On a recent business trip to Vancouver, I ended up being unwell while attending a conference. I…read morewas in need of some oranges, salad, and some other easy tidbits to snack on in my hotel. In Illinois, we used to have many IGA's in smaller towns, especially in the more rural parts of the state. They were always reliable little grocery stores with a good selection of your basic needs and many were put out of business by Walmart. Imagine my surprise to find this gem in a bustling Canadian city! There was a really nice selection of produce, as well as anything else you could need from the grocery store. The deli counter had a great selection and the person there was really charming and helpful and giving some recommendations on salads I have not heard of before. The store seemed very clean and efficiently organized for maximizing what can be offered in an urban grocery store. Plus, as an American, it was m fun to walk around the aisles and see what's the same or different.

This grocery store was near where I was staying and I wanted to stop in to see if there were any…read moresnacks I wanted to buy. This is not what I assume a full size grocery store would be. It is a split opening. You either walk into IGA or Home Sense. The store is very small inside and almost a triangle/wedge shape, which made it difficult to navigate. The aisles are very narrow and very tall. I was overwhelmed by all the close proximity of things and people so basically cruised through then left. I had wanted to buy some chips but I am not sure if this particular store is expensive or that is just the price of things but I didn't find anything I wanted to buy. Lines were long and near the exit (which is already a long, narrow entrance). Upon entering the store there was a pop up tent out front of the store and someone was selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Not sure if they are an outside vendor or affiliated with the store. I assume that if I had gone to a store not in downtown it may have been larger, more spread out and less expensive. I assume that the aisles are tall and narrow as a space is at a premium and they are trying to fit the most amount of product in to cater to people.

Ton of Asian bites and snacks. Great supermarket. Gets extremely busy…read more It gets chaotic and a bit disorganized here during prime time.

Every time I come downtown by skytrain I stop at stadium station and go here on my way to the…read moreInternational village which is right across the street. It's very reasonably priced and has every type of food item you would find in a grocery store. The desserts are amazing and well priced. I love the mango cake and the whipped cream and fruit cakes. Their tarts are also very good. Today I went in to get some take out food. There is quite a food selection including soups and rice. And it was reasonably priced. The staff were friendly and helpful. And the store was tidy but I did find it a bit tight in there compared to other T and Ts I've been to.

I really want to like this Safeway because it's close to me, it has free parking, and it's clean…read moreand big and bright. However, I've recently bought carrots, celery, onion, and sweet potato on different days, and all the veg either did not taste good, did not have much flavour. or was tasteless (carrots). I've never had this issue with the produce I buy from Whole Foods, Urban Fare, or IGA, so I will not be coming here for product again.

Worst customer service. No matter what time of day or day of the week, they are all rude and cold…read more Not even a hello when you greet them. This time I used self service and it wasn't working. No one to help. He just does not even look. I was not the only person needing assistance. I called the store as I left without groceries because I was finally fed up with how bad the service is and the customer service guy told me that he "did not believe me" "I find this hard to believe" were his exact words. Seriously?!? So I asked for a manager since he was accusing me of lying. I had to hang up because clearly there was no manager that was going to come to the phone. I left everything there and walked away. Still no help. Groceries just sitting there. Worst service ever. I am shocked they are still open.

I was walking towards the Vancouver Public Library. I was kind of hungry as I didn't have lunch…read moreyet. Saw this huge building with a couple of shops on the ground floor including a Starbucks. Loblaws is on the second floor. The place is nice and clean. Lots of cooked food choices. Price and servings were reasonable. I ordered a quarter sized ribs with korean noodles as my side. Don't ask me why. I just did. Never heard that pairing before! But wish I ordered some potatoes or veggies instead! There were lots of sides to choose from. Can you believe this was $8? It's their $8 menu, available everyday. Can't go wrong with that! Took it to the self serve counter and paid for it. Then went around the back where they have plenty of tables to enjoy my lunch. There are microwaves to heat my order. The area is really clean. After my meal, went downstairs where they have plenty of places to sit, study, read, hangout. This place is great! They have a nice membership gym on the third floor as well! It's nice place downtown to hang out in! This place is modern and very spacious! I'll definitely come here often!

Nice spacious grocery store near stadium skytrain. It took over the old post office. It's located…read moreon the second floor. I liked the cooked food area where you can see the staff cooking and prepping the food. So fresh. I was the there around 10 am and the lunch items were not ready yet. They were still serving breakfast stuff. The bakery section had freshly baked bread which looked pretty amazing. Around $4-5 for a loaf. I was enticed by the cakes and the prices were decent. They ranged from $15 to $30 for 5" and 8" round cakes. Some had 50% off. So I found out the cakes with 50% discount are about 6-7 days old. So it will be best to eat it that day or next day. It also makes me wonder how do we know which cakes are made on that day. NGL, I did get a cake with 50% off. It was NYE and it would be a treat for the family and friends to try it. With the discount it came to $15. Awesome price in today's time. I got the truffle royale cake which looked like a tuxedo cake. It was recommended by the staff. It was delicious, not overly sweet. I would get cakes here again. Docked a star off for the payment area. At 10+ am, there was only self check out available. Only after the self check out line area was busy, then a customer service counter started serving people buying stuff. There was no staff in the self check out area to assist until later when more people had issues. I needed a staff to take 50% off the sticker price. Even after payment, the machine/kiosk did not register payment to print receipt even though the screen indicated payment was made. The staff had to try many times before it was fully processed. The staff was busy helping 3 other customers besides me at the self check out. Either that morning was an anomaly or they need to look into getting a new system or more staff to help.

Bright clean store with higher end healthy food…read more Staff always friendly & helpful. The produce is always brightly coloured and well maintained. Lots of goodness to explore ! I particularly love the salad bar. They have a wonderful array of veggies, proteins, pastas and dressings. It can be pricy, but well worth it. Other items I recommend is the Paddy (Patty?) Cake. It's a moist carrot cake with the most delicious actual cream cheese icing- not the normal sugary topping. In the condiments section they have Yeshi Nutritional Yeast Dressing /Dip. It's so good! They have a decent bulk section as well. Only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that they no longer make Monster Cookies and they were out of the cake my last visit !

Review for the premade food area:…read more Super spacious, and well laid out. Has tables and booths to eat at afterwards as well. Got myself sushi and my partner got a premade chicken cheese sandwich from behind the counter. Lady was super nice and helpful and let us select which sandwich we wanted and offered to heat it up for us. Checkout was fast and simple with their self checkout area. Sushi was fresh and delicious, no overly fishy smell or flavour from it. Sandwich was also great. Will be back again for another lunch! Love this location and layout!

Fresh St. is reminiscent of Erewhon but a little disjointed and the layout left me a bit confused,…read moree.g., random udon on the end cap next to seasonal Easter candy. Nonetheless, the meats, bakery and produce are beautiful. That oversized cinnamon roll is decadently delicious.

I was looking to buy Maldon Salt. I did some googling and this place has it. The sections were not…read morelabeled that nicely, so it was hard to find what I was looking for. Price of stuff here are a bit on pricier side. I think it has the same vibe as whole foods. They do carry some uncommon stuff, so check them out when you're in the area.

Urban Fare - we meet again :)…read more We were looking for some quick airport snacks before we headed to dinner and Urban Fare was perfect for the snackilicious occasion. I grabbed some "cheesy" paleo puffs and my husband grabbed a refreshing drink and we were set for the next traveling day. If you're needing some healthy sustenance for some Vancouver exploring - Urban Fare is a solid spot. I'm not necessarily wowed by the selection here, compared to other more niche natural grocery stores that I encountered on our recent British Columbia adventures, but I am always confident that I will find some fantastic healthy to-go item here. Bonus points for their casual dining area - which also happens to show hockey games (perfect for distracting my husband while I browse their aisles). Trust.

Ho Ho HUM HUM CAN ROLl a BoWLING BALL between Tables…read more It's pedestrian ... as it tries too hard to be the Dean and Delucca of Vancouver but has no local heart and soul ... Food is so ho hum and is well stocked and displayed ... maybe because it's selling so slow??? Service is lethargic and sometimes no one at the cashier ... where can they go ?? Are they hiding in the walk in cooler thus explaining their frigid behaviour ???? Their black uniform are quasi facists like Mussolini's Black shirts and sure act like it with their robot stoic stance. At least the washrooms are well kept and you can dump and urinate on them this way too ... Poo poo pee pee ... but lots of table space if you have a meeting as it's empty a lot of the times ... you can also add another multitask as you can easily roll a bowling bowl between the tables without disturbing anyone as no one is there most of the time ... ..

Nice store with lots of choice!I always enjoy my shopping here !Wish they had french or California…read morewine.

Oh and last week you lost like 80 dollars in sandwiches! The homeless people wait for the guards to…read moredisappear and that's when they walk in and take the opportunity to strike! Lady literally filled her bag with sandwiches! Another guy had a trash bag busting with stuff! Where's security then? Theft is so bad at this store they need two guards one for the front and one to patrol the damn store. If one goes on break then the other one stay at the front!

Pretty sure she got let go been back several times and I haven't seen her since she probably tried…read moreto pull the same crap on someone else and finally got canned. Oh well you get what you give.

One of my favourite places to shop, All the things that everybody else said, good selection, good…read moreprices, helpful staff, but my favourite thing is the small, manageable shopping carts, They do not make you pilot a barge on wheels through crowded busy isles and around displays and other shoppers. But if you need a big cart you can get that too. I drive past another No Frills, and past Superstore too, to go to this one, and this is why.

i stopped by hmart at the corner of robson and seymour, and it's one of those places that feels…read morelike it's doing a lot at once, but it works. it runs 9am to 10pm, 365 days a year, and you really get the sense of it being a hard working, always on kind of store. it spans two levels, with a main ground floor and an escalator up to the second floor, so it feels more like a compact vertical mall than a typical grocery stop. the ground floor leans heavily into kbeauty and lifestyle. there's makeup, skincare, fashion, luggage, and accessories, cuteness overload, all mixed together in a way that's easy to browse. the layout is compact (very downtown), but it adds to the energy. they've also got artbox items and a surprising amount of canadian souvenir goods, which gives it a slightly tourist friendly feel. interestingly, no bts merch in sight, maybe due to their hiatus? kpop music videos play on screens above us, full choreography and colour coordinated outfits adding constant movement while you browse. it makes even a quick stop feel a bit more alive. medicube on sale was tempting, and i'll probably look into it more later, mostly to justify whether i actually need it. one thing that stands out pretty quickly is how direct they are about shoplifting. for a store open every day of the year, you get the sense they've had to deal with it more than most. the signs with photos of shoplifters paired with police file numbers are very clear, and security is visible as soon as you enter. it takes a certain level of boldness to be that upfront about it, and instead of softening the message, they've chosen to address it head on. it shifts the tone, but it also makes their stance unmistakable. heading up the escalator to the second floor, the focus shifts to groceries. there's a small food court, along with housewares, a lottery kiosk, and everyday grocery staples, all tucked into the flow of the space. it's easy to lose a bit of time just moving between sections. from there, the snacks section does what it does best. they have hello kitty kikkoman soy sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, pouch drinks with separate ice cups, and a solid selection of ready to eat meals. on this visit, i ended up buying two new flavours of turtle chips: wagyu beef with wasabi and carbonara spicy chicken. priorities. they also have a stamp card system, collect ten stamps and you get a $25 hmart gift card, which feels like a quiet nudge that you'll probably be back anyway. overall, it's a high energy, well contained space: part grocery store, part beauty shop, part snack discovery zone, with a hardworking downtown rhythm and a very clear sense of how it runs.

One of my favourite asian grocery store in the core of DT Vancouver…read more Excellent produce and seasonal specialty produce and fruits is what I come in for. Pine Mushrooms is in season at the moment. Other items to look out for: special Korean style cut beef and imported kimchi.