Aladdin International Food Market — Local services in San Antonio

I’m quite disheartened by my visit to Aladdin’s today. I’ve visited this store many times picking up a few things & exchanging cultural experiences. Whenever I saw the owner, he was overfilled with kindness & joy with suggestions about what to try & buy to my husband & I…it was my favorite part of visiting this place. Today and the last few visits have felt quite cold. The lady who works there now walks around watching you with distain & expectation that you’re up to no good. She was so busy watching the customers that I stood waiting to checkout for quite a bit. When she checked me out, her body language was quite strange and distant. She even backed up when I went to grab the items I paid for as if she was expecting me to be aggressive. I had half a mind to return everything I just purchased, I was kind to her & showed no signs of aggression. I’m not one to cry racism or prejudice over everything little thing but something about this interaction felt really off. It’s a vastly different customer experience & I can’t say that I’ll be back, at least for a long while. Maybe...

During *Ramadan, the month of Fasting, Ali Baba has brought in an even more extensive variety of food products - dates, fresh baked baklava, traditional cookies & sweets from multiple countries! *Halal meats are always available.

A myriad of the tastiest Cheeses are refrigerated waiting for you, including soft cheeses, feta-like creamy cheeses... Greek Bulgarian Middle Eastern & so much more. Of course there is 1/3 of the store dedicated to well - & lesser known Indian-style food item selections, jewelry too!

Ali Baba is Your International San Antonio Market. Innumerable *Traditional foods are available from fresh, in jars, refrigerated to packaged teas/spices, to canned are easily found here. Veggies are readily available too! Expand your culinary awareness, please your taste buds.. Come browse - and buy!

Only the tastiest freshly-baked *Breads are sold here. including *Pita bread in multiple sizes & whole wheat are always available fresh & still warm in their pkg. Freshness counts. Buy several, they freeze +...

It's small but really special. They have a variety of groceries you cannot get elsewhere, even at Ali Baba's. At first glance, it may seem like it is a smaller store....but if you look closely there are a lot of Halal, Turkish, and Balkan specialties as well as all of the basics. The meat department is sparse, but that is because they are new and building a clientele. I learned you can special order meat fresh....and when they say fresh it is fresh....like REALLY fresh...and clean. Even cleaner than Ali Baba's. They are also not too expensive and, for some items, even cheaper than the larger stores. Their produce comes in spurts. If you get it fresh, it is good, but they do not stock fresh produce regularly because of the traffic flow of their business. But if you come on a day when the produce arrives it is good. Also, I notice they will not sell you bad produce. If an item looks a bit expired, it will usually just be given away, not sold. Also, the bakery is really nice. Place your order in advance to...