ethnic grocery stores in NW (rent, live, prices)

[toobusytoday]

My daughter has recently moved to the NW area. Her place of work is just South of DuPont Circle. She is an adventurous cook and has gotten used to being able to get spicy and unusual ingredients at international type grocery stores where she has lived before. She has not had any luck finding an ethnic/international grocery store around her and when I did an on-line search I couldn't either. Not looking for something outside of public transportation areas. Help!

[stateofnature]

I went to Yelp.com and searched for "ethnic grocery" in DC and got a few options, such as Danny's Tindahan in Tenleytown and El Progresso Grocery in Mount Pleasant. Both would be easily accessible on public transportation, but I haven't been to either so I can't give you a specific recommendation. You can read reviews on Yelp, though.

Also, the Whole Foods at 14th and P might have some of the things she is looking for.

[BoomBoxing]

There's a Japanese grocery right at the border of Dupont/Adams Morgan. It's called Hana's.

[toobusytoday]

Thanks - those are ones I found on-line too. I did google map and yelp searches. I guess I was thinking that perhaps there was one or two out there that weren't on-line. I'm guessing she's found the Whole Foods, but doesn't want to pay the whole paycheck...

[PK12]

There's Chinatown Market off of H street - not a whole lot of variety to choose from though.

I think her best bet would be to Zipcar it out to Arlington/Falls Church over the weekend and stock up to her hearts content - vast, vast range of international grocery options to choose from. I'm sure there'd be public transportation running to both places from NW too.

[toobusytoday]

Well, she did rent a zipcar a week or so ago... Where would she go?

[stateofnature]

Is Whole Foods so expensive that you could spend money on a zipcar and go to another grocery store and still save money overall?

[DC Bossman]

if you want some nice spices check out Farmers market area on Florida Avenue as well

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by stateofnature

Is Whole Foods so expensive that you could spend money on a zipcar and go to another grocery store and still save money overall?

Good point! I'm not the one doing the shopping but the selection at Whole Foods is pretty different then most International grocery stores and for a bargain hunter it's painful to pay big bucks for certain types of rice when you know it can be had for much less elsewhere. I'm sure she'll figure out what she wants to do, I was just looking for options that neither of us had found.

Personally, we both prefer Trader Joe's over Whole Foods. What's the scoop on one of those coming to DC?

Good suggestion about the Farmers markets. Thanks!

[JL Tudor]

Has she tried Rodman's in Friendship Heights? For a "regular" grocery store, it has a more diverse international grocery section than say Safeway or Giant. Prices aren't too bad either.