T&T Supermarket Bellevue — Local services in Bellevue

I really wanted to give this store a higher grade but the checkout process was frustrating and customer service needs improving. I had a chance to attend the grand opening with my mother and a friend since my mom was interested in seeing what all the hype was. We arrived around 8:30am since the store was opening at 9am on Dec 5th and boy, were we in for a shock! The parking lot at the front and back of the store were completely filled. We had to park near the entrance to Old Navy and walked over. The lines snaked all the way around to the back then circled back to the front. The founder and her two daughters were there and they had a mini dragon parade with drums. My mother got to chat with Cindy Lee, the founder. There was media like King 5 TV there as well as Bellevue City police officers. The lines while long were mostly orderly. We had to wait about 50 minutes before we finally got in. We did get a couple of complementary bags while we waited outside but missed out on the free gift cards that were given to the 1st 500 people. The store was packed. Some items were sale priced like certain meats, fish, and produce. The store has a lot of variety of items including cosmetics and some Asian items not found at HMart or Umajimaya. Pricing for the most part is similar to other Asian stores with certain staples that were priced higher than say QFC or Safeway. I only wished that they stocked lumpia wrappers which mother was hoping they carried like other Asian stores. They do have a nice deli as well as a street vendor booth with seating inside. One thing that I was willing to forgive was due to the huge crowds, the checkout lines were long and the cashiers while friendly, were not the most helpful but were probably directed to just get people out. We had to bag all the items we purchased. I paid by debit card and left. Since we parked outside the store's parking lot, we had to find a staff member to disable the automatic lock on the shopping cart's wheels so we can haul the food to the car. However, when we returned back today, while the lines were not as long, we had a bigger issue with the checkout process that was perplexing considering other retail chains usually have no issues with. The cashier we had was friendly but was not very fluent in English. While my mother spoke Tagalog, the cashier couldn't understand either. She also wouldn't help us bag just like the cashier on our earlier visit. In fact, when she couldn't scan this frozen fish because the barcode didn't register, she wanted me to go get another, get back in line and they would see if she could scan it. The issue was twofold. First off, when we got ready to check out, the store had filled up and I would need to figure out where this fish came from in the meat department then get back in line. I asked why she couldn't either get a supervisor to help, get someone else to retrieve the price or just manually enter the barcode, she refused. I decided to not hold up the line and told her we won't get it. I was desperately trying to bag the items but she kept scanning then she then totals everything and asked me to pay. I paid with my credit card and as I am trying to bag the last items, I had to grab another green bag since they had no plastic bags, another person approaches who I assume is the supervisor, she tells me I owe for the bags. I said I would be happy to pay but the cashier wouldn't wait till I finished bagging so we could total the number of bags used. The cashier then started scanning the next person's items and started getting his items mixed up with mine. Needless to say, I was not happy rushing to bag everything. When I brought up the issue regarding the cashier not able to scan this frozen fish item, I discover this "supervisor" barely speaks English at all. While the store is well stocked and very clean, the checkout process needs to be streamlined and cashiers better trained. At the least, have a couple of dedicated staff to assist with bagging for those customers...

We visited T&T on 12/18 (wed) shortly after it opened. I thought the line would be huge, but there were only a few people ahead of us at 9:10 am. There was still plenty of parking at that time, and we were able to get in the store after a short wait (10 min).

The store is spacious and clean. Everything is nicely labeled like their Vancouver branches. Upon entering, the left side is the produce section with frozen food section and the live seafood at further back. The middle sections are pantry/snack/regular items. The hot food section is located at the right side of the store, next to the bakery section. Naturally, you'd get your produce first, then fresh seafood, frozen food, non-refrigerated items, hot food/bakery items.

They have a special tag for the on sale prices, and I pay more attention to those as most food items weren't particularly cheap. We got 4 batches of green onions for $1, which was an awesome deal. We also got the shine muscat for about $9, but they were just okay imo. They were definitely better than regular green grapes, but not as good as the low grade shine muscat that I got in japan for 1100 yen. It also doesn't have the lychee scent that you'd get from higher end shine muscat. Oherall, the produce section was busy, but not as bad as the live seafood section or the hot food area.

There was a long time for the Chinese bbq, but their price isn't amazing. Maybe they taste amazing, but I won't wait hours for Chinese bbq... We waited in line for freshly made glutinous rice rolls (limit 4 per person), which has a separate line. They were also out of noodle bowls when we were there. We probably waited 30 minutes for the rice rolls... They were good, but I think tofu 101 does it better (and longer, as far as I can remember).

Self-serve hot food area started around 10 am. There was a short line to get the food items, such as sweet and sour ribs, fried rice, or chow mein. Most people put all dishes together, but there was this elderly man who used different containers for all dishes and it was a disgrace to the environment as he only uses 1/5 of the container spaces for all of them... Most of the dishes that we tried were alright, nothing extra good as it's basically food court quality. The price wasn't cheap either.

There were tons of bread, but I didn't see any egg tarts. Maybe it was too early once again. The bread i got was $2.2 each, which wasn't much cheaper compare to 85c bakery either. The qualities are on par imo. They do have a lot of sections here, and some mochi/cake selections too.

The checkout line was poorly designed as it cuts through a high traffic lane in the middle of the street and it was hard to get in the line. Some people had no choice but wait forever until they can see the end of the line to line up. The checkout process took maybe 20 minutes for us. The line is long, but there were maybe more than 5 registers open (I can't remember exactly how many..). I appreciate the existence of a bagger so I don't have to bag stuff on my own.

We also tried the fancy savory crepe before we head out. The kiosk was actually not super clear and it didn't accept the payment from the lady ahead of me, and she was quite pissed... It was fun to watch them making the crepes, and the crepe was delicious but expensive (the beef one was $11 after tax). I believe it was much cheaper in Vancouver, so get yours there instead.

Overall it's a cool grocery store, and they have a wide selections of items. It took us about 1 hour to shop, but we definitely didn't check everything closely. The items here probably won't be the cheapest, but you get the convenience of getting everything at once as you can find items from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean grocery stores all at once.

Ps. Download their app and register an account to get loyalty points before checking out. They also have member pricing on some items. It's only relevant if you will keep visiting the...

The Case of the Missing Lobster Claw – My Story with T&T Supermarket Today I want to share a baffling experience I recently had buying a lobster at T&T Supermarket. I thought I was just buying a lobster to enjoy some delicious seafood at home, but… I got a harsh lesson instead. For privacy reasons, I won’t include photos including persons here, just a factual description of what happened. Here’s the story: My child has always only eaten lobster claws. This July, we traveled from Vancouver to Seattle to visit friends. It happened to be my child’s birthday, and a friend mentioned that a new T&T Supermarket had opened in Bellevue, so they took us there to buy a lobster. My child immediately decided a lobster that looked very lively. After weighing it at T&T, it should have been ready for us quickly since it didn’t require any cleaning… but no. We waited and waited, and it took them forever to hand the lobster over. About 20 minutes later after checking out, we got back to our friend’s house and opened the packaging. I was shocked — one of the lobster’s two claws was missing!!! My child immediately burst into tears — the lobster looked listless, as if it had just survived some terrible ordeal. I immediately called T&T. They said they had several surveillance, and would check the surveillance footage and call us back. After waiting for a long time with no call, I saw that the lobster was nearly dead. I called again, asking what they could do. They said they could refund the price of one claw, but I had to return to the store in person. I was incredulous. When I argued with them, they insisted I had to come in because T&T “cannot process refunds remotely.” After more than two hours, the lobster had stopped moving, and we ultimately decided to throw it in the trash. The next day, we went back to the store. A man who claimed to be a manager showed me screenshots of two short clips from T&T’s surveillance footage. I asked to see the full footage, but they refused! He claimed the lobster I had chosen originally only had one claw. In fact, to prove this fairly, he should have shown the complete, continuous footage — I don’t understand why he refused. In the screenshot, I could see one claw - yes, it existed, but it did not prove that there was “only” one claw. By that time, the lobster had already been lifted out and placed in a container, making it hard to see clearly. Since they had the footage, they should have provided the whole and continuous frame showing the exact moment I lifted the lobster from the water — that would clearly prove whether the lobster originally had only one claw. The second screenshot seemed intended to show that T&T staff did not remove a claw behind the counter. However, the screenshot they provided showed the lobster “already” placed in a bag and handed to us (contents inside the bag were unclear), rather than the moment before it was put in the bag. I was confused why they chose this screenshot instead of a different one, if they were indeed innocent. I requested to see the full, continuous footage, but the manager refused. I then asked for copies of the two screenshots, but T&T again firmly refused. Because we challenged them, questioning whether T&T had secretly removed a claw behind the counter, they scolded us for a long time, saying we were “unwelcome customers.” My child had a ruined birthday because of a clawless lobster, and we felt like we had just swallowed a live fly — it was so frustrating. My goodness! I spent money buying a whole lobster, and when I got home, it had “shrunk” by a third! At that moment, I truly understood what it feels like to be deceived. I really don’t understand — did the lobster somehow lose its claw on its own? Friendly reminder: • Always check your lobster carefully before leaving the store — mysterious things can happen between weighing it and...