99 Ranch Market
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
22 reviews
Mountain View, CA
"When I rate a produce/grocery store, it's all about their prices. Mi Pueblo has great prices on produce and meat too! I used to drive out…" read more »
62 Reviews for 99 Ranch Market
This is a really nice store. I was looking for an impossible-to-find Chinese cooking wine. I found an employee and showed them a picture of what I wanted and they brought me right to it. Good prices too, I think I paid like $3 for a liter of rice wine.
Minus one star for parking, the parking at the shopping center is an atrocity.
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This place makes you feel like you're in the middle of Shanghai or something in Asia. It's on a super convenient corner but don't let that fool you into thinking you'll have a quick trip. I dread that parking lot more than any other; its spaces are tiny, barely enough room to back out, and packed full at busy times. Not to mention horrible drivers...i'm not classifying or judging anyone here at all though so we're clear. I like everyone. =p Anybody want a trashed car though?
But as for the actual market, it's awesome! It's pretty clean, prices are cheap, and the seafood selection is everything imaginable. You can also build your own take out plate for 6 bucks from a variety of dishes. The quality is what's to be expected for setting and style. However, the fish is the freshest around anywhere. They also have an excellent produce area. And you have to love endless aisles of Asian foods; I can pick out all the soy and sweet and sour sauces i want. Also, i have always had decent customer service.
One of my favorite places to shop or just visit hands down.
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I never been to this Ranch 99, but I heard that it was one of the first ones in the Bay Area, according to my roommate. His dad is on a mission to visit all the Ranch 99s in the United States.
The store looked its age. Not really clean, but not really dirty. However, when I was walking around the meat section I was startled by a mouse on the ground. It looked real, but then it wasn't moving at all. So I assumed it was fake. I stood there watching people's reactions. Quite funny. I went to get my roommate so he could see. He didn't get scared, but as we were looking at it, some butcher came right up and smashed it with his foot. I knew then it was real because I saw all the guts come out. The butcher then picked it up with a plastic bag.
We were so grossed out, we left right away. On our way out, I saw some lady asking for the manager.
Who knows if that butcher washed his hands after picking up that dead mouse. Plus, it looked like a baby, so the mother and father must be roaming around somewhere in the store.
Okay, so I'm not going to subtract any stars b/c of the parking. I agree that it completely sucks, but we all know it sucks and it's not going to change. So moving on...
Great market. Cupertino Village, in general is pretty amazing; hailing from the Caucasians myself (insert lame white person joke here...), I feel like I've been flown to somewhere in China, thrown on a tourbus, and this is where I've been dropped off for an afternoon.
Oh, and, uh, remind me to learn Mandarin. And Cantonese. And Japanese and Korean probably wouldn't hurt.. I'm a teacher, I'm gouda at school. :)
Comparing 99 Ranch to the other B.A. Asian food-o-rama we frequent, Marina, I like this one better. Now, this isn't WholePaycheck... the aisles aren't wide, and the service isn't always friendly, but it's a "you want it, you got it" kind of place. I mean they have it all. To be honest, one of the things I liked the most was seeing a very pan-Asian face in there-- N. Asia, Japan, China, but also SE Asia, Indian... I mean there really is a fantastic variety. I also delight in "payback" for the "Oriental Aisle" at many, um, white supermarkets inasmuch that there were only three kinds of Italian pasta. I mean, REALLY.
The fish is to die for. Like that's what you go for. No, I do not care for the conditions of the animals (yes, I plan on taking them home and eating them...)-- I think stacking live carp one on top of the other is just a bit much, same for the lobster and crab (and this is coming from a Jew-ish [emphasis on the ISH] person, fyi, ha).
In short, I love it. I think it's a great remove from what I'm used to, but it's a fantastic representation of culture in Cupertino (culture in the 'tino?! Whaaaa'??!!)-- I'll be back for sure. :)
It seems that with many a 99 Ranch I hold a mixed bag of experience. For example, on my first visit last night to this particular location, the store was cleaner than some, but could still use a little help in that department. The establishment as a chain always garners props from me for inexpensive wares such as rice and veggies. However, Chris and I were mystified as to where they have the red bean-filled mochi treats that are usually so easy to find at many other Asian markets--we never did find that. Also, we got a hold of a bad batch of pancit noodles which we only discovered to our horror as we made our dinner last night. Fortunately it wasn't the entire package, and it was just too late and too far to go back for a single bad package.
Onward on my search for a bargain Asian market with good selection and unspoiled products not far from my boyfriend's place.
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I have a LOVE / HATE relationship with Ranch 99.
Love the great prices and the variety and number of items, fruits, veggies, prepared foods, snacks, deli next door, etc...
Hate the parking, hate the crowds on the weekends, the tight aisles, the rude customers and freshness of some of the fruits are questionable.
They have cleaned the place up but have still seen flies inside.
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I love my pork belly and my Asian vegetables, so I will still come here, but this Ranch 99 sucks. It smells of fish and meats, I don't even want to think about the butchers' handling of the meats, and it's HELLA CROWDED. Perhaps the worst is the parking lot. Those mean old Asian ladies are bad drivers, and parking is so hard to find. I literally say a prayer before I come here so that I can find a parking spot. Plus, my car got scratched up here, probably by one of those mean old Asian ladies! I hope I don't turn into one.
That being said, meats here are cheap, as are the vegetables. One word of advice... don't buy the onions. I started to peel an onion from here once, and I found what looked like a dead roach, or something. I've blocked it out of my memory.
Go to the one in Milpitas. Cleaner, nicer, less crowded.
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Parking is really horrible at this place no matter what time of the day or week you go there. And it is a zoo inside the store. They need to install stop lights inside the store for pedestrians. It is hard to walk in the store even without a cart! But you can find great fresh veges and fruit there. The attached restaurant is a great stop if you are hungry. It is ridiculously cheap! FYI - Ranch 99 bathroom is very clean ;-)
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Claustrophobic's worst nightmare.
Narrow aisles cluttered with delicacies from all over the Asian continents, smelly deli section at the back with butchers who holler at you while you walk past BUT never pay attention when you actually want that pound of ground beef for $1.79, customers who think it's OK to leave the shopping carts where their screaming kids are sitting right in the middle of the aisle (for size of aisle, refer to earlier part of paragraph), and horrific lines at the cash registers every weekend.
Two stars for being the closest place that stocks Sambal Cap Jempol and Kecap Manis ABC. Their willingness to import these things sure saves me (and my poor mom, at my insistence) from having to smuggle bottles and bottles of them each and every time I come home from a trip to the motherland.
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I used to live down the street from Lion Market in Milpitas but thank heavens for 99Ranch and Cupertino Village now that I'm in Los Altos! Enough of Safeways, Andronicos and Draegers and give me my fish smelling Asian supermarket where I don't care if mangoes are neatly cut into cubes and sold for $7 in a quart sized container! I'd rather buy a box of 7 mangoes for that much.
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This is my primary grocery store now. I buy a lot of produce so I easily save 50% over Safeway, etc.
The meat and fish are super fresh, and there are always specials on something. I love the sauce, vinegar, spice and condiment isle - my pantry can't take any more $1 finds. The bakery here is pretty good too.
This place is a madhouse on weekends, so I try to schedule meetings in Cupertino at the end of the day so I can grocery shop here.
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I love 99 ranch. I wish they have a branch in Austin.
After get off plane and had a rental car, guess where I drove to first? 99 Ranch. My favorite Chinese supermarket.
I like their candy selection most, especially a candy called Meiji. I couldn't get it from Austin. So I bought several for my son whenever I got a chance to 99 ranch.
I try to avoid this supermarket on the weekend at all costs. It's super busy, aisle ways are narrow, and check lines are long. I think I can find a better way to make use of my time. Other than that, prices are competitive compared to the Safeways and Lucky's stores out there.
As for the adjoining restaurant, it's okay but not the greatest. We had takeout there the other night cause it was conveniently close by. For ~$7.00, you can self-serve and fill your plate up with a moderate variety of food. But like I said, it's just okay and not the greatest. I'd probably go somewhere first before coming here again for a meal.
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I love 99 ranch! They have amazing prices for seafood and fruit. If I want cheap seafood (especially crab), this is the first place I will head to. Parking here is a nightmare though. I avoid it on the weekends altogether.
The restaurant attached to the side of 99 Ranch Market is racist, no joke.
My wife went there yesterday to pickup some food. After she'd gathered what she needed, she went to the cash register. Two male workers were busy for about five minutes while she awaited to be rang out. Finally one of the workers looked up at her and said, 'did you need help?' She said 'yes' but he continued what he was doing. At that moment another patron got in line after her, a chinese woman and her two children. Almost immediately a cashier miraculously appeared and proceeded to checkout the chinese lady, ignoring my wife. My wife said, 'Excuse me' and the cashier replied, 'Aren't you together?' My wife said 'no'. Then the cashier said 'well I'm going to ring her (the other lady) out first'. RACIST! What's up with that?
This is not the first time my wife or myself has experienced this kind of service at stores within Cupertino Village. Not sure what the deal is. We're Asian, but we're not Chinese. But that shouldn't matter anyway. Whether you're Asian or not, you're a customer and all customers should be treated with respect.
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5 stars because of the entertainment value I received from shopping here!
Here is what I found out while waiting in line (about 3 minutes)after I shopped at this 99 Ranch market:
1)One of the cashier (name not disclosed due to privacy) is getting
paid more than all others and the bagger and cashier at check stand 7 is not happy about that and wanted to tell everyone else in the store.
2)The manager just had another kid and is deciding whether to quit the job to look after the kid or not. (the cashier suggested that the manger should quit since the husband is making enough money to support the family anyway)
3)The other cashier who had worked there way before this one is making some rumors about her and she thinks she is a cunt (yes that is right a cunt) and she is going to make up some rumors about that cashier soon.
4)The pork belly is on special price today she is going to use her employee discount to buy a lot so she can sell it cheap back to her friends at her apartment complex
5)The PG&E energy saving light bulb is on sale today and she promised a store owner in this mall to save a box of 50 for him and he is gonna get them later today and she thinks he is handsome and wonders if he is married but according to the bagger he IS indeed married and has a mistress who also works at his store and his wife knows about it too.
So if you understand Chinese and is bored on weekends I suggest you to shop at 99 ranch at this location or others so you will know better about what the hell is going on in 99 Ranch market employee's life! (so far I have heard employees discussing about other employee's gossips at Daly City, El Cerrito and many San Jose locations).
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This market has a great selection of Asian foods. The produce and meat are fresh. The deli sells pretty good cooked food as well.
The only downside is that this parking lot and this store turns into a total freaking madhouse!!! I strongly advise you not to drive your new fancy car to this place. You will most likely end up with a door ding from another car or an errant shopping cart or maybe even from someone's zipper as they try to squeeze between cars. Bring the old battlewagon instead. Good luck fitting it into a parking spot.
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I cannot live without this store, literally. I drive to Ranch 99 for groceries all the way from SC, regularly. Safeway just won't do. I got a 1.5L bottle of Ozeki Sake there last time i was there for 5 dollars. I'm gonna say that again a 1.5L bottle of Ozeki Sake for 5 dollars...yep. More tasty foods in this store than I will ever try in a lifetime. I was raised on Mexican and Asian food and have been going to stores like this since I was a little kid (in SD). This is the place for all things Asian.
The deli is ok. But there are many better restaurants in the area.
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Convenient place for all my stir fry, hot & sour soup, Thai curry, and other Asian dish needs. The prices are much cheaper than say, Safeway, Albertson's, or Lucky's esp. for veggies and fruits. They've done away with their club card which is great as I am tired of either trying to remember what phone number is attached to the card or fitting yet another card into my already fat wallet. My only complaint are the narrow aisles and trying to maneuver my cart, avoiding collisions with other people.
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This place sure gets crowded on the weekends! I looped around the complex 5 times and still couldn't find a parking spot.
Well the selection of asian produce is great and the prices for meats is very reasonable. I prefer shopping here compared to other grocery stores since they have items that you can't find at your local Safeway or Lucky's. Its not like Whole-paycheck either since I still leave with some money in my wallet.
Just try to go during the off hours if possible since parking and cashier lines are rediculous during peak hours.
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The ultimate market to get your asian on.
..But where's the sushi? I want some fucking sushi!!
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Really don't like this place. It's smelly, small, and just plain nasty. If you want to go to a 99 at Milpitas. It's much better. Or if you want to go to a close by Asian supermarket, go to Hankook.
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During my childhood, we used to go to Chinatown with my parents for won ton noodle soup. Since then, I have never found any won tons as large and delicious as the ones in Chinatown, filled to the brim with shrimp. Until now....
Ranch 99's deli area has shrimp won ton soup (with or without egg noodles) that reminds me of the ones I used to eat. Quite tastly, filled with lots of shrimp. You can add some vegetables to the soup as well.
Won tons at other places I've tried generally have a smidgen of shrimp in them so that all you taste is the doughy-ness of the wrapper. But not here.
The three stars for Ranch 99 is a combination of 4 stars (based on the won ton soup only) and 2 stars for the crowds and parking lot. I really haven't had much of anything else on a somewhat regular basis other than the won tons and porridge (which is ok) there and I don't shop at Ranch. Too crowded!
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Check the expiration date on products.. they seems to put expired product on sale.
Avoid getting fresh soy milk from them. Got 2 bottle, and one was sour before it expires.
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Well. First I can't find dumpling vinegar. And it's hard to check whether the price during check out is same as the price attracted me to grab the suff. These are reasons that I'm looking for online grocery. But before there's a good online one, This is still a good choice.
& There are attractive restaurant around!.
Ranch is cool. Growing up in the Midwest, there were only scattered Asian supermarkets so I love being able to find a wide variety of produce and other products here. I've had spotty luck with the freshness of the produce, however. Additionally, the store is rather cramped and the parking here is the worst out of the 3 Ranch stores in the South Bay, so I usually choose to patronize the Milpitas store.
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Avoid shopping here on the weekend at all cost, unless you are brave enough to be surrounded by people who can't drive and patient enough to wait for the parking spot.
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This Ranch 99 seems cleaner than the one on Hostetter and it's always been my favorite supermarket.
Of course it is in the Cupertino Village Plaza along with Starbucks, Qcup, Sheng Kee Bakery, and many other Chinese/Taiwanese restaurants and shops.
Ranch 99 is better in quality and freshness than .. Lion or TinTin..that's about all the super Asian supermarkets in the area I know of.
Very good prices, especially compared to American supermarkets like Safeway.
They seem to have an extensive inventory of Asian products.
There are MAJOR savings in produce and fruits.
69 cents for an extra large artichoke compared to 3.99 at Safeway!
I eat artichokes almost everyday...
They also have very cheap seafood! A bag of oysters for $15? 24 of them! Woohoo. Perfect for grilling them Asian style.
The fruits are cheaper too.
Okay are we sensing a pattern here? Asian place. Cheap prices. Hmmm. And! It's actually not cash only!!
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I'm asian, this is how I get my asian groove on....
From the deli-- surprisingly the best shrimp wonton soup I've ever had.... Milpitas is by far better than Cupertino though...
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I come here for three things and three things only:
1) Fish (probably all farmed and previously frozen, but seriously, screw paying $16.99 a pound for salmon at Whole Foods!)
2) Korean pears
3) To buy a package of Botan Rice Candy with my debit card and get cash back when I don't have cash for all the 983275098275 cash-only places in Cupertino Village and I don't want to pay the ATM fee at East-West Bank
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Lured by the prospect of getting fresh fish I have been here a few times. Every time I was disappointed. The fish was not fresh, and just plain bad. The frozen fish that you get at Albertson's, Safeway etc is better than the partly rotten and smelly "fresh" fish that you get here.
The frozen crab that I bought here was just plain stinky and bad.
And to boot, if you ask them to clean the fish, they do a half hearted job with the scales still remaining. After my first few tries at buying fish there, I never bought fish there.
To be fair, they have a good selection of fairly priced vegetables, and other chinese groceries, though the chicken there looked suspect so I stayed away from it.
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The Epicenter of parking madness this place is. The weird diagonal lot probably doesn't help it out. So getting in is always and adventure to start. Once you're there it's your average Ranch 99. It's interesting how something so big can be formulaic. But if you are in the area and need all your Asian groceries, this is a one stop shop.
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As far as the supermarket goes, this is basically your run-of-the-mill Ranch 99, no different than any of the others. However, I must mention the one thing that sets this location miles apart from the rest...
The bakery.
I kid you not when I say that their birthday cake is some of the best I have ever tasted. It knocks the batter off of noted rivals Kee Wah or Sheng Kee, or any of the bakeries I used to frequent in Oakland Chinatown.
My favorite has got to be the basic 6" cake with no fruit. It comes in your choice of vanilla, mocha or chocolate flavor, but with either one, the way the frosting just melts on your tongue will make you want to devour that entire sucker yourself. Most importantly, it has a very "light" taste to it, so even after a generous serving, you won't feel bloated. The fluffiness and sweetness are just done to pure perfection.
There are plenty of good Chinese bakeries out there, and I have sampled quite a good number over the years, but the search has now ended. For every birthday circled on my calendar from here on out, a quick stop at this here Ranch 99 is a definite must.
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Ranch 99 has everything under the sun, I am not going to lie. I love to get all of my asian groceries there and the people are really friendly. It is a great place, and not too expensive. My only complaint is that they should really watch out for the health department. They must be breaking health codes by letting froggs with deseases die right there in the middle of the floor. If you are squimmish about dead animals, this is not the right place for you. Well, just stay away from the back of the store if you don't want to see anything dead.
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You can get great ingredients for Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Hawaiian....foods. I love that you can get your fish "whacked" in front of you. (If you can't kill your own food maybe you shouldn't eat it????)
Prices are phenomenal and worth the trip, particularly when you can't buy half of these ingredients in Santa Cruz.
One drawback, it is nearly always a mob-scene. Do not go .....at let's say 4:23, it will make you turn around, leave, and eat at one of the restaurants in the shopping center...... or run home.
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Some of the review reminded me of a time where I was waiting for a parking space and a driver came out of nowhere and took my parking spot. This shopping center is the pits, third world country ghetto.
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Can't complaint about the stuff the market carries. But have to put up with dumb asses leaving their carts in line thinking that it will move by themselves and have all the freaking right to come back to it once it reaches the belt.
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Huge selection of everything needed to outfit a Chinese kitchen, from fresh bok choy to pickled cabbage to barbecued pork.
Yeah, it can be a bit of a free-for-all on the weekends, and parking is the typical Cupertino Village nightmare, but it's worth the effort if you want to find everything you need in one place.
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Like any 99 Ranch it's a LOVE / HATE relationship.
Loves:
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Tons of Asian foods and treats! Fresh produce and meats.
Hot Sauces by the truck load baby!
Decent & Cheap hot foods to go
Drinks and Desserts
Hates:
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The ubiquitous rude-ass Chinese people (you know there's no word for "excuse me" in Cantonese right? j/k)
The smell and commotion. There's a trade-off to get authentic Asian food...right?
My advice is to surrender your conceptions of manners, personal space (I totally agree with the other reviewers), and other "civilized" ideals...
But you learn to make do and you'll find out it's totally acceptable to knock old ladies / kids over with your shopping cart because no one cares! It's all about getting food with the best prices and getting the hell out. Leave your manners at Safeway or Whole Foods...this is all about the goods mannnnn.
"Get in, get yours, get through and get out!" - Words to live by in the 99 Ranch thunderdome
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One of those places where you should go for several reasons:
- if you have never seen live seafood, and can pick them for dinner
- if you have not seen exotic things like - pork brain, liver etc. and knew that these were edible!
- you love the buzz of a million people...and
- if you plan to cook Asian...you find almost everything here
The Ultimate Asian Fob market!!
I love going here because you can find all types of fobby foods from different asian cultures. You can find roast duck, chrysan tea, pork blood, duck eggs and japanese pears, just to name a few.
I love going here and getting duck, and browsing the bakery isle. They have a lot of goodies in the bakery isle such as pork buns and chicken buns. The food is priced pretty moderately.
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