Asian
Garden Mall (Westminster, CA)
9039 Bolsa Avenue, Suite 312
Westminster , California 92683
Office: (714) 891-2122 / Fax: (714) 373-1843
This is the mall for Vietnamese American community and a sort
of a Mecca for overseas Vietnamese visiting from other countries too!
It embodies Little Saigon with its food court and two floors of shops
and an entire wing devoted to jewelry. You can't be Vietnamese without
visiting here once in your lifetime.
Lion
Plaza (San Jose, CA)
Corner of Tully and King Road
San Jose, CA
Locate in the heart of San Jose's version of Little Saigon; San Jose
has the second largest community of Vietnamese people in America. Easy
access via the Tully exit off the 101 freeway. Also check out the area
around Story Road, at McLaughlin. On East Santa Clara in downtown San
Jose, you'll find a few blocks of great Viet restaurants.
Denver,
Colorado
Jeff, a visitor from the Mile High City, says that the Viet area in
Denver is "mostly located on South Federal Street from Alameda
Blvd to Mississippi Street (approximately 8 blocks), or 300 South to
1100 South and 3200 West. 90% of businesses are Vietnamese with a Vietnamese
mall on the Southwest corner of Federal and Alameda called the Far East
Center. There is also 2 large supermarket size Vietnamese grocery stores
at 2200 West Alameda (Viet Hoa and Pacific Ocean). Many a great bowl
of Pho to be had in this part of Denver."
Hong
Kong City Mall (Houston, TX) 11201 Bellaire Blvd. (cross street is Boone Rd.)
Houston
has one of U.S. largest Vietnamese communities. Lori tipped me off that
her hometown of Houston is also home to Hong
Kong City Mall, the largest indoor Asian mall in the Southeast.
Despite the name, many of the businesses in the mall are Viet; excuse
the Payless Shoes! In the Alief community where this mega mall is located,
there are
smaller Asian malls to explore too.
Pan-Asian
Malls
Hong
Kong Plaza (Rowland Heights, CA)
18414 Colima Rd
This is a somewhat older mall but it's centrally located in one of Southern
California's most happening Asian American communities -- Roland Heights,
which is east of Monterey Park.
Great
Wall Shopping Mall (Seattle, WA) www.greatwallmall.com
18230 East Valley Hwy
Kent, WA 98032
(425) 251-1600
This is a pan-Asian mall set on 9 acres. It's located at the intersection
of East Valley Highway and 180th/42nd St. at the North tip of the city
of Kent. There's an IKEA there too! You can't beat that for a multi-ethnic
multi-racial shopping experience.
Asia
Square (Doraville, GA)
5150 Buford Highway
Doraville, Georgia
Phone: (770) 458-8899
Pan-Asian Mall with Korea, Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese merchandise.
Includes a Ranch 99 market.
Milpitas
Square (Milpitas/San Jose, CA) www.milpitasquare.com
190 Barber Lane
Milpitas, CA 95035
Occupying 17 acres, it claims to be the largest specialty shopping center
in Northern California with a giant Ranch 99 and 60 restaurants and
shops. Down the street is a smaller shopping center too. Take the Great
Mall exit off the 880 freeway. The mall is across from the Cisco campus.
You can also access the mall via the 237 freeway.
President
Plaza (Richmond, B.C) www.presidentplaza.ca
8181 Cambie Road
Richmond, B.C. Canada V6X 3X9
Phone: (604) 270-8677
An Asian-based shopping mall including a supermarket and a Radisson
hotel! Located in the Asia West (http://www.tourismrichmond.com/page.cfm/117)
neighborhood in of Richmond, which is home to the second largest community
of Asians in North America.
San
Gabriel Square (San Gabriel/Monterey Park, CA)
140 W. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel CA 91776
The sister development and Southern California counterpart of the Milpitas
Square development in Northern California. Again there's a huge Ranch
99 Market (you get the strategy, no?), and tons of restaurants and shops.
Take the 10 freeway and exit at Del Mar. The shopping center is at the
corner of Del Mar and Valley. For many people in Los Angeles, this embodies
the pan-Asian Monterey Park area. Look for other interesting shops,
markets and restaurants in the surrounding neighborhood. The Hawaii
market across the way used to be quite good!
San
Pablo Marketplace (San Francisco/Oakland/Richmond, CA)
1230 International Marketplace
San Pablo, CA 94806
Phone: (510) 237-9898 / Fax: (510) 237-9888
When fully developed, this shopping center promises to have nearly 100
retail shops, an international food court, jewelry center, restaurants,
and entertainment center. There's currently a home to a full-service
supermarket. This shopping center is developed by Frank Jao, whose company
is responsible for Little Saigon's Asian Garden Mall.
Head to Chinese
shopping districts and you may discover sources for Viet ingredients and
restaurants. Ethnic Chinese-Vietnamese often set up businesses in Chinatowns.
Seattle:
In Seattle's "ID" (International District) near downtown it's
a pan-Asian scene, with a Chinatown history museum and an Uwajimaya
market that anchors one end. At the upper end of South Jackson street,
just as things get slightly seedy looking, is the Vietnamese area. Viet
Wah market (1032 S. Jackson St.) is the largest, and there are a couple
smaller ones tucked here and there too. In Edmonds, there's a 99 Ranch.
Cindy of Seattle reports, "Central
Market in Shoreline is a full-service grocery store with an extensive
Asian section. Most recently, the HT Market opened up at N 100th St
and Aurora Avenue."
Monterey
Park:www.montereypark.com
America's first suburban Chinatown a few minutes away from downtown
Los Angeles. Head for the huge San Gabriel
Square shopping center located on West Valley near the 10 freeway
for some major action. There's a giant 99 Ranch market that anchors
the shopping center as well as many terrific restaurants and shops.
Oakland
In downtown "Oaktown," the pace is less frenetic than San
Francisco's Chinatown across the bay. The small markets are easy to
pop in and out of. The Chinatown area is between Broadway, Alice, 13th,
and 7th Streets. The main drag is Webster. Nearby landmarks include
the Oakland Museum of California and Lake Merritt. Exit off the 880
freeway.
San
Francisco:www.sfchinatown.com
A classic but if you want ease, head west to the Sunset/Richmond area
of San Francisco, particularly Clement Street-the new Chinatown.
United
Kingdom: www.chinatown-online.co.uk
A search engine lets you find Chinese resources in the whole country.
Koreatowns
Korea
Town Plaza (Los Angeles, CA) www.koreatownplaza.com
928 South Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Phone:Tel: (213) 382-1234 / Fax : (213)380-4272
At the source of Korean action in America. You may not find many Viet
ingredients here but it's darn fun to explore.
La Palma
strip mall (Orange County, CA)
After the L.A. riots, some Korean Americans went to Orange County, and
have built a pretty strong presence there. This strip mall in La Palma
offers variety of businesses that are mostly Korean-owned. The highlight
is the Han-Nam Chain Food Market. You'll also find a Mexican restaurant
and a Drug Emporium. To get to the mall, take the Riverside (91) Freeway
and exit at Carmenita Road. Go south on Carmenita, which turns into
Moody Street. You will see the strip mall on La Palma Avenue. Korean
restaurants are also in Buena Park, on Beach and Manchester.
Adjacent to Little Saigon along Garden Grove Boulevard is a strong
Korean American neighborhood. In fact, my mother and some of her Viet
friends shop at Korean markets there to score cheap deals.
Japantowns
San
Francisco:www.japantown.ws/top.html
Spanning the area north of Geary Expressway between Fillmore and Laguna
Streets. Worth a visit.
San
Jose:www.japantownsanjose.org
Low-key neighborhood feel. There's a Sunday farmer's market worth checking
out.
Los
Angeles:www.littletokyola.com
In downtown Los Angeles, historic Little Tokyo is fun to visit. Aside
from food, there's the renowned Japanese American National Museum and
the Temporary Contemporary Museum of Art. Also on the Westside of town,
go to Sawtelle at Olympic for more Japanese shopping/dining fun.
