So happy to have found this place near me! Holds all my Asian food needs and the employees are always so nice. It has a nice big parking lot too so never have to worry about finding a spot read more

There is a new lightness and brightness and freshness that Rice Pantry has brought to Escondido. Still basically the same small corner Asian Market you would expect to see, there is a definite coziness and warmth that you can experience as you walk down the aisles. The selection is unique and Rice Pantry carries a variety of Asian food staples that you can obtain. There's a fresh Asian fruits and vegetables section as well. And lots and lots of rice!!! The checkout woman is very friendly and helpful. I definitely recommend Rice Pantry for your local Asian Market needs!!! read more

See all

If I need to make Thai or Vietnamese dishes, I can usually get what I need here. The half Thai, half Vietnamese owners have good recommendations and they carry locally grown in-season produce like guavas and oro blanco for a reasonable price. read more

Great prices andnice staff who are super helpful. So happy I found out about this place they have my fav chilli paste with holy basil i feel like I'm never able to find !!! Already recommended to all my friends and family. Hidden gem in Esco. read more

Rice Pantry - Clay Mortar - International Grocery Near Me - Escondido, California

See all

This is my hands down favorite little shop to get all my Asian cooking necessities. I'm new(ish) to Asian culinary skills, and the staff is so helpful and friendly. Feeling comfortable asking questions when you're learning a new cooking type/skill is so awesome! Their stock and variety is also great and the sesame balls that they sell on Fridays are so yummy. read more

Super cute little Asian market with great service and some fresh Asian goods like Che, nem, etc. The veggies are super fresh and the market is very clean. Great customer service, on the higher priced of Asian groceries store. This place does not have fresh meat or fish. But has everything else you may need in a pinch. read more

Found frozen banana leaves for Kalua pork. Yay!! People are nice too. They will point you in right direction or even take you directly to item if they aren't too busy. Good job!! read more

So happy to find this store. I was craving nam. My mother passed years ago and I haven't been able to find anything close. They also had picked mangos that were satisfying my cravings for mom flavors. The store reminded me of how I grew up. read more

The store was very clean and well organized, which made it easy to find what I needed. The woman working there was really helpful and knowledgeable. Great spot! read more

Quaint, well-stocked store with all of your East Asian cooking essentials. I specifically came here for the kaffir lime leaves that don't seem to be stocked anywhere else. The workers are also so lovely and kind. Such a positive shopping experience! read more

Cool little market with lots of Asian spices, goods and produce. Lots of instant ramen selection. read more

Rice Pantry - Charging my car in front of the market. - International Grocery Near Me - Escondido, California

Whenever I'm craving lao food in particular, they have all the essentials! The essentials to make papaya and all the sides that's needed. Absolutely love how they have fresh pork rinds available for purchase. Mind you, the one in the picture is a one gallon freezer bag which costs roughly around $12/bag now. Not bad and so deliciously good ;) Also, their jeow bong pairs well with baked/fried chicken and can't forget! The lao sausage from the frozen section. Yum! I love how convenient the store is to my current home, especially living in north county of San Diego. Staffs are friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommended this location for your quick fix. read more

Rice Pantry - ESSENTIALS - International Grocery Near Me - Escondido, California

Stopped by this market and Yelp did not steer me wrong! They have all the Southeast Asian food and ingredients I was looking for! The market is kept clean and organized. I did not have a hard time finding any of the items I needed. Bonus, if you have questions on ingredients for dishes you are making, they are super helpful and can even provide tips on cooking certain items. They also have some house made to go goodies by the register. I always grab some banana leaf wrapped banana and taro sticky rice. read more

Very helpful staff. Has the feel of a family owned store. They make their own kimchi which is excellent.

It's a small store but packed with all the essential Asian groceries, ingredients, Kitchen goods.

Randomly discovered this market while we were in the area. It's a tiny grocer with lots of great Southeast Asian items and produce. I even found Thai stink beans in their freezer aisle, which is super hard to find! I also picked up some fresh longan (from Hawaii, I think), and they were the best I've ever had state-side. The staff there is really nice and friendly. Don't sleep on this little shop if you want to explore and pick up some fun ingredients to cook with. I wish we lived closer to OFM! read more

I showed up just after noon and they were putting out fresh mangosteen fruit. That's something rare enough to throw in the cart as a treat. The employees were friendly and helpful. I can't wait to go back and find out what other treasures that I can find. :) read more

Saw this place as we waited for a food order in the same strip mall. It's very clean and organized. We just went in for some snacks, but we'll be back when we need to stock up. Great store! read more

Wow, this is an excellent Thai/Lao market in Escondido. This market is a step above your average mom-and-pop immigrant store. Here's what I love about this place: - Lots of rare Thai market ingredients that you can't even find in Thai markets in Los Angeles - CLEAN. And the products are new and not expired - They have fresh poultry and vegetables. Again, everything is organized and clean. - They sell fresh sugarcane juice out front. Gotta love that. - Service was very friendly! The women working there are nice and laid back. A list of a few interesting rare Thai pantry items: - Healthy Boy Nam Jim Seafood and Nam JIm Jeow - Champ Thai "luuk chin" or meat balls, the best Thai meatball brand! They also have Champ Isaan sausage - Mama Yen Ta Fo flavor - Thai boat noodle soup powder - Frozen bugs - MegaChef Brown Fish Sauce (harder to find than the blue MegaChef bottle, which is more suited for the Vietnamese palate) - Lots of Sunlee products, rice berry, white pepper, spices read more

See all

Pleasantly surprised! We are staying in the area for a month and are still getting acclimated to what is around the area. Husband was craving fried rice and luckily we found this little market. It had every ingredient I needed! It's the best you can find around this area without a 99, Lucky's or H Mart. They had the chinese sausage I always use in my fried rice. I was able to find my favorite soy sauce and other toppings. Great find! read more

Once I decided I wanted to make my own Thai food - this little gem of a store was perfect for me. Found everything I needed. Wide variety of curry sauces, lots of green vegetables (Kaffir lime leaves, Jut leaves, etc). Nice variety of egg plants, and awesome prices on ginger.... and more. AS their website shows, they have tons of Thai/Asian packaged products. The staff were very helpful and lots of parking available. read more

this REALLY is a great little (mostly Thai) market and i'm here often enough (see previous review) the folks who work there no longer watch the goofy white-guy from a distance. they seem more curious or even tentatively​ engaged than suspicious. i think i'm winning them over. i loaded up on staples for my freaky pantry: Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy Sauce, Red Boat Fish Sauce (my preference for larbs, som toms, and dips), Three-Crabs Fish Sauce (less expensive for longer cooking dishes where the fish sauce flavors are less pronounced), Pantai Shrimp Paste (which is NOT shrimp paste but an oily, stir-fry condiment made from shrimp tomalley), and Pantai Chili Sauce. i also got fresh ingredients not usually available the local Vons: Sai Oua (Northern Thai sausage), Thai Basil, raw peanuts, garlic chives, Chinese eggplant, and fresh rice noodles.​ the woman working the register asked if i was going to grill the Sai Oua. i explained i was making Mother-in-Law Eggs. Kai Look Keuy? (Son-in-Law Eggs), she asked. i shook my head and explained i was going to take the sausage out of the casing and wrap it around hardboiled (8-minute) eggs, roll them in panko crumbs before frying (like a scotch egg), and serve them Son-in-Law Egg-style topped with a sweet and sour tamarind sauce, fried chopped garlic and thinly sliced shallots, toasted dry bird chilies, and cilantro. i think she was impressed with my inventiveness. score a point for the crazy farang. not sure she's ready to invite me over for a potluck dinner (or fly with me to Hong Kong) but, like i said, i'm winning her over. being a patient sort of fella, i understand it's a process ... read more

See all

Limited selection. Employees taking in the front, never offered to help. Not very friendly.

Such an unassuming little supermarket! We were in same plaza having dinner when friend noticed this market so we decided to stop in. It's a small location but has quite a personality . Staff is super nice and helpful . She said they specialize in Laos, Thai , Vietnamese items . There's fresh produce and vegetables but not a huge selection . I loved that they sell thai liniment, muscle rubs, etc behind the counter ! The one I used to buy from Thailand was available here for $5.99 or so. Not a bad price ! Friend bought some incense as well as a sinus medicine from Thailand . Girl said the medication helps and also gives you some good rest. I'd come back if I was in the area . read more

My go to Asian market in north county. Masks are mandatory and they keep the place clean and wiped down. They have all the stuff I need to make pho and Banh Xeo. It's not a Vietnamese market but they've got a lot of Vietnamese favorites. Asian candies, noodles, sauces, mixes, coffee, etc. Some items don't move as fast and can be expired so keep an eye out for that but they're quick to take it off the shelves if they know about it. They also have a small frozen food and grocery section. Their prices are reasonable. I don't have to drive to Mira Mesa for these ingredients so I'm happy to pay whatever prices they list. read more

Excellent resource for fresh Asian herbs and all things packaged. Excellent knowledge and locally made Thai sausages. It was full of surprises. read more

Nice little market. They have a great variety of Asian goods at reasonable prices! Fresh vegetables and frozen protein are also available. They have rice and cartons of sweet mango. There is also a ton of Asian spices/sauces (patis, sweet n sour, Lechon sauce, suka). The Korean spicy noodles are also sold here! read more

Surprisingly well stocked Asian market. Not a huge selection of products but they carry all the items I shop for. Great selection of Thai curry paste. Don't look for any customer service other than when you check out which you're treated as a nuisance rather than appreciated for shopping there. Staff was too busy watching TV and visiting with friends. read more

I occasionally come here to pick up asian cuisine ingredients. It's small yet carries several items that are not available in regular grocery stores. Tonight, I was over-charged. I was not thinking and proceeded to our car. The cashier came out and called me back. She told me about her ringing up some items before I came and forgot to void the items when it was my turn. She refunded the amount. Very honest of her. read more

This is pretty much the only Asian market in North County. Yes it's a Thai market, but they also carry a wide variety of Asian products such as Chines oyster sauce, noodles, food in cans, condiments, Vietnamese spring roll wraps, Japanese teriyaki sauce, ramen, etc. (not so much Korean products though.) The produce section is limited and is not the freshest, but it's decent enough that I bought some bok choy and Chinese broccoli here. They do have some meat and seafood, frozen or canned, none of them is fresh.They don't carry many brands, but surprisingly, this little local store has pretty much everything you need to cook a complete Asian meal! The food that you must get, is the palm juice in a bottle in the refrigerator, the amazingly delicious coconut ice-cream in the big tub that is imported from Thailand (it comes with a price though, $17.99 for roughly 1 quart), the Thai tom yum paste, the coconut milk and cream, the noodles, the Thai sticky rice in bags by the entrance, etc. The service is friendly and helpful. They don't speak fluent English, but they can answer most of your questions about Thai cuisine. I got the coconut ice-cream and the lady told me to get the sticky rice with coconut sauce and mangoes to go with it! (I know that already but it's very nice of her to suggest that.) Prices are reasonable, but you can't really care too much given that it's the only place pretty much in North County to have a collection of Asian goods. Oh, besides food they also have some Thai personal care products! When my soap runs out, I want to try their tamarind and mangosteen soaps... This is not the best Asian market I've been, but for this area and the selection of products they have, it's really as good as it gets! I love this market! read more

This is the gem of Escondido. I want more grocery stores like this. Please don't ever change.

My mom was looking for flour products so I knew to come to this store cause my sissy goes here when she needs Laos food. The mother and daughter were really friendly. They had 1 out of the 2 flour that I was looking for. I had to ask them if they had royal fan cake flour they do but ran out of it. We will definitely come back in the future. read more

Rice Pantry - We got this one - International Grocery Near Me - Escondido, California

See all

Great place to shop. I come here every time I visit. Great prices, I recommend you check this market out.

I love this little Asian market. This is only one Asian market that has the most Thai, Lao sauces and frozen snacks. If you come early, there are sticky white corns, sweet sticky rice with banana in banana leafs and my favorite crispy sesame ball stuffed with taro for 80 cents!. I always got at least 12 balls and ate 3 balls on the way back home. The price is like a couple dollars more than others. The place is small but organized and clean. Watch out for some expired snacks on shelves. read more

Small but mighty! I can always find a specialty item needed when I'm cooking Asian dishes.

Really good Asian market with fair prices. If you need to get some ingredients for asian cuisine and don't have the time to drive to a big name Asian market in San Diego, this is the place to go. They also have a really nice selection of beauty and hygiene products here that you can't get at other Asian stores. The staff was friendly every time I asked for help. I come here often and would recommend it to anyone who needs Asian products. read more

A small asian market that meets the need of most asian families. Prices are decent and they have a nice cross cut selection of food items. If you live on the area, it helps so you do not have to go all the way down to Mira Mesa or Convoy for the basics. read more

See all

So thankful there's an Asian market here in Esco- driving 25 minutes towards San Diego is sorta inconvenient for just a few things that you really can't buy at any of the regular or Mexican grocery stores. From fresh veggies, seasoning packets, to even household goods like my bamboo broom! Lol! The owners are charming, friendly and super welcoming! It's not very big but don't let the size fool you! Its also clean and organized. Prices are competitive-and some things are cheaper and or more expensive than Seaford City-but for the convenience of it being 5min drive from my house I'd gladly give my business here. Yaye! So happy I finally have come to check it out! read more

Nothing special about this place.. I mean, I guess there aren't many asian markets out there.. so it will probably be special to many locals. They have a good amount of stuff for a mom & pop store, so I give it an A-OK! They will probably have all you need or at least most of what you will need to make a thai/vietnamese dish. So shop on! read more

Love this little Asian store. The owner is so friendly & helpful, even telling me how to grow ginger when she saw the ginger I was buying had a nice section starting to sprout. They have the best slender Thai knives perfect for cutting veggies--inexpensive, too. The only improvement that would help us non-Asian folks would be better labeling of the fresh veggies. read more