Ideal Market #2

Despite my extensive restaurant reviews, I do actually cook. I only came to grab an item that I mistakenly left in MS. It was somewhat of a specialty item(frozen passion fruit puree) that I had to purchase at one of my local Hispanic markets(and there are several). I was completely blown away when I walked in. This store looks more like a whole foods than any of the Hispanic markets I've been to in the past. Things were nicely stacked on the shelves instead of casually placed, or still in boxes on the floor. The produce looked better than the Walmarts, and cheaper too. What really had me salivating was their bakery and hot bar. The smells, and all the different breads and desserts had me questioning why I haven't been in here before. That might partly be due to this place always being packed when I've driven past. They're often out front grilling good knows what that smells so good. The hot bar was so packed I could not get a view of what they actually had available. I quickly browsed around, found what I was looking for and checked out fairly quickly.

Worse baleada in my life, they use Mexican ingredients to make a Honduras dish. But that’s not the problem, the tortillas are hard and stale

Great place to get beef tongue! Super authentic Latino market jam-packed with salsas, sauces, produce, and beer...this place has it all! You can even get a plate of hot food, with big portion sizes. The staff is extremely helpful, though not all speak English. If you want some real spices for your Mexican dishes, check out Ideal Market!

Love it here. I can grab lots of Hispanic goodies and fresh, fresh fruit, get a taste of Hispanic/Latin music all while I head home. Hello, cactus ears... I've not seen those ANYWHERE, until now. I stopped in for an ensalada treat, buuuuuutttttt I didn't know the proper name, gotta get better with that; but I was able to get something similar to what I came for. Thanks be to God for my 'johnny on the spot' impromptu translator. Guess he felt sorry for me... I asked for the menu. Tuh. He said, "here's the menu right here" (pointing to the label in front of each food dish in the kitchen... Hello talked about embarrassed, the brown face turned BEET RED, well maybe not, but you get the picture. Everyone I encountered was nice, friendly, considerate & patient (which I need lots of). Like a community of family & friends. I was floored once I stepped in, to hear the Latin music overhead and the bulk of the signage in Spanish... I knew then I'd frequent this place to bone up on my Espanol; just call me The Bilingual Babe!!!! Nos Vemos!!!!

Nice market with fresh bakery items and genuine mexican food. Good selection of different items related to latin/mexican.

Great food and great service from central America good service from all workers and love the bread and doughnuts🤤😋

Ideal Market is my go-to spot for groceries. It's got a great mix of products and a familiar vibe. Plus, it's right in the neighborhood, so it's super convenient. The bakery section is awesome. Fresh bread, pastries, cakes and the best tres leches I have ever had.

I got a few pounds of bistec, I live in Mandeville and grilled the meat the next day, it was disgusting, obviously the meat was at least weeks old, the smell of rotten flesh stick in my clothes, it is obvious I was not a familiar face so I can only assume they grab meat from the “ready to trash” meat when they fulfill my order. I had to throw everything to the trash and a perfect Sunday was ruined by this… extremely disappointed

My favorite thing about Ideal are the marinated meats at the butcher counter. It's the easiest way to quickly throw together a grill out on the fly with tender, flavor packed meats! Also available are fruits and spices as well as pastries that are common in the Latin/Hispanic community you can't find anywhere else.

Ideal Market is my go-to spot for groceries. It's got a great mix of products and a familiar vibe. Plus, it's right in the neighborhood, so it's super convenient. The bakery section is awesome. Fresh bread, pastries, cakes and the best tres leches I have ever had.

How am i just now discovering this spot. I'm kinda kicking myself in the ass for taking so long to discover Ideal Market. I would've had no idea this market existed had it not been for one of my friends. Ideal Market has everything your Latinx heart could desire, and there were so many finds which reminded me of my hometown, El Paso. This market has a little bit of everything for every Latinx community and it was so cool, seeing it all under one roof. I'm super happy to know this market will have some of the specific items, I crave or want time to time. This will be more of a frequent stop for myself! Expect fresh produce, panaderia, a hot station, fresh tortillas and bolillos, tons of various candies and chips, and even a few childhood faves like guava pasta, flan kits, and more.

Sorry but I found the produce to be poor quality. I was looking for garbanzo beans and they don't carry them. There is a small variety of dried beans which was nice. I found nothing else in this tiny neighborhood market to be appealing. Service clerk couldn't smile for the life of herself. I'll find a better market ... so should you.

My 3 star rating is an average of 2 ratings. If I had to rate this place on the vibe, the magnitude of selections, and the courtesy of everyone working there, it would be a 5. If I had to rate this place based on the baked goods I purchased and tried, it would be a 1. I loved the feel of this place. They had music playing and it's just full of such bright packaging and so many snacks I've never heard of before. Their inventory was insane and every section was packed perfectly. They weren't sold out of anything. It looked like the hot plate line was so long, that's definitely what I plan on trying next time. I bought a selection of 4 baked goods including a churro and a roll with large granulated sugar on top. I didn't really have a favorite. None of the baked goods tasted fresh and none of them had much flavor. I felt like it was just a bunch of wasted calories on carbs. I did love the prices tho! 4 baked goods were only $3!

Los precios son muy rasonable y el personal me ayudan en todo lo que necesito! Defenitivamente regresare!!

I love everything about this market, the music, kindness, pan dulce, pastel de tres leches, prepared foods, cuts of meat, seasoned meats and poultry, fresh veggies, cheeses, paletas, pico de gallo, and the. Best news of all is at the cash register!!!

If you are not Hispanic/Mexican or speak Spanish Don't go. They are not friendly. I went to the hot food counter to order a plate and 3 Tacos. The ladies refused to serve me.. I then asked for a manager that never showed up. Then I went to the Register asked for a manager after waiting 20 minutes. Still no manager..

Well stocked for a local grocery. Search engines mark it as a purveyor of ethnic cuisine, that means Hispanic, but little else. Parking available but sparse. Service minimal

fantastic food and service loved the carne asada, and the freshness of the food

I love this lil gem of a market! I come here whenever I'm inspired to cook Mexican as everything here really is a bargain. I've previously come here to collect ingredients to make pozole and this was the place to go to as they had everything on my list. Today, I stopped by to gather the essentials for chorizo tacos. I was feeling a lil lazy so I bought the pre-maid pico and guac and DANG, I was not disappointed. The guac was silky smooth as opposed to the chunky kind at Whole Foods (that would leave your wallet empty and wouldn't deliver on flavor). I picked up the chorizo, queso fresco, tortillas and cilantro and under $20, taco night was in full swing. I couldn't recommend this market more.

Love it here. I can grab lots of Hispanic goodies and fresh, fresh fruit, get a taste of Hispanic/Latin music all while I head home. Hello, cactus ears... I've not seen those ANYWHERE, until now. I stopped in for an ensalada treat, buuuuuutttttt I didn't know the proper name, gotta get better with that; but I was able to get something similar to what I came for. Thanks be to God for my 'johnny on the spot' impromptu translator. Guess he felt sorry for me... I asked for the menu. Tuh. He said, "here's the menu right here" (pointing to the label in front of each food dish in the kitchen... Hello talked about embarrassed, the brown face turned BEET RED, well maybe not, but you get the picture. Everyone I encountered was nice, friendly, considerate & patient (which I need lots of). Like a community of family & friends. I was floored once I stepped in, to hear the Latin music overhead and the bulk of the signage in Spanish... I knew then I'd frequent this place to bone up on my Espanol; just call me The Bilingual Babe!!!! Nos Vemos!!!!

Great place to stop for produce and imported goods from mainly South America! Everyone there was super friendly and helpful and seemed happy. Theres also a mango truck in the parking lot you can get fresh cut mango there!

The prices are great. And they carry brands and items that no other shops have. The pastries are BEYOND tempting and everyone I've sampled has been DEELICIOUS. The store is chockful so it can get crowded. Parking is kind of a free for all, but there are spaces on the side street and in back. Staff is friendly and has always been patient with this gringa.

I was so glad that I found myself in the neighborhood since I had heard that this is one of the better Ideal Markets. This is a small market, but they have the good stuff- namely sweet breads made fresh. After looking around, I got a sweet bread (it had a fancy name in Spanish, but I forgot to make a note of it) and it was delightful! I could tell that it was made in store and I enjoyed it later that evening. If you're in the mood for something hot, they have a hot bar where they are serving up delicious looking authentic food, that must be good because there was a pretty sizable line for it. The staff is always working to keep everything fresh, and when I was here they were adding fresh pastries to the pasty case, so you can bet that no matter what time you get here you're sure to enjoy something that is tasty and fresh. Like any convenience store, they have basic groceries and a nice selection of cheeses, fruits and other produce so you should be able to find whatever you might be looking for as far as that goes.

¡Ay, diós mío, amo este mercado! And since I'm moving a block down the street from it, I'm gonna be there a lot! Their standard produce beats Rouse's prices a lot of the time, and then of course there's all the Hispanic food you can't find in regular grocery stores. The store is clean and fairly easy to move around in for a small place. But the best thing about Ideal to me is the hot food counter! For $10 I left with enough barbacoa and black beans & rice for two big lunches. The beef was really flavorful, and not as greasy as some I've had. The beans and rice were above average also, and now that I live close, I'll never buy tortillas anywhere else. It helps if you're ordering food to speak a little bit of Spanish, but I didn't see anybody having trouble getting it done. Getting out of a parking space is a bit of a mess, but I don't have to worry about that!

The grocery store seemed great, but this review is just for the hot food bar/lunch counter in the back. As someone that grew up in Southern California, I have a hard time finding Mexican food that I like. I had some of the best Carne Asada I have ever had outside of Southern California. The food here is great. I had rice and beans, which were solid. I also ordered Carne Asada which they grilled fresh, and came with some pico de Gallo and corn tortillas. This hidden gem is amazing

Just off Canal St. on North Broad, This is a great little market with all sorts of Central American cooking ingredients at really good prices. Yesterday, for instance, 10 limes for a dollar and fifty cent cilantro bunches. If you need tomatillos, they have the best prices in town. Amazing produce prices & a great selection for Mexican or Central American-style cooking, plus most of the other things one would expect at a grocery store. I haven't tried the lunch counter in the back, but it all smells DELICIOUS! My favorite part about this Latin market is that it makes me feel like I have just stepped into another country. The parking is sort of tight, especially around lunch time, but they have a few skinny spots behind the store.

Pretty decent little Latin store where you can get some of those hard to find ingredients. They also have a small cafeteria where they sell a variety of food.

You need tortillas? Guacamole? salsa? Marinated fajita meat? What about cow tongue? Yes? Well mi gente at Ideal Market gotcha! Yep they have it all in a very small footprint. I usually go in to get marinated fajita meat which my friends (pale and brown) love and Arina-Pan for my arepas. They also have tons of options for hot plate lunches. My favorites is the costillas (ribs for the non-Spanish speakers) with yuca and white rice. They also make a killer pork coconut milk stew that will bring you back from the dead after a night of drinking. Their barbacoa and chicharrones are also on point. Great place to get beers from allover Central and South America and their Tres Leches cake is delicious and not overly sweet. If your recipe calls for some spice you've never heard of and can barely pronounce there's a 95% chance they have it. So "ándale" and check it out you'll thank me!

I'm a Cuban chick who was born and raised in Miami, so Ideal Market is basically my salvation especially living in the South. Their produce is amazing, their meat prices are crazy cheap, and their hot plates are delicious. I recommend their breakfast. I normally get a quesadilla with Crema, Queso, Avocado, Beans, and Chorizo. It comes out to the low price of $3 and holds me over till lunch. Speaking of lunch, do yourself a favor and grab one of their Maltas to give you some pep in your step later in the day! I've lived in NOLA for a couple years now and this place helps keep me from feeling homesick. Obviously knowing/speaking some Spanish is super helpful at this place but if you don't know any, do NOT let it stop you from eating/shopping here! This place is a gem and everyone is super helpful and friendly.

This is a great neighborhood Mexican food store. Reminds me of my old neighborhood in Chicago. They have a panderia and lots of selections of pan. Have aisles full of all your favorite Mexican brands, tons of tortillas, fresh vegetables frozen foods, fresh meats and yes... hot food also. They also do money orders.

This is a respectable Latin American market. It isn't large, but is quite clean and well kept as these things go, and has a lot of fresh vegetables and some delicious looking baked goods. Cheap tortillas, bulk dried beans, and so on, even cactus (what do you do with edible cactus?). They also have a few basic household items. Prices aren't bad at all. I don't know that it's my "ideal" market, but it seems worth an occasional trip.

This place is filled of mold near the fruits and vegetable section. The tres leche cake has no milk in it what's so ever !!! Definitely not a place to get your cakes from and be careful with your vegetables and fruits !!

This is my new favorite place in New Orleans. No. This is my new favorite place in the world. This market is right down the street from my office, and it makes me look forward to going to work, simply so I can look forward to my lunch break. This place is clean, the staff is really friendly, the produce is super fresh and everything is cheap as hell. They have an insane amount of fresh produce, a baked good section, a prepared food section, a deli counter, raw meat, booze, sodas...I think they also sell money orders. If you are near the courthouse definitely make it your beeswax to stop in!

I paid $11 for a plate of rice and beans and ribs as my entree, however all I got was the top of the ribs, this includes all the fat and cartilage no bones, a plate full of rice and some yuca. This is a rip off buyer beware, when I complained the Spanish speaking lady behind the counter got mad and took back some of the food. I will never go back there ever again

A LATINO "SUPER ROUSES": and once inside it's like Mary Poppins' carpet bag, seemingly getting deeper and wider with squeaky-clean "WholeFoods-ian" aisles of groceries & produce. HUGE 40+ FOOT BUTCHERY & HOT FOODS COUNTER: located in the back (to the left of the Western Union kiosk) and the prices are reasonable. KNOW YER SPANISH: ordering is reminiscent of Madrid's El Corte Inglés cafeteria. I employ "Rick Steve's" broken language method: point and ask "tu favorita?". This trick almost always yields satisfactory results. Today I had the delicious chorizo breakfast burrito on freshly made corn tortillas, $2!

Ideal... oh how you won me over with your fresh sweet pastries. Although this location is smaller than the Clearview , it definitely suffices. All the offerings but on a smaller scale. Granted, I do enjoy the hot plated lunches they sell but I was feeling low on sugar that day. Churros filled with vanilla cream, tres "drenched in that leches" cake, and flan. Yasss....

Like the store, but we are in a pandemic and several employees were not wearing masks at all and others only had them covering their mouths. Will not be going back.

Ideal market they have the potential and the vision of becoming the leading Hispanic grocer in Louisiana state they are the best of Quality ,price ,organized

This place is the BOMB! Clean - Check. Organized - Double check. Friendly - Check. and they speak Fresh. Prices are so competitive. I can't say enough good things about this place - every single small market in New Orleans should go take notes and learn from this place. Thank you Ideal Market for making my shopping experience Pleasant - in a city where that can quickly be squashed. A++++++

I love this market! I love that I can find everything I need to make my oxtail stew (and they cut the pieces just how I like it too!) The fruits and veggies are usually sold at or very close to ripe so I know I can nip in there for a mango or an avocado that is just right for use in that day or the day after. The service I've received has been good and I'm just so glad I stumbled upon this place when I moved here a few months ago!

The best thing I've got to getting the Mexican grocery items that I need in NOLA! Rouses hardly ever has the speciality items I'm looking for, so I make the double grocery trip to IDEAL. I'm just happy to have a place to get the little things I love like pan dulce, sopa de estrellas, my enchilada sauce, etc. They also have great meat, including some already marinated for ya. And it's nice to go somewhere in this city and be able to speak Spanish.

This place is like the narnia of latin american foodie goodness. It doesn't appear to be that big from the outside, but if you walk inside you'll find yourself surrounded by a grocery store and cafeteria style fooderie (sadly, no faunos). The food is pretty decent, perhaps not the best you'll ever have but it's tasty, cheap, and pretty authentic. The service is also pretty quick and friendly, so I can get behind that. In spite of it's wardrobesque appearance, it's still a relatively small store so while the prices may not be dirt cheap, they aren't bad if you need something quick (and are no worse than Rouses "ethnic" section). I'll definitely be going back, so if you see a fat guy on the curbside of broad street nuzzling a gallon of horchata, please don't step on me.

Great Mexican / Central American grocery. Nice Mexican cheese selection, great meat counter (they have a real butcher, evidently) and complete selection of Mexican produce and cheeses. The lunch counter is quite good as well, but no seating. This is the place for hard to find Mexican and Central American items in town. The parking's terrible but what can you do. Aisles are narrow and when the place is packed with customers, err, almost any weekday evening - and can be a chore to shop, but totally worth it. If you are into Central American/Mexican food this is the only place in town that has what you will want. Most of the staff does not speak English at all so brush up on your Spanish! I don't know Spanish at all, but get by with just pointing at things. The butcher counter is just amazing.

Ok. This three stars is in comparison to the other ideal markets in the Nola area. In comparison, this place is smaller, not as clean, and the food isn't as good. I was sorely disappointed in the flan and tres leches that I ate the other night. It was still edible, but definitely wasn't mouth-wateringly delicious. This ideal isn't as clean and the employees are not very friendly.

Latin Grocery! Moving from San Diego, I never realized how much I would miss Mexican Food Marts and listening and speaking to people in Spanish. This grocery store all around makes me feel good and reminds me of where I came from. As for the market its self, it has a great selection of meats and prepared foods. Tons of spices and goods that cannot be found at your local markets and a decent selection of produce. Check it out!

Sleek, automatic, glass doors slid smoothly open, only to divulge a cacophony of noise. Accompanying the noise, flamboyant red signs stood tall and proud, enticing a sea of innocent shoppers towards them with insidious promises. Aisles braced themselves against the pulsating throng of vibrant colors. Customers pushed and shoved as they tried to squeeze past one another trying to gain access to the many b

I absolutely love this little grocery; phenomenal deals on produce, homemade bread, and an incredible selection of Latin products. The main draw, even still, is the food prepared in the kitchen and served in the hot bar. It is phenomenal food, authentic and perfectly prepared. The barbacoa is tender and flavorful. The carnitas have the perfect smoky sweetness and caramelized edge. The rice and the beans are simple and excellent; loved the fried rice also, it is loaded with meat and could constitute a meal on its own. Our favorite, and what has become a staple, is the whole grilled chicken; ask for the pollo asado. They have this beautiful red shade from a seasoned marinade, are constantly watched and turned over a large open grill and develop a perfect char. They come with grilled jalapeños and baby leeks. You should go eat here. Don't expect anyone to speak English but if you are persistent you will receive the prize.

So I wanted to love this market but it became very apparent that this was a them bs us atmosphere and yes I'm aware that people claim racism without investigating but I speak Spanish and I don't let people know in this atmosphere of U. S. Politics know it. I wanted to support this market because of current policies and yet I was treated with distance , distain, sarcasm and disrespect. I can not endorse anyone of "other" Shopping at ''this" market, and I wanted too! If you want to be talked down to by little girls in orange red lipstick at the cash register then by all means do so, I am Native American, black(Sudanese ancestry) Chinese ancestry, and English ancestry(so never a descendant of Slaves) so I have my own arrogance to deal with pleas feel free to do so. If you speak Spanish and want to hear some one talk down to you to other customers then do so. These folks will never get this "mayate" business again. Yes I tried calling management continuous loop over the phone.

It's hard to park here and awkward to navigate the slender isles, but they have good prices/good guacamole and cheese; cheap limes also. I've never got anything from the hot food counter...I'm pretty sure ordering in English isn't an option.. which is okay, but there's just no way I'll ever work up the nerve to give that a shot.

This is such a great addition to MidCity, A real Latin market, clean and well stocked. My wife and I go and just walk the admittedly narrow aisles staring at the exotic offerings. We get our usual items to support her Mexican cooking, but occasionally succumb to the deli items. A roasted chicken we got there was sublime, juicy and ringed with grilled green onions. We did find the guacamole too fiery, but bought some avocadas (plentiful and RIPE!) and added them til the guac took on a yancqui spice level. The staff is tolerant of the occasional "gringo" and is very pleasant and engaging when asked about the products. Not a place for xenophobes, but for those enjoying our community's diversity, well worth it!

A perfect example of how you can't mess up a good thing. This store has a great selection of affordably priced hot food, groceries, and imported goods from South America as well as some from Mexico. If you don't want to waste your money or time at an overpriced bourgie taco place then come here, order a plate of meat, rice, beans, salsa, and fresh tortillas. You will get at least five tacos worth of food for a lot less than taceaux loceaux. Please don't go to taceaux loceaux it's so bad, overpriced, and pretentious.

Impeccable market with the widest selection you could ever hope to find in this kind of store. Didn't get anything from the hot food bar, but everything looked great. Prices are low and the wide variety is impressive. Will definitely be back, and I want to check out their other locations, as they seem even bigger!

Amazing Mexican/Latin American grocery and deli. Large selection of very fresh fruit and produce at good prices. Food at the deli looks authentic and easy to put together a good meal. House made corn tortillas are available. Butcher shop has a good selection including marinated meats. Anyone looking to cook a Mexican meal can't skip shopping here. A little Spanish is helpful, but the staff tries very hard to help overcome any language barrier. The store is very clean and well organized.

Suprisingly nice produce section & reasonably priced; popular, hot Mexican food. So many specialty items, but I prefer food without additives, chemicals, etc. - didn't find any, not in the salsa or tuna section anyway... Didn't bother me - but might bother some - got some looks as the only white person in the store.

As soon as I walked in the doors I immediately knew I was in the right place. From the outside it can appear to be nothing but a hood little grocery store but in the inside are cramped little aisles full of all of my favorite things. Call me corny but an aisle full of Goya products and Spanish seasonings for the low low $$ excites me. Certain items that I cringe at buying at Winn Dixie and other grocery stores in N.O because I know I'm paying probably triple the price I can now get here without feeling like I'm getting raped. Although the produce section isn't huge, everything is fresh and CHEAP. They have seasonings for days and tons of other little Spanish treats throughout the store. Glad to know this is here and am even more glad I decided to go inside after driving by it constantly. Be warned its crowded to the max on Saturdays but whatever just move swiftly and get in and out and you'll be fine.

1 cashier is horrible, older gentleman with a mustache I believed was involved in a couple crack heads stealing 20 dollars from me. I asked if there was video after I realized that I had been ripped off I asked if there was any video and he said he didn't know what I was talking about. I have also recieved dried fried chicken from this establishment. I am really curious if older gentleman was involved in this heist.

Great grocery store with awesome latin inspired prepared foods. I generally check out the produce as it can be significantly cheaper than Winn-Dixie/Rouses (let alone Whole Foods) although sometime quality can be sketchy. Great selection of tropical fruits so my go to when I am craving some papaya. However the highlight of this joint is the prepared food and the meat counter. The prepared food is always delicious - just wait in line and point and you have enough delicious meat and rice for the entire day for less than $10 (seriously - split it between two people for a regular sized meal). Also a huge fan of the al pastor spit they have in the back - although it is often not ready or sometimes not even on. Pick up some ready made salsas from the bin near the meat counter including my personal favorite the spicy guacamole con chili. The meat counter is also serious business. You can't beat the pre-marinated carne asada (get the whole flank steak version - not the fajita strips). It is around $6 a pound and comes out perfect and delicious each time. Also a surprisingly good place to pick up flanken style short ribs - which I use for Korean BBQ at home.

REAL Spanish food at a decent price,not mass produced crap, YAY!! seriously though their food is very tasty, and their prices are not bad too. If you like authentic Spanish food, Ideal is for you. Be warned however- they tend to have very long lines! all in all a good lunch/dinner on the run spot.