99 Ranch Market — Attraction in Richmond

I've been shopping here for fun for decades. The great thing to me about this location is all the other unique fun shops surrounding it. This is the Pan-Asian Mall located in the Richmond Annex I believe. What's really important is 99 Ranch Market. Huge variety of fresh produce Meats fish and all the assorted Dry Goods that you need to make your authentic Asian dishes. We usually find the best curries here, or the best dry spices in order to make your own Curry. Folks that work there aren't necessarily the nicest, kindest but that doesn't really matter. As long as you know what you want and are willing to look around to find it, you don't have to interact with them much. Greatest assortment of tea cookies, teas, snack crackers and chips for all your late night or any other time of the day cravings. I'm not a big fan of their Bakery but that's just me. There's a really great bakery across the corridor from them. They also have a hot Deli, but it's cash only from my experience. On the weekends parking can be insane. There is parking in the back and entrances in the back if you know where to find them. Otherwise we found going during the week is generally more do-able. No matter what though, I'll continue to shop here because I always find something I want that I really don't need but it turns out to be very useful. Or I find delicious foods to liven up the...

I get hot food here all the time. $6 for a medium takeout box. I went to get food yesterday and they tried to charge me $11, trying to argue with me that because it has chicken, it's a higher price. My box was 50% noodles and 50% chicken, the same as everytime I come here - yet, for some reason, I was charged more this time. I feel like they tried to take advantage of me thinking I was new to here, because I spent some extra time looking at the prices before getting food since I was double checking, as I only had $8 on my card. So ultimately I had no choice but to walk out with nothing. Disappointing. I hope this was just this person's first day on the job because I actually really like coming here.

On another note, the last few times I came here, the soy milks on the shelf were all expired. I didn't check the first time and it caused stomach upset. I went in 3 weeks later and they still had expired ones.

Lastly, they do not take EBT. This Google Maps listing says they do,...

This is a limited review of only two aspects of the 99 Ranch Market.

I would give 5 stars for their chickens alone. The price is good and most importantly they aren't the ridiculously huge chickens you find in mainline US supermarkets. I like my chickens around 3 lbs, not the 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 pound behemoths.

But I can only give 1 star for the other reason I (used to) patronize 99 Ranch Market: The Dim Sum. Years ago, they had a separate Dim Sum station where all the offerings (that should be hot) were kept hot in the traditional way: In steam over a huge wok. I loved their Dim Sum back then. But now? There's no longer a separate station, it's just part of their hot food line and kept (barely) warm in restaurant pans over in a steam table. They make large batches less often, so the dumplings and buns aren't as fresh and are only lukewarm by the time you get back to your car, much less warm when you get home!

So my 3 stars is an average between these...