best store in durham raleigh chapei hill area staff curtious helpful well stocked store we no…read morelonger go to raleigh for groceries we have been shopping at this store for more than 20 years staff recognises mf and gives tips to save highly satisfied usha dev

clean store, very friendly owners. I was looking to buy buckwheat and went to a couple stores with…read moreno luck, this place was the only one I found that carried it!

Small and very clean, almost hole in the wall kind of place in an old shopping center in a…read moreresidential neighborhood. Arabic music playing. Service is very friendly, and as quick as possible, considering that stuff seems to be made to order. I ordered a chicken kebab platter which comes over a bed of basmati rice, possibly with saffron. Whatever the rice tasted great and it wasn't dry like at a lot of places. The chicken was marinated in a tangy yogurt-spice mix, grilled and topped with a tahini sauce. Delicious! As sides I got mujadara and roasted vegetables which were also tasty. I'll be back for takeout for sure in the future.

"Bodega-like Mediterranean Grill & Grocery in Parkwood area of Durham"…read more This place is WAY off the beaten path for most, but I'm so happy to have gotten to try it out. Nestled in a little strip between a Muslim school and a mosque is this grill and grocery. We came on a Wednesday evening, and almost every table was already taken by diners. You order your food at a counter, and it has the Middle Eastern foods you'd expect-- kofta, shawarma, gyros, falafel, baba ghanouj, hummus, baklava, etc. I opted for the lamb gyro sandwich with a side of baba ghanouj, and my dining partner had the falafel sandwich. They call your number when it's ready. Food took maybe 10 minutes to receive, so we browsed the market area. It's not a huge selection, but very traditional-- nice seeing so many labels in Arabic, and along with standards (e.g., canned fava beans for Ful Medames), they also had things like frozen chopped mulukhiyah leaves-- that's definitely a rarer sight. Lots of good spices too. The food was EXCELLENT. The lamb was juicy and perfect (unlike what another Yelp review said), the tzatziki sauce was delicious, and the baba ghanouj was perfectly cooked and textured. I had a small bite of the falafel, and it was indeed one of the best I've had in the US. Price was fair, too-- the sandwiches are all under $10 before tax and tip, and making it a combo with side and drink cost just something like $2.50. And service was friendly-- although they called out numbers, they did walk out with the food to try to find and bring you your dishes. And while it was an older space, it was overall still generally clean. Overall, I'd VERY happily come back.

Good food, good service. Enjoyed sitting outside. I got the Paula Rocks....because... duh. Haha…read more My sandwich had enough onion for 5 sandwiches but easy to pull off to my liking. The pasta salad had a kick and was very good. The potato salad was also good with a kick. I got mine pressed and will return when in the area. (Bonus - they had real iced tea)

So good I came back!…read more Customer Service: Everyone was really nice. It is OTC ordering, and you pick up your food when they call your name. Food: (1st visit) South of the border wrap with brown derby chopper salad 5/5. I ate it all!! The salad was fresh and a mix of the perfect amount of ingredients. The wrap was thiccc and chicken was juicy and hot (temp)! (2nd visit) I got the special of the day: which was a burger with the spinach salad 5/5. Again the salad was amazing could've made it better myself. I'm not sure what was better the burger itself or bun...burger was hefty and juicy with a slight taste of the summer nostalgic grill char and the bun was soft and forgiving but firm in the right places to hold everything together. Beverage: 5/5 I got the Sweet Iced Tea which was good but then did a 70/30 mix with lemonade and that was banging! The lemonade was a fountain drink, tea made in house. Dessert: I might be addicted to those brownies man! That's a don't eva skip! Total Price with Tip: Expect to spend at least 20 dollars for lunch, beverage, and dessert. Ambiance: Nice vibes, really cool art, highly utilized small space. Special shoutout to the pot mixer (bread knead mixer repurposed as plant pottery) Perfect for lunch! I did not use the bathroom, but I believe it's offered in the back. Fullness Level: 6/5. Parking: Highly accessible Highly recommend this place and the story is great! Check her out yall!

I'm so pleased that this Asian grocers exists in Brier Creek, since the other few options are in…read moredeep in Cary, or the other side of Durham. Fresh International Market, while isn't as large or vast as some other markets, has the staples of Asian cuisine ingredients. I was able to find plentiful mustard greens, bean sprouts, taro, daikon, etc. They even had balut! Which is an indication that a lot of old school families go there, since balut is a controversial yet deep rooted delicacy of the east. In terms of herbs though, they seem to have more Chinese herbs, than Vietnamese or Korean which is a pattern I'm noticing with Asian grocers. Whatever ethnicity owns a certain grocery, carries more food items of that ethnicity, as opposed to others. It took me a while to figure that out. Just like any other Asian grocers, they have a ton of veggies, meat, snacks and even cute ceramics - bowls, plates, dipping sauce dishes, utensils, etc. They also have a neat sit down or to-go hotpot bar, similar to a buffet style bar (although it's served to you) so you can build your own meal. I found that super neat and convenient for people who just want a quick bowl but not all of the fuss of small plates, and the overall hectic experience of hot pot. Connected to the store is a nice French bakery too, that adds to the convenience of this grocery store. Overall, a good place to secure all of your Asian grocery needs!

Fresh International Market's hot bar has solid value, but the overall experience was just okay…read more The biggest positive is the portion size. For $10.99 (three-item plate), you get a very generous amount of food, which is hard to beat. There are also a decent number of meat options to choose from. That said, the selection felt limited for anyone going meat-free, and more importantly, the food itself lacked flavor. The mapo tofu was disappointing, and the bok choy was pretty bland. Others in our group tried the orange chicken, which was described as okay, but nothing anyone would go out of their way for. Overall, it's filling and affordable, but not particularly memorable. Good for quantity, just not quality or standout flavor.

Great sandwich and better dessert! We went there for a…read morecommunity meal after church. Service was good and food was great!

I've driven past Foster's many times on the weekends and there's always a large crowd, so when a…read moredear friend suggested going for brunch I jumped at it. We arrived around noon on a busy beautiful Sunday! There's plenty of seating both inside and on their outdoor wrap around patio. Foster's has an old rustic charm, kind of like a general store but on a larger scale. So, you order at the counter with one of their many staffers, they call your name when it's ready if you ordered to go, or they walk around to the tables calling out your name if you choose to dine there! I had the Farm Plate, which was 2 eggs your way, a meat, their famous herb biscuit and your choice of grits or potatoes. I chose scrambled hard with cheese eggs, chicken sausage patties and cheese grits. It was just ok. The food was good, not like OMG! My friend had the Breakfast Burrito and it was again, just ok. They have a variety of options to choose from. Maybe we just picked the most basic ones. Nothing is out of the ordinary. Everything looks delicious and we really should have tried a dessert, but didn't. I would go back to give them another chance, but I'm not rushing. They have local goods, like honey, jams, chocolates, sauces for sale as well as wine and lots of other goods. It's super family friendly and a great place to sit and enjoy someone's company or your own, o just didn't have a spectacular experience.

Apna Bazar used to be excellent a decade back. They had even provided awesome air ticketing service…read morethen. Lately it's been on a downhill roll. The veggies are overpriced and the scales inaccurate. Aloo peas Samosas I bought here had rotten vegetable filling and what tasted like squash instead of potato as the filling. The loud lady who runs the store has become louder and I am reminded of the Soup Nazi of Seinfeld. I have moved on to shopping at Suvidha, Spice Hut and other smaller Indian stores instead. Apna and Patel bros have too much attitude for nothing special!

I was here to pick up some indian mangoes. For $30 a box of about 10-12 mangoes, I expected a…read moredecent quality. She went over the mangoes with me and I expressed concerns over the black spots. The owners convinced me the spots were marks from mango 'juices'. Hence the 3 star review. 50% of the mangoes are rotten on day 2. How is that okay? I got a box from another Indian store for $33 a box but I had one bad fruit in the whole set. This is just terrible quality and the part where the owners try to pawn off a semi-bad fruit is even worse. I'll go to Grand India Mart in the future. On a side note I also got hot green peppers that have no heat at all. Sigh..

EDIT 7/31/2014 - Aaand it's gone. Signs down, lights off, doors locked. I think this place was…read moreunder construction longer than it was actually open. Not too shocked given the situation. This place might have made it somewhere else, but competition in RTP is tough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stopped by Orient Cafe today while waiting on my car at Mr. Tire across the street. This place used to be a Chubby's Tacos, and has been open after remodel about a month. It was my first visit, and there won't likely be another. They have some typical prepared dishes behind a counter, almost like a mall place, but you can also order off the menu. My wife and I got there around 1:30 PM, and we were the only ones in the place. It was strange at first, because there was no one even behind the counter for 3 or 4 minutes. Finally, someone came out from the kitchen. I ordered Kung Pao shrimp, my wife ordered Cashew shrimp. We picked a table from the empty, but clean and nice looking dining room. White plastic cutlery. At first I was happy to see a Coke machine, but that soon turned to dismay when both the Diet Coke and Coke Zero selections were not working. The dishes arrived at our table fairly quickly, but not at the same time. My dish was fine, but my wife's had no cashews at all. The woman had already left, so we just started eating. Finally she came back to deliver food to a couple road workers that had come in after us, and I pointed out that there were no cashews in the cashew chicken. She went back to the kitchen and came out with a small container of peanuts. Out of cashews, it seems. What we got was hot and tasty, but certainly nothing special, and with so many other, better places around the location, I don't see a bright future for this place without some radical changes.

Just stopped in for lunch. The restaurant has changed to a made-to-order place and the food was…read morefantastic. I got the General Tso's chicken and it was perfect-light, crisp, great sauce. It was fairly empty but I hope people give it a second try.

Whole Foods is my go to for gluten free treats and quality flowers! They have fresh produce,…read morefriendly staff. I typically can find nice fresh flowers here and they'll even prepare you a nice bouquet for free if you ask! I always enjoy seeing what new gluten free snacks they carry. I do like that they typically have sales going on, as Whole Foods can be expensive. They offer a large salad and prepared foods section. The staff is always friendly if I need help finding something! The check out process is so easy using the Amazon app. It's convenient returning Amazon packages here, and typically I don't have to wait in a line to return items.

The area around this WF seems to be developing, and the store itself seems to have gotten better…read moresince the last time I was there. I found some premium niche kind of items that I was struggling to cover elsewhere. The parking was a little cramped with development going on, and I wished I'd been able to find a small local store, but at least this was a standard WF, which it wasn't the last time I visited.

Came to this Aldi recently to do some shopping and had an OK experience. The wares were pretty much…read moreas expected, which was kind of nice! The Aldi stores in NJ are remarkably similar to the Aldi stores in NC :) I would say this one was a little messier and smaller than the previous Aldi I went to, but it was acceptable. I guess the number of staff is quite small because the store had a sign at the cash register informing me that I should put my groceries on the conveyer belt and that someone would be with me shortly. Not a huge deal, but it made the checkout process a bit slower. Overall, I would come back here because the prices are great, but it's not the absolute best Aldi I've been to.

Aldi as a concept is great, but this particular location is a mess. The store is often filthy, with…read moreopened packages and tampered food items left on shelves. There seems to be little enforcement of basic hygiene and shopping etiquette, which makes the experience frustrating for customers who expect a clean, orderly store. Due to the surrounding community, the store is well on its way to resembling a street market in West Bengal, India. Customers consistently open packages (shoplifting) but the local police do nothing because they refuse to work. Meanwhile, you can bet you'll take home a fresh disease or two after your food has been handled by people who smell like they've never bathed. The staff also leaves much to be desired. Some employees are visibly unhappy and unapproachable, while others are outright rude, barking orders instead of offering customer service. A little professionalism would go a long way. On top of that, the store has frequent, unexplained closures due to power outages--despite no outages in the surrounding area. They don't bother updating customers online, so you might show up only to find locked doors. If Aldi wants to maintain its reputation, this location needs better management, stricter cleanliness policies, and more accountability. Until then, I'd recommend shopping elsewhere.