Pan-Asia Supermarket — Local services in West Allis

i'm gonna respond directly to Perry Y's review from 19 hours ago, mostly because i hard disagree BUT ALSO because i found out he 1-starred my childhood mom and pop korean restaurant hwang dae gham and i'm petty.

i too frequent mei hua, mitsuwa, h-mart, joong boo, and 88, so i'd say i'm pretty picky when it comes to asian establishments. we came in on sunday and it was extremely packed, all the bakery bread was long gone, and we waited an hour for our food to come out (and they got our order wrong). EVEN THEN, the bibimbap and soup dumplings were bomb and extremely authentic for wisconsin standards. props to the ancient asian grandmas and grandpas i saw cooking nonstop in the back to fulfill so many to-go orders.

but what REALLY blew me out of the water was the grocery section. never have i seen so many varieties of fishcake balls in my life. i found several hyper-specific items that i've only ever spotted exclusively at single grocery stores, such as the Frozen Veggie Mandoo by Sasum Deer brand which has a cult following amongst ajummas and is NOTORIOUSLY difficult to find outside of joong boo in chicago. i also got my hands on some Haday Golden Label which is the only light soy sauce i use... all my friends make fun of me because i will literally drive an hour down to h-mart since mei hua doesn't carry it. i even found some shanghainese shao mai, which i grew up eating at home but have never found anywhere else in america. now i get to try what a frozen one tastes like for the very first time! they even carry western asian products like labneh and ziyad brand everything.

you'd think all of that would be crazy expensive right? NO. all the frozen stuff was $5 a pop ($8 at h-mart). all my favorite beverages, $1. the soy sauce was $2??? even the premade onigiri was $3 ($4+ everywhere else). for the insane variety and ease of access, i cannot stress enough that these prices are almost incomprehensible.

we should be uplifting local asian businesses, especially when they desperately fill a need in spaces where there are so few other options. i will definitely be adding pan-asia to my regular grocery rotation, and i'll give the food court another shot when the lines are a little shorter. finally, everyone should visit hwang dae gham they are the best korean restaurant in the chicago northern burbs and ifykyk there's some insane...

What a treat! I felt like a kid in a candy shop! Sooo many things to see, so many choices. For instance, there is a whole wall of miso, a freezer case half the width of the store just for fish balls. The produce is fresh and the area is clean. Most items I wouldn't know what to do with, but would love to learn. Pan Asia if you ever wanted to consider shopping or cooking classes during off hours in the store, I'd sign up. It took a bit of searching but we found everything on our list, some at deep discounts from what we've been paying on Amazon, or even the local grocery store. For instance, our favorite hot dumpling sauce was $2.99, and we've routinely been paying $14 for two bottles on Amazon. Napa cabbage was 65 cents a pound, it was $2.65 a pound the previous day at Pick N Save. We bought some exotic fruits we've never tried before and we're trying a new one each day. The seafood and meat selections were interesting. The people behind the counter were helpful with my many questions. My favorite find in the store was tobiko, as we like to make sushi. There were many types and sizes to choose from in the frozen case and prices were reasonable. They had also just added salmon roe, in a different spot, in the freezer across from the seafood counter. I even found duck heads (6 for $3.15 - great price) that we use as treats for our raw fed dogs. We had intended to eat lunch at the store but it was way too crowded, just didn't have the patience for it. Maybe next time. Overall it was worth the 40 minute drive for us, both for the availability and price of products. We'll be back!

Update: So, we did go back... and were disappointed that there were many empty shelves. There was no white miso, the freezer section had no more tobiko (the reason I went in the first place), there was no rice flour and hardly any rice crackers. Whole sections of shelves were bare. The produce section was mostly fully stocked however, just a few missing items. We did get a chance to try the beef pho, it was awesome! We also found some good gems but request they step up the stocking. Please order...

Stopped by Pan Asia grocery and cafe in West Allis on their opening day. The grocery side was absolutely packed, so I skipped shopping and headed to the café for lunch instead.

As expected on a grand opening, the line was long. I ordered the beef bibimbop and Vietnamese spring rolls, both were fresh and flavorful, definitely a highlight. However, the service and setup still need work.

There were no clean tables available and no staff visibly assigned to clear or wipe them down, which made it hard to find a place to sit and enjoy the food. I sat at a table with a bunch of dirty plates/bowls as it was the only table. Nobody came to clean my table the entire time I was there. Also, there was no obvious option for drinking water, only the Boba station around the corner was offering beverages. When I asked, I was directed to a drinking fountain on the far end of the grocery store, which wasn’t ideal while trying to eat lunch. At the very least, they should have bottled water to purchase when you pay for your food.

It’s clear they’re still figuring things out, and the energy and potential are definitely there, but right now, the logistics and customer experience could use some attention. I’ll be curious to see how they improve once the initial rush...