Tai Nam Food Market

There is so much variety of Asian Delicacies such as Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, and some South Korean, etc. Throughout the supermarket products range from seasonings, frozen foods, desserts, and ready to go foods. When you first walk in you’ll see the bakery section, seasonings section, condiments, then fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, frozen foods, and all the way to the right are the sweets, traditional items for festivals and more. Very good place overall to stack up on Asian groceries.

They have so many selections and everything is so fresh. Everything so fresh and if not fresh it is dry and frozen. Very reasonable prices. I found so many alternatives for the items I needed. The employees are very helpful as well, even offering to cut smaller pieces of meats since I am a single person household. Go to this store, you will not regret it!

Been going here all my life. Best grocer for all viet ingredients. Also carry good variety of international items like fufu, teas, spices. From spices, produce, seafood. They carry the freshest imports for reasonable price.

So many different foods condiments and ingredients I’d never seen! Had so much fun, the clerk was kind and thoughtful and really very helpful. Was able to get the wide rice noodles I needed for my Pad si Ew for like $2.79 for 2lbs.

Another vietnamese store in near lincolnwood area. Tons of stuffs; vietnamese, Thai, chinese etc. You can try this store, if you are lookimg for asian groceries.

I pass through this location often but I never thought of checking it out. My thought was a market for Thai and China people. Today a friend said she needed a particular type of fish, we came here, got the fish and met a lot of people who are not even Asian. The manager was splendid. He is active, smart and professional. If you too want to try something different, check out this place, you will not be disappointed.

Hate the distance to Argyle, so far from the motorway and so many traffic lights. But why you gotta have the best Vietnamese food and Tai Nam!? Can't a guy just eat and shop where it's 5 minutes even 10 away? I give up. I'm hooked. I keep coming back for more! Great Asian food, groceries, bread, produce and snacks at great prices. Tip. The giant Milo tins are $10 cheaper than Chinatown!

Never lets me down when I need specific asian ingredients. Just cooked up prawns I got from here too. Love this market - has pretty much everything you need 💯

Decent selection of Asian groceries but a majority is geared towards Vietnamese cuisine. I often head here when I don't feel like fighting the crowds at the other markets or I need a change of scenery. You need a bit of patience to find parking in the lot here. At my last visit, I bought some ready made to go items and the infamous fruit shaped ice cream (lemon). The checkout line was fast and minimal in interaction with the cashier - which I don't mind at all.

For sure there's a lot of Asian business along Argyle. In addition to the restaurants is Chicago's largest Asian supermarket. Tai Nam is where to find stuff from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Has things from a few other countries. You can get hard to find stuff pretty cheap compared to other big markets. A lot to get from here. It's a popular place for restaurants to order stuff. The majority of the products seem to be from China and Vietnam. Actually has quite a lot more. There's some pretty hard stuff to find, including spices. Has a lot of this for cheaper. The prices are among the best around for these kinds of things, and you can get a lot for not a lot. Certainly they supply many of the restaurants in this area. It's located on Broadway in a plaza, close to the Argyle CTA station. There's plenty of meats and produce, as well as some things like tofu for vegetarians.

If you want an authentic Asian grocery, then look no further. Snacks, fish, candies, shelves of canned goods, kitchen needs.

Facing with rude behavior from store owner makes me getting frustrated. The woman co-owner with her name Thanh (or Thành) is very ARROGANT and RUDE. In her store, the bananas for sale are not marked as retail or whole bunches, when I am considering to chose half of banana bunch but not break it yet. She scolded me: "choose bananas than choosing girls", and then turned to the staff by side and said "I don't care to say it, why not to say him" when her staff asked her what happened; I think that businesses don't want customers to choose the products they want to buy should close the shop and stop selling.

Very good prices here with nice snack sales if you keep an eye out. Meat here is also lower priced than a lot of other grocery stores. A bit crowded on the weekends, but that's to be expected. Standard asian grocery store vibes here. Good place to get pantry staples.

For me this place is amazing. I just came from Hawaii earlier this year, had trouble finding some items common to the islands. . Been to Chinatown to get some staples but it's honestly a hassle, but strolled in here last week near the argyl CTA stop and it's like a mini-Don Quixote! Honestly has everything from ranging all of Asia. Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian. So many vegetables, sauces, and spices I can't get at any of the chains. For me testing the areas, this is probably the most closest and convenient where I can get the widest variety at the best best value. A big bonus is they have a nice kitchenware section too! Plenty of tools to perform techniques correctly!

Love that this place is within a 5 minute walk of my place because they have a huge variety of things and is the perfect local Asian market. If you come by car, they also have a fairly big parking lot for Chicago standards which is super convenient. I've found many items here that I've needed to cook and always knowing how close it is makes it super easy for me if I run out of an ingredient.

Everything (and more) you could need to cook authentic Asian dishes. Fresh produce and fish selection with things you can't find at your local supermarket.

My favorite Asian grocery store in Chicago-- the selection is really amazing especially for East and Southeast Asian snacks and staples, many of which are honestly pretty rare to find in Chicago. My roommate and I went to get ingredients to cook various Vietnamese dishes at home, and we were able to find everything we needed very easily. Compared to my local Mariano's, the prices were much cheaper and the selection of meats, seafood, and produce were much more expansive. Some of the produce wasn't super fresh, but that could have just been the specific day/time that we went (Sunday afternoon). Overall would recommend: wide selection and reasonable prices!

12/29/20 - Tai Nam Market is located at 4925 N Broadway inside a strip mall, storefront J. While I perused Tai Nam I found many of their items to be less expensive then some of the other Asian markets. They have many of the food products, canned, bottled & packaged items. They also have a frozen & refrigerated cases for perishables along w/fresh vegetables, meats & seafood. While the prices on many items that I buy on a regular basis are competitive or in some cases lower. I need to take off a star for the fish that are displayed in open air containers under normal conditions as they are subjected to airborne germs & contaminants. How much more risk w/Covid pandemic. I would never buy fish in open air containers where people could cough or sneeze on the fish under any condition let alone the current state of the worldwide pandemic. Uhhh open air markets not good.

It's an Asian market. There are many things to choose from for cooking and the prices are not very expensive. If you want to make Asian food, I recommend you to buy it here. Absolutely everything you need...

Ha, apparently I've never written a review of Tai Nam despite having been here zillions of times over jillions of years. I don't really even know when it first opened, but whenever it was, it surely hasn't changed much, except maybe for addition of another parking lot that was sorely needed but also not very visible. Like many Asian grocery shoppers, we (really meaning the wife) like good values and a store that has a good and varied inventory of fresh Asian goods, and this place is it and has been so for decades. The place is rightfully popular and can get extremely crowded on the weekends and even on the weekdays. I really wouldn't recommend a weekend visit unless you want to see a parking lot mess since it's much too small, but the lack of parking also doesn't deter the diehard value shoppers. The drivers are fortunately and generally a patient and courteous lot though. The parking is the only reason I rate this place 4 and not 5 stars. I really should go down the back alley and check out the parking lot addition and walking distance though - maybe next time!

Vacation mode. Decided to stop by this market since it was located closebto where I was at. Grabbed some boba in the same plaza and wandered inside here to purchase a lottery ticket. Didn't win since I just checked but there's always a next time. Lots of parking, lots of fresh fish, looks like they get some exotic fruits shipped in from Thailand as well. Honestly, just saw a really cute girl and followed her in here. Funny enough, the place was very busy, looked like they had 4 check out lanes but one lane, next to the entrance, was incredibly busy! Oh, their snack aisle is impressive too, lots of snacks from Thailand.

Oh my, this place hasn't changed since I was a child. Same old look, feel smell, but also, so much mysterious asian ingredients!! mmm, fresh durians and seafood... As grocery shopping is the biggest activity of 2020, I have to say Tai Nam is an oldie and goodie. They carry a good variety of Chinese and Southeast Asian items at the best price. Thai curry paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, bean sauce, chili sauce,MSG, noodles, instant tea mixes, whatever funky, fermented items in a jar, they have. This place has a lot of shoppers, so a good turnover rate as well. Don't let the look deter you, there are so many treasures to discover! Try to avoid shopping here in the weekends, the parking lot can be messy.

My family and I have shopped here for many years. They offer a vast variety of Asian groceries, fresh fruits/vegetables, meat and seafood. They also offer freshly baked goods and ready to eat items. Tip: Due to traffic jam on Broadway during busy hours, I usually visit early morning when they open.

Went here recently to shop for spring rolls ingredient and they have everything you will ever need. Lots of Asian goodies and plus interesting coffee mix like durian below. I actually bought the instant viet coffee mix by nescafe and they are legit. This place also have their own parking lot which is a big plus! I would love to shop here more often but too bad it is out of the way for me

Best Asian store in Chicago! Not only do they have incredible variety, but everything here is reasonably priced! Definitely the best deals for imported Asian goods. On the off-chance you're seeking Indonesian goods, this is the place. They've got basically a whole wall of Indonesian products...krupuk, keripik singkong, meisyes, Blue Band, teh kotak, sambal, all types of bumbu (seasoning), the list goes on. Plus they have a pretty decent mie goreng selection. On the topic of ramen, you can expect an excellent ramen selection - all the popular brands from around Asia (Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese to name a few). Finally, great produce, seafood, and frozen sections. Oh and instant coffee and tea! I can highly recommend the Super brand for milk teas (it's a Malaysian one - think Royal Milk Tea but half the price and just as good). Also they sell some premade foods from a couple vendors in Argyle. TL;DR: everything about this place is great. Just be aware that you'll have a real tough time finding parking around lunch and dinner so, if you want that sweet, sweet free parking they offer, you'll need to wait in line!

Great finds and delicious foods and snacks. They have so many variety of snacks from all over Asia. They also have a nice selection of fresh produce and seafood.

This place is amazing and overwhelming. I think they must have every variety of every specialty Asian food item that exists. If, by some perverse chance, Tai Nam doesn't have it, you don't really need it. This is a full-service supermarket for Asian foods. The choice and variety is awesome. If you're an old Midwesterner like me, who grew up thinking that Asian food is represented by sweet and sour chicken, you are in for a happy food awakening. I went to Tai Nam recently, for the first time, and quickly found the specific item I wanted. That took about five minutes. I spent the next forty minutes going up and down the aisles, picking out more items that I wanted to try. It's been delicious fun cooking with these. Knowing that I can get anything I want here has really expanded my cooking skills and repertoire of favorite recipes. There is a parking lot, which is terrific for convenience, but oh boy! it is busy! You really have to watch out for the traffic. Go slow and be patient. This really is the Asian food superstore. I highly recommend shopping here. Expand your horizons and experiment with these fresh and varied ingredients. Your taste buds will be glad you did.

Great Asian vietnamese grocery store. Parking difficult to find but plenty of options if full. Vietnamese fruits, meats, seafood, vegetables, pre-made deserts, meals, snacks near canned goods aisle. Used to come weekly when living nearby and was never dissatisfied. Cheapest high quality Asian grocery store in my opinion.

If you're looking for a one stop place for viet desserts and groceries, Tai Nam is just the store. I usually look for fresh Xôi Vi, Xôi Lá Dúa, and Bánh Bò Hap at this market! The desserts are delivered from Hong Xiong Bakery each day and they go for around $2 each!! I recommend going in the morning or early afternoon to get any of the bakery stuff because it literally flies off the shelf. Besides the dessert, Tai Nam offers a wide range of fresh produce and packaged goods. Whatever viet ingredients you need, Tai Nam is sure to please!

PARKING CIRCUS The fun begins here before you even step in the store. The lot is a big top of parking fun. There's a guy outside in a safety vest directing you where to park. It is a total circus before you even start your shopping experience. We come here to grab specialty items when we decide to cook Asian. My wife makes a fantastic drunken noodles. We always come here for the Thai basil and some Asian green chilies. You totally need those for this dish. She even makes the noodles homemade but some days we also grab the noodles here too. Sometimes you don't feel like making noodle and it's just easy to choose from the large selection of Asian noodles here. The noodles are also really cheap too. The store has everything Asian. On a recent visit to the butcher counter the butcher had some fun with my little girl. He asked her if she wanted to try some chicken fingers which were actually chicken feet. She was not down with that but it was very funny. The have a large selection of seafood and some of it is still alive. You can not get any fresher then that. The giant snails and little blue crabs were still moving in their bins. We even saw a blue crab on the floor making a break for it. We started singing the song from "The Little Mermaid" and calling him Sebastian. He was totally getting out of here but with the crazy cars in the parking lot he may never make it back to the sea. I have made homemade potstickers including the dough in the past but I decided to cheat and pick up the frozen wrappers. I haven't made them yet but the potential is there for me. Potstickers are so easy to make plus you can control the ingredients and sodium. I don't like potstickers that are like a salt lick. I love stores like this and it's an adventure shopping in here. The parking lot scares my wife but I think it just adds to the fun. Get creative in the kitchen and make a dish you love but never dreamed of making. It is fun to come here and get inspired. The mayhem in the parking lot shows that customers are dying to get in here. Literally! So join in the fun and let the culinary adventure begin.

*****To All the SHOPPERS, BE ALERT******* Please watch your wallets when you shop here. There are so many robbers inside the market. They unzipped my backpack and snatched my wallets without knowing it. They are all "Pro. Snatcher". I have asked the owner to turn on the surveillance camera and she replied "it takes too much of her times to do it for me and the thief has left. There's nothing that you can do" I told the owner that I would not shop here anymore since you allow so many thief in your market. Please be careful!

Hate the distance to Argyle, so far from the motorway and so many traffic lights. But why you gotta have the best Vietnamese food and Tai Nam!? Can't a guy just eat and shop where it's 5 minutes even 10 away? I give up. I'm hooked. I keep coming back for more! Great Asian food, groceries, bread, produce and snacks at great prices. Tip. The giant Milo tins are $10 cheaper than Chinatown!

One of my favourite grocery stores. Large variety of items - check Rare Asian stuffs - check Great pricing - check If you are looking for Asian stuffs, Tainam is probably the best place to be. In fact, I think their focus are on immigrant, I kid you not, there is an aisle with wide array of African stuffs:) Moreover, they have a fresh poultry/fish/meat section. My favourite buy from Tainan? Dodo fish ball from Singapore/Malaysia. The bounce is unreal and it's my favorite!!! One caveat, always check the expiry date there.

This is our family's go to asian market while in uptown. It's a bigger store, so has more varieties & prices are fairly reasonable. Their snack section isn't too bad either. My son gets excited walking down those aisles. We live in the suburbs of Chicago & find that the asian stores in our area are priced a bit higher than here. So, we make it an effort to go monthly to stock up on a lot of items in this store. I've not gone during the week, but just to speak on the weekend, we find there is a lot of ppl, the aisles in the stores can get crowded, parking also gets crowded in their private lot, but looks like also shared by other surrounding stores or restaurants, where they have someone to navigate the parking lot. If you like convenience, good quality items with reasonable prices, this should be your go to asian market in uptown. Also many yummy surrounding restaurants nearby wouldn't hurt to try out. I look forward to coming here on a monthly basis with my family. A lot goes a long way for bigger families and we tend to buy most items that aren't perishable such as the items in cans or the seasonings. Though we do purchase the pastries or vegetables from time to time. They also have a decent section of seafood items such as oysters, shrimps, & several different fishes. Also, when in season, they have crawfish by the lb. You can purchase in paper bags, or bring in your own cooler to make crawfish boil.

I always get yelled at by the cashiers, but it's still a good place for Viet/Chinese groceries. Very tight parking for about twenty cars. They have security watching the lot, so stay within the strip or you might get towed.

As many of you have noticed, I've been obsessing to making Chinese-style hot pot. Nevertheless, traveling all the way from Albany Park to Chinatown isn't always feasible. I discovered the alternative solution. Tai Nam was the chosen destination in finding hot-pot appropriate essentials. We went on a non-festive Saturday afternoon, and it was packed with customers. We grabbed a shopping buggy, even though the some aisles could barely fit one (1) cart. However, customers were professional in cart-pushing and everyone was in his/her zone shopping. We got some frozen Vietnamese-style beef, shrimp, and fish balls, some little frozen fish (super bony), a large bundle of bok choy, a bag of seafood mix, three (3) different kinds of hot-pot soup base, a small jar of Chinese barbecue sauce, a small container of spicy bean curds (very salty as well), two (2) Vietnamese specialty food from their ready-to-eat section (one being a dessert type of item), and two (2) packs of Vietnamese-style instant noodles. I think I might have left out some items that I failed to include; this was pretty much the summary of things we purchased. The total came to $48 after tax. I thought it was pretty good deal considering more than half of the items were saved for the next hot-pot feast. Some say Chinese lacks customer-service skills. Well, I should say Vietnamese will take a lead in that category. The cashier was talking to the bagger the entire time in Vietnamese while she was checking us out. She could care less, really. So what? This is a grocery store. Get what you want, and get out! I would still prefer Hong Kong Market, but Tai Nam is definitely a great option since it's only a short-bus ride away from our apartment. The CTA 81 Lawrence will take you to Broadway, and then it's a short walk north to the Uptown Vietnamese village.

I always tell my friends on the mainland that H Mart is like heaven on earth for Asians. But H Mart is also supes far and for someone with no car, that Heaven is too far away. But you know what isn't supes far and still quite heavenly? Tai Nam! While experiencing a severe bout of homesickness, I made my way to Tai Nam in hopes of finding solace in some familiar scents. I found my comforting scents, along with a bunch of tasty items I didn't realize I needed until I saw them on the shelf. I got my tasty coconut pudding, some sour plums, a bag of my favorite dumplings, and several tasty purple sweet potatoes. Side note: I accidentally bought two pounds of regular purple potatoes once from a white super market thinking they were sweet potatoes. They weren't. I felt so betrayed. Here at Tai Nam, your eyes won't lie to you. What you see is what you get. Are the employees rushing to ask if you need help? Hell no. And that's the way it's supposed to be! I'll take my service with silent efficiency, thank you very much. Final note: their selection of Asian instant noodles is SPECTACULAR. They even sell that super spicy Korean instant noodle for a dollar. Waaaay cheaper than online. And if you haven't had any Thai instant noodle, you are sorely missing out.

Very fresh fish, lots of fruit and vegetables. Nice housewares section, very reasonably priced.

So many interesting products here, I love trying things that I'm not familiar with! Their produce always seems fresh

Very wide selection of mostly Asian food from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, S. Korea, Malaysia, etc. Excellent prices--never pay $4 for a single serving of coconut water again. Wide selection of seafood. Good variety of fruits & vegetables--primarily those typically cultivated in Asia & the Pacific. You really need to know what you're doing as far as produce, though; until I came here, I had thought bok choy was one thing, but it turns out there are many different cultivars to choose from. If you're like me & have never lived in any of the aforementioned cultures, can read up on selecting & cooking with these foods, and/or just buy random things to try--you can definitely afford to do that here. This is a great one-stop shop to get many different things to try. They also have a good selection of certain inexpensive housewares (e.g., tableware, cookware, cleaning supplies), restaurant supplies (disposable chopsticks, napkin holders, melamine dishes, etc.) and a large selection of, uhh, red holiday and/or party supplies (?), the exact nature of which is a mystery to me. On the minus side, they don't appear to have a/c. There's an excessive heat advisory, and I felt so sorry for the employees when I went shopping there today. Miserable working conditions; a problem that could be remedied. The heat will also cause the unrefrigerated foods to spoil more quickly. Also, some areas, like the bathroom, are downright grimy. I feel like that should bother the management of a food place. Those are some big minuses for me. If not for those two things, I would have given the place 5 stars.

Not to sound like an infomercial, but according to a handy little application on my cell phone, I have now saved about $900 not smoking. And I have Tai Nam to thank for it. Well, not Tai Nam, exactly, but the tea they sell. While some stores sell a few herbal teas to relax or strengthen the body, Tai Nam has an entire aisle of nothing but natural, tea-based remedies. Backache? They have a tea for that. Stomachache? They have a tea for that. Sore throat? They have a tea for that. Impotency? They have a tea for that (not that I would know). Insomnia? They have a tea for that. Cramps? They have a tea for that. Feel like you wish you were a little bit taller? They have a tea for that (maybe). Feel like you wish you were a baller? They have a tea for that (maybe). Now I've only tried one of the teas (that I'm willing to admit to in a public forum). But it did work. And even if they don't, they taste pretty good (the stop smoking tea is licorice and peppermint) and are only about $2.50 for a box of ten bags. First and foremost, however, Tai Nam is a grocery store specializing in hard to find ingredients for various Asian cuisines. If someone is looking to make pretty much anything involving noodles, imported vegetables, and/or soy sauce, this is the place. But, really, who can think of healthy food when the store has *three* aisles of CANDY? From Asian imports to American standbys, it has it all. Now, someone might think they know a thing or two about pocky. But until you've been in this store, you have never seen its full variety of flavors and splendors. There is a slight problem with Tai Nam, however - no express checkout lanes. If you go in to pick out one item (say, grape flavored gum from Japan, just as an example), it's almost inevitable that you will be stuck behind someone who has just done $200 in grocery shopping for the week. No matter what aisle you're in. Tai Nam also smells strongly of fish. But what good, authentic market doesn't? Though, that being said, I wonder if they make a tea that enables the drinker to block odors? I'll have to go back and check.

check your receipt. Verify your purchased items. This store frequently "mistakenly" charges extra items. I believe, this is deliberately done...very dishonest store.

I have been to this store a few times and have NEVER had a good experience but yesterday was the final straw. I came in for two items- tea and bread. I went to the register to pay. There was a couple finishing up and preparing to pay. The cashier saw me place my items on the belt. Another customer comes up behind ready to pay after me. The cashier says something to him and he says something back and he then comes and stands in front of me. I look from him to the cashier and ask if he is with the couple currently paying and he rudely says no. I then realize he just cut in front of me and neither he nor the cashier make a big deal or feel ashamed about it. Instead of making a scene, I put my items down and walked out. The amount of disrespect was outlandish. I don't want to state the obvious but it was clear what this was. I will take my business elsewhere.

I've been to this place many times. Sad to say, their customer service keeps on getting worst. Have you been to the nail salon and the employees just talking and talking and talking in their language and don't even care their servicing the clients... ??? Same attitudes here in this place. The lady at cash register keeps taking and talking and taking to phone and didn't even say hi, or hello. So I was making sure she rings every item I bought.... She didn't even say thank you after I paid.. What an awful service.

Racist customers, rude cashiers. I came here with my boyfriend a couple of times and were outraged by how blatantly rude people were to us. One of the (Asian) customers literally slammed her hand cart down behind her so that we could not get in line behind her. Then after we get to the cashier the woman ringing our items up refuses to respond to the inquiry that we have about the price of an item and continues to ring it up. After I tell her repeatedly that I do not want the item, she rolls her eyes and throws it to the side. We will not be coming back......

This is a bustling Asian grocery store in a strip mall (Tai Nam Market Center), and the fight for parking spaces is fierce here. There are all sorts of fruits (including the infamous durian), vegetables, and meat and seafood counters in the back. The aisles are always stocked with interesting imported packaged goods, and they seem to have new selections every time I visit. Try some oddball beverages or weird snacks. How long ago was Mayor Daley at this store? He looks awfully young in the photo proudly displayed in the store.

Great selection. Able to get foods from a wide variety of Asian countries. Good fresh seafood. Could use more produce but given the space I'm not going to knock them for it.

This place is so awesome! I was on the hunt for ingredients to make pho broth and was recommended by many people to come here for the freshest ingredients. They were right! Prices here are way cheaper than regular grocery stores. I got the following: fish sauce 1.50 fresh rice noodles 1.09 3.5 lbs of beef bones 2.80 beef balls 3.85 cinnamon sticks 3.45 bok choy 1.98 I bought a whole bunch of other stuff at super cheap prices. Unfortunately they didnt have all the spices I needed so I ended up having to go to jewel and spent more money on spices at Jewel than I spent here! The butcher spoke some English so it wasnt too difficult to communicate with him. I told him I was making pho and needed 4 lbs of beef bones. I guess they have a lot of requests for beef bones because they have bags of beef bones prepared, weighed, priced and ready to go! Awesome!!! Sadly, they dont take AMEX here =(

A great nice sized market! For those in the North Shore this is my favorite Asian market that is also conveniently accessible via El. I haven't been coming here since HMart is an easier drive, but I needed Vietnamese ingredients and this place was a safer bet that I'd find it all. I'd call this place a Vietnamese market first, and Asian grocer second. Basically, if it's a Vietnamese staple, there will be lots of it, lots of variety at a cheap price. Or if it's a Vietnamese specialty item, I'd look here first. But Chinese/East Asian stuff, there is sometimes only one brand of some things, though I'd say that they do at least stock most of the popular Pan-Asian items. Some examples: -Readily available beef bones for broth yay! -All the pho spices, some come in a package that's labeled "soup spices" in Chinese, but upon closer examination they're all the pho spices. Super convenient for me since I wouldn't have to buy a bunch of spices I don't normally cook with only to have them go stale in my pantry. -MANGOSTEEN. For $8/lb and not so fresh, but holy crap I can't believe they sell these in Chicago. (Other hard to find Southeast Asian specialty fruits too!) -Prepacked basil, mint, perilla, etc for really cheap. -Jars/packets of Vietnamese marinades and pastes that I don't typically see elsewhere. -Balut eggs, for the more adventurous. And fresh duck eggs. Yum! Another thing to look out for is bulk restaurant-supply-esque items. If you ever want a huuuuuge burlap sack of dried chilis for $12 or giant jugs of soy sauce for cheap, you know where to go! They also sell sleeves of take out containers for a reasonable price here. Organization is not so great, but its a small store filled with cool stuff for a really reasonable price, so don't be afraid to browse and look around!

This is probably the busiest grocery store in Viet town marked by a line of cars waiting to get inside the packed parking lot on a Sunday. Free parking is scarce in this area so people do crazy things just to park for free in a private lot as opposed to metered street parking. The interior is quite large for a local grocery store and contains everything from housewares to fresh seafood still swimming in tanks, fresh cuts of meat, and exotic produce. There are aisles and aisles of various Asian dried goods but watch out for items that are years beyond the expiration date. I found a package of noodles dating back to mid 2010! As with any grocery store, some thing can be found very cheap while other items are marked up in order to squeeze a margin out of your total sale so it's smart to do a little price research before assuming that everything is cheaper just because it's a privately owned grocery store. If you're looking to just take a look around to walk off that huge bowl of pho you just slurped down your throat, this is the perfect place to do it. Just don't try parking in their lot.

Great selections of groceries and that is about it. Horrible produce and prepared food quality. 50% of the time, the prepared foods are inedible due to mold or expiration. Surprised the health department still allow this place to operate the way it has. Customer service is a joke from the meat counter to the cashiers. How has the city not shut this place down since they have violated so many COVID-19 safety protocols?

I am obsessed with noodles right now. Asian noodles to be exact. And since I'm working on Vietnamese inspired dishes, and thought I'd head to Tai Nam for some ingredient hunting and inspiration. First I headed to their cookware section--I found some great veggie peelers that help my carrots and cucumbers (and prob any sliced veggie) look really good--like restaurant style slices! Inexpensive (cheap!) too! And if you fry a lot on the stove, you need that mesh cover (looks like a badminton racket) that helps prevent splatter--I've coveted my mom's forever but always forget to look for one when I'm in an Asian store. Their fruits and veggies look ok, They all looked too ripe to me--I'd find better at bigger supermarkets. They had a nice frozen section--lots of different kinds of dim sum/dumplings/potstickers and baos. The seafood section had a nice array of fish, crab and shrimp, all pretty fresh too. There's a huge array of sauces and vinegars and fish sauce too, I also spied some curry and coconut milk. Their noodle aisle seems endless...so many kinds of noodles and brands of noodles. I needed rice noodles and bean thread noodles but had no idea what brand to buy. So I did what I always do, follow the old ladies and see what they pick up. Works in Italian grocers too! I also needed rice paper for fresh spring rolls and found another 4 shelves full of different sizes and brands. But now, a couple of weeks later, I can say that the brands and types I picked were perfect and now have a better idea of what I'll need for future cooking. That being said, I can probably get similar noodles in my local Filipino superstore, but it was nice to visit another store and take a look at what they offer. Prices are reasonable. Parking is a bit cramped but free!

Tai Nam Food Market has almost any product you may need. I was making chicken karaage and needed a specific Chinese wine and topping and they had it plus so many other great ingredients. Everyone working there is willing to help you find what you need and the staff is always kind.

They had the water chestnuts I was looking for for. Be warned they are very crowded at least on Sunday morning. Couldn't even get in the parking lot. Spacing is cramped in the parking lot and certainly inside. If you ask for help try a few different people. I was blown off by the first guy but the second was helpful. Didn't find the fresh baby corn I was hoping for.

I love this place. It has amazing deals on spices as well as Vietnamese and Chinese staples that is hard to access in Chicago. It's truly a treasure hunt. It's pretty accessible off of the red line as well. Excellent local business. One suggestion: More Japanese food please!

Located in New Chinatown, this is another great hole-in-the-wall grocery store for your Vietnamese or general Asian desires. Parking in the lot is a bit tricky since it's always packed, but at least there is someone directing traffic. Once you get into the store, this is about as authentic as it gets. Hope you don't mind rude asian ladies and trying to get through aisles with more than two carts in it. If that hasn't deterred you yet, then you are on your way to a new, wonderfully weird world of asian groceries. Sure you have your standard snacks like Pocky, but how about learning to make your own Pho? All the ingredients can be found in this store. Check out the dessert section close to the entrance of the store, which will open up a whole new view of sweetness. If you're strong of heart, courageous in battle, and adventurous in taste, make your way over to Tai Nam. Earn your asian grocery store cred badge.

If you're willing to "clean" and/or filet your own fish to some degree, this place has some interesting stuff and great prices. They have a huge selection of sauces. All around, this place has all kinds of interesting things and the prices are pretty good. If you walk around inside for a while you'll be surprised by what they have. The only low point is the parking, very crazy. Just be patient with the parking and you'll be fine.