Above photo features the produce section of Bombay Central in Morrisville. Photos are courtesy of Elizabeth Brignac unless otherwise noted.
Western Wake’s International Food Markets
By Elizabeth Brignac
Western Wake is a smorgasbord of international grocery options. We only had room to describe five locally owned markets in our recent 5 West article on international grocery stores in Western Wake. Here, therefore, is a more extensive list of our area’s international food markets with brief descriptions of each. (Unlike the print article, this list includes chain markets as well as those that are locally owned.)
African and Caribbean
Cary African and Caribbean Market
1435 SE Maynard Road, Cary
Small market packed with ingredients specific to these regions, such as ugali flour, soursop and a variety of spices. The store has a fresh meat counter and small produce section, which carries ingredients like jute leaves, yucca and yams. You will find a more in-depth description of this market in our September/October 2024 article “Five Fabulous International Grocery Stores.”
Casablanca Market & Fresh Halal Meats
1365 SE Maynard Road, Cary
This shop bakes fresh Moroccan bread daily and offers other sweets and baked goods as well. In addition to a strong selection of Moroccan and Middle-Eastern staple products, it boasts a fresh halal meat counter as well. It also offers Moroccan kitchenware. This shop is known for its good customer service.
East Asian
Grand Asia Market
1253 Buck Jones Road, Raleigh
This large, locally owned international Asian supermarket offers foods from China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It sells a wide variety of rice, sauces, seeds, snacks, spices, meats, noodles and tofu. It has robust housewares and produce sections. The fresh seafood section is expansive, and the staff professionally cleans and cuts your selections while you shop. You will find a more in-depth description of this market in our September/October 2024 article “Five Fabulous International Grocery Stores.”
H Mart
1961 High House Road, Cary
This is the most popular Korean grocery store in the area and an Asian community hub. As well as offering an impressive variety of Korean food options, it partners with local vendors to offer prepared foods, so it’s a good place to shop locally despite being a chain supermarket.
Today Asia Market
1207-I Kildaire Farm Road, Cary
This mom-and-pop, locally owned Asian grocery store offers a nice variety of groceries, particularly given its size. It has a nice fresh seafood counter.
Toyo Shokuhin & Gifts
748 E Chatham Street, Cary
This family-run grocery store manages to pack many specifically Japanese food options and some kitchenware into a small space. It’s a great place to find sushi ingredients.
South Asian
Al Kareem Grocery
10285 Chapel Hill Road, Morrisville
This locally owned shop emphasizes its halal meat counter. It doubles as a sporting goods store specializing in cricket equipment.
Apna Bazar
3607 Davis Drive # 116, Morrisville
This local shop offers food supplies from regions across India. It offers the option for ordering groceries online for delivery as well as shopping in person.
Bharath Bazar
738 Slash Pine Drive, Cary
Bharath Bazar offers a nice variety of Indian groceries. Shoppers say it includes some from regions not always accommodated in local stores. Their store includes a food court of fresh, prepared food, a fresh sweets section and baked goods as well as a halal meat counter.
Bombay Central
10966 Chapel Hill Road, Morrisville
Spacious, locally owned grocery with a wide variety of food options, an excellent produce section, and a halal meat counter. It has a cafe with a delicious selection of foods, including both meals and ready-made snacks. Customers can also order chai, mango lassi, and sugarcane juice. You will find a more in-depth description of this market in our September/October 2024 article “Five Fabulous International Grocery Stores.”
Chapola Brothers Indian Groceries
6102 Old Jenks Road, Apex
Locally owned Indian grocery store. It offers a wide selection of spices at a good price.
Fresh Indian Market
7244 GB Alford Highway, Holly Springs
This Indian market features fresh seasonal produce, a large selection of spices and ready-to-eat items.
Grand India Mart
544 E Williams Street, Apex
3516 Davis Drive, Morrisville
This small, locally owned grocery store is known for good customer service and has a nice variety of Indian and South Asian food products.
Grocerind & Inis Kitchen
624 Lakestone Commons Avenue, Fuquay-Varina
This store offers a range of Indian products, halal meat and ready-to-eat items from the Inis Kitchen.
New Super Grocery
748 E Chatham Street, Cary
This grocery store includes some staple Bangladeshi and Indian food items, but it is mainly known for its halal meat counter.
Patel Brothers
802 E Chatham Street, Cary
This location of the national Patel Brothers chain is one of the largest Indian supermarkets in the area. It offers a wide selection of goods and an excellent variety of produce.
RTP Sabzi Mandi
1004 Lower Shiloh Way, Unit 100, Morrisville
This small store packs in a lot of goods, including sweets, housewares, some produce, and a wide selection of frozen foods.
Spices Hut
10210 Green Level Church Road, Cary
9601 Chapel Hill Road, Morrisville
This small Indian supermarket chain has four locations, two of which are in Cary and Morrisville. The store offers a wide variety of items and an excellent produce section as well as selling housewares. It has a food court of prepared foods and a bakery, and it offers catering.
Suvidha Indo-Pak Grocery
3735 Davis Drive, Suite 101, Morrisville
This is a nice South Asian market that stocks a good selection of staples. It has a small cafe of prepared, takeout foods and a solid meat market with a wide selection of cuts.
Sangam Mart
10300 Chapel Hill Road, Suite 600, Morrisville
This shop offers a solid variety of Indian and South Asian groceries. It has a good selection of spices and peppers and a nice little premade food bar, including excellent chai.
European
Capri Flavors
867 Bass Pro Lane, Cary
This shop imports items from Italy, including gourmet olive oils, pastas, cookies and other baked goods. It also offers imported cheeses and gelato. It includes a large Italian wine selection, fresh pastries, and sauces and pre-made meals prepared on-site for patrons to take home.
Golden Hex
1200 NW Maynard Road, Cary
This market includes the flag and name of the country from which each item was imported including countries across Eastern and Western Europe. Shoppers can find staple foods from caviar and canned and smoked fish to pickled vegetables, sauces, grains, and baking ingredients. The store offers some fresh produce, but the deli counter is where it really shines. You will find a more in-depth description of this market in our September/October 2024 article “Five Fabulous International Grocery Stores.”
Latine and Hispanic
Fuquay Meat Market
112 W Vance Street, Fuquay-Varina
Primarily a meat market known for its extensive selection and good prices, this Hispanic shop also carries produce and other groceries.
La Bonita Tienda y Carniceria
836 E Chatham Street, Cary
This grocery store includes staple items and a produce section that include hard-to-find foods like nopales (cacti) and savila (aloe vera). A butcher shop as well as a grocery store, La Bonita boasts a large meat counter and an ample queso selection. It offers a nice selection of prepared foods as well. You will find a more in-depth description of this market in our September/October 2024 article “Five Fabulous International Grocery Stores.”
La Esmeralda Tienda Latina
740 E Chatham Street, Suite A, Cary
Comparatively large for a Chatham Square market, this store has some good produce, an excellent spice selection and enough different types of dried chile to satisfy even the most heat-loving chef. It serves fresh, hot tortillas.
Las Carolinas Supermarket
505 Wake Chapel Road, Fuquay-Varina
This market offers produce as well as staple items from countries throughout Central and South America, with a particular emphasis on Costa Rican products. It offers a nice variety of staple products, snacks and frozen foods as well as hats, boots, candles, and similar items.
Las Tres Fronteras Supermercado
748 E Chatham Street, Cary
This small grocery store has a surprisingly large selection of groceries and a good meat counter. It serves hot, fresh tortillas daily. It sets itself apart with several shelves of different kinds of cowboy boots.
Tienda el Cerrito
101 Reed Street, Cary
This small store manages to stock a solid selection of staple items, a variety of dried peppers and spices, a few baked goods and hot tortillas.
Tienda el Primo
105 Nottingham Drive, Cary
This little grocery store has a selection of staple goods, some produce, a few baked goods, and hot tortillas. A Mexican food truck is established on the property.
Tienda Hispana La Nueva Mexicana II
805 E Williams Street, Apex
This small shop features imported Mexican goods and groceries.
Tienda la Roca
1401 SE Maynard Road #A, Cary
This little shop offers fresh, hot tortillas and a nice selection of peppers and spices as well as staple items.
Middle Eastern
Turkuaz Market
203 N Harrison Avenue #110, Cary
This market offers a wide selection of Turkish staple products, snacks, drinks, meats and dairy products. You can buy everything from salep (an orchid root flour beverage) to many different kinds of sausage to dried fruits, nuts and sweets. Don’t forget to order a cup of Turkish coffee!
Baghdad Bakery and Market
742 E Chatham Street #A, Cary
This store has several aisles of middle eastern staple foods. It’s noteworthy for having a brick oven bakery in the front of the store that serves fresh, hot samoon—a traditional Iraqui yeast bread. (It’s delicious.) The customer service is very helpful and friendly.
Harmony Mediterranean Market
663 Cary Towne Boulevard, Cary
This small market offers some staples, dairy products, spices and frozen goods.
Sassool
1347 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary
Primarily a cafe, Sassool’s Cary location also offers a small market for Mediterranean foods – dried fruits, olives, olive oil, wine, and fresh pita, among other products.
Olive Tree Market
270 Nottingham Drive, Cary
This Mediterranean market has a nice selection of shelf staples and a meat counter with a good, solid selection. It also offers dips and spreads like fresh hummus and baba ganoush and a wide selection of pastries and sweets.
