Numero Uno Mini Market

This is a liquor store disguised as an old decrepit mini market. The signage outside reads «mini market» but all the products inside are either expired or unedible. There is a deli area with a butcher in the back but it looks more like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The place is dusty, modly and smells like rotten meat.
This place is known for it’s cigarettes, lottery, warm beer and adult movies and magazines.
I mean seriously, the owner should just do away with the mini market theme and turn this place into a bonafide liquor store.
I use to purchase adult moves and magazines which I put on tab with a clerk named Muhammed back in the late 90’s. One day I walked in and he was upset stating that I needed to pay the $ 70 I owed upfront because the owner was coming in later that evening for inventory.
I didnt have the cash with me so I told Muhammed I’d return with the cash but never did.
To this day, I sometimes walk in just to recapture my perverted nostalgia days without going noticed as the guy that racked up $ 70 worth of bootleg smut.
Note to women entering this establishment alone: Beware of the sexually repressed owner.

The staff is nice if you engage them, though they’ll cheerfully leave you be until you do. Otherwise, this place is SCARY, DIRTY, and all kinds of questionable.
I have made roughly 4 visits, since I live around the corner and I’m an optimist. The first time I bought a bottle of Tapatío sauce, only to find it was a deep disturbing maroon color once I got it home and into better lighting. What did they do to make hot sauce go bad??? Something even the FDA doesn’t bother slapping an expiration date on! Threw. It. Out. Subsequent trips over the next 2 years found months long expired cat food (did NOT purchase), overpriced canned goods, and wine priced almost three times the going rate. Everything else looks like it’s coated in dust mixed with oil then another layer of dust. Did I mention this place is sketchy?
I’m fairly sure they subsist on clueless patrons of Monk Space who can’t venture a block over in either direction in search of better amenities, and Lotto ticket sales. Again, the clerks seem nice enough, but they really need to invest back into the store.
My suggestion: go directly next door to the 98¢ Save-​On Variety Discount Store right on the corner of Western & 2^nd. They don’t have alcohol or Lotto tickets, & the place can be a little claustrophobic, but otherwise they are everything Número Uno should be and more.

Numero Uno is not the best or cleanest mini market that I have ever been to, but the shopkeeper was nice and handled our requests and our crowd.
A friend was married at Monk Space (Behind Numero Uno), which is a studio used for photoshoots and music video shoots normally, but she used it as a wedding venue. We were constantly running in and out of the mini mat for random things, more ice, etc. The shopkeeper was kind enough to just keep a running total for all our needs and the tab was taken care of later. Also since Monk Space is kind of small, and a Korean BBQ truck was used to cater, there were a lot of people just loitering in front of the store, mostly blocking the entrance. He didn’t seem to care any. For this, he gets more stars. Even more of a plus was that he didn’t mind that we took up all the parking in front of his shop and stayed well beyond the 1hr limit.

Esperate por que?
Numero Uno mi ass. Okay, that is about all the Spanglish I know, but I do know for certain that this market is the suckage. For starters their selection of convenience items is pretty sad and most of it looks like it’s been there for at least a few years. I mean c’mon, dust on your cereal was sooo ’03.
Then there is the «spirit» section. Ooof. If you need a 6-​pack of cerveza then this is fine, but if you are looking for wine and don’t prefer your blends to be that of vinegar and piss, I might suggest hitting another liquor store.
It’s just a really gross store. Oh and don’t even get me started on the poultry and deli type items they have here. Ick.