Minnano Japanese Grocery — Attraction in San Antonio

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A Hidden Gem That Feels Like a Trip to Japan – Right Here in San Antonio!

If you’ve ever dreamed of walking through a convenience store or market in Tokyo, Minnao Japanese Market on Callaghan Road delivers that exact experience—no passport required. The moment you step inside, it’s like being fully immersed in a traditional Japanese corner store, complete with soothing background music and a layout that feels intentionally curated.

They’ve got everything you can imagine: a wide selection of imported Japanese candies, snacks, instant noodles, teas, and rare sodas. You’ll find authentic ramen kits, beautiful ceramic dishware, bento boxes, and an impressive variety of J-beauty and K-beauty facial care products. Even their household items—like Japanese kitchen tools, bamboo chopsticks, and cleaning products—are straight from Japan, making every aisle an adventure.

One of the highlights is their commercial kitchen located just across the street, where they prepare fresh, authentic Japanese meals daily. Their Spam musubi, beef onigiri (triangle rice balls), and traditional lunch boxes are made with quality ingredients and a genuine touch that tastes like home cooking straight from Japan.

The staff is warm and welcoming, and what really stood out to me was their dedication to keeping the full Japanese shopping experience authentic. From being greeted by native Japanese-speaking staff to checking out using the cash tray system (a small cultural detail that adds a lot of charm), they’ve really nailed every part of the atmosphere.

They even have seasonal imports, rotating selections, and hard-to-find items you won’t see in big-box Asian stores. And the prices are very fair, especially considering these are genuine imported goods. Whether you’re a longtime Japanophile, a foodie, or just curious—this place is a must-visit.

It’s not just shopping—it’s an experience. I left feeling happy, full of snacks, and already planning my next visit.

📍 Located right off Callaghan Road, Minnao is easy to get to and even easier to fall in love with.

Stop by, support this amazing small business, and experience Japan in the heart of...

My daughter had been wanting to check out a Japanese market for a while. She loves the toys, snacks, etc. We were so excited to finally bring her here. With that being said, from my daughter's POV, she thoroughly enjoyed the store. She found a few cute trinkets to add to her Kuromi collection along with some snacks. I'm happy she got to experience this place at least once.

From my personal experience, I won't be returning. This store is extremely overpriced, and the majority of items are in a different language so it's hard to determine prices, ingredients, what the item even is. You could find a good portion of these items on Amazon or at another Asian store for prices that actually make sense.

The store is insanely small. It is a very tight squeeze. Even more so when you have many people in there at once... but that was not the issue. The issue is no matter where my family and I walked, whether we were together or split up, there was ALWAYS somebody up our butts. I couldn't even focus on what I was viewing. I wanted to take my time, look around, read about the different skin care products and make an attempt to Google the items to get a better understanding of their use but that was impossible.

I could barely squeeze through the tiny aisles without getting stuck in between workers who are pretending to stock items. At one point, a young man who works there had followed me around. He would just walk back and forth in front of the aisle I was in and on to the next whenever I'd go to another one. Then came some older women who were also hovering. Every corner I turned, there someone would be..............

I understand you don't want people stealing from your store, but surely there are better ways to prevent that outcome rather be side-by-side, aisle by aisle of your customers to ensure they don't. Hire security if it's that deep. Y'all...

Me and my girlfriend went to this store on Sunday. My girlfriend started to look at the keychains that she thought was cute and Isa, the employee, immediately told her to stop touching the keychains while saying it was display only. My girlfriend apologized because she didn’t see the sign. The sign was on the front of the table and she was looking at the keychains on the side of the table where the sign wasn’t displayed. She put the keychain back and continued to look at products in the store. After she checked out and spent her money, Isa, the cashier/employee yelled at her in front of the whole store accusing my girlfriend of calling her the B word. She did no such thing. My girlfriend was humiliated for no reason. She tried to tell the worker that she would never say such a thing but the worker continued to be rude to my girlfriend, saying that her coworker told her that my girlfriend said the B word. I was with her the whole time and she never said that word, but this means that her coworker was attempting to listen in on me and my partners conversation, which I found really creepy. I would not recommend this store AT ALL. I feel as if we were targeted because we’re a lesbian couple. This place is not LGBT friendly. We acted like a couple in this store and that’s why I think my poor girlfriend got yelled at. I saw another review mentioning how there is also racial discrimination going on in this store. Not good. IF YOURE A MEMBER OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY DO NOT COME HERE. We told the manager of this incident and she told us that no action would be taken. She apologized on Isa’s behalf because Isa refused to apologize. I’m disgusted by this experience and appalled that horrible things are still happening like this in 2025. I’m amazed that this place has any good reviews. Please avoid so this doesn’t happen to you. Stay...