips unpleasant and the floor and tables are dirty. A & C is a great place to get groceries. There is a ton you can buy like different vegetables, fish, meats, dried foods, and even cooking equipment. If there’s a Chinese ingredient you need to buy then A & C will have it! Everything here is cheaper than the other supermarkets, too.
There is also a small «restaurant» inside the store. There is a food counter where there is food that has been sitting around under a hot lamp. There is also a menu if you want to order soup. The food is pretty good and sorta authentic, but I don’t like the sitting area because it is always so dirty. You can also buy Chinese buns at the restaurant (though no fresh steamed buns). The quality of the food is not bad, but the restaurant is lacking other items such as dim sum and bubble tea, which you would be able to find at the other 2 grocery stores.

All Asian supermarkets are not created equal; sure we all look alike (zing!) but there are always some difference. I’ve been here since they open the first day. I should know.
A & C Supermarket, or «Mei-​ah» as MY PEOPLE called it, is a lot closer than Grand Asia Market, and A LOT LESS people. Maybe it seem like a lot less people because A&C is definitely much bigger than GAM, all the while serving the same amount of Asian grocery. A&C does serve a more extensive selection of fish balls than GAM.
One thing though, there are something here cost a few dimes more than GAM, but just a few items.
As far as fresh food court, the menu is not as extensive as GAM, but just about every dish I tasted was pretty good.

This is a hidden gem in my opinion. They’ve done a good job renovating the food section of the supermarket. It’s no Grand Asia, but they do offer things that are different and their Pork and Char Siu is really good.
It’s cheap too, so I don’t know how you can go wrong.
ps: Bring your own Forks/​Spoons/​Knives, it’s easier to eat when you have tools that will not bend

Grand Asia Market (GAM), looks like you’ve got a bit of competition now! Cause way down on S. Wilmington Street in Raleigh is A&C Market. A lot bigger than GAM, A&C is similar but still going through some growing pains. The aisles are wide and easy to manuever through but I’m not sure if they have any heat! I froze my butt off during my visit today…
A&C has got the usual Asian produce, meat/​seafood, frozen and dry goods section along with a housewares area, decorative junk and a small hot foods bar. Biggest gap is the lack of a bakery along with the popular bubble tea that you can get at GAM’s wonderful café. However A&C does have an aisle for restaurant supplies and equipment if you’re in the business and need some stuff.
I’m pretty sure this place is new so it’ll probably evolve and change quickly. A&C is definitely more spacious than GAM and similar in terms of variety and assortment. And prices may be a touch lower than GAM, I’ll need to so more shopping to find out for sure. But what’s great is you’ve got another choice for Asian foodstuffs, especially if you live in downtown or S. Raleigh. So welcome to the hood, A&C Market!