A really great variety of Asian snacks, spices noodles, rice, and sauce sauces. A huge produce section. Variety of candy and frozen goods is also impressive. After grabbing a shopping basket, I was kind of afraid to put anything into it because it was absolutely filthy and the store could use a serious scrub down. read more

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Love it here produce is my favorite part . They have plantain too good. Dumplings and all sauce you need for different types of dishes. I love the snacks come on in read more

This place is amazing! It's huge, clean and has tons of wonderful snacks to buy! I always like to see how many international markets I can find. The employees are polite and it's just a very fun place to go. I love red bean buns and anything with red bean and they have a lot to choose from! The churro/chocolate turtle chips are the best thing I've ever tasted as far as sweet chips. Do not pass on these, they are worth the hour drive! I highly recommend coming here. Parking was a little tricky but got lucky since there was a free lot across the street. If it wasn't so hot my SO and I would have liked to check out all the cool things down the street from it. We are planning to take some friends to experience the fun that we did. Can't wait to return! read more

A total Chinese grocery. Never having been in one, it was interesting to see foods and fish packaged with Chinese symbols. There are aisles and aisles to roam, bottles and cans to see, and frozen foods, especially fish to see. Fresh fish on ice included carp, buffalo, trout, catfish, shrimp and mussels. Fresh produce was plentiful. I would buy the produce, fresh ginger, dates, noodles, bottles of sauces.....I'd have to look around and check the expiration dates on other items. This is a neat store. read more

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They have everything I need. Don't like driving to the Strip District, but they make it worth the drive.

This is your typical Asian grocery store (in a good way). The store is a bit on a the rough side and can use some cleaning but they do have all of the Asian grocery items that you ever need. The store can get busy quick, not a lot of space to move around, but lots of natural light. read more

This is one of the few places that I'll go to buy authentic Asian food ingredients. Often I walk home from work and am able to pop in before they close for the day. I believe 6-630 pm. I'm always there around 5ish. Everything they carry is fresh and the prices are as you'd expect them to be in the Strip, super cheap. Service is always fast, efficient and overall it's just a cool experience getting to shops there. read more

I used to love this place. It has been going down hill for sure. Upon arriving today there was a man (employee or owner?) blocking the entire door to get in. The bad part he was standing in the door smoking. Not at all an appropriate place for a smoke break. When he moved for us he turned right into my face with the cigarette. The store still has a great selection. However the last few times we have went each time it is dirtier inside. Plus the bugs. Ugh. We did purchase a few things. Two of the items we got said $5.59 on the shelf. We were charged $6.99 which we unfortunately did not realize until we had left. Disappointing Lotus. Disappointing. read more

My go to Asian grocery store - it's super busy on the weekends so try to come during the week. Also, everyone that works here does not really speak English so while they seem friendly enough, they won't be able to help you much if you have questions. Next time I go I'm going to try a couple of things at the little stand/restaurant in here. They have great vegetables here - I always get baby bok choy, fresh lemongrass stalk, fresh ginger root-and tofu (super cheap here). Check out their frozen foods too - awesome selection of dumplings and other goodies and they have any kind of dried noodle you're looking for. Don't forget the candy section - I love the Hi-Chew Japanese candy - it's like a starburst but more juicy and more flavorful plus they have delicious flavors like mango and green apple. Do yourself a favor and buy 2 packs by the register because you'll be sad when you tear thru one pack in 10 minutes and realize you have no more. read more

Lotus Food - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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I know of relatively few Asian grocery stores that has everything I need. What I typically come here for is not for grocery but the mom & pop food stand inside called Taiwan Snacks. I recommend getting the bao buns. Ground pork in steamed baoz are about $6 for 6. The braised pork over rice with egg is about $5. I typically come here one every two weeks. In addition hey have braised pork belly and boba drinks also. read more

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I was happy to find a new to me flavor of laoganma--however, of the 6 items I picked up here to purchase, I found four expired. They put drink boxes on a sale display and they were 2 days expired. Buyer beware! read more

Lotus Food - Hot hot stuff and very garlicky - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

One of my favorite places in the strip district!! Awesome variety of authentic food. Great selection of snacks, ramen, drinks, sauces, etc. Clean inside and organized! Really enjoy going here on weekends and occasionally on a week day if I'm lucky and can make it here before they close at 6pm! read more

Mike Chen would definitely approve and shop in this grocery store if he lived in Pittsburgh. This isn't your 99 Ranch Market or anything but it is decent! Nice Chinese background music. A huge chili oil and soy sauce selection. Lots of frozen Chinese foods, hotpot meat, mochi, snacks, egg tart, fresh veggies, and noodles! read more

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Lotus is right next door to Wholey's. I can find mostly everything I need here but parking is a pain. I usually try to piggyback off my Wholey's trips so I can park in the complimentary Wholey's parking lot. I go for Asian seasonings, fresh made tofu, frozen dim sum and dumplings, teas, noodles, veggies and seafood. They also have a cool little food counter they just started where you can eat. Looking forward to doing a food review soon. read more

Lotus Food - Current obsession - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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I needed to update my review, after coming to Lotus 4+ times in the past month. I am now officially OBSESSED with this place. Yes, Lotus is great for specific and hard to find Asian food items like dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chili paste and dumpling wrappers- but they are also great for other things as well. Produce- Lotus has some of the freshest and cheapest produce around. You can't beat their prices on bok choy, and they have about 4-5 different types to choose from! Their scallions, peppers, eggplant and chives are also VERY affordable. I also love their selection of mushrooms- from shiitake to oyster to enoki mushrooms- they have it all. Their Japanese yams are WAY cheaper here than at Whole foods. They sell onions and lemons and limes individually, and they have thai basil which you can't find any where else! Chinese broccoli, snap/snow peas.. the list goes on and on and they are ALL affordable. They don't have a huge organic selection, but they do have some organic mushrooms. Spices- Lotus has AMAZING prices on spices. From whole fennel seeds to bay leaves to sesame seeds to whole cinnamon sticks- they have a pretty large selection throughout the entire store. Their cinnamon sticks are the cheapest I have ever seen- 5 of them for under $1.00. They sell fresh tumeric and fresh ginger here- again, wayyy cheaper than Whole Foods or Giant Eagle. They have fresh cilantro and again- their chives are VERY cheap and you get a TON of them in a package. Even if you don't live Asian food, I would recommend coming here for the spices alone. You will be surprised. Kitchen supplies- Chopsticks, bamboo sticks, cheesecloth, wooden spatulas, strainers, bowls... they have SUCH an amazing selection of cheap but good quality kitchen supplies. I was looking for thick bamboo sticks for an appetizer I was making for Christmas and went on Amazon first to look. I found a pack of 100 for about $7. I thought that wasn't a bad price. I didn't purchase them, since I figured I would just check around at Lotus first and I found a pack of 100 for $.50.... 50 CENTS! Are you kidding? I couldn't believe it. I bought a little skimmer for taking fried foods out of hot oil- under $3 for a good sized one. I then went a block or two down to the kitchen store in the strip and saw the same size skimmer for over $20... insanity. Fun snacks- macadamia nut cookies- $2.50, little cookies that look like burgers and are insanely delicious and fun to eat- $2.00, pocky, gummy candy.. they have a great selection of unique and fun snacks. They are all VERY affordable too. Other amazing items to try when you visit- the dark soy sauce is life changing. It's sweeter and more thicker than traditional soy sauce and is a real treat. They make their own tofu- it's the freshest around and is only 35 CENTS A BLOCK. It's unbelievably good, too. Their dumpling wrappers are in the freezer section and are under $2 for over 60 wrappers- SO cheap and SO easy to make delicious and fun food with them. They are a steal. You can't beat their prices for sushi rice ($2 for 1 lb.), sushi nori (about $2) and the mat to make the sushi with was under $2 as well. They have a great tea selection and if you are into seafood, they have a HUGE seafood selection. They have a great noodle selection and their ramen noodles are delicious. The one thing I was a little disappointed in is there selection of kimchi- they only had 1 kind to choose from the last couple of times that I visited. This place is AMAZING and I highly suggest that you think about it not only when you are buying your specific Asian food items, but for your casual grocery shopping as well. You will not be disappointed. read more

Lotus Food - A magical food haul from Lotus. This is what dream are made of, my friends. - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I called late on a Friday evening and whoever answered the phone was friendly and knowledgeable. The limes I purchased were fresh.. The store had a terrible smell, though if I were a betting woman, I'd guess the city of Pittsburgh was responsible for the smell and not the store owner. read more

Lotus is a favorite of mine for any and all Asian food items. It's one of the larger Asian grocery stores in Pittsburgh. I do a lot of my shopping here--the produce is fresh, they have a ton of frozen foods, and there's a great variety of items all around. I'm a sucker for their snack aisles, so many cool chip flavors! I also love their ramen selection. I have been a pescatarian for 10 years now (fish, but no meat), and I thought ramen was a no-go for me until I looked closer at the selection at Lotus and realized that there is a whole world of pescatarian and vegetarian instant ramen to explore! I recently noticed how inexpensive their spices are too. Why have I been spending $5+ for the same spices at, ahem, larger grocery chains when the same thing costs under $2 here!?! Game changer. The employees are friendly, and although there's usually only one or two registers open, they work pretty fast. Plus if there's a line, it gives you more time to convince yourself to pick up a canned tea drink and bun from the refridgerated end cap right by the registers. You know you want one! read more

This is a wonderful market for fresh vegetables, fresh Asian noodles, tofu, whole fish, head-on shrimp, a plethora of dumplings, tea, ramen, stuff for hot pot, and 50 lb. bags of rice. You'll find just about any Asian condiment you're looking for, plus canned curry paste and bulk spices. read more

The reason I'm giving a 4 is because of the variety and different brands of whatever you might need. I will say the vegetables and fruits, can be iffy depending on when you go. Masks are required and they are open during the Covid read more

I like stopping here they have a huge supply of Asian food bulk or frozen but parking is at a premium but seems like everyone finds s place. I would say it's the biggest selection in the city read more

Lotus Food - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Just another fantastic store to visit while in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. Total Asian grocery store where it is fun to walk every aisle and decide on what things you want to try. The choices of fresh seafood and produce is pretty impressive. We usually always pick up a few bottles of sesame oil and other cooking liquids such a soy sauce. The fun aisles for for the kids and for me are the sweet treat and potato chip type snacks. They offer imported snack cakes and candies where we find ourselves picking new items every time we visit just to try new things. Picture Little Debbie snack cakes but with an Asian twist on how they are made. Biggest difference is that these aren't as sweet as what we are used to but are still pretty good. My kids enjoy buying the various type of chips such as seaweed chips and shrimp chips. The seaweed is just like you would expect, a dried/fried square of seaweed and the shrimp chips remind me of Andy Capp's hot fries in look but definitely not in taste. I don't mean that in a bad way because both snacks are pretty good in my opinion. Another cool feature of this store is they have name brands we have heard of but with flavors we aren't offered in regular grocery stores. For instance, my son bought a container of Lays chips that were purple sweet potato and sea salt which my son says are delicious. They had other offerings such as spicy crab or spicy crayfish as well. These are only a few of the many varieties they have. We typically leave with different Asian inspired drinks and juices and always leave with several bags of frozen pot stickers. Great store to visit and when you visit, you will enjoy the shopping experience like we do. read more

Lotus Food - Lays purple sweet potato and sea salt chips - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I'm hoping you at least glance at this review instead of just seeing the rating. I'm a weird sort of customer... I'm black but lightskin, with long locs; so I'm noticeable. Also, I've survived on a southeast asian diet for years now (Northern Thai - burmese, mostly). I laughed as I read all the reviews because they were correct about the store owners bad attitude. BUT the stores selection and prices are awesome! So my advice is "get in, get out", pay in cash (it's easier), and don't ask questions. read more

Great source for delicious foods I can't find anywhere else: candies, dumplings, seasonings, noodles, frozen fish, tofu, fresh greens, chips. Good prices, good variety read more

It's taken me a long time to finally go into Lotus to see what I could find, and I've found my other go to Asian market, along with Many More! I'm usually shopping for Korean basics, and while I know there are Korean markets in Pittsburgh, a lot of times, I'm closer to the downtown area than Squirrel Hill for (Young's). Lotus is well stocked with the names and ingredients that are familiar to me, and so I am planning on doing more of my Asian shopping trips downtown. My first trip to Lotus, and I picked up just the basics to get started. Lots of fresh produce, and a great freezer selection of dumplings, fish cakes, and other ingredients I never found strange growing up, like tripe, pigs feet, ears, dried anchovies, and squid. Definitely happy, and planning on eating really well for a while. Not as cramped as other Asian stores, nicely lit, and perhaps organized a little nicer than some stores too. Your true exotic store complete with Durian, and duck balut, EEK! read more

Lotus Food - I found staples to make what I want to eat! Bean sprouts, dried seaweed and daikon for kimbap, dried anchovies, squid, chop chae noodles! - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Lotus Food, If I could shop there every day I would. I always shop when I am in the strip district for the afternoon, mostly on the weekends. I have always had a pleasant shopping afternoon. I have found everything I needed or found interesting to try. The store has great inexpensive produce, I have never left the store without purchasing fresh produce that is stocked on the weekends. I love their kitchen supply section. I have purchased my oriental dish set there and continue to add to it each shopping trip. I also shop for fusion oolong tea, that I cannot find anywhere else. They have an excellent dry and frozen section as well. Others have stated, that it is too cramped on the weekends, I have not found this to be true. I haven't found it to be cramped, Its very comfortable to move around the store, even with cart or basket. I must have found the right time of day on my weekend shopping trip. I usually make this my last stop for the day. Parking outside of the store on Penn Avenue can be a pain, but there is plenty of parking behind the building on Smallman and in several parking lots down the street, if your able to walk. On a nice day it's great to just stroll along the shopping district. I do recommend bringing your own bag, for those that are recycling friendly. As for the friendliness and service, I cannot complain or comment. The owners do speck a little English. I avoid them as they avoid me. I have never had any reason to interact with them, other than check out. I have not asked questions, because I have found the store to be well stocked, and everything I need easy to locate. read more

Lotus Food - Dishware from Lotus Food - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

YAY for a Chinese Supermarket in Pittsburgh!! It's on the Strip. I've rarely seen any Chinese people around Pittsburgh.. but walking into this store I found them all haha. Think of your typical Ranch 99 market. That's what it is basically. You'll find your asian snacks like Pocky, essentials like rice and egg noodles, vegetables, fish, and so forth. Picked up: red beans, chinese rock brown sugar, evaporated milk, curry mix, grass jelly drink. All for less than $11. Angela C. is right on the spot. read more

Lotus Food - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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pittsburgh is great and i visit this market everytime i go to pittsburgh my favorite thing ever is this peach carbonated drink in a glass bottle i actually bought and drank three of them in the span of an hour when i went last time thank you read more

Place to go to get Asian groceries in Pittsburgh. They are surprisingly well stocked and have mostly everything you would need. I think I only ran into the problem once where they didn't sell something I needed. They have a great fresh vegetable section, restocked every weekend, with most if not all the common Asian vegetables and even uncommon ones which I thought I would never find in Pittsburgh including tung ho, suan miao, loofah, etc. They have a decent freezer section which includes some frozen meats. They even sell some prepared foods like zongzi, stewed bamboo, and other meats. Their bakery section is very small and I think they ship their breads from Chinatown in NYC, but there's almost no place else you can get Asian breads besides Sumi's bakery and Bubble Pi in Squirrel Hill. On weekends, they sell fresh tofu which they make in house. Relatively speaking, Lotus is very small compared to an Asian food market not in Pittsburgh, but being that Pittsburgh lacks a lot of good Asian restaurants and groceries in general, this place is great. read more

Lotus Food - Huge carrot I found at Lotus - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The old man cashier is really AGGRESSIVE and HUMILIATING! 1. He asked me what kinds of card I was going to use. I said "Discover". He used his EYE WHITE to look at me and said "I didn't hear." I said "Discover card". Then he said "Oh, credit." 2. At the same time I presented my Discover card, I presented my student card to get 5% off. He used his EYE WHITE to look at me again. Then he said, "Remember. You should present your student card before I take your order." His tone was like a teacher teaching a student. But I am mature enough; plus, I did nothing wrong. The computer is totally fine if I present the student card after the cashier takes my order as long as I have not swiped my card. (I did this several times.) In summary, - He used his EYE WHITE to look at me twice. This was HUMILIATION! - He used a teacher's tone to "teach" me. This was doubling the HUMILIATION! - I have to say the cashiers in this store are generally not nice. read more

Coming from Boston and shopped at many different Asian grocery stores, am impressed with selection and prices here. They sell the big brands of tofu and seem to make their own tofu as well. They have Japanese soba and ramen as well as Chinese noodles, fresh and dried. Fresh produce wise, their scallions are healthy and big and well priced. Cabbage, small cabbage, and even Chinese cucumber. Chinese eggplant, and white radish as well. Their frozen section has all the sweet desserts and savory items you could possibly want. But I agree with the other reviewers on google that the owners/family have a serious customer service attitude problem. They scowl at you if you ask them something or if you merely glanced their way or even smiled at them. They bag your items by throwing them in the bag. They simply don't look you in the eye. If you can get over interacting with them, this is a small store with a huge selection of Chinese, Japanese, a little Korean, and Thai/Indonesian stuff. read more

Love the little restaurant inside this market. Got the braised pork belly over rice and got 5 braised eggs hahaha. Also the milk tea here is fire!!!! read more

What irks me about this place is the rudeness. I know this place is located in the Strip and it's suppose to be fast paced and all, but be polite to me if you intend for me to return. I will admit I did find some decent buys for the items I needed while in here, but had no idea where to find anything. I roamed the aisles until I stumbled upon what I needed. However, when I did find exactly what I needed, I had to wait for a congregation of people having their Sunday chat on a Thursday to move. When I am in this type of situation I become very irritated very easily. Also be sure to spend at least $5 or else be prepared to be told off at checkout. That's the cherry on top of the rudeness cake. Not quite sure the reasoning behind this action. You're getting my money either way. read more

The 50s old man (probably the owner) is very very rude! I went there purchasing some foods for a friends' gathering as well as my own stuffs. It is fairly reasonable for me to pay respectively right? But this old man kept complaining that I shouldnt do that becauae he would have to swipe my card twice and cost him extra transction fees. How ridiculous it was! I could let one of my friends to check and the second-swipe of the credit card is inevitable! Even worse, there will make some expired food on discount. Luckily we found these awful expired foods twice, and they were reluctant to make exchange with NO apologies!!! I have to say it is definitely not a good place for Chinese, Asians, or ANYBODY! If you wanna get some HEALTHY Asian foods, please go to somewhere else! read more

This store is a foodie find! They stock lovely Asian veggies, sauces, meats, and desserts. I mainly come here for garlic, ginger, and bok choy. I heard they have some very good frozen dumplings though. And they sell steaming hot fresh tofu for $0.30 a block, YES $0.30!! Everything here is priced very reasonably. This is a great place to shop, but don't expect too much help from the staff. Most things are not labeled in English, and the majority of the staff doesn't speak English, but hey that's half the fun! You'll never know what gem you'll find. read more

I guess there's not really much option for Asian grocery in Pittsburgh, so it's a good thing they're not taking advantage of their kind-of monopoly? Conveniently located in a place to park and shop at various places in the strip, though traffic can get horrible on Saturdays. It gets awfully crowded because this is really the only place for Asian grocery shopping in the area. They definitely have everything we've needed for a reasonable price, though my mom hoards dried goods and the like when we drive out of town to other cities with bigger Asian communities because they're maybe twice as expensive sometimes here. But fresh tofu made in house! I have never seen that anywhere else, definitely not at big chain Asian groceries. Tip: I remember seeing a long, long time ago that they restock twice a week, and it used to be posted on their door (maybe?) or we asked, but it's pretty easy to find out when the produce will be freshest. read more

This grocery store is perfect for hard to find Asian ingredients and foods. They are just like every other market with dry goods, produce and a freezer section. They have many varieties of canned goods, snacks, candy, herbs and spices, and dumplings. We really enjoy all the steamed buns, dumplings and breads. Haven't had anything we dislike yet. Only thing I am wary about is the produce. A lot of it seems to come from overseas so it is very ripe or almost rotten. Don't get me wrong, some things aren't at that point yet but I'm still cautious. Staff are very friendly and willing to help, which I always need when I'm looking for key, unique ingredients or recipes. read more

Lotus Food - Some randomness I bought. - International Grocery Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

As a recent transplant to Pittsburgh I needed to find a place to find my hot pot ingredients. I found the hot pot magic broth mixes in the first aisle. They have lamb, beef, and pork meat sliced for hot pot in the back wall freezer. Plenty of fresh vege of course. Now as I write this I realize I forgot the fish balls. How am I supposed the have hot pot without fish balls? Well let's say 4/5 if no fish balls but I'll give the 5/5 assuming they're there. read more

The Strip District isn't just about hunks of cheese at the Macaroni Co. or a 500ft line outside DeLuca's...there's much to be found at Lotus Foods! They are a Chinese grocery store with a wide variety of items and even food to order! Hubs and I just tried their carwheel cakes in custard, red bean and taro and they were cute-looking and yummers! Prices are super reasonable here. The veggies are always so fresh and nicely packaged. On weekends, the tofu is FRESHLY made and only 40 cents a brick! They even have fresh quail eggs and several kinds of soy milk. They should keep their frozen wonton section stocked more because those are the bees' knees. I would recommend widening the selection of drinks too. I have seen a crazy selection at the Cleveland Chinatown stores so Lotus Foods could possibly take a leaf out of that book. I do wish there was somewhere to park. It is seriously insane to find a spot because every Pittsburgher hangs around the Strip on the weekends. read more

This update is long overdue, since I've wanted to mention the hot street food takeout and it's been available for a while. They have both savory and sweet, as well as bubble tea drinks, so you could conceivably fill yourself up here (although what I normally like to do is to get a little bit of everything from all around the Strip). The braised pork over rice and (more recently) steamed pork buns are very tasty and fresh, with the latter good for sharing. They also have the "open-faced" steamed buns (割包) filled with pork belly and pickled vegetables. All three are good options and quite authentic. On the sweet side, some options are the usual bubble teas, along with non milk-teas, as well as mini cakes with filling like red bean or custard. The latter are closer to the Japanese-style desserts, also a popular street food. They are also made fresh, with the batter being topped with the filling and then grilled in the iron onsite. Overall, any of these are great to try, and there's a small counter area for eating in as well. read more

Owner is very rude. A 50-60years old man did the check out. He blamed/accused us, out of no where, for showing him our ids during the process but not at the beginning of the check out. This literally makes no difference at all for him, or us. For example, when to scan your giant eagle membership during the check out at giant eagle literally makes no difference. He blamed us as if that caused him so much trouble and costed so much money for him. My hubby, who did not want to cause any trouble, had to apologize. This was an very unpleasant shopping experience, and it was not the first time they are so rude to us. If you don't want to be treated like a piece of $***, don't come and shop here. I will never return. read more