Winner: Tim’s Oriental & Seafood Market
7015 Bandera Road #8
(210) 523-1688
Open since the mid 1980s, Tim’s can either be an adventure for culinary explorers or a trip back to the homeland — or in some cases, both. While it’s not as voluminous as a supermarket, it’s hard to imagine how the shop could be any more densely stocked with Asian ingredients and cooking implements. From fresh vegetables and seafood to a dizzying array of spices, sauces and condiments, this is the place to either broaden your cooking horizons or find the ingredients to replicate grandma’s beef and rice noodle soup with lemongrass.
2. Culebra Super Meat Markets
Multiple locations
3. Ali Baba International Food Market
9307 Wurzbach Road
(210) 691-1111
This article appears in Best of San Antonio 2020.