A Review of Super Jr Market in Downtown San Diego, California

Living in downtown San Diego is already expensive enough without confining your grocery shopping to the two main supermarkets in the area; Ralph's at 1st and G St, and Albertson's at 14th and Market St. If you aren't afraid to explore the less attractive parts of downtown and shop along with gruffy looking (though usually harmless) vagrants, there are places where you can score a good grocery shopping trip for much lower price than at those nicer markets. One of these is the Super Jr Market on the west side of 7th Avenue between C St and Broadway.

This small-ish market sells mostly food items (along with a small section of household cleaners and personal hygiene stuff). Most of the items are priced lower than at the 'proper' supermarkets, but not always. They don't carry as many brands for each items, but you can find just about any thing you'd need to fill your kitchen cabinet with there... even though most of the stuff here is in small rather than 'family' size.

The liquor and tobacco section at the north end of the store is very well stocked and usually have different items on sale.

What would keep drawing you back to shop at Super Jr Market, though, is their great deli and produce section! Cold sandwiches, salads, boiled eggs, and hot food packages in aluminum container tightly sealed with plastic all ready to eat from $1.50 to $5.50. The hot food varieties change around a bit, but the staple items are beef stew (a bit heavy on the salt, but you get real chunks of beef and wedges of potatoes and onions), broiled or fried chicken with refried rice (a bit bland, but OK for the price), roasted beef, spaghetti with meatballs (a lot of small meat balls... filling and good for the price), and macaroni and cheese. It isn't what you'd get at a gourmet restaurant, but you do get what you pay for.

The small produce section is really quite good. Most of the time, what vegetable and fruits they carry are fresher than what I see at Ralph's. They also carry a lot of locally made dried fruits that make really tasty and cheap snacks.

Service is ok... It's a small store with 2 cashiers (the liquor cashier will also check out your grocery when the store is busy) and you usually don't have to wait in line for long before being helped. The folks at the Deli section are very friendly, also, and are nice about complying to your specific request when you order a sandwich or other items.

Super Jr Market is just 2 blocks away from the 5th Avenue Trolley station, and within a short walking distance from Copley Symphony Hall, the House of Blues, and Horton Plaza.

Super Jr Market: 1036 7th Ave (at Broadway), San Diego, CA 92101. Tel (619) 232-6367