Two hours before Las Vegas opened its first H Mart location, the line was surprisingly short. I easily parked in the virtually empty lot and when I made my way to the front of the store there were only 40 people in line. It made me think that maybe, just maybe, this years-in-the-making Korean-American grocer was a bunch of hype. Boy, was I wrong.
By the time the doors opened at 10am, the crowd swelled to nearly 400, snaking around the building past the nearby Chipotle, while traffic at the busy intersection of Decatur Boulevard and Sahara Avenue came to a car-honking standstill. H Mart had indeed arrived. Even when I returned four days later for another look there was still a wiggly Disney-esque line. It moved quickly but still took 22 minutes to break the entrance.
The Korean grocery chain, which has nearly 100 locations across the country, celebrated its Las Vegas opening not only with traditional Chinese dragon dancers, but with showgirls wearing feather headdresses. The ribbon was cut as “Viva Las Vegas” blared from the speakers.
Once inside, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. The store is massive. It’s 54,552 square feet of shelves stocked with hundreds of snacks and many of those hard-to-find ingredients home cooks use in making Asian cuisine.
Shoppers will find an entire aisle devoted to ramen, a giant section packed with every variety of dried seaweed imaginable and aisles with products divided by country of origin—Japan, Korea, China, and the Philippines, among them—making searching for certain sauces and condiments a breeze.
The produce section has piles upon piles of longan, jackfruit, durian and Korean melons. Steps away you’ll find vegetables such as kohlrabi, daikon radish and lotus root. From there, fridges full of tofu, pickled vegetables and kimchi are on display, leading to the meat department where rolled slices of Wagyu share space with marinated cuts of bulgogi and spicy pork.
As I cruised through the snack and chip aisle, a few things caught my attention. First, were the flavored Kit Kats—in this case, green tea, orange and strawberry. (I first came across these favorites years ago while traveling in Japan and would bring them back for friends, but now, I no longer have to.) There are also so many chip brands that blow away our own counterparts, it’s often hard to decide what to take home. On this day, it was the shrimp crackers and the truffle-dusted Turtle Chips (also in churro flavor) that caught my attention. Why not both?
Then it was off to the massive seafood section. There are plenty of fish and shellfish options on ice, but the star here are the live tanks holding lobster, abalone and even king crab.
With the rounds made, it was time to hit the food hall. It’s connected to the supermarket but also has a separate entrance so those just out for lunch or wanting to grab a quick bite don’t have to navigate the store.
The food hall has seven outlets that serve everything from some real KFC (Korean fried chicken) to sushi and boba. Here’s a brief rundown.
Paik’s Noodle: Chinese-Korean fusion with dishes that include a spicy, seafood noodle soup with squid, mussels and pork.
Moobongri Soondae Express: This spot specializes in soondae (Korean blood sausage) soups with all the fixings, and serves sizzling beef bulgogi.
BBQ Chicken: A stall with crispy Korean-style fried chicken.
Hanmo Tofu: Order a tofu soup and make it a combo adding short rib, stir-fried squid or grilled mackerel.
Jopok Topokki: Visit for rice cakes, kimbap and chicken teriyaki.
Saku Japanese Eatery: A stop for sushi, teriyaki, and donburi.
Tiger Sugar: Boba drinks in every flavor and color.
H-Mart is now open daily from 8am until 10pm. It’s located at 2620 South Decatur Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89102.