We went to the grand opening of Seafood City in Chandler, Arizona, the very first Filipino grocery store in the state. It's a massive 66,000 square foot store: fresh produce, live seafood, longanisa everywhere, a full Korean grocery aisle, and so much more. We tried to beat the line, and it was still a lot to take in.
Grand opening day
At My Place Cafe
See our original review of At My Place Cafe, the Filipino restaurant near Seafood City Chandler.
Beating the Grand Opening Line
Seafood City Chandler opened its doors on Thursday, July 30 at 9am, at 3111 W. Chandler Blvd, Suite 04A, inside the Chandler Fashion Center. Vincent checked the line in the morning and it was reportedly over a thousand people deep, stretching all the way from the store entrance to the mall's food court. We waited until around noon instead, and the line had shrunk down to something manageable. Staff were handing out water bottles to everyone waiting.
Once we finally got inside, the "Mabuhay Arizona" mural greeting shoppers set the tone immediately.
Inside the Grocery Store
The scale of this place is hard to describe until you're standing in it. Aisle after aisle of fresh produce, beautifully presented and clearly fresh.
Produce and grocery aisles
We asked one of the staff for kangkong (water spinach), and got a fun cross-cultural moment out of it: they told us its Chinese name is kang choy too. Small world.
We met so many friendly Filipino shoppers and staff while walking around, some even recognized our channel, which was a nice surprise on a day this chaotic.
Longanisa, Lumpia & Pantry Staples
The longanisa selection alone could fill its own aisle. Premium longanisa, regular longanisa, more brands than we could count. If you have a favorite brand, let us know in the comments because we genuinely need recommendations for next time.
Longanisa and Filipino pantry staples
We picked up the Seafood City house brand, Pinoy Select Pork Lumpia, to try, along with a Philippine-made 100% pure mango juice and calamansi juice.
We also grabbed frozen siopao bola bola and a frozen pork barbecue skewer with garlic to try at home.
Frozen picks to try at home
The Chips Aisle
This is where we spent way more time (and money) than planned. A full aisle of Filipino snacks, plus finds from all over Southeast Asia mixed in.
The chip aisle
One of the bags we grabbed, Oishi Prawn Crackers, turned out to be made in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, which was a fun find since Vincent is from Malaysia. Someone in line also told us to try Oishi in general, so we picked up a few more of their snacks along with some Filipino potato chips everyone seemed to be grabbing.
Meat, Seafood & the Recipe Match Program
The meat and seafood section is enormous, and genuinely useful if you don't already know Filipino cooking. Seafood City's Karnehan Ulam Cuts line tags each cut with a "Recipe Match" label telling you exactly what to cook with it: bicol express, stir fry, or protein for vegetables, complete with a QR code linking to the full recipe.
Meat and seafood section
We also spotted chicken feet, which we learned is a real ingredient in Filipino cooking, and milkfish, which apparently is a very common fish that we had never heard of before this trip.
The live seafood tanks were the most jaw-dropping part of the whole store. We have genuinely never seen lobsters this big in a tank before.
Live seafood
You can even get fresh oysters shucked to order.
Cookware, Noodles & the Korean Grocery Surprise
Past the food sections, there's a full cookware aisle with giant woks, clay pots, and everything you'd need to actually cook everything you just bought.
The instant noodle selection leans more Thai than Filipino, but we found a couple of Filipino-flavored options worth trying: kare kare and sinigang instant ramen. Vincent also spotted Mi Sedap noodles at two for four dollars, which he said is a genuinely good price.
Noodles and pantry finds
Here's the real surprise of the trip: the Korean grocery selection genuinely rivals H Mart. We didn't expect that at all going in, so this ended up being less of a Filipino-only grocery haul and more of a full Asian grocery haul.
The Food Court
We didn't get to fully explore the food court this visit since the line was still long at lunchtime, but there's clearly a lot going on: Bakers Avenue for cakes, breads, and pastries; Grill City for Filipino-style grilled meats and BBQ; a Crispy Town lechon counter; dim sum; and a dessert and drinks stand serving halo halo.
Food court preview
The lechon menu alone is worth calling out: a Cebuchon (about 6.5 lbs, cooked) runs $99 with a 3 to 4 day lead time, and a whole 50 to 60 lb lechon runs $499. We did grab a $12 order of pork sisig at one of the counters to snack on while shopping.
We're planning a dedicated food court video for our next visit once things calm down a bit, so stay tuned for that.
What We Bought & What It Cost
Total damage for the day: $72.39 for 18 items, after $19.75 in savings from grand opening deals.
Checking out
Honestly, we could have spent a lot more. The store was packed with people eating, shopping, and just taking it all in, so we couldn't fully explore everything on this trip.
At My Place Cafe: Finishing the Day Right
We felt genuinely incomplete not eating Filipino food after a full day of grocery shopping, so we stopped by At My Place Cafe near Seafood City for lechon kawali and sisig. Fun fact: At My Place Cafe was actually the first Filipino restaurant I ever tried, years ago, so this felt like a full circle moment.
At My Place Cafe
Both dishes were excellent, home-cooked style in the best way. The sisig came sizzling with a fried egg on top and a good hit of chili. If you haven't been to At My Place Cafe, it's a must whenever you're already headed to Seafood City. We wrote up our full first visit here: At My Place Cafe Review.
Final Thoughts
Seafood City Chandler is Arizona's first Filipino grocery store, and after one visit it's clear this is going to be a regular stop for us. The produce is fresh, the meat and seafood sections are massive and genuinely educational if you're new to Filipino cooking, the snack aisle alone deserves its own trip, and the Korean grocery selection was a complete surprise that rivals H Mart.
Our biggest tip: go around noon on a weekday if you can, rather than opening morning, unless you enjoy a thousand-person line. Bring cash or card, bring a big cart, and bring an appetite, because between the grocery store and the food court, you could easily spend a whole afternoon here.
We'll be back to actually sit down at the food court next time. Let us know in the comments: what should we try first?
At My Place Cafe
Read our original review of At My Place Cafe, the Filipino restaurant near Seafood City Chandler.
