Ethnic Foods in Houston

[viva]

Actually, I live downtown in Houston, but I fly in and out of Hobby quite frequently, and mapquest tells me Mi Tienda is a convenient stop enroute from Hobby to home. Thanks for the recommendation!

Any others??

[Jay Francis]

I second Bruce's recommendation for Mi Tienda. It isn't that far from Hobby Airport. Alternatively, check out the H.E.B. at Gulfgate. You will be able to find everything you'd want here, I suspect.

And don't forget the Farmer's Market on Airline for Flores Spices, El Bolillo and everything else.

[viva]

Just dropped in to say thanks guys - Mi Tienda was exactly what I was looking for. Looks like it is possibly an H.E.B. store? I completely got taken by the hot cajeta churros on the way out. So yummy.

Can't wait to try out the Airline market places as well.

[brucesw]

After a recent visit to Suya Hut where I tried the Pepper Fish soup I wanted to try making it at home so I started looking into African grocery stores and came across this list.

I noted they seem to be clustered in the southwestern corner of town where I live and that a couple were real close to me so I checked one of them out. Makola Imports on S. Gessner at the Westbrae Parkway is a Ghanian place, clean, well lit, though not friendly. There were many basics including fufu, ground nut and egusi powders, dried herbs, ground nut paste (peanut butter), rice, frozen vegetables including okra, beans, including some black-eyed peas that were smaller than what you typically find, frozen smoked fish, cooking oils, loaves of various kinds of breads, beverages including Guiness and Heineken and palm wines, and some English and Goya brand products.

I got some Pepper soup spices and powdered egusi (melon similar to pumpkin I understand) to try some soups; also some red wesa - African red peppers smaller than pequins, smaller even than peppercorns - and a little bag of felsimo chin-chin, a fried snack of flour, butter, water, sugar, salt, nutmeg, yeast, vegetable oil, baking powder and egg that is meant to be consumed like salted nuts I gather.

CKC on the list is just a couple of blocks away so I plan to visit that. I've also been to Maru Grocery on Bissonnet that is not listed here; it is Ethiopian.

The only one on the list with a website seems to be Akunna over on Telephone which I haven't been to.

[Kerr.]

After a recent visit to Suya Hut where I tried the Pepper Fish soup I wanted to try  making it at home so I started looking into African grocery stores and came across this list.

I noted they seem to be clustered in the southwestern corner of town where I live and that a couple were real close to me so I checked one of them out.  Makola Imports on S. Gessner at the Westbrae Parkway is a Ghanian place, clean, well lit, though not friendly.  There were many basics including fufu, ground nut and egusi powders, dried herbs, ground nut paste (peanut butter), rice, frozen vegetables including okra, beans, including some black-eyed peas that were smaller than what you typically find, frozen smoked fish, cooking oils, loaves of various kinds of breads, beverages including Guiness and Heineken and palm wines, and some English and Goya brand products. 

I got some Pepper soup spices and powdered egusi (melon similar to pumpkin I understand) to try some soups; also some red wesa - African red peppers smaller than pequins, smaller even than peppercorns - and a little bag of felsimo chin-chin, a fried snack of flour, butter, water, sugar, salt, nutmeg, yeast, vegetable oil, baking powder and egg that is meant to be consumed like salted nuts I gather.

CKC on the list is just a couple of blocks away so I plan to visit that.  I've also been to Maru Grocery on Bissonnet that is not listed here; it is Ethiopian.

The only one on the list with a website seems to be Akunna over on Telephone which I haven't been to.

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that stretch of Bissonnet between 59 & Beltway 8 seems to have many of the West African restaurants & many grocers. Just look in that area & you'll find a lot.