Mitsuwa Marketplace

Not impressed with their fresh sushi selection. The other Japanese market down the street has more desirable options for a Westerner like me and they taste so much better. Mitsuwa offers very particular lower price rolls that are not for everyone and their salmon sushi is like $ 14. The CA roll was all rice :(

Because it’s the closest and only Japanese market located in the San Gabriel valley, it definitely deserves some recognition.
They offer the thin slices of beef for shabu shabu, and even carry meat for sukiyaki. They prepare various cuts that you won’t be able to find in other stores (trust me) and even carry duck meat!
They have an aisle dedicated to the coveted snacks to satisfy your weeaboo cravings, all the way from Japan! From savory chips to sweet candies, they even have the popular make your own gummy candies! Ramune and Skal, plus other delicious drinks are to be found. Creamy ice cream, in the form of Popsicles, bars and mochi!
And if you’re hungry, you can’t forget that little section in the corner they have designated for onigiris and bento boxes.
Great store for those Japanese cravings, just watch out for those epic prices!

This is the tiniest Mitsuwa I’ve ever been to. I’ve always shopped at the Costa Mesa or Torrance locations. I was über excited when I realized I was near a Mitsuwa until I walked in…
If you have only shopped at the San Gabriel location, you need to venture out more. They had some of the items I usually buy, but they had so little a selection. They should really consider upgrading this location to match Torrance and Costa Mesa.

Flashback to a market in Japan… but not as clean. Mitsuwa has everything Japanese you could possibly need– Wafuu dressing, vegetables, sukiyaki no tare, medicine, hair dye, Dars white chocolate and tuna mayo onigiri. There is security standing up front so no need to worry about your car getting broken into (not that this is a bad area) or if you’re planning on stealing, let me save you the trip. The prices are pretty close to Japan prices!
I had the tuna mayo onigiri and the shrimp tempura. Both were decent, but not up to my high authentic standards. Would I get it again? Yes. The workers are mostly Japanese and so are the customers. If I want to feel like I’m back home in Japan, I come here.

Been shopping at Mitsuwa for years. Love the store. Recently, I noticed they have a hard time stocking many items on the shelves. Every week, the situation is the same. Wish they could stock up items they carry.

One of the most favorite markets, Recommend the orange and green tea pudding.

The careless old security guard was moving the push carts outside. he hit my front bumper and how has dings and scratches. so watch out.

I am a regular customer since 4 years ago. It used to have a lot of stuffs even though it is a small market. However, in these past few months, it seems like it is closing down, since most of the racks are always empty, especially the drinks and snacks sections. Also, some of the things seems overpriced! However, based on the location and it is very close to where I live, I will still go to this Mitsuwa regularly!

My go-​to place for nearby to-​go sushi boxes and onigiri. Many a times, they supplied my picnic meals for Hollywood Bowl performances. Haha. At least two years ago, they would’ve been 4 stars, but it’s a solid three due to the limited varieties of onigiri they sell. They used to have so much more options!
Definitely smaller sized compared to other Mitsuwas and no indoor food court. Despite that, this place gets busy and its own dedicated parking lot gets packed during the day. Very courteous and friendly cashiers though!

Terrible service at checkout today, the lady couldn’t even remember the dollar amount of the bill I handed her. Then she asks for the receipt, then says no, see, you gave me a ten dollar bill. It was a twenty, I said fine, then I told when the till was over tonight to give it to the temple, as I was leaving she came running out to tell that a fellow person in line said that I was a twenty I had handed her and she wanted me to come back in, why? Incompetent people don’t get a second chance with me, neither will their store.

I haven’t been to the Mitsuwa in Torrance, so I can’t speak for how small this one is relative to the one in Torrance. What I can say is that I do like this Mitsuwa. Yes, it’s not as big, but it does carry what I was looking for, and that’s good enough for me. One pro of a smaller market is that direction challenge me won’t get lost and my eyes won’t crisscross as I peruse the aisles looking for that one item I want. But of course, if you don’t know where to look for your item (s), you can always ask their helpful employees, like I did.
Since it’s a small market, the parking lot isn’t big either. That’s ok though, because Mitsuwa is located at a neighborhood with plenty of street parking. When I was there, the lot was full, so I parked across the street. It’s actually more convenient than circling for a spot. I will definitely be back at Mitsuwa for more goodies.

This place is definitely smaller than other Mitsuwa markets I’ve been to. I went during lunch to grab some lunch and I was a little shocked by some of the prices on the sushi and bento lunches. Perhaps the downtown LA location that I frequent has better deals because it’s in a bigger city?
Also, their refrigerated drink options were pitiful. I don’t want lukewarm water or calpico while having lunch. Ugh.
Charming cashier ladies though.
Either way… I suppose this market is decent for what it is and where it’s located. I probably won’t return though.

This Mitsuwa is much smaller than the one in Torrance with the plaza. It really is just a grocery market. It does have quite a few selections of japanese snacks, but the ice cream selection is lacking. i really want the taiyaki ice cream in chocolate and strawberry flavors when i came here. to my disappointment, they dont have that in stock. the sushi selection is smaller too however I do like the onigiris! $ 1.50 each and so yummy! both salmon and tuna was really good!

Japanese goodies galore! It’s so nice to have a Mitsuwa so close to home, yet I wish it was like the one in Torrance. The Torrance location seems like it’s six times larger than this one in Alhambra. Which means less snacks, make up, shampoos, produce, fish, etc. Mitsuwa in Alhambra really does utilize the space as best as they can.
PRODUCT SELECTION:
As previously mentioned, this location is MUCH smaller, so they tend to carry only their «popular» items. This is great, but sometimes what may seem popular to the manager or this particular store, may not be popular to others. If you are looking for your typical Pocky, Calbee chips, or rice crackers, you can get them all here and you will still have a good selection. However, if you are looking for something maybe a little more risky, they may not have it. Don’t forget their awesome shabu shabu section, they do have a good amount of high quality meats.
SERVICE:
The workers here are very nice, keep the store organized and tidy, and are always willing to help you out. I would recommend coming in the morning or after lunch as it does get busy later in the day.

First of all I love Mitsuwa, always have and used to frequent their Little Tokyo/​Yaohan Plaza location back in the 80’s, yup… THE 1980s!!! I am saddened the store is now owned by Koreans and has pretty much became a Korean market. Not that there’s anything wrong but I truly missed the Mitsuwa that I grew up with. Luckily we have a San Gabriel store, though not as big — say compared to the Torrance location but it has everything you need minus the food court.
The market is neat, organized, and most items are fresh, especially the produce. Along the way there are your usual cold items such as fish cakes, then pickled items along the walls, and dry packagings can be found throughout the tight miniscule middle isles. With that said, but I’m usually here for the fish and this can be a hit or miss sometimes. While Mitsuwa carries a wide range of sushi-​grade sashimi but I find that they have a very short shelf-​life. Depending on which types of fish, the quality can also be less than stellar for sushi-​grade. For example; I have yet to find truly fresh Hamachi (Yellowtail). The regular Tuna is mediocre, but the Gourmet Tuna (Akami cut) is exceptional and a must — if you get there on time to claim the early batches otherwise you’d be sorry. Salmons are pretty stable in terms of freshness/​texture and have always seemed to hold up well better than the others. Overall, pound-​for-​pound the fish here aren’t cheap!
There’s also a small pre-​made sushi/​bento section by the south-​end of the store, but I must warn you that they are nothing but disappointments. The nigiri boxes are low-​grade cut. More like sushi made by amateurs. The biggest fail of all would be their spicy tuna roll flavored by Sriracha hot sauce… I love the sauce but NOT with sushi. This also requires you roll and/​or cut at home. Other than that there are some okay hot Bentos such as katsu rice, etc.
But why do I still shop here with all the hit & misses? Because this is the only place where I can get Gourmet Tuna to MAKE MY OWN Sushi and enjoy like a King every month — beats going to Sushi Gen and spending upwards of $ 100! And most of all; great service as usual like with all Mitsuwa marketplaces.

As much as I love mitsuwa, it’s actually really overpriced and really limited. Comparing to marukai or just grocery markets actually from Japan.
It’s mostly snacks over food.
Pocky
Chips
Cookies
Cute or quirky drinks
From Japan
The makeup section is small (but that’s what Maneki Neko or takashima is for).
Shampoos
Toners
Makeup cleansers
Eyelashes
The deli has packaged fish and other meats you can get elsewhere. I recommend eel for making sushi mmm. Last I checked it was really expensive at $ 14 for two strips of packaged eel. Also there’s lots of good quality sushi rice and Japanese cooking oils or sauces that Chinese or general Asian markets don’t have.
Some misc items like hello kitty or rilakkuma cute stuff. Random overpriced home utilities like brooms and rice cookers. I like to come here because of its location convenience and you don’t need a membership card.

This place is NOTHING like the Mitsuwa in Torrance.
It’s much pricier, smaller and has very very few fresh grocery available.
It’s not your day to day grocery store. But its fun for the kids.

Very tiny Mitsuwa and very jammed as well. Their layout makes it really difficult to know where things are. Also it isn’t as clean as other Mitsuwa locations that I have been to as well. Parking is pretty limited and might have to resort to street parking during the busy hours. If you have had a choice to shop for Japanese ingredients, I’d suggest going somewhere else. Leaving their parking lot can be very tricky as many cars usually are doing street parking and it blocks your view to exit. So basically you are better off leaving on the other side of the parking lot as it’s not on a major street.

this is a smaller Mitsuwa store compared to the others. the Mar Vista one on Centinela/​Venice is the other one I frequent, and the Torrance store is a kingdom in comparison. no food court here, just your basics, but when i need rice this is where i come. Premium Short Grain Japanese Rice. they got it, in several brands, and there is usually a sale on one of them. their sales here are the same as the other locations, so the only thing I’m missing here is the food court.
they have the same snacks, drinks, condiments, mochi ice creams. a decent selection of fresh produce. sashimi and gyoza are also plentiful. a recent find that got me really excited was spotting some PURPLE YAM, which i’ll be roasting that up this week! it’s one of the few if not only Japanese groceries in the SGV, so i’m thankful it’s close by when i need it. nori, ramen, curry, castela (japanese butter pound cake, in butter or matcha flavors!), pocky, furikake. these are all staples in our kitchen.
decent fresh sushi selection, but come early to get the best combos. they make the SPICY TUNA HANDROLLS on site, which is good to know. i enjoy grabbing a quick lunch and dinner here for a traditional Japanese meal when we’re busy. they even have MATCHA GREEN TEA PUDDING to make it a complete dinner!

Probably the smallest of the Mitsuwa Japanese grocery chain in the Los Angeles area compared to the mothership which is in Torrance with its huge food court that includes the better rated Santo-​ka Ramen. Also the Mitsuwa on Centinela in West Los Angeles has a smaller food court but has the incomparable Tempura~ya, Hannosuke which is probably only rivaled by Otomi~san in East LA on 1^st Street just east of Soto. The San Gabriel branch is the Cinderella of the MItsuwa chain. There is no food court with notable eateries. However, this San Gabriel store has all the basic food stuffs & more than enough to buy every thing needed to make a full Japanese meal.
There is also a prepared food section in back of the store with Sushi of all kinds made in house and also some cooked foods. To add to the enjoyment of eating these prepared foods, there is a tall refrigerator case full of Japanese brand beers such as Sapporo, Asahi, Kirin, but also more «authentic» brews such as Ebisu, Koshihikari, Orion, Hitachino, and various smaller 300ml bottles of premium Sake (sah keh), and Nigori cloudy Sake. Deli section, fresh Japanese style vegetables & fruits, meat cut in ways not usually found in American style markets & Japanese canned & dry goods with special emphasis on Arare/​Senbei which are Japanese rice crackers & salty snacks.
This Mitsuwa in San Gabriel is convenient one stop shopping. The only other alternative for those living around the west end of the San Gabriel Valley is going to Little Tokyo in downtown LA which is a long way off especially in rush hour traffic. One way of sweetening that long ride would be to also include a meal at Mako Sushi on the 3^rd floor of Weller Court, Tamon Sushi in the 2^nd floor of the Miyako Hotel, etc. since the area around this Mitsuwa still can’t seem to foster a truly competent Japanese restaurant as yet. Considering that there is no other comparable competitor close by, this Mitsuwa gets my 4 Unilocal star rating.