Popular Asian & International Grocery Stores in Cary, NC and the Triangle Area: Established Favorites and New Stores Coming Soon
- Blue Orchid Realty
- Jul 12
- 6 min read
For anyone relocating to the Triangle, the questions that shape a move go well beyond square footage and commute times. Where can you find familiar ingredients? Is there a good fish counter nearby? Where do you go for fresh produce specific to the cooking you grew up with? These are the kinds of everyday details that make a new place start to feel like home — and the Triangle has more to offer here than many newcomers expect.
The Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill area now has more than a dozen Asian grocery options, ranging from large pan-Asian supermarkets to smaller markets specializing in Chinese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, and other regional cuisines — with several more on the way in Cary, Morrisville, and Raleigh. Below is a look at the area's established stores, along with the major openings planned as of mid-2026.
Established Asian Grocery Stores Across the Triangle
Grand Asia Market — Raleigh
1253 Buck Jones Road, Raleigh, NC 27606 · 919-468-2988 · grandasiamarket.com
Grand Asia Market is one of the Triangle's longest-running and best-known Asian supermarkets, originally opened in 1997 at South Hills Mall and serving local shoppers for nearly three decades. Its grocery department carries products from China, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries — fresh produce, meats, seafood, frozen foods, noodles, sauces, and hot-pot ingredients, along with cookware and household products. The bakery is a particular draw, known for Chinese-style egg tarts, pineapple buns, and roast-pork buns.
The Buck Jones Road store remains open today, though a future Grand Asia location is also planned in West Raleigh (more on that below).
H Mart — Cary
1961 High House Road, Cary, NC 27519 · 919-535-5900 · hmart.com
H Mart opened its Cary store in 2016 and quickly became one of the area's most popular Asian grocery destinations. The national chain is especially well known for Korean groceries, while also carrying products used in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and other Asian cuisines. Its High House Road location — convenient to West Cary, Morrisville, Apex, and Research Triangle Park — offers a large selection of produce, seafood, meat, rice, noodles, sauces, frozen foods, snacks, beverages, and kitchen products.
For many Triangle shoppers, H Mart is the practical first stop for Korean ingredients, specialty cuts of meat, fresh seafood, kimchi, dumplings, noodles, or imported snacks.
Fresh International Market — Raleigh
10341 Moncreiffe Road, Raleigh, NC 27617 · freshimarket.com
Fresh International Market opened near Brier Creek and RDU International Airport in October 2023. The store carries Asian and international produce, seafood, meat, frozen foods, dry groceries, snacks, seasonings, kitchenware, and personal-care products. What sets this location apart is its combination of grocery shopping and prepared food — the building also includes a Paris Baguette bakery café and Bao Shi Yi, a restaurant specializing in Chinese buns and casual dishes.
Its location is particularly convenient for residents of Brier Creek, northwest Raleigh, Durham, and neighborhoods near the airport.
Li Ming's Global Mart — Durham
3400 Westgate Drive, Durham, NC 27707 · 919-401-5212 · no confirmed official store website — see their Facebook page or Google Business Profile for current hours
Li Ming's Global Mart is one of Durham's primary Asian supermarkets, located in the Westgate Shopping Center near the US 15-501 corridor. It serves shoppers from Durham, Chapel Hill, and surrounding communities with a large grocery selection, seafood department, international beverages, produce, pantry staples, frozen foods, and an in-store food court.
A&C Supermarket — Raleigh
3210 South Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27603 · acsupermarket.wixsite.com/acsupermarket
A&C Supermarket is a long-established pan-Asian and international grocery store in South Raleigh, carrying products from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Africa, South America, and other regions. A&C is affiliated with Li Ming's Global Mart in Durham, and offers a useful alternative for shoppers in South Raleigh, Garner, and communities near Interstate 40 looking for produce, seafood, noodles, sauces, spices, frozen foods, and international pantry items.
Oriental Store of Raleigh and Filipino Express
3601 Capital Boulevard, Suite 101, Raleigh, NC 27604 · 919-876-6911 · orientalstoreofraleigh.com
One of the area's most distinctive specialty markets, Oriental Store of Raleigh traces its history to the early 1970s and is considered one of North Carolina's earliest Asian grocery stores. While it carries a range of Asian products, the store has developed a strong emphasis on Filipino groceries — sauces, seasonings, snacks, canned seafood, frozen products, cheese, and specialty brands imported from the Philippines. Inside, Filipino Express serves prepared dishes such as adobo, pancit, lumpia, pork belly, and halo-halo, making the location both a grocery stop and a casual place to eat.
Patel Brothers — Cary
802 East Chatham Street, Cary, NC 27511 · 919-380-0113 · patelbros.com
No guide to Asian grocery shopping in the Triangle is complete without Patel Brothers. The Cary store specializes in Indian and South Asian groceries — fresh produce, lentils, rice, flours, spices, frozen foods, snacks, sweets, festival items, household products, and fresh rotis and chapatis. Patel Brothers first established a Triangle presence in Raleigh in the 1990s before moving to its larger current Cary location, and remains one of the region's primary destinations for Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and broader South Asian cooking ingredients.
New Asian Grocery Stores Coming to the Triangle
Several major projects announced in 2025 and 2026 will further expand the Triangle's international grocery options. As with any development project, opening dates may shift as construction, permitting, and tenant improvements progress.
Go Fresh 365 — Cary Planned at High House Crossing, 2741 NC Highway 55, Cary, NC 27519, in the former Lidl space. The approximately 34,000-square-foot store will be the New York-based chain's first North Carolina location, specializing in Chinese and broader Asian groceries — fresh vegetables, fruit, seafood, meat, pantry items, and prepared foods. As of July 2026, no official opening date has been announced. Once open, it will give West Cary shoppers a substantial second Asian grocery option within a few miles of H Mart. gofresh365.com
Lotte Plaza Market — Morrisville Planned at McCrimmon Corners, 4031 Davis Drive, Morrisville, NC 27560, in the former Harris Teeter anchor space. At roughly 51,000 square feet, this will be Lotte's first North Carolina store, expected to carry fresh produce, seafood, specialty meats, and international pantry items representing Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, Indian, and other cuisines. Many existing Lotte locations also include bakeries, cafés, and food-court concepts, though the exact tenant lineup for Morrisville hasn't been announced. Opening is currently expected in the second half of 2027. lotteplaza.com
Grand Asia Market — New West Raleigh Location Grand Asia plans to occupy the former Harris Teeter space at Plaza West Shopping Center on Western Boulevard in Raleigh, expected to open in 2027. The move is tied to planned redevelopment at the South Hills property where the current Buck Jones Road store has operated for years. A firm opening date — and how long the existing store will remain open during the transition — hasn't yet been confirmed publicly.
Finding the Right Store for What You Need
Korean groceries: H Mart is the Triangle's largest established Korean-focused supermarket.
Chinese and pan-Asian ingredients: Grand Asia Market, Fresh International Market, A&C Supermarket, and Li Ming's Global Mart all offer broad selections.
Indian and South Asian groceries: Patel Brothers in Cary is one of the region's most comprehensive options.
Filipino groceries and prepared food: Oriental Store of Raleigh and Filipino Express offer a more specialized experience.
New large-format options: Go Fresh 365 is planned for Cary, and Lotte Plaza Market is expected in Morrisville in the second half of 2027.
Everyday Convenience Matters When Choosing Where to Live
Choosing where to live in the Triangle involves more than comparing houses. Commute patterns, grocery access, parks, restaurants, medical care, and everyday conveniences all shape what it actually feels like to live somewhere day to day.
Cary and Morrisville offer convenient access to H Mart and the future Go Fresh 365 and Lotte Plaza Market locations. Raleigh is home to Grand Asia, Fresh International Market, A&C, and Oriental Store of Raleigh, while Durham has Li Ming's Global Mart close by. Together, these stores give Triangle residents a wide range of choices for everyday grocery shopping and specialty ingredients alike — one more piece of what makes a neighborhood work for daily life, alongside commute, housing style, budget, and walkability.
Blue Orchid Realty helps buyers and relocating clients compare Triangle communities based on housing, commute patterns, new construction, and the everyday conveniences that matter most to them. If you're weighing neighborhoods across Cary, Raleigh, Apex, Durham, Chapel Hill, or Holly Springs, we're glad to walk through what each area actually offers.
Store hours, inventory, construction schedules, and opening dates can change. Confirm current information with each store directly before visiting.
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