99 Ranch Market

**** CLOSING!!! Shelves almost bare!!! Get what you can now on items left on sale!!! This location did not get the kind of traffic that other 99 Ranch locations got, & their prices could not compete with the many other Asian markets nearby with lower prices! ****

CLOSING ON 1÷5÷2015.
I like 99 ranch market, lots of interesting stuff to buy there. It’s too bad they did zero marketing in my neighborhood just a couple miles south so nobody knew they were even there.

Generally well stocked and easy to find products. Their bakery and hot foods sections are usually empty or almost sold out around 4−5pm so get there early. We went today and the market appeared quite empty, stock running low, shelves not restocked etc. The cashier said they are doing a clear out… we are wondering if they might be shutting down? We actually wanted some fish tonight but the live seafood section didn’t look particularly fresh, so we gave it a miss. We tend to get char siu here, all hot and ready to eat and it’s good here. Overall I like this Chinese market. It has a good variety of products. Easy parking too.

This is my go-​to Asian supermarket. I occasionally go to the 99 in Irvine — but to be honest I hate that one. The aisles are so small and the parking lot is a complete disaster. Good luck getting out of there alive. This location has good sized aisles, and a large parking lot.
This location has a small bakery, a cooked food take out area (with roasted duck), a large seafood counter and meat counter. They also now have a freezer case with assorted fish balls that you can pick out for hot pot.
I come here to buy fresh rice noodles (for soup, pan fried noodles), Udon noodles (i recommend the frozen ones!), Tofu, fish cakes, cooking sauces, coconut juice, rice, and most importantly affordable veggies. I can get a bag of bok choy or gai lan for a great price, the only thing is they are not washed so you have to do that when you get home. I recommend filling a large bowl with water, salt and lemon juice then soaking the veggies to remove dirt, bugs and pesticide. So buy some lemons while you are here!
Sometimes they will also have gift with purchase if you spend a certain amount. I think in the past I’ve received free crackers, drinks and soy sauce. You can check out their website as well to see the weekly and weekend specials.

Can’t believe it took me so long to find this 99 Ranch. I’m used to going to well kept and clean Chinese supermarkets in the San Gabriel Valley, but have only found the opposite since moving to Orange County several years ago. Was super excited to find this place randomly while driving in the area…
I came on a weekday and it was pretty empty, which was perfect for me. Good lighting and clean aisles were all very appealing. There is a Chinese BBQ area with other fast-​food Chinese food, but it looked empty and not very fresh. They also have a bakery with various Asian buns, but again, only a few items were left so late in the evening. People mentioned prepared sushi but I didn’t see any… maybe only on the weekends or they discontinued it.
Prices are pretty standard, if not better than other Asian markets. They always have specials every week on many food items that are on sale. Their seafood /​fresh meats area is clean and the workers were pretty helpful. They also offer free fish frying OR crab/​lobster steaming. Just get there first, do your shopping, and pick up your cooked stuff at the end. Vegetables were also all fresh and well kept.
I really enjoyed shopping at this 99 ranch, and is reminiscent of the 99 ranch in San Gabriel. This one is probably two thirds the size of the San Gabriel one but seems to have just about everything you would need. My new go-​to market for my Asian cooking shaprise!

Well the bakery area is closed at 4:40pm and no one in the store could help me. Interesting. Looks like my money will go somewhere else.

3.5
A few weeks ago, I found myself getting homesick. I missed my local Filipino bakery and the smell of freshly baked pan de sal, an enticing aroma that always brought me back to my childhood. I missed my turo-​turo joints where I’d attempt to order my food in some crooked tagalog. Most importantly, I missed anything that reminded me of my family’s cooking.
«Heck, I know how to cook! I’ll just make this stuff myself!» I exclaimed one Wednesday morning. But I needed ingredients. A quick Unilocal search lead me here, a random neighborhood in Fountain Valley.
This 99 ranch reminded me of the one back home. I was almost able to find everything I wanted. They had a fish stall in the back where you can order your fish as is or have it fried whole. They had the usual assortment of sauces, condiments, crackers, teas, produce, stew/​soup base, yadda yadda.
I was able to get some ingredients for some mami, adobo, and some other things. Even got some items for when I want to eat food from some other south-​east asian countries. Loaded up on beef tendon too. However, I was bummed about a couple things.
1) No calamansi? damn damn damn
2) Lack of dim sum options available when I went. It was pretty empty.
3) Ordered some egg rolls just for the hell of it. THEY WERE COLD. How cold? Well, on a scale of one to ten, they were Gregg Popovich.
4) First thing I noticed when walking in was the bakery. The employees were hard at work but there was hardly any bread out. I’ve been to this ranch a couple times and the bakery department is always largely empty. Maybe I always show up at the wrong time?
5) Hardly any filipino baked goods. Sure they had pan de sal. I’m so glad. But no puto, cuchinta, or ensaymada?
Hmmmmm. I do have some issues with this place, but I’ll have to overlook them as 99 ranch is the closest asian market to me. I’ll continue to come here for the time being, but if I fall in love with the Seafood City opening up soon, I’ll only pass by ranch on occasion.

Great 99 Ranch Market located in the neighborhood of Fountain Valley. Opens at 9:00 and closes at 9:00. The store is super clean and HUGE. Everything is arranged very nicely and professionally. The clerks and service people are super friendly and helpful!
Great meat /​seafood section. Excellent hot-​food to-​go section. Fruits and veggie section looks very well maintained. Beautiful fresh items from the Bakery section! One of the best 99 Ranch Markets that I’ve seen in a long time!

This is one of the smaller Ranch 99 markets I’ve been in, but it still has a good variety. The floors were clean, the isles tidy and the selection was good. I found the eggs I wanted and bought some frozen edamame in addition, to keep the eggs cool on my drive home since I didn’t have a cooler and live far away. The staff was helpful and polite, confirming I knew what I was buying, as it was an unusual item that many Caucasian shoppers probably didn’t actually want to buy. I was grateful for the head’s up/​confirmation.
Quiet parking lot and short lines. I’d return here again if I’m in the area.

I like this Asian market because its clean! There are lots of great deals and the workers are always nice.
I especially love their deli section. The soy sauce chicken is great along with their to-​go food items. When I am craving fast Chinese food, I always go here.

I just got home from getting some crabs from this 99 ranch… As I opened the bag of crabs, I saw that my crabs had one of their claws cut off!
I specifically picked them out PERSONALLY and put them in a bag!
Gave them to the Asian man behind the counter and got him to weigh it.
Little did I know, «weighing it» means cutting off the claws!!!
I am outraged by these workers behind the counter!!! The claws are my favorite part and I didn’t get them!

I totally forgot that there was a Tawa in the area, so was super-​pleased to know of one not too far from where the bf lives.
If you’re coming from the Long Beach area, take the 405 South and get off at Magnolia and go south. It’ll be on your right hand side after 2 to 3 miles.
Parking’s okay. Parking lot itself may need some work. Lots of gravel everywhere.
This Tawa isn’t as big as the other ones I’ve been to, and its cleanliness could use some work. It may be one that isn’t frequented as often as other Tawa’s, but the produce wasn’t too fresh. It was decent to sometimes okay, but not the best. Definitely saw some ripening fruits and veggies. I might’ve been spoiled by Sprouts and Hmart, though.
They have all of the dried and canned merchandise you would want, such as the dried shiitake mushrooms, dried ground pork, gluten, pickled cucumbers, varieties of noodles, variety of different Taiwanese candies/​snacks (as well as the American ones), and alllllll of those awesome Asian sauces and oils (sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, etc.).
Will probably be back, simply because it’s one of the closer Asian supermarket that I’d trust.

I’m not sure what was here before, a Marukai 98?, but now it’s my favorite 99 Ranch Market.
This location was just so mellow to shop at, it was a joy. No fighting for parking spots. No huge crowds. I found everything I wanted to buy in stock. Checkers were waiting for me instead of me waiting in a line for them.
They even gave me a FREE 20 count flat of eggs for spending more than $ 40 today. Made me feel like a winner. A five star store!

Although this review may a bit trivial for us locals, I’m hoping «out of towners» will make good use of it.
Here are 99 reasons why this chained Asian American supermarket has survived the ups and downs of the economy for 30 yrs now. Did I say 99? HA, we’re not in school; lets not be too structured and cliché now.
TOP 10 FINEST ATTRIBUTES & TID BITS (TB):
1) Ala Carte Dim Sum (food to go style) available around 1030am.
TB: come early, the good stuff runs out fast and they don’t make more.
Best options are: sesame balls w/​red bean inside and fried minced pork/​mushroom dumplings. Milk tea is mediocre and can be kinda gross towards the end of the day. Opt OUT for the boba balls, no good.
2) Chinese Food to Go available around 12 noon.
TB: Reasonable prices. Decent, but nothing special.
3) Roasted pig, duck, chicken on display for you to choose. Just like China Town.
4) Fresh bread, baked goods and cakes sold at the bakery. Decent, but not as good as Kawaii or 85C.
5) Pick your fish and they will fry it for you for FREE. Ready in 10 – 15 minutes.
TIME SAVER TIP: Go here 1^st, then shop for your other groceries. Fish will be ready when you’re done shopping.

6) Food samples on the weekends. Like Costco, but Asian food. SWEET!
7) Plenty of Vegetarian prepared food options available.
8) Friendly and fast service. Clean & organized. Ample parking. Easy to get in and out. You don’t have to deal with the hustle bustle of Little Saigon.
9) Wide selection of seafood, poultry, meats, fruits & veggies.
TB:
— NO Korean short ribs or American short ribs.
–Quality of meat/​veggies/​fruits are NOT top notch. BE SELECTIVE and sift through your options!
–Ask the meat & seafood man to give you advice on the better cuts. My go-​to for OXTAIL since they are pre-​cut and you can choose big or small pieces. Pork spare ribs can be quite fatty. Ask for the meaty side vs the fat side.
— Produce & meats are much cheaper than Ralphs, Albertsons… etc!
10) They carry almost EVERYTHING you need to make your Asian meal.
My Go-​To Asian market.
CLOSEST Asian market if you’re coming from Huntington Beach.
My BIGGEST TIP: Bring a sweater or jacket. The market is as cold as a refrigerator. It’s kept at a low temp to keep ingredients fresh and weed out annoying people:) Kudos to the staff that can withstand the «jaw chattering» and arthritis forming temperatures AND maintain a smile.
Here’s an overly exaggerated imagery of how freezing the market is. Hope you get a little chuckle!
Jack: Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me… it brought me to you. And I’m thankful for that, Rose. I’m thankful. You must do me this honor. Promise me you’ll survive. That you won’t give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise.
Rose: I promise.
Jack: Never let go.
Rose: I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.
Hope you figured out where that excerpt is from? LOL.

Normally I hate grocery shopping at Asian markets because the items aren’t always the best quality. However, at this 99 ranch most of the produce is pretty fresh and a little cheaper than other Asian markets like Shun Fat on Beach & Mc Fadden. On weekends they have free samples of food for you to try.
The meat/​seafood dept is always busy and looks clean. They even have a little hotpot section w/​lots of different fish balls etc to cook at home. TIP: buy the frozen ones in the case it’s about 4.99/lb u get to mix & match, the lady packs it up for you. Don’t buy the one in the display case that’s been thawed, they’re not as fresh!
While this grocery store is huge, I haven’t tried much of the bakery/​deli food because I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to chinese food. If you notice, most of the foods here are from china and there are ingredients I’ve never heard of so I try to stray away from it.
Overall, come here for produce such as fruits and vegetables

This is our go-​to Asian foods grocery store whenever we return to the OC area. We’ll usually come by at least once a month to get our monthly dose of Chinese/​Asian ethnic food, since we love to eat our staple Chinese cuisine items. :)
Veggies are fresh and cheap!
Fruits are sweet and cheap (wide selection too)!
Lots of items in the frozen aisle such as mocha ice cream, red bean popsicles, xiao long bao, taro buns, sesame balls, etc.
There’s a tiny bakery in there for yummy egg tarts, pastries, bread, etc.
We also love to frequent the «deli or mini café» section — where they serve up fresh dim sum on weekend mornings and roast duck/​pork, and other various Chinese dishes. YUM! The entrees are affordable and tasty too. We’ve never eaten there in the café section, since it’s mostly «to-​go» items, but there are tables/​chairs available for people to sit and eat if they are finished with their shopping.
Sometimes they have people standing in different aisles serving up «taste-​test» items such as Chinese sausage, fish balls, fruits, noodles, etc.
This is also where we come to pick up those 25 lb bags of white rice, brown rice, and soy sauce jugs. haha…
There is also an entire aisle full of seasoning, cooking sauces, satays, curries, etc. HOLLA! We’ll be baaaaack…

I like this particular 99 Ranch, because it is very clean and organized, especially compared to our old usual 99 Ranch which was the one in Cerritos. It also helped that when we were done checking out, the clerk handed me a giant bag of red rice and said «this is your free gift today.» Whaaaaat? I had so many questions, but I held my inner white OC girl inside. What I wanted to say was «Why is it free? What did I do? What is red rice? How do I cook it?»
So I just smiled and said thank you and loaded it into the car. (BTW if anyone knows what I should do with this bag of red rice, please send me a message with your ideas).

This place has great selection of seafood and Asian ingredients. The store is super clean and well stocked. The prices are great also. Be ready to muscle your way through, if you go on a weekend! If you do not speak Vietnamese, then be prepared to try to explain your wants. Nice friendly people but let’s put English speakers in areas that require communications.
Great selection of hard to find items here! The prices are very good for seafood.
The parking lot is tight and you mix it with some crazy bad Asian drivers and you got chaos!

My fav 99 Ranch Market becuz:
+ Clean store & I don’t have to avoid the Seafood Dept
+ Never crowded when I shop
+ Well Stocked with all types of Asian & Pacific Islander food items
+ Good bakery dept
+ Small but sufficient cooked foods section, dim sum & packaged sushi
+ Big Parking Lot
+ Friendly Service
+ Shopping carts are well maintained… tetanus shot is not required before use, lol
5 Stars!

Horray! An asian market in my neck of the woods, which is perfect for when I want to make dumplings from scratch. :)
And you’ve got everything you need to stock an Asian household including: Kewipi Mayo, Japanse curry sauce, durian (okay, maybe not durian, but they have it!), and a huge assortment of instant or fresh noodles! And I must confess i sometimes don’t always make my dumplings from scratch *gasp* but they also carry a wide variety of frozen dumpling types and brands that makes it hard to resist! Whether you want the small Japanese gyozas or the plump steamed kind, and of course in all the flavor combinations too (pork and vegggie, chicken, etc) you’ve got loads of options! And it all tastes great :)
Lastly, they have a bakery and small café if you want ready to go food too!