North Park Produce

I gave this place 3 stars, but what I really wanted to give is two separate ratings. I want to give ⁴¹⁄₂ stars for the produce, always fresh and low prices. They always have great deals!!! On the other hand for the restaurant or the hot food kitchen I give it 1 star… I used to love their hot food, but for the past months it’s been really bad. They changed the kitchen manager and the new guy has the worst attitude and picks fights with customers. When I try to order food the way I usually used to order it, he keeps insisting on making it different to make his job easier or make it his own way. Well, I’m the customer and I’m the one who is paying for it and eating it, the food should be made the way I order it. By the way I ordered a masgoof fish, then when I picked it up it was still raw in the middle and I asked them to mediated it before cooking it, and they didn’t even do that!!! Ewwww it was gross!!! I usually like to get a rotisserie chicken which I’ve always loved buying from them, to the point I used to buy it 3 times a week. Yesterday, I went to pick one up, the ones they had looked really old, so I asked the kitchen manager how long till the next batch comes out of the rotisserie oven and he said 20 minutes… I waited 45 minutes till it was ready, then after eating it my whole family suffered a very bad case of diarrhea, gases and stomach ache!!! I used to love getting hot food from there, but not anymore. I’m gonna be taking my business somewhere else, where they appreciate it!!!

This store is great but aside from the girls that normally work at the front, the customer service here is just horrendous. The people in the back will literally just stand there and barely acknowledge you until you start to let them know you need help. The worst part is they all normally stand there and there are several but good luck getting assistance! You might ask why one would go back? Well you just can’t beat their prices and fresh bread. Aside from that, this place needs Jesus!

We always shopping from it, fresh produce, good price and awesome people working there

Never ever again
I don’t recommend anyone to go there
I posted this and the keep deleting it
Because the scared if people will find out about what they eating from this place
They didn’t even apologize about it and the keep deleting the photos
I wanna see how the going to delete it this time !!

Well NP Produce is under new management, & if I could rate 3.5 I would but decided to «round down».
Is it clean? hmmm, more or less, but I wish they would get rid of that tacky vinyl floor that has seen better days. When they remodeled, I had my **fingers crossed** they would really change the place, but it doesn’t look a whole lot better.
The cheese department has promise, as they carry 8 – 10 brands of Feta cheese, & many other cheeses for good pricing. I have gotten the bulk olives here, & they’re usually not terrific. The bulk spices are decent, as is the selection of tea bags & oils.
All in all, you have got to hit the right day, & you may find fresh organic tomatoes for a good price. I have had to ask for fresh zucchini, eggplant & avocados, all of which were in sorry shape, yet out on the shelves/​bins. A lot of the stuff needs to be thrown out.
**smh** maybe they will figure it out, but until then, I shop very infrequently here.

Good prices, average groceries and the service is awful. I arrived at 8:15 pm for a sandwich I was told they couldn’t serve me because they close at 9pm and already started cleaning up. I grabbed an Armenian pizza instead and asked them to warm it up but she said the baker left and no one else knows how to use the oven.

I have never been this publicly mistreated and humiliated by a perfect stranger, let alone by someone claiming to be the «owner» of an establishment, in my entire life! He repeatedly screamed and yelled at me to «Get out of the store!» waving his arms around, stomping his feet and making a complete scene! And all because I asked him to honor the price posted on the sign in front of the item. But he wanted to charge me the price listed in the flier, which was considerably more. He became IRATE when I politely questioned this discrepancy, screamed at me, called me a LIAR and kicked me out of the store!
That was the short story. If you want the details, here’s the rest:
I was on my way to the Starbucks next door but had to park a ways away, so I had to walk past North Park Produce on my way. As I was walking by, I noticed a huge box of pumpkins listed for «2/​$ 1»! So I thought since that was an excellent deal, I’d get a couple. I’d never been in this store before but was drawn in by the sign on the pumpkins outside. When I asked to purchase the pumpkins from the cashier, she told me they were not 2/​$ 1 but 2 POUNDS for $ 1. I told her that was not what the sign said, and so we walked outside to double check. Sure enough it said «2/​$ 1.» She peeled the sign off and there was another sign underneath it, taped on that said «2lbs for $ 1.» This looked in every way like the price had dropped. So we went inside and the cashier checked the sale flier she had printed up at her register and it said that the pumpkins were «2lbs for $ 1.» So she said that was the price. I asked her if she could still honor the sign that had been posted under the pumpkins, since that’s what it said. Every time I’ve ever been to a store and the item was posted for a price, the store has always honored that price. She said she’d call the manager up. Then she took out a sharpie and hand wrote «lbs» on the sign so that it now read «2lbs/​$ 1.»
So up walks this man, who I assume is the manager, and he says, «What?» I said, «Are you going to honor the posted price on the pumpkins, two for a dollar?» and he rudely says, «No, the flier says 2lbs for a dollar!» waves his arms and starts to walk away. I said, «This is my first time in this store and the reason I came in was the sign outside, not the flier. You should honor that price since that’s what you had posted.» «Nope! It’s not what the paper says!» he yelled. So I said «This is a very poor first impression of this store and I will not be back,» and I walked out.
I went to Starbucks and sat down with my coffee and guess who walks in? The same man from North Park Produce. I told him he should have honored the posted price and that he was not engaging in honest business practice. He ran next door, and brought back a flier to Starbucks, and tried to show me what it was listed for in the flier! I said I didn’t care about the FLIER, I came in because of the SIGN (is this starting to sound like I’m talking to a wall?!). Then get this, he calls me a LIAR! Tells me the sign did not say «2/​$ 1!» and I say calmly, «We’d better go and ask the cashier who changed the sign right in front of my face.»
As I was walking back to North Park Produce to talk to the cashier, this man was following me, screaming at me, «You better not go back in that store! You better not set foot back in that store!» and I thought, is he kidding me right now? Who does this?! Who chases after a perfect stranger, screaming at her like this?! He was so close to me, I really thought he was going to reach out and grab me! He was definitely elevating this situation far more than it needed to be elevated. And over what? A couple of $ 5 pumpkins?! Unbelievable!
I walked up to the cashier and he tells her something in another language I can’t understand, then says in English, «Do not answer this woman! Do not talk to this woman!» And I’m telling you, that poor cashier looked terrified! She put her head down and would not look at me! Would not look up! I said, «Can you please tell him that you changed the sign?» and she just kept looking down. Then the man said, «Get out of this store! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! I am the owner! Now get out!!!» and was waving his arms around like a crazy person, and like I had committed some sort of crime or something! Everyone in the store stopped what they were doing and was staring at me! I couldn’t believe it! I was completely humiliated!
I have never in my life been treated this way by a perfect stranger! Let alone someone claiming to be the «owner» of an establishment! (I really can’t even believe he’s the owner because I honestly don’t know how someone could continue to run a business treating customers this way.) So if you want to be respected as a customer, or you just don’t want to be publicly humiliated, then shop somewhere else.

I came here to check out the hot foods for lunch because it is not far from my house. To me, once inside, it was a typical ethnic market/​grocery store centering on middle eastern fare. There were not a lot of choices out on the steam table, but I noticed they also had a small menu of foods not on the steam table.
I settled on a lamb liver plate, some biryani, a bowl of okra stew and a couple of meat pies. They informed me that at the moment they did not have any lamb liver & if they could substitute beef liver instead. I told them it was fine, but I really wanted to try the lamb liver since I have not eaten it before. Oh well, next time.
I ordered everything to go, and the gal behind the counter waiting on me was very nice & friendly. It was obvious I was the foreigner in this regional market, but she was very patient & helpful.
When I got home & had the opportunity to taste everything I will have to say I loved every dish. The biryani was nicely seasoned & had a mildly sweet finishing taste which was subtle & not overpowering. The liver was skewered & grilled which gave it a slight char on the outside, but was still tender on the inside. The okra stew made for a good belly warmer on this rainy day & the meat pies made for great late night snacks, with well seasoned meats inside.
I will definitely come back here to try some of their other hot dishes.

One of my most favorite places to shop for Arabic fresh bread and some groceries I pick up from there. I go there two time a month and spend always more than $ 200 every trip but it’s worth it and you can get a lot for your money. If you don’t have a favorite grocery store give this place a try like me and see what you think. I have been knowing about this place for the past 2 years and glad it’s there. They are always busy and sometimes hard to move around but everyone there is very nice.

This place the cashier girls most of them they have attitude and we complain about to the Manger they have done nothing about yet

North park produce is good place for people who like to buy arabic food. The best department is the bakery. They have really good samoon hajaree (iraqi bread) made fresh everyday. Also they have good beef shawarma; I think its the best shawarma in san diego. I gave this place 3 stars because of one reason, its because they have a lot of expired food. One time i was there and wanted to buy mayonnaise. I took one out of the shelf, but when i looked at it at the back of the jar it was 4 month old. I hope they start to check the expiration date on their food because its really nice place to shop for arabic food.

This place sucks. No one really knows English here. Very hard to communicate. I like when a place has knowledge and can tell me where something is and tell me about an item. All I wanted was a pomegranate? Not a lemon or orange or grapefruit. I’m not trying to be harsh, but you should at least have a couple people who can speak good English here. And I need to mention, everyone here is rude. No one wants to do their job here. Please fix this.

Specific reason for the one star, is for the bakery/​hot food section. Let me start this off by saying I come here often. I don’t always expect the nicest looking produce and I don’t expect every single worker to speak English either. I ordered party trays from here for a party I was having. 3 hours ahead of time. Placed my order, was told when to pick it up. Done. Okay, so it’s 6 pm? I start heading there. Walk up to the counter, first guy isn’t understanding what I’m saying so gets someone else to help. Next guy comes over and tells us he’s busy and to wait for the other girl to come. Next girl comes, «ok ill get your order ready» no. My order should already be ready? «Hold on let me get someone else». Finally, another girl comes, with a very bad attitude who also isn’t understanding what I’m saying when I say «I’m here to pick up my order». Finally, she finds my order. Gives it to me. Just places it on the counter and says here. Ok??? Sorry for making you do your job. Go to the cash registers (stood in line for 15 minutes btw). Complain to the cashier about the terrible service. She says «I know, you’re not the first one to complain». Something obviously needs to be changed here then? And be very cautious in the parking lot here too. It’s a zoo.

Some really nice aspects, some points that need improvement… overall A-​OK three-​stars. First, the neat things:
— Meat department has a large, diverse selection at very reasonable prices. Some items are cool and not found in most main stream stores. Example: lamb shanks, bone-​in leg of lamb, etc.
— Retail store also has cool, diverse variety of items also not found in super markets.
— In store kitchen keeps hopping with great looking dishes.
And the things which need improving:
— Quality of meats. Purchased «USDA Choice Ribeye Steaks» at less than $ 6 per pound. Price seemed too good to be true. I was skeptical of quality in the display case as steaks did not appear to have any marbling. Purchased two steaks, BBQd them same day and reached expected conclusion… steaks lacked flavor. Personally I feel these steaks were lesser grade USDA Select.
— Checkout lines can be a zoo.
— Parking lot is small, crowded and aggravating.
All in all, North Park Produce is fun to visit occasionally just for a change.

I walked in this store with my friend who quickly led me to the deli section of the store. I wanted to take a little time to look around the store but she told me we had to pick up our order and leave to go meet some friends. First off, I loved that variety and the selection of what I was able to catch a glimpse of. The employees were very friendly and personable and once we arrived to my friend’s house, I discovered that the food was delicious as well. We had the Chicken Kabobs and Shawarma. The lamb and beef mixed shawarma was very tasty. We also had the hummus, tabouli (parsley salad), basmati rice and bread rolls. Everything tasted like it had been prepared seconds before we arrived. The bread also tasted fresh out of the oven. This deli offers a great ‘to go’ Mediterranean dining at affordable prices without skimping on great taste.

Good produce nice employees but, my last visit was a bit disturbing due to the face that the manager yelled at the cashier that was helping me right in front of me. This was not professional and I felt bad for the cashier.

Produce prices are good. and they have a nice selection of all types of produce.
The absolute best thing here is the Fresh bread they make. You usually have to wait in a line for it as it comes out of the oven. It’s best eaten ASAP because as soft and wonderful as it is at the time of purchase, it’s usually hard as a rock the next day. If I buy more than I can chew, I will freeze it and heat it up in the oven when I want it for another meal.
They have a huge cheese section and their variety of dried bulk goods is really nice.

This place never disappoints. Very fresh produce, unusual cheeses and a great selection of olive oils. Yeah it’s right across the street so that influences my decision to shop there, but the service and selection would put it in my rotation with Henry’s and Harvest Mkt anyway.
WHEN YOU GO– watermelons here are the best. They get them from several different farms but they rarely disappoint.

This is a good decent grocery store. Sorry, «Arabic» grocery store. They have fresh, good prices and local products all the time. Its been handed down to few different owners since it had its grand opening I believe back in 2008? I could be wrong.
Their hot food case selection is always clean and full in stock. Making it one of my top stops when am hungry for a good grab & Go meal.
Their vegi/​fruits selection is okay too. Just don’t have high expectation on different selections. Their meat dept. is great I believe i got me few marinated meats for a good BBQ day. They were great had the good tasting marinating mix into it. Overall its a good local arabic grocery store.

This place nice place. I noticed though that their prices were average and comparable with most produce markets. Their prices were definitely better than your super market chains.
The best thing about my trip here is that they had huge Fuerte avocados for only .99 each. (
) I love Fuertes! I picked up a couple of those and some pita bread. I learned while I was there that they have a bakery as well. I saw this man piling on these hot hot rolls and he commented they were the best rolls he has ever eaten. I will give them a try next time I come, I thought.
I like this place, and I will pay more attention to their ad when it comes. Living in Rancho San Diego makes this location close enough for me to drive to often.