I do like this Tokyo Central location in Irvine. Very different layout than the Costa Mesa store. It is very long and the staff have always been very friendly. For the prepared sushi and hot food items, I give it a 4 as I feel the selection at the Costa Mesa one is much better. I there is plenty of parking. We have come here twice so far during the weekday so parking has not been a problem just yet. Love that it's right next to Boiling Point. I do think they have an excellent candy section. I love Japanese candy! read more

See all

I finally came for a visit to this Tokyo Central market after the crazy lines they had during their grand opening. I thought this place was going to be exciting to visit alike the other Tokyo Central locations I've been to, but gosh, it was just an O.K. for me. I was surprised they even have a second Japanese market in the same plaza (see Mitsuwa Marketplace). I do have to give this TC location a thumbs up for having a huge variety of Japanese and Asian grocery items here, but the layout feels a little jam packed there. It almost reminds me of a mesh between trying to give a Trader Joe's and H-Mart vibe - like where's the TC vibe like their other stores? Just didn't feel it here. They had a lot (and I mean a lot!) of sushi and bento boxes at the back of their store. It's almost overwhelming with so much to offer. But they have all the usual ones, like the poke, salmon rolls, chicken teriyaki bento, salmon bento, etc. There's also a buffet that runs until about 3pm (said the friendly security guard). But....BUT...there is NO Food Court here. Probably the main reason I can only give this location 3 stars. I'll come here if I'm in the area, otherwise I'll be at my more local/usual TC locations. The parking can be fairly wild here, with a spot taken right when someone is leaving type of deal. And yeah, there's also some really bad parking there, too - there was a car that parked at a 30-degree angle, occupying two parking spots at a busy hour. Oooh, must've made other customers coming in mad, though. Ha-ha! read more

See all

I love this place. We are so fortunate to have a place like this to go to. There is so much food for sale, it is perfect place to get a healthy snack. Right now, it is super crowded because of the opening, but they work hard to replenish their food items. For example, they have a sweet and sour shrimp bento with fried rice for on sale for $6.00 Yes! Their beef bowl is excellent, and sometimes on sale for $7.00 If you are like me, I love good food and a bargain price. There is more to explore in this market. This is a gold mine of a store. read more

Tokyo Central - Beef bowl take out - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

I really love this market. I was able to find Japanese purple sweet potatoes that are really delicious. There was a third party vendor sampling rice from Japan and I bought a bag of one of the rices. My son wanted to try red melon ice cream and it's become his new favorite. I also got decaffeinated green tea and many treats my son picked out like rainbow mochi, mango koala, carmel hello panda and rice crackers. They have many products I have not seen elsewhere like pink pineapple. There is a great variety of produce and seafood. If you come earlier, they have fresh made food you can purchase. read more

See all

From an extensive selection of imported Japanese goods, sushi, and prepackaged meals to home goods, snacks, and desserts, they have it all. The hot/cold food bar is convenient when you don't feel like cooking and need food to go. I love the market, but the parking lot is always so hectic that I usually avoid going on weekends. read more

See all

F O O D S E L E C T I O N Stopped by last night on a whim and checked out all the food. Most of the prepared food was picked over and the hot food was gone. The bread was also picked over. Stopped by the next morning and the shelves still hadn't been restocked. There was a fire in the building, so I didn't pick anything up. F O O D The fresh Yasuda looked good and had a lot of great flavors. I was excited to try the Kobe Beef, Salmon, Miso Tuna, and Unagi. I couldn't find hand rolls, but saw it in someone else's pictures. There's some Hawaiian food. They had POG juice, so that's what I ended up buying my first time. Prices are hit and miss - you just have to know what categories to shop like all grocery stores. Bathrooms are clean so far. P A R K I N G Parking is tight. This plaza is new and Tokyo Central is the anchor store, but the lot isn't as big as Mitsuwa's. The store and restaurants have a decent amount of traffic, so parking can be hard to find, but people always seemed to be pulling out when we arrived. read more

See all

After what seems like forever, Tokyo Central is open and the entire shopping center has been renovated and modernized. The store has everything I love about TC but done better. Bigger hot food bars, larger aisles, hot food available sooner, and self check out that allows me to come in and out faster. I absolutely love the bento boxes and assorted hot foods here and they have improved upon that offering. The yams are one of my favorites and they are right next to a fresh mochi display. I have to try that one day. On this day I grabbed some ribs and teriyaki salmon for meals this week. So convenient and very tasty. My concern in this center even before TC was built was parking. This is a busy little area. I usually come super off peak times when I want something in this center. Please come and create your own adventure. read more

See all

I'm glad to see that this grocery store has died down some. The parking lot is much more manageable than when they first opened the first. This is my second time there, and I wanted to see if maybe I missed out on something the first time out there. However, I feel like it's just another grocery store. It's actually a little busier than another grocery store. On the weekend, at least on the Sunday I went, the hot bar wasn't even open. I keep looking through all the prepared packages of food, but nothing really entice for the price and looking at the quality, I passed. I It's just another grocery store in my opinion. read more

Absolutely loved this Tokyo Central & I'm glad they're finally soft opened! Being here reminded me of being in a Donki (Don Quijote) & the grocery store had such an amazing variety of essential ingredients for everyday cooking. Overall a great all around shop for Japanese groceries/options, with all the classics from a food bar, sushi section, to go foods, & awesome snacks. Tokyo Central also has a lot of brands from Japan & Donki itself, and my personally I really like getting my sauces here! Many Yuzu options, large variety of ingredients, soup bases, soy sauces for marinades/soups/braise, & ultimately many of them were on sale for $5 or less! Was able to pick up quite a variety of items for about $20! The shopping experience is pretty organized, as the store is setup to start from produce, meat/seafood/frozen foods/food, barand pantry items/snacks! Employees are super nice & well knowledgable of their ingredients/products, parking is tough since there's a lot of restaurants & places of interest in the area. Great place to shop around and will be coming here often! read more

See all

I'm not gonna lie; the best Tokyo Central is still the Gardena store (L.A.'s South Bay is the best place for all things Japanese outside of Japan, period.) Having said that, the new Irvine store is respectable and well-stocked, if a bit confusing in its layout, as if they were trying to pack too many items in too-small a space. I don't recommend coming here on weekends if you want a relaxed shopping (and parking) experience. Unlike the Gardena flagship store, there's no food court but instead they have hot deli stations and bentos galore. The hot deli items don't look all that appetizing, to be honest. I visit OC once a month and, for 20 years, have noticed OC's dining, shopping and entertainment options lagging far behind LA. The opening of the new Tokyo Central in Irvine provides a small pragmatic solution -- if you can't find a good place in OC for shabu shabu, yakiniku or sukiyaki, go buy the ingredients and cook it yourself at home. read more

See all

New Tokyo Central store, so of course I had to try! Amazing . This store is so huge and has everything. I love the hot food bar. It had everything from okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes), fried rice, wings, noodles, egg rolls to soup for $1. Everything else is weighted $10.99/lb. That's a great price and you have like 100 items to choose from. There's something for everyone in the family. Including the picky eater. The good was The variety of items and prices were great! Next time I'm in the area I'll be stopping by. read more

See all

What a fun, well stocked Japanese grocery store! We went in after lunch to browse some treats and ended up spending $100 on random things. That's with some self control, too! There's plenty of fresh produce, meats, packaged snacks, candies, fresh mochi, pre-made foods and bentos. There were plenty of check out lines open, so we were able to pay for our haul quickly. This is a great addition to Irvine! read more

See all

I came here on the second week of their grand opening. Not sure what the hype was all about but the parking lot was totally full in all areas, from both, the far left and the far right, and all the way pass Mitsuwa to CVS parking lot. The store itself was super cramped with very narrow isles and overstocked of Japanese prepackaged foods and groceries. It reminded me if those little Japanese grocery stores in the Asia. They appear to be doing well on their first few weeks. Many empty shelves. I didn't see any hot foods as some people mentioned? Picked up a few snacks and some candies but the lines were so long, I gave up and left. Not worth it, ended up walking to Boiling Point to have dinner instead. ;) read more

See all

Got lucky with parking, but I can see how it gets super busy during peak hours. I strongly dislike any store that designs its layout where you have to walk through the entire store, aka one way in and one way out. Because of this, it feels cramped and when there is a lot of people you will feel claustrophobic. Hey, it can be a marketing ploy because that's how you start to panic buy things. On top of that, there is a LARGE food selection. So much it's almost overwhelming. Not complaining, there is just so many choices and I wish I could try everything. And BECAUSE there is so much food, there is a lot of hits and misses too. There is a hot food bar where you can pay by the pound, we got some sliders, meatballs, and karaage. I enjoyed the meatballs and karaage. We also got some sushi. Got bluefin roll type, otoro, shrimp handroll, and a warm onigiri. Unfortunately, the bluefin tuna roll was a bit TOO fishy for me. Would come back for the spicy tuna warm onigiri. I got some groceries on the way too. To reiterate, the market was a bit overwhelming and it just seemed like most of the people were there to get the food. Maybe when the hype cools down a bit it will be better. For now, I don't think the current infrastructure supports the amount of people inside the market. read more

Tokyo Central - Tuna Futomaki - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

Wow nice seeing a Tokyo central open in south OC area. Even though I live nearby I didn't even know this was coming here and now they are fully open and functional. The best part of Tokyo Central to me is their bento and take out food. Some of the better sushi's and Japanese dishes are served here for a decent price in to-go boxes. Besides all that they have a lot of products from Japan from snacks, sweets, and gifts. It's always fun walking around and finding something. Their produce is always top notch too. Parking here can be chaotic since it's a busy plaza so I alway try to avoid peak hours. read more

See all

I can wander around Tokyo Central for a long time just enjoying the Japanese offerings. There's a price per pound buffet area where they have eclectic Japanese food. There's also a sushi station where they stock it with fresh daily rolls. I ended up purchasing a party platter from them, which was very delicious and fresh sushi. This place reminds me of a Don Quijote from Japan with lots of reminiscent Japanese items. read more

Tokyo Central - Sushi - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

It's probably too early to review this place mainly because it's a small plaza and it is already attracting large crowds at all times of the day. It's obvious that they are getting a groove for their operations and it's a combination of staff on the floor trying to stock up the shelves mixed with shoppers that make this place seem so packed in such a short amount of time. However, the food selection and snacks look great, as they carry an assortment of items that you would definitely not find in a regular market. The pricing seems decent as well since I did not see any particular mark ups (probably gives Mitsuwa a run for their money). It's neat that they have a Japanese hot food section as well as some wagyu meat and really is a neat assortment of items. I would probably not want to return until things get calmer, but overall it seems like a cool place. read more

Tokyo Central - Whole section dedicated to chocolate, cookies, and crackers. - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

I LOVE this Tokyo Central location. Before I moved to Irvine, I went to the Yorba Linda location. The Irvine location is huge! It has fresh food, lots and lots of options, and a lot of things I didn't see at other locations. They also had great prices! I loooooove the &honey shampoo, but could never find it in the states for under $25 each. At this location, I got it for $12 which isn't too much more than buying it in Japan. I was so excited and stocked up. The fresh onigiri is soooooo good. I work down the street and come here all the time to grab some lunch. Everyone working there is so nice and they have security at the door, which made me feel safe. The store is big, organized, and clean. Parking can get tough during peak time, but there's still lots of parking around. It's also located right off the 5 freeway exit, so it's easy to get to. Thank you for putting in this location! I'm excited to try the sushi restaurant next door read more

Come here mainly for the food selection. They do have microwaves but seating is only outside and can be limited especially on the weekend. No water. The staff here have always been polite and nice. We come often to pick up some hot food ( they have fish options). It is by weight so certain things can get expensive. The sushi is also on the pricier side but looks good. Its also a good place to get unique snacks but a bit pricier for normal groceries. The parking lot is horrendously tight and busy so I prefer to walk over lol read more

Tokyo Central - Matcha churro - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

We visited this brand new store on grand opening day, but waited until lines died down and they did, so we got to walk in without waiting long. There were a lot of of specialty items (of course, mainly Japanese) and products I've not seen in other nearby Asian supermarkets and all of the prices seemed relatively cheaper than nearby Mitsuwa, we picked up a number of items as many of them were even cheaper than the local 99 Ranch as well. It remains to be seen whether most of the products will be a better value than 99 or even H-Mart or Zion, but for now the values on things like snacks, produce, and drinks was quite good, and I would expect it will take away significant business from Mitsuwa next door. Unlike most other supermarkets, the amount of ready-cooked meals is plentiful, sushi, bento boxes and a fully stocked hot and cold food bar that was looked better than anything you could find at a Whole Foods. The cooked food looked fresh and there was a huge amount of variety. There was very nice outdoor seating to eat as well. The staff were mostly young, but helpful and trained well. It was fun to see that they even have the mini shopping carts for toddlers that you normally find at Trader Joes. Even though some aisles got a little tight, it never felt too cramped even with the opening day crowds. They even had a couple sampling stations where you could try new products for free, today one of the products was pink Pineapple. The checkout lines were efficient, moving super quick and we didn't have to wait hardly at all. Overall, very impressed. While we don't really have a need for Japanese specialty items all the time, so it won't yet replace our trips to Trader Joes/Ralphs/99 Ranch, we would likely return for the hot foods, which seemed comparable to what you would find at a 99 Ranch, but better quality and much better value than H-Mart and Zion. read more

Tokyo Central - outside - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

Grand opening today 10 AM, and it's now exactly that time ! To begin with, there are a lot of cultural festivities right now: There's a wonderful Japanese band playing, some martial arts demonstrations, and a long line that stretches all the way to the back of the building of people waiting to get in. There are door prizes, discounts, for those first entering. Tokyo Central offers a great selection of Japanese food, products, and food to go as you may know. In addition, there are lots of Irvine representatives from the city here, and media too. l Everybody seems really happy to be here as well. And I'm very eager to post this review as the 1st one when "officially opened to the public!" read more

Tokyo Central - 10 o'clock today grand opening! - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

Arrived at 9:00 am the food court it's empty, normally majority of the food is out by 8:30am. Now it's 9:30am, five items out.

Wonderful market, I highly recommend coming here. The first time I came here they gave out free snacks, ever since then nothing bad has happened. The moment I walked in here, the vibes and energy were great. The store had a Directory so you can find your things easily. There's also a buffet that has fried chicken and a variety of soups to choose from. The staff here are very friendly and there are staff everywhere to help you find your supplies. At the end of checkout, there are microwaves to heat and make instant ramen. In conclusion, Tokyo Central has many foods to choose from, with great staff to help you. read more

Tokyo Central is smaller than Mitsuwa so the market is a bit more tightly cramped inside but parking is easier here. I love coming here for the hot food buffet, fresh sushi, bento boxes, and other food as well as Japanese groceries/snacks. There is so much to choose from, I highly recommend! read more

Tokyo Central is an easy five stars for me. Tokyo Central is a terrific Japanese grocery store I patronize at least once a week. I go primarily for the numerous prepared food options that have yet to disappoint me, but I shop, also, for various Japanese imported items. Speaking of prepared food options, in addition to other prepared food options, it has an awesome buffet. One can select quite a variety of hot choices. When you get it home, use of the microwave is in order, but that's not a biggie. I usually get an unsweetened green tea to wash my meal down. The store is sizable, and the selection cannot be beat. It's a comfortable store. The staff are friendly and helpful without exception. It's located near the back of a busy shopping center on Culver, but I've never had trouble parking. Bottom line, it's a great place. p.s. My pics are better if you click on them. read more

See all

This was definitely a long anticipated opening, and though it sounds counterintuitive to have two Japanese grocery stores in the same plaza, Tokyo Central really just offers a different experience that is absolutely worth noting. Once some of the initial hype died out, this has become one of my regular spots. I normally come here for quick meals or snacks, and they've always been the best on that front, with plenty of great sushi, bento boxes, and a hot bar, so you'll never get sick of all of the options for a quick lunch. Pair that with their plenty of offerings of great Japanese snacks and drinks, and it's a solid relatively guilt-free meal. I've always liked the meat here so I will plan to come here more often when I am less lazy about cooking. The layout of the store can be sort of odd, and it's not all that intuitive, but you can appreciate that they adapted to the local infrastructure and made it work. TIP: Seating is only outside, so it can be unpleasant at times and refreshing otherwise. read more

Love that Tokyo Central finally opened. It's such a fun grocery store with an incredible selection. The hot food bar is always being refilled, making it easy to grab something fresh on the go. Huge sashimi selection at all price points, plus tons of options for quick, repeatable meals. The rice and drink aisles are massive, and the snack section is even bigger. They even have self-checkout for under 10 items, which makes quick trips easy. It was a bit chaotic the first few weekends after opening, but it's calmed down a lot and has become my go-to place for sashimi cravings. Walking through here honestly feels like being transported straight to Japan read more

Food is always good here WHAT SUCKS IS THEY DONT PUT OUT HOT COOKED FOOD OR READY TO EAT SUSHI WHEN THEY OPEN (8am). I was here 8:30am and they blocked off entire area until they are done which realistically 9am. If your coming here for cooked food and sushi don't come til 9am. read more

Very good Japanese market with fresh meats, seafood & vegetables, supermarket selections of foods & beverages and some prepared food at reasonable prices and good quality. Look for specials and sales. Pleasant to shop here. Nicely organized and displayed items and lots to choose from. We came not knowing what to expect and bought a bunch of items. Worth the trip and checking them out. read more

A newer location, clean, and has all the essentials. Not as large as their Costa Mesa location, but this location is well stocked with the popular brands and items. They have a prepared food section with a variety of items. There are self checkout stations. read more

I'm a huge fan of Tokyo central stores and have regularly gone to ones in San Diego and Costa Mesa. This location recently opened and maybe it's working out some things still. For starters the service is not nice or helpful. Came here and the people at the checkout there all seem over it like gawd do I have to talk to you??? Not a good feeling. The deli food and snacks are why I come here. The vibes are way off at this location also the others patrons seemed also not nice and I kept getting hit by baskets in every aisle even though there was space to go around me. I don't think I will be back to this location. Overall not great experience, parking is a hassle, and no indoor seating. read more

See all

Newest addition to Irvine with a huge variety of goodies that will likely please everyone. Came by during grand opening and the line to get in wrapped around the building. The wait was unpleasant but once inside, it was all worth it. Fresh produce, meats and buffet style hot food to grab. There were many packaged ready to eat foods at very reasonable prices (under $10). There were snacks that I haven't seen since visiting Japan years ago. The variety is impressive to say the least. Only downside during this visit was the crowd. There are several self checkout lines but staff is available if help is needed. The interior is clean (as expected) and staff is helpful and friendly. Parking can be a real challenge so when it gets busy, be prepared to park farther away, possibly even near CVS in that same plaza. Definitely will return! read more

See all

Definitely not as great as I was hoping for. I've been to a bunch of other Tokyo Centrals and this one is the most underwhelming. On opening weekend they ran out of everything and after having tried the hot food bar I'm just not super impressed with the food quality. Lines are really long sometimes and it just feels like a small place. read more

Tokyo Central - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

On a Saturday morning in early August, my family and I drove early from SGV to New Irvine location. We arrived at 8:30am and parked close by. It's located in the same shopping center with Boiling point and Baekjeong. Once inside, the size of store looks small with clean aisles. The food to go was closed off until the workers were stocking the bowls and plates. No karaage yet. Lots of fun and cute items to buy and look. They had self checkout and one cashier. No food court inside. We left after purchasing some items and came back after 30mins to look at Karaage. Still none at 9:30am so we left. Oh well. If you go shopping in the afternoon or evening, it maybe hard to find parking. In the lot. read more

See all

I still prefer the Costa Mesa location due to size and variety but this location is convenient. Prices are definitely higher here but that probably takes in consideration higher rent. You enter from the left and go through produce, deli section, meats, frozen food and come out after the dessert section. Funky layout. We'll see how things go with Mitsuwa in the neighboring plot of land. It's nice to see more Japanese super markets in the area. read more

The store has a good variety of things, however parking was probably the most stressful. The hot food area was 10.99 per pound which isn't too bad. We wanted to try everything so we definitely hit the 1 pound mark for each person in our party. We enjoyed most of the items. We didn't care for the meatball, string beans and there was a lotus dish. The others were good. We also added cabbage salad and sushi and those were pretty yummy. I think they're still working out the kinks since the checkout line was a mess. We didn't know where to go for check out and it merged with the self check out line. So that was a bit weird. Overall good store, has a lot for the size of the store. read more

Tokyo Central - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

Hot/cold foods review: Great selection to choose from. Very easy to grab and go. They restock quite frequently with nothing ever running out. Very tasty. Affordable prices. By the self-checkout (which you can use for this), they offer a microwave, utensils, napkins, and some condiments. Good amount of covered seating outside for a quick bite. Parking: Can be challenging so I highly recommend a weekday morning or early afternoon before the kbbq place next door gets busy. read more

So excited to finally have a Tokyo Central in Irvine. Got in on the soft opening today to check it out and beat the inevitable crowds before tomorrow's grand opening. The entrance is a bit small and cramped, it's a bottleneck. But it opens up to a very large store, packed full of goodies. I was very happy to see the hot buffet bar, which looks to be expanded from the other stores. Most stores have the bar along the wall, but here it's right in the middle of the main aisle, with 2 sections. The whole store is a forced path, which is really not ideal. No matter what you want to buy, you are forced to walk through the entire store just to get to the checkout. And even the checkout is a forced path. The layout is just strange overall. But overall, it was stocked just like any other Tokyo Central with the same prices and selection. The fresh foods weren't fully out yet, so we'll have to see how that all looks in the next few weeks. read more

Tokyo Central - Soft opening on 7/25/25 - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

Extremely disappointed in Tokyo Central Irvine. My mom and I got called "nasty ladies" by two workers at a chuhai sampling stand because we accidentally ignored them. We were just minding our business, talking to each other and getting what we needed. The store was packed, so I didn't even realize that one of them was talking to us at first. Before I could even glance in their direction, they called us "nasty ladies" for, I guess, ignoring them in a conversation I didn't know I was a part of? What a pair of rude and narcissistic humans. And the icing on the cake: the onigiri and karaage was cold and hard! read more

Tokyo Central - Hard onigiri - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California

I love coming to Tokyo central for sushi and to look at their fun snacks! They have endless aisles of delicious food to look through. I love that they have discount sushi after a certain time of the day and it's really yummy sushi too! I got a banana cream soda last time for a fun drink and I fell in love with it. The customer service has always been great here. I think I still like how the Costa Mesa location is spaced more than the Irvine location though; the Irvine location seems more cramped. I will be coming back to Tokyo central time and time again! :) read more

Tokyo Central - International Grocery Near Me - Irvine, California