Jagalchi, the Korean supermarket in Daly City, drew long lines when it opened last year and quickly became the main attraction at Serramonte Center. As of 2026-10-24, the excitement has cooled into something more practical: a good stop to combine with a Target run. It remains worth visiting, even if it is no longer always the headline act.
The store is part of a wave of oversized Asian supermarkets opening around the Bay Area, selling everything from fresh pandan to ready-to-eat sushi and high-end imported rice cookers. The Standard's food team visited six of the newest, from San Jose to Emeryville, to see what each does best.
Shoppers will find items ranging from $18 Korean Shine Muscat grapes, tagged with a sign saying they go "so well after eating meat," to eomuk fish cakes billed as "Korea's favorite street snack." Nearly everything is explained for newcomers, with maps, definitions and pronunciation guides. That can feel like too much for someone who already knows gochujang from gochugaru, but it makes the store easier to navigate for anyone still sorting out kimchi versus kimbap, and friendlier than H Mart or Tokyo Central.
Fresh produce is not the draw. The selection is small and leans toward showpiece items such as mangosteen, individually wrapped honey pomelos and ready-to-drink fresh coconuts. The shelf-stable aisles are where the store excels. Seasonal Pocky flavors include pumpkin spice, and there are $5.99 bags of deep-fried seaweed "nachos" dusted with kimchi and wasabi seasoning, banana rice crackers meant to be paired with banana milk, and butter-flavored dried squid for $6.50.
The instant noodle wall is the standout, stocked with cup noodles, spicy ramen, mac-and-cheese ramen, instant tteokbokki and even freeze-dried bibimbap. Options include a purple-packaged tom yum take on Shin Ramyun and a Quattro cheese version of Buldak hot chicken ramen.
The refrigerated banchan section goes well beyond restaurant-style side dishes. Kimchi ranges from red to white, including baekkimchi, made without red chili flakes, and chonggak kimchi, made from radishes with their tops left on and nicknamed "ponytail" kimchi. Other sides include three octopus preparations, creamy cold potato salad and assorted pickled vegetables. The drinks section carries soju in blueberry, watermelon and green apple, plus makgeolli, the lightly fizzy unfiltered rice wine, and its filtered cousin yakju. A jelly called Condition is sold as a hangover solution. In the freezer aisle, shoppers can pick up triangular samgak kimbap or a mozzarella-and-fish-cake corn dog.
Dining options are plentiful. Pogu, a full-service restaurant in the center of the store, serves a five-course, $95 tasting menu from Tony Yoo, described as Korea's first Michelin-starred chef, featuring buckwheat noodles, pumpkin soup and grilled galbi. Nearby, a raw bar serves shellfish and the store's signature kelp-aged sushi, which is also sold to go from the seafood section.
Prepared foods can be eaten at tables and booths near the checkout lanes. Choices include vegetarian japchae for $7 and rosé tteokbokki for $8, with rice cakes in a spicy pink-orange sauce. The honey-garlic fried chicken gangjeong, at $15, is best eaten on the spot, since a takeout container can steam away its crispness. The $18 gejang, raw blue crab marinated in soy sauce, is better enjoyed at home near a sink.
Behind a glass wall, workers fold pork-and-glass-noodle mandu, stir-fry japchae and bake sweet potatoes on volcanic rock. The to-go sushi section is broad and relatively affordable, with salmon nigiri and yellowtail sashimi alongside uni and o-toro. The one item to pass on, according to the review, is the musubi.
