La Borincana Foods

Missing my late friend I decided to pay a visit to La Borincana. Walking in I immediately felt transported back to the time I took them there after they complained about not being able to find stuff from home. Ended up walking through and selecting ingredients to make stew. I started going here years ago in search of ingredients that connected me to my Creole and Canum roots and my extended West African family experienced in my youth. There's something about holding and smelling the seasoning and spices with the sounds of various music playing overhead. I always find myself dancing down each isle and chatting with the staff who are always helpful and friendly.

UPDATED REVIEW: I meant to update this review a long time ago but I never got to it. La Borincana Foods was actually a very messy and slightly disorganized store when I visited in 2018. After I left, my card (credit card) was used by someone for illegal purchases. This was terrible. This means that either the young woman who checked me out wrote down my card number somehow. I don't want to blame the owner because I can't prove that he did anything wrong. I didn't go anywhere else after leaving this store besides back to my apartment so I don't know how else my credit card information would have been stolen right away. I remember noticing the fraudulent purchases a day or two later. I suggest that you use cash when you shop here but maybe the employee who helped me no longer works there. You may need to use cash anyway because credit card purchases are only accepted for items that are $15 or more, at least that was the rule in 2018.Thankfully, my credit card company refunded me back the $1,500+ that was stolen from my card.I haven't been back to La Boricana Foods since my only 2018 visit and if I do, I will bring cash only.

Read an article that the owner of this international food store recently past away. The family is struggling at this quaint neighborhood store. The store is west of St. Ignatius High School on Fulton Rd. in Ohio City. If you're in the area, please stop by. I do reviews to help a business stay open, not to criticize.

Small, crowded miniature version of the great La Plaza supermarket which is just down the road. Some produce which is mostly fly-ridden, some teas, sauces, and I believe a deli area in the back. Not terrible but really- just go another mile and hit up La Plaza for a proper well organized and spaced out Latin market.

So happy to have them in this area. Great selection and the oxtails were a great quality and cooked well.

I had enough issues with this place pre-corvid but let it slide I just left there and feel the need to take a shower and get tested. Open container still with vegetables open and not covered no one is adhering to distancing not that you could in that place that small but that's the case they should be limiting people coming into the store. I'm all for friendliness but in our current times why are you touching me and greeting your customers on the way in on top of them? I won't be visiting againapparently I'll be tracking all the way back up to Cleveland heights in order to get my Jamaican products

I was in Ohio for a few months from Orlando, FL (where I am spoiled with delicious Puerto Rican and Dominican food at all times). I thought there was no way I'd find an other-than-Mexican-specific bodega in Cleveland, OH but thankfully, I found this place. They had everything I wanted and more (minus the sazon tropical) and the guys were very nice. Make sure you bring cash though because if you don't spend at least $15 or $20 (I can't remember now) you can't use a debit card. This place is a gem!

Let me start by saying, I've never been to the store. This review is based on a call I had with the store. Looking for assistance finding a particular item in Cleveland, I called to ask before making the drive. The man on the line was rude & ridiculed my question, even hanging up on my when I asked if this is how they treat all their customers.

Tiny little grocery store selling Latin American products. The exterior is grungy and uninviting, and the interior, well, a bit grungy too, but they pack in a lot of goods in this small space. They have an extensive variety of canned goods, a small section of produce, and a meat section in the back. A great majority of the canned and dry products are Goya brand. We went here on a mission to find tamale supplies and picked up some parchment paper (although they did have corn husks too, for purists), masa, and lard. They have some interesting Latin American sodas too, and horchata concentrate. In addition to Latin American supplies, they also have a small stock of African goods too. They have a decent selection of items for Cleveland.

I called on the phone to find out if they had a certain kind of fish that I need. When I got there, they did not have it.