Shwe Karen Market & Deli

No-frills working-class market for the Karen refugee community with wide selection of hot food, fresh produce, & groceries. One section of the store has grocery items, and another section of the store has prepared foods for sale. For optimal freshness & best selection of the ready to eat food, morning seems to be a good time to visit; sometimes the prepared food seems to be sold out if it's too late in the day if my memory is correct (food selection at the afternoon time I took pics of was higher than I expected, likely due to road construction reducing customer visits). A lot of food is available hot in the deli section (including multiple Burmese & Karen curries, premade kaw naw stew kits, assorted Burmese fritters, etc.), and other food is available at room temperature, including Burmese/Karen desserts like halawa (Burmese version of halva), Burmese sticky rice donut (called "mont let kauk" in Burmese, I think), & a dessert they translate as "bersoo," which appears to be the Karen version of Pathein halawa (I tasted it, very delicious and it seems different than other Burmese/Karen halawa!). I will say that hygiene & food safety may be an issue for some areas, and also the interior is a bit dark compared to Kyaw Karen Market. But just like Kyaw Karen Market, TeePwo, & Nam Mu market, this is a place that offers a great selection of authentic, homemade Burmese and Karen food hard to find outside of Minnesota of Asia, made by & for refugees from Burma. Every Karen refugee market with a kitchen seems to sell hot prepared foods that other shops don't sell often, so I recommend that you visit all of them multiple times if you wish to experience a very little-known cultural community's food ways. And staff have always been kind each time I visit. This was the place I tried Burmese style samosas for the first time, and I was hooked. In a way, the low light in the eating/hot food deli section of the store adds to the charm, and feels like a "secret room" to adventure.

They have some of the best sai krok, and I’ve been supporting them for years. However, I recently went in and ordered 1 lb of sai krok. Depending on who packs your order, just make sure you're paying attention. Most of the time, they’ll …

Nice little neighborhood market that has saved me a long trip back to the big chain store on many occasions and they have good hot food ready to go. The staff there is always super nice and helpful. They even carry my favorite egg roll wraps. It’s 3 blocks from my house and it’s great.

5 stars for the deli. The ladies working there are so nice. I went there for fried bananas but they were out and they offered to fry some for me. :)

This market is truly a Diamond in the rough! from the staff to the food i highly recommend to anybody great prices at the deli and in store come check this place out im tryna try all their dishes i tried 3 or 4 of them already and not a single 1 has disappointed me i will be coming back here!