Riba Smith | Bella Vista — Local services in Bella Vista

This store is always packed. We were able to find all the necessary groceries that we needed.

Here is some advice. When getting your fruit and vegetables many of the items will be packed and priced for sale but what if you only want one pepper. There should be a small basket near the front with loose peppers. If there isn't you can open the package to take one. I've seen locals do this and I followed their lead cause I needed 2 tomatoes. If you do get loose veggies or fruit then you must get them weighed in the produce area. Depending on how crowded they are they will have two people putting price tags on your goods based off of the weight.

There is a deli counter where they will slice meat and cheese for you but if you don't speak the language they have made life easy by having pre sliced deli items. We decided to make life easy and grab items from here.

Bread is a pain to find. They have tons of this round braided Christmas bread but we didn't want to pay $10 for it. We did find a place where they were baking bread next to the produce. Grab a paper number from the red dispenser or you won't get served. The rolls were really good and so was the baguette but be fast because the baguettes move fast. Get ready to grab and run. You don't need a number for baguettes. They are sitting in a basket on the counter.

Local beer is cheap here. You can get Panama or Balboa for 61 cents a can. Bacardi rum is a great deal for $10.82 with some fresh pineapple juice which is only $1.42. The bar in my hotel room is fully stocked. The prices are simply fantastic. I recommend stocking up here cause I've seen the local beer as low as $1 in the streets and as high as $4 in a fancy restaurant.

The grocery store has a ton of baggers and it's very old school. They really didn't want to help us. I noticed they would unload other people's carts but when they saw me they looked and walked the other way. I'm fine. I can unpack my own cart. We also noticed that when we said thanks, as we grabbed our packed bags, they kind of give us a mean look. I can't let that bother me. I always want to be nice and respectful when visiting new counties but I can't make everyone happy.

We tried the ground beef and the chicken thighs and both were fantastic. I miss the days when food was just food and not some crazy science experiment.

This place has all your grocery needs. Just be careful because it will be packed inside. Have some patience and try to go...

This should be a solid 4* supermarket. They've got a great selection for Panama, and they usually have ample free parking and a reasonable number of cashiers so checkout isn't the baffling ordeal that is often the case at other supermarkets in Panama.

Their prices are very high and seem to increase weekly. That cost them half a star from me. Their employees will often be blocking the aisles with carts and ladders and pallets of product with no apparent regard for the customers. That's kinda a given here, so I'm only deducting another half *, mainly because they take their sweet time reloading the shelves, often texting or chatting with coworkers all the while.

The other full star is deducted because their potato chips are almost always completely pulverized. I don't think I've ever bought a bag of chips here that wasn't half dust. Let's say a shelf can comfortably accommodate 10 bags of chips, ok? What do you think happens when you try and try to cram an extra 4 or 5 bags in there? Some of their shelves don't have the plastic bookend on the front, so these will be safer. But still, take better care of your food, Riba. You're charging almost $7 for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Treat them with...

I am from Barbados, where you'd pay premium for food and groceries, so shopping in Panama is a dream, even at Riba Smith where the locals complain that the items are expensive. This is a supermarket chain that carries the best selection of foreign, local and regional food brands, imported products beer, liquors and even Mount Gay Barbados Rum! (the best rum in the world because of course, we invented rum :) ). This supermarket has a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, meat, a deli, bakery, restaurant, pharmacy and an excellent plant nursery at the back. I have found the staff to be helpful and pleasant, some with the usual local Panamanian attitude but hey...you're in Panama! Tip the bag packers as these kids truly rely on your tips to make a living (wages are extremely low in this country). Wednesdays are "no plastic bag" days where you are encouraged to bring your reusable bags or boxes or buy a bag to save the environment. Great idea. All in all, a...