Salads and Soups

At eight o’clock every morning, seven days a week, crowds of people begin to gather in the grocery stores of Little Saigon, which are scattered along Bolsa Avenue and Westminster Boulevard. More than 2,500 customers will shop at any given market on a weekday; the number increases to 3,500 on a Saturday or Sunday. By evening most markets will have sold all their fresh produce and meats and fish.

Though predominantly Asian, the markets’ customer base represents a mix of people from nearby neighborhoods and cities, with shoppers coming from as far away as Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. For the residents of Little Saigon, the markets are an important source of Vietnamese and other Asian products as well as the place to go for low prices. For the tourist, the markets’ ethnic appeal and diversity of exotic products make them fascinating to explore.