H Mart Urbana — Attraction in Urbana

Extremely Disappointed and Concerned – Rotten Mangosteen Sold, Health Risk Ignored

I’m writing this to warn others about a shocking experience I had at Hmart. I recently purchased mangosteens from their store, only to discover that every single one of them was completely rotten—moldy, discolored, and emitting a foul odor. It was not just poor quality—it was inedible and hazardous.

What’s worse, one of my friends who unknowingly ate one of the mangosteens became sick shortly after. When we contacted the store about this serious issue, hoping they would take accountability and respond with some urgency, they simply told us to come in person if our friend ended up in the emergency room. This response was not only cold and dismissive, but also deeply irresponsible and unprofessional.

Yes, they gave us a refund, but there was no apology, no concern for customer safety, and no assurance that such dangerous produce would be removed from their shelves. They acted like this was a routine inconvenience instead of acknowledging the very real health risk they had created.

This is not just bad customer service—this is a serious public health concern. Selling visibly rotten food and showing zero concern when it makes someone sick is unacceptable. I strongly urge others to be cautious when buying fresh produce at Hmart, and I hope this message reaches others before someone ends up in the ER.

We deserve better. And Hmart needs to take customer health and food...

2025-03-13 Updated Review after 20+ visits:

[Grocery] Sale item prices are good. (e.g., Maxim mix coffee) Seafood is the best. (e.g., squid) Check prices carefully. -- Some meat products are more expensive than local grocery stores or warehouses. -- Some vegetables and household items are much cheaper than other Asian markets.

[Food court] 2 restaurants are good: Jaws Tokpokki - it's authentic. "Regular" spicy level matches Korean standard. It's equivalent to Blazin' at Buffalo Wild Wings. It's good for Arctic cold weather. Korean sausage portion is small and a little bit spicy. Paris Baguette - get there early. Breads sell very fast. In the evening, shelves are mostly empty. It's better than most cafes in C-U but it's not as good as Tous les Jours.

2 restaurants are OK: Paik's Korean Chinese (cf. Chef Ping @ Rolling Meadows or Yu's Mandarin @ Schaumburg) -+ JJamBBong is best. -+ Fried Shrimp rice is good. They put JJaJang sauce. -- Stir fried noodle is below average.

ChoDang (cf. SoGongDong @ Glenview) -+ Soft tofu is OK. -- Don't buy Seafood pancake.

Opening Day The opening day was like a U of I football/basketball gameday. There was a cop who helped moving traffic at 10am. People walked after parking far away from the store. They lined up to...

Hmart is a Korean specialty grocery store with some items from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. They have an impressive produce section, and meat products. The prices though are more expensive than those in the Chicago suburbs and felt had varying levels of food safety here. When the store first opened it had a very fishy smell. Most Asian grocery stores usually will near the fish section, but this was overwhelming. It is better now, but was off-putting in the beginning. There was a time when their refrigerators went out, ans they were throwing away a lot of product. They didn't seem to be explaining to customers though or blocked off areas that had potentially expired food.

It's a pretty standard Hmart, with generally narrow aisles. The food court is okay, but very pricey. I like the Paik's noodles in Glenview, so I wanted to try it here. Very disappointed with the quality and quantity of the jjamppong. They served much less, staff were short, and the soup had a slightly off flavor. I like the Paris baguette, but they don't keep it stocked very well. By mid day they might only have half...