Rivera Food Service

I have no useful tips or tricks except that Rivera Food Service is an excellent way to kill time if you're waiting for a table at Mama Lu's.First of all, they carry a ton of fun flavored Lay's potato chips and Oreos at very reasonable prices. If you're into snacks - this is the place for you.They also carry useful kitchen things, however, I was mostly here for the snacks.

If you're looking to buy Asian cooking supplies and food (mostly Chinese, some Korean) in bulk, this is the place. I think they cater to restaurants in the area. Nothing fancy, it just feels like a warehouse with pallets of goods.

Rivera Food Service is located in 17th St off of the 55 Frwy. It's easy to locate and access. Parking is plentiful. The main entrance gives you access to the grocery store to the left and a couple of space-sharing restaurants to the right. It reflects a warehouse vibe in the set up and is well organized in its layout.The store is comparable to an Asian/Chinese version of Smart & Final. Both bulk and regular-sized items are available for whatever your needs may be. An excellent variety of Asian spices, noodles, sauces, and rice are available. Today I was most intrigued by the variety of American brand snacks that were imported from China and featured popular Chinese flavor twists. It was all about the snacks today! I picked up a variety of Oreos and a can of Pringles. The Oreos, in my opinion, are better than the US ones in that they're perfectly sweetened without leaving your mouth feeling like it's coated in sugar afterwards. Same for the Pringles; perfectly salted without leaving your mouth feeling like it's coated in salt afterwards. Anyway, the snacks were a hit; I'd definitely come back to buy more. I'd also come back to restock my rice, sauces, and seasonings.

This place has a great selection of bulk milk tea, teas, syrup and boba. Also great for cooking Chinese food in bulk.

The good:They had giant long stem strawberries here that looked very fresh for $45/case. I ended up getting a pack of 30 wooden chopsticks for $17. This is a good spot to buy food packaging as well like to-go plastic containers. The store is neatly arranged, clean and spacious. There's plenty of parking. Most items are processed and packaged but they do have some fresh veggies as well. The bad:I wish the chopsticks were labeled with whether or not they're machine washer safe. Things weren't cheaper than I expected. I thought bulk purchases would offer significant savings. The interesting;They sell bulk items and are open to the public. A lot of the items are from China.

Stopped by here to check out this restaurant supply store located adjacent to Mama Lu's Dumpling House.Walked in and it immediately reminded me of the original Smart and Finals that were first opened in old, closed former grocery stores. There's pallets of rice that greet you at the entrance as you enter. In front of you are all the metal warehouse store type of racks for displaying/storing their merchandise. I was quite surprised to see how many varieties of packaged soup mixes, hit pot mixes and other meal seasoning pasts this place offers.I was especially happy to see that they carried many of the Asian cooking products I use but in the bigger bulk sizes, like spices, Gold Plum brand Black Vinegar in a gallon size jug. Lots of variety in their condiment section!The y also have large selection of boba tea flavors, bobas premade, and teas. I saw a large bulk bag of oolong tea for under $10.I also found another source for my bulk dried, sliced shiitake mushrooms!They also have a large assortment of restaurant to-go containers which also make great lunch containers as well.Their fresh seafood section was really bare except for one or two tanks that kept some live fish. Nothing displayed on ice. So for me, not a good choice for buying any free seafood until they ramp up here, if they ever do.The fresh produce section was okay. I saw some mini box choy I have never seen before here (which also shows up next door at Mama Lu's). Section of produce was decent but the price was a slight bit higher I noticed. Like green onions were .99 a bunch. In little Saigon, one can get 3 bunches for .99. I guess if one does not feel like driving, then it's dida matter of paying for the convenience.I didn't see too much fresh meat, just frozen trays of pre-sliced meat for hot pots. Same with frozen seafood, almost non existent.Either they do not carry it or I missed its but I did not find any fresh or refrigerated noodles, dumpling wrappers etc. There was a pallet on the sales floor with large boxes of Almay fresh noodles, but I was surmising it was for Mama Lu's use only, since there was no pricing signage.I will stop by here whenever we are in the area, since I do like many of the larger sized items they carry in the condiment section. But for produce, fresh noodles, fresh seafood, looks like I will still need to shop in the Little Saigon area.

This store equivalent to a small Chinese business Costco! I like the option to buy in bulk bc I feel like I'm saving money /oz, but they have options for regular groceries as well!!Love this place so much bc I'm getting old and I don't want to drive all the way to garden grove for an Asian market :') I hope it never closes down bc why is it always empty?!!

Been standing out there to get a fish but no one has come for a very long time, despite the fact that we asked the cashier but employees always take so long to show up. They sometimes pass by us and ignore us without asking if we needed help in the fish area. I think this place needs to hire maybe at least 1-2 more staffs on the floor. Really hard to get someone to help us in the fish section EVERYTIME we come.

This is Rivera's second store in So Calif, modeled after its main store in El Monte. Rivera Food Services is not your typical Asian supermarket, but rather a Smart & Final type of stores for restaurants who need to buy items in bulk, e.g., bundles or cases. Like Smart & Finals, customers can also buy individual bottle or loose items. Walking around the store you will see warehouse style metal-framed racks instead of shelves.I would describe this store is in its soft opening stage since its seafood tanks and many shelves are empty. It's herbal shop is not open yet either.Lucky for me, they are giving each customer a package of fresh oyster mushrooms while the supply last. I figure it will take them a couple of months to have the store fully stocked.

Didn't know about this Supermarket before, I was just went to lunch at Mama Lu's where they shared building some sort. Mama Lu's just recently open and the Supermarket as well. Its organized and seems they sre selling by the bulk/case but some stuff they have it individually but not much. They are a little higher price than any other asian Supermarket but they have stuff that the other Supermarkets don't carry. I am please and the place is clean. Parking is not bad. Staff are very friendly and helpful.