Amapola Deli & Market

100% recommend to get your cakes here. $175 for 2 tier feeds 50 people - vanidoso cake. Everyone loved the cake! Bow was made by us as they don’t work with fondant but I dropped it off Saturday and they attached it for us. They did provide the pearls and matched my vision perfectly. Gracias! (3rd photo was my reference for them)

i’ve been a loyal customer here for about five years but today I had a really bad experience. I had ordered a cake and they were very rude about the colors of the cake the day of pick up. I had asked for a vibrant pink and they gave me a pink that almost looked like white, and then only the top of the cake was with color and the sides were white. For the borders I had asked for a gold almost bronze color and I got bright neon yellow. I couldn’t get the guys name but the one who made the cake was clearly upset he had to make an alteration and was visibly getting upset with the girl from front desk and they were both talking aggressively to each other. BOTH getting really defensive and then almost yelling at my mother who is a customer who had this cake paid in full and on instructions were to have pink cake and. a bronze color boarder. I ended up paying an extra $10 for an alteration fee after everyone almost yelling at each other. I ended up choosing brown and getting the sides to be covered in pink color as well but when I get in the car there appears to be a booger in the box of the cake. If I could give them a 0, I honestly would because that is extremely disgusting.

The masa doesn't taste the same, and the masa de piña came with clove taste, sorry I think you guys change something to save money but the masa is not the same.

Great market. Amazing selection and decent prices. Very clean, friendly staff. Fresh tamale masa available every day and great hot deli with delicious to-do foods! Highly recommend!

Masa for the tamales sucks this year. Very bland and lacking flavor. Grandma typically buys Masa here every year and this year she was disappointed. She called today to ask if it was a bad batch and the customer service was rude and unhelpful. Avoid this store for your tamales this year. We’re not coming here again.

Carniceros don't know their meat, kitchen doesn't know about Mexican food either, ever since they changed ownership this store feels lost

The tortillas are Bomb, the bakery is yummy, the food counter is superb, plenty of fruits & veggies, But The Masa Is The Best in Southern California.!!!

Always a go too but this year the masa was a bit rough, but a little mezcal and it's fine .

As the Christmas Holiday approaches time becomes extremely important. In the Hispanic community we say "It's tamale time" call the the family and neighbors to save the date, usually a Saturday to come over and assist in making tamales. For me the most important process is finding the best prepared masa. My family usually purchases about 35 pounds of masa and always becomes topic of discussion about how "grandma made it" well we must move on. A couple of years ago while watching television I saw a report on where to purchase the best masa for tamales in Southern California. Amapola Super Deli & Market in Norwalk was the location as it had lines of masa seeking customers around the building and block ! So I decided to try it this year thinking if that many customers can't be wrong. Now I live 50 miles away by freeways so I arrived at 5:15 am to try beat the crowds thinking they open @ 6 am, well they open 7 am today so I said to self no problem I'll go get a Mc Cafe coffee from around corner and return be first in line. As I parked I saw a young couple getting out of their car and become 1st in line, quickly followed them to the line they started began a friendly conversation then turned around looked at the line that formed behind me ever so quickly. I struck up conversations with everyone I could to get the layout of the best and fastest once in side, to my surprise I found everyone was in a festive mood and willing to share their experiences with me. I truly had one the best time talking and sharing tamale stories. Now once inside I found the market immaculate along with friendly and helpful employees ! Wow they did not disappoint 5 Star Service from everyone it was unbelievable how they treated you thru the process from start to checkout, like a fine tuned machine hitting on all cylinders. The Owners should be very proud of the employees and product they produce. A Big Thank You to all the wonderful employees and customers I came in contact with today for making it special and enjoyable experience ! P.S. The Masa was as advertised the Best !

This is a great little market with delicious food. We had some pan dulce and chicharrones for a family football day. Everyone loved the food. Service was great and I would shop here again.

Their masa was lumpy. Our tamales came out terrible for Christmas. Do not buy their masa

Service is beautiful. The people are always nice and they help you out They have everything that you can possibly look for. I go once a week to get my seasonings. They have this amazing Carna asada seasoning - La Cocina Seasonings. Is the best.

Placed an order of birote salado and come to our surprise 3 of them had MOLD. Their response was "incidents like this occurs please come back immediately for an exchange or money back" mind you that I drove the birote to HUNTINGTON BEACH for a graduation. I was not going to return for a $3 exchange. Food/ Bread had MOLD 0 acknowledgment of the inconvenience

They have the best refried beans for breakfast. Not sure if it's the lard or what. Gotta give them a try next time you're not in the mood to make your own refried beans.

I wish I could put zero stars! Customer service extremely bad. I bought meat there, when I opened it once I got home it smelled foul. I only live 10 minutes away.

Mas de 20años viniendo a esta tienda y jamas me habia tocado tan mal servicio al cliente!! Hoy la cajera Margarita dio tan mal y feo servicio!! Una persona tan grosera que ni siquiera pudo contestar un buenos dias cuando fue mi turno. Y me pregunta si quiero bolsas muy grosera. Aparte se le olvida hechar ala bolsa una de mis cosas, llego a mi casa, y vivo a 20min, y falta mi almuerzo. Llamo y todavía en el telefono es grosera y no acepta su error, y me dice que yo las deje olvidadas. Cuando ella claramente me dijo aqui en esta bolsa va todo lo caliente y ademas un plato de comida ni si quiera le puso bolsa. Y me dice sarcásticamente mi amor las dejaste olvidadas aqui pero bueno yo me hecho la culpa y le dije que queria hablar con la manager y me dijo okay okay estoy sola y me cuelga el teléfono!! Que servicio al cliente mas feo!! Y llego ala tienda y todabia es mas grosera!! Si no les gusta su trabajo para que estar ahi!!

I drove two hours to stand in line for three hours to get some masa for tamales. I am fuming!!! We bought 60 lbs of masa. The first 30 pounds we made did not cook thoroughly. I did not doctor it because this masa used to be perfect every tine we bought it. The masa would not separate completely from the husk. Total loss. We cooked it for hours and it did not cook thoroughly. The masa is very pricey plus the meat and cheese was a huge loss. Plus now we will have to pay for everything again to have tamales for Christmas. I had to try to salvage the other 30 pounds so added a lot of lard plus baking powder. They are still cooking as I write this review. You lost a long time customer and I will make it known to all people I know that this place is no longer recommended. Very disappointed.

Horrible customer service. Management is incompetent and needs to be reevaluated. Used to shop at this store all the time but I guess the manager's ego is more important than the money the store generates. Go to another Amapola if you can and avoid this one. I hope whoever owns the store soon looks into their management before it's too late and a foreclosure sign comes up. Especially during these harder times. Also meat quality is pretty bad, there are a lot of better options around here and with better prices.

Just bought masa today (12/24/2024) to make my tamales and the masa did not cook through. We tried calling the store multiple times but they did not answer. Extremely disappointed because this is the second year this has occurred.

I went here to get a my stuff , not a busy day , so I'm expecting I'll be done fast ...but when I was in the cashier paying my stuff the cashier instead she will be the one to bag my stuff, she prioritize gossiping to co worker, so I bag my stuff I don't have choice. Service are sucks!!!!

I needed to get some meat to cook my dinner so I went into the meet department section and I needed help and there where no meat cutters not anyone to help and I was very disappointed because it was only 3:00 and there where no meat cutters they should give more hours to these workers !!!!

Best Mexican market in Downey! The deli is especially good with daily "quisos" and soups. Their caldo de res is very good and is available 6 days a week, but caldo de pollo only on Wednesdays. Of course, they're famous for their masa and tamales which are top notch. Always have carnitas and chicharrónes which will make your mouth water! Smaller grocery footprint but efficient. Ditto produce section.

BAKERY DEPARTMENT- the girl in the bakery department was extremely rude to my elderly father, when he picked up my order and SHE realized SHE charged me the wrong amount and blamed us FOR HER MISTAKE! I WISHED she could've keep the same attitude with me the time I went to placed my order instead she waiting for my elderly father to be alone. Extremely rude woman working in this department acting like we are asking them for a favor or free items ! I wish I can rate this place a 0 star! DISGUSTING ATTITUDE & SERVICE !

Went to join the thousands of tamale makers in Downey. Line was long and painful but Amapola has done its homework in making this as painless as possible. Once you get in the store the staff has the lines in check. Masa is ready to just be picked up, already bagged, weighted and ready to go. Tamales came out delicious!

Great masa for tamales. Made them this year and cooked perfectly. They reheated well and the masa did not dry out at all.

NASTY tamales! So sad these use to be some tasty tamales but over the years just went down hill, now it hit rock bottom. The chicken ones were beyond dry no salsa to be found in them, the chicken looked so old . Also RECEIVED an EXPIRED queso one! Smelled so bad ! I went the first hour they opened thinking the tamales would be fresh but I was so wrong! Nothing good about these tamales what so ever ! So disappointed!!

The masa for tamales is the best!! I only buy from here. I love the way they leave the bags of masa out in 5 lb., 10lb., and 20 lb. Increments

The best masa in town.. they also have the best tamales ready for any occasion :) Be aware that holidays gather 100s' of people for the masa, plan ahead to get in and out fast.

I alway buy made food here and every time the Salvador ladies aways give me the worst part of the food and when I ask them to give me a different pice they always give me a attitude very disrespectful i can't stand them. the other day too I went to the meat section to get some ham and there was a youngman i was looking at how he dispatched the other 2 people in front of me he was touching the meat with the ham and I told him to change the gloves cant believe the story really went down hill been coming here sense a kid

I purchased masa preparada last Sunday December 17, 2023 at the Amapola Market in Downey as I have for a few years now. The masa was bland, and my tamales came out bland as well. The masa was not salted sufficiently and it tasted like it did not have much manteca. It was very disappointing and I will not share them with my family as I have in the past. I will not buy my masa there in the future.

THE WORST MANAGER! We have been a customer of amapola for over 20 years and this has been by far the worst experience ever! We religiously get our tamale masa from your Downey location every year. We used to love the masa there but this year it came out way too grainy to use. We were not able to spread it on the husk and it was clear it was not mixed properly. We went in good faith to let the store know and had an encounter with the "Vice President" Jaime Lopez. We told him our concerns and he refused to return or replace our product. He said as soon as we walked out that door it's not his concern! We were paralyzed with his response. We even asked him to look at the product himself and refused to even look at the product! I asked to speak to his supervisor and said I can call corporate myself! Rude! Unprofessional! Never Again! Thank you Jaime Lopez for ruining our experience with Amapola for good! Even when they had a masa issue years ago we were not treated this way and kept our loyalty with Amapola. You lost a customer and will make sure our neighbors, family and friends know of this experience.

Just bad CAKE I would give ir no stars but I guess you have to choose. I went last night and I wanted a piece of cake. so the lady in front of me was returning the same chocolate cake that I had chosen. that should have be a warning, but I put that piece back chose a different kind, when I get back in line there was a man complaining about cake. me and my silly self should have just paid attention to the signs but oh no I bought it and this slice is so so bad it burns just swollowing it. Made me throw up. never again the health department should be called there were flies and gnats on the bolio. STAY AWAY!!!

The maza was a bust ! I had my tamales cooking for 8 hours and they never fully conked they are raw I want my money back Amapola on Florence

I shop at Amapola for convenience only, not for quality or reasonable prices. This afternoon, I went to purchase produce. I don't know if bringing your own bag exempts the cashier from bagging you groceries. The store was not busy. I was the only person in line. Fernanda, the cashier handed me my receipt and immediately turned around and started gossiping with her co-worker. I had to bag my own groceries. I don't know if this is a new store policy. It's my first time having experienced this.

Can't believe how bad this grocery store has fallen went in Thursday to buy carnitas. When I got home I couldn't even shredded them due to hard its was they were harder than the chicharrón never buying food here.

Unless you're living under a rock you know this market for their masa for tamales. It's one of the best and every Christmas consumers wait up to hours for this masa. I learned my lesson and didn't wait last minute to get my masa. I went on December 21 and still waited about an hour and 20 minutes for masa. Starting on the 22nd they even open earlier at 6 am since people start lining up earlier. I wish Amapola would come up with a more efficient way for everyone to get their masa with out having to wait in line. They have order pick up but the halt all tamale orders as the days gets closer to Christmas. Other than masa I dont go here for much else. The seltzers all limited. They don't have keep the store well stocked so that's truly all I get from here. The cashiers however seem quick and efficient.

Raise your hand if you once again got crappy masa for your tamales! We bought 20 lbs only to get flaky tamales!! Definitely will no longer be patronizing!

Masa is the the best. Clean and packed up in back of store and ready to go. Bought sweet tamale masa too. Very tasty

I love their maza for tamales!! It's a little far from where I live but I would drive there every year for the holidays to buy some maza to make tamales for the family.

Gross. Masa was so spoiled, we refrigerated it for only 2 days for our party and when we opened it we couldn't believe how rotten it was. I think this was extra from New Years because there's no reason for this to go bad when it's "freshly" prepared. I should've listed to all these bad reviews on here. Unfortunately they will not give you a refund or exchange. Will never go back here again

Bolillos rellenos here were great! It's stuffed bread rolls with cream cheese and jalapeños. What's not to love? They also add seeds to them. That's about the only thing I've tried from here that was worth coming back for. The tamales I've tried from here aren't that great. I've tried most of the ones they sell. Pros: + Bolillos rellenos (bread rolls with cream cheese and jalapeños) Cons: - Tamales

My dad went in for tortillas and a few other things on Saturday morning and I guess he didn't notice these tortillas he bought but they were moldy smh! Keep in mind he had just bought them that morning. They mix old unsold tortillas with new ones which is fu*king gross

Do not miss out on their bakery! I recently booked their services for my wedding cake and it was delicious. Beautifully decorated and absolutely amazing. I highly recommend to everyone!

Ayer fui a comprar un menudo, estaba frío y de un muy mal color , parecía como que lo habían tenido por varios días, las tortillas completamente frías. Primera vez que compraba menudo en esa tienda y será la última. Si quieren probarlo, compren uno chiquito para asegurarse que les gusta. Yo cometí el error de comprar uno grande , pérdida de dinero.

They raised their prices right at the commencement of the pandemic. As it was, their quality has never been great so even before I felt this market was ripping off. Their masa and tortillas are great. They have a deli and the food is good as well but not too good for the prices. Se pasan. Their produce, if you Purchase fruit or veggies, make sure you eat them within 3 hours cause it'll go bad, swear. Bakery, same thing. Bread taste good but if you don't eat it within the next 2 hours, it gets hard as a rock. Speaking of bread, I went yesterday to get bolillo for menudo I made, each bolillo is now 50 cents and it was such a bad quality bolillo, unbelievable. Sometimes their meat is nasty too and can foods can be expired oe milk goes bad within 3 days of purchase. Never been a fan but over 23 years, I do go in there maybe 4 times a year and I always end up regretting it. Except tortillas, they're so good!

El lugar no tiene aire acondicionado y los pobre empleados están sufriendo con el calor! Y como no hay AC está todo lleno de moscas por todos lados. Las últimas veces que he comprado arroz esta agrio y huele muy mal, he tenido que regresarme para que me devuelvan el dinero o me lo cambien y cuando me dan uno nuevo al otro día ya no sirve, muy mala calidad en los alimentos

Years ago this place used to be really good, I went earlier to buy some food and the employees are so rude!! Kitchen employees need a customer service training ASAP! I decided to leave since the lady that was supposed to make the food was too worried to take her lunch instead of helping the customer! Don't come here unless you want to be treated like trash...

The masa department never answers but I found a great Tortilleria in Pomona called Nancy's and it was awesome. The staff was friendly. The masa was delicious. I think Amapola is overrated or overworked

Masa was super chunky this year. I'm found whole corn kernels in the mass. Lazy work. I hope this doesn't continue or we'll have to find another place to buy our masa.

Horrible, just horrible! I had not been there, to the Amapola in Downey for about a year and a half, maybe two. They always had great food great selection and loved the produce section. I went Sunday, September 8 because I was looking forward to their posole. It used to be delicious and fresh. To my surprise when I got home, I saw the posole that looked like it was three days old, it was thick, they gave me loose bones, very little strands of pork, and that tostadas smelled rancid, which means they probably had not changed the frying oil in quite some time. The produce section was as pathetic as a homeless's cart. Old fruit, mangoes. Old mangoes, old watermelons, etc. it was actually sad that they let the market go down. Their taquitos are still tasty and tortillas and bread are great. Other than that you might get sick consuming their other foods and what gets me mad is that you spend a lot of money there because everything is expensive stuff that you have to throw out. It's not right that they take advantage of the Hispanic community.

Compré 20 + 10 libras de masa preparada para tamales , hice 20 libras y no se cosieron ,la masa se mantuvo blanda, fue algo horroroso" fui a regresar las otras 10 libras que estaban en una bolsa separada sin abrir , vino un supervisor me dijo que no podía hacer nada, le llamó a otro supervisor, y esta persona me dijo que en el recibo estaba bien claro no devoluciones de masa , lo cual yo no había notado pero su explicación al caso me impactó, dijo que el consumidor la arregla a su gusto , se supone que esta preparada, no semi preparada. No recomendaré a nadie comprar nada en este establecimiento.

False advertising. They claim it's an error but every time I come to this store the price it has on an item is different than when they ring you up. Whether it's food already made or meat from meat market. Manager was no help at all. Just kept doing what he was doing and send someone else who didn't know. Always happens here

Tamales are garbage!! Super dry and the masa is disgusting. Jesus Christ man! I got 12 chicken and 12 beef! Both We're bad 24 tamales $54 bucks. Everyone at my house was said the same thing. Bad really bad.

OMG the BEST masa for the tamales you'll ever have ! I guarantee you you'll never buy masa elsewhere. The best tamales ever

They may sell great masa but they need to work on the taste of their own tamales.. including the pina one.. no flavor! Is like eating masa

Great selection and service. Sea food is really fresh every time we come. The store is clean and people are helpful.

Their masa for tamales is really good, but it is excessively salty. I have been trying to speak to a manager about placing an order for less or no salt, but they never answer the phone. I get disconnected when I call all of their locations. I thought that happened because they were very busy during Christmas, but it happens all year. I give them one star because of their terrible customer service. If we spend hours in line for your product, you should be more attentive to your customer's needs.