Casa Maria

I also had a problem with incorrect change. They stole $ 10 from me.

Be careful!!!
They purposely give you the incorrect change in cash!!! The cashier area to pay is small and sometimes the waiting line is long so the cashier is fast. Check your receipt!!!

I was trying to figure out whether I had accidentally borrowed the pen I am using at work from a coworker (I didn’t recognize it as my own) so I searched for the name on the pen — Casa Maria. Then I remembered one day a couple of years ago when I lived in the Mission and needed to fill in a form in the post office. I called into this shop to see if I could buy a pen and they gave me one for free plus a free smile thrown in. I shopped here a few times and it’s a nice, well-​priced neighborhood store.

I love this place. I live a block away and it’s become my go-​to grocery. My favorite thing about it? super cheap produce! Seriously, you can walk out of there with two bananas, a bunch of avocados, a whole container of strawberries, a couple tomatoes and a bell pepper for like $ 7. Every time I buy produce here I’m totally shocked by how cheap it is. They also have a great selection of tortillas, beans and other Mexican goodies.

Really nice bussiness quite small but has a large selection, and staff ia always willing to help out

The cheapest produce around, hands down. Not only that, they rank at the top of the local mission produce markets in terms of quality and freshness. The cheapest paletas around, and if you don’t know what that means, I’m sorry. The cheapest salad around, but use your eyes to spot the best ones. A variety of daily items if you are a one stop shopper and a very efficient cashier who can cut your cheese and wring you up as he watches the Chivas defeat America while he converses about the daily happenings and gentrification. Yeah, Casa Maria is bomb and I will go here any day over De Lano’s which besides, everyone knows is really a Cala Foods in disguise.
The only complaint, if there ever was any here, is that my Inka Cola is not sold cold out of the freezer, but that’s ok I come in early and put one in the freezer and come back later and pick it up nice and cold and ready to drink.
I have no idea why the cats belong in the business profile pic, because I have never seen them. Maybe they are co-​owners or trust fund cats. Or maybe I’ve been checking into the wrong place this whole time. FML

Casa Maria is the best produce market in the Mission! I go there everyday and get the freshest produce around. They have a large selection of fruits and veggies plus all kinds of basic cooking needs, and then some. Not only is the quality and selection awesome, but they have the absolute lowest prices around. I sometimes walk out of there with 2 or 3 bags of beautiful fresh produce without it costing me over a few dollars!

This place is great! I buy Roma tomatoes to make my own pizza sauce. They are usually ¹⁄₃ the price of those at Safeway and 3 times as good. They will also give you a free 2 L soda if you spend over $ 30.

Casa Maria is a great little produce place.
I’m going to tell you a story that will expose a little bit about my personality.
My favorite fruit is the plum, actually it’s plums first and then all other fruits way behind. In case I’m being too subtle, I LOVE PLUMS! When they are in season I buy a lot of them from as many places as I can find them and when they are red and sweet I eat large amounts.
I rolled into Casa Maria for plums, after buying some at Delano’s, and pick four big beautiful ones. I get to the counter and see some small orange peppers in a little bin in front of the cash register with a sign that listed them at ten cents each. I can eat incredibly spicy things so I asked if they were hot, I figured they must be special since they were in a special little bin. the guy said «Oh yes» so I popped one in my mouth and ate it seeds and all. The guy looked at me like he was scared and boy did that pepper burn but I was able to keep my cool. He finished ringing me up and when I gave him my money I said, «yeh, it had a little kick to it» and shrugged, the whole time burning inside. He asked me if I’d like another one on the house I thanked him and strutted out of there like it was no big deal. Once I got around the corner I spit several times to get the juice out of my mouth. I was in agony, I barely made it into my car. I sat in there and ate all four of those plums before the heat was toned down enough and I could drive home.
Why the macho posturing? I can’t tell you why, I don’t understand myself. I doubt I impressed the guy at the market and even if I did why would I care what he thinks about my pepper eating ability?
The only conclusion I can come up with is that maybe I just like entertaining people with bizarre antics.

When we lived in the Mission, this became our go-​to produce store. Casa Lucas produce was just too crappy, plus you had to deal with the smell of dried baccala and sour milk. And they never had any asparagus, artichokes or mushrooms — WTF? We live in California, people!
Casa Maria had great produce, a large selection, and great prices. I’d ride my bike there and come home with enough garlic, peppers (so many kinds!), squash, lettuce, potatoes, eggplant, citrus (lemons 6 for a buck), berries — you name it! Plus they had a good bulk selection of dried beans and several kinds of rice. Factor in the fresh tortillas and rolls, and you are set for the week.

this corner store rocks:
1. produce is CHEAP and overall pretty good quality
(they even have fresh herbs including basil, parsley, mint… at a CORNER store)
2. they have kick ass piñatas
3. they have some of the best little packs of locally made plantain chips
4. they have fresh, hot tamales
5. you might catch some of a spanish soap opera as you pay
6. they have zote soap for 89 cents — which is the biggest bar of soap i’ve ever seen.
7. you can get 3 big fresh french rolls for $ 1 (hello a dollar!)

This place has the BEST prices on produce I have found. Also you can find very good prices on canned and jarred food such as tuna and olives. New refrigerators mean the problem with dairy freshness has been solved. And they take credit cards. The place at 22 and Mission does not.

When I moved to the Mission from North Beach, I thought I would really miss all of the produce shops in Chinatown. I never realized how many great little produce shops there are in the Mission! My favorite is Casa Maria. I stop here a couple times a week to stock up on my fruits and veggies. They usually have a good selection and their prices are cheap. I love any place where I can buy red bell peppers for less than $ 1.00/lb.

This is my principal spot for produce. Every time I make a run, when they tell me that I owe $ 4 for a week’s worth of deliciousness, I almost feel guilty. Über cheap and generally high quality.
Note — I did buy a block of cheddar cheese here once and found it to be moldy enough that I had to throw it away when I got home. I am not made squeamish by a little mold on cheese — this block was just in really bad shape. So beware — when you venture outside Casa Maria’s wheelhouse of fresh fruits and veggies, inspect before you buy.

I love this small little grocery store. Beside the fact that it’s a block away from where I live, the produce is so cheap, fresh, and delicious. I bought a carrot, celery, mushrooms, zucchini, white zucchini, and tortillas for $ 3. The celery was $ 99, so I got all of the rest for just $ 2. It was amazing! I’ll keep going back for my produce.

This is where I get my fresh produce, and it’s so much cheaper than Cala! Although sometimes they don’t have what I’m looking for which can be annoying (basil and rosemary.) Keep in mind that you’ll find the basics here. They also have my favorite french bread from a Vietnamese bakery. My sister pointed out to me one of their pies «Pay de Pina» which by «pay» they meant pie.