Nations Fresh Foods

A great supermarket in downtown Hamilton. A great variety and selection of vegetables, some people say it is more expensive than in Toronto but if you live close to Hamilton this is a good option. If you are hungry, there are sooo many options here from phở to burgers to kale salads. It definitely gives more life to Jackson Square.

My wife and I love the variety and convenience. Being able to bring friends here and know that everyone will be able to find something that they like is great. Being able to grab some groceries on the way out is a huge plus.

A good selection of frozen and pantry items from around the world. But really awful staff. And there seems to be a disconnect– between the price you see and the price at the cash register.
Only buy the fresh seafood! The frozen is poor quality and harvested improperly.

I’ve only ever come here for food during lunch. I don’t usually buy my groceries here but I know they have a wide selection of international food and snacks.
The food is usually pretty good. There’s a wide selection to choose from. You can get custom made pasta, sandwiches, wraps and sushi to dim sum, Chinese rotisserie and phở. The prices are pretty decent too. Depending on what you get, some items are fresher than others and more worth the money you pay.
I’ve gotten a bowl of congee with a fried dough stick for $ 3 and it was very filling. I’ve also had customs made pasta for $ 2!!! They have this special quite often and I don’t know how they make money from it. You basically choose what meat you want, your vegetables, type of pasta and sauce and they make it in front of you. Thinking that since it was only $ 2, it must be small so I ordered 2 but I could barely finish 1! It’s a very full serving and good deal but make sure you have time because it usually takes them about 15 minutes to make it!
I like coming here for the many options they offer. No matter what you’re craving, you’ll definitely find something here to satisfy it and all for a decent price.

Pretty good for a Chinese Supermarket in Downtown Hamilton, it’s the closest one for students in Hamilton. I love the wide variety of selection in their food court from Chinese to Phở to Japanese to Italian and others all located within the same range. It’s literally a food court inside a supermarket. Their bbq duck with rice and broccoli comes to about $ 5 for a box, buffet style boxes are $ 6.99 a box, the rice noodle tasted very rough, soya sauce tasted a little funny as well and is about $ 2. The quality of food is decent.
There’s a large selection of groceries in Nations, however if we were to compare prices, I’d still say Toronto and GTA region is slightly cheaper as many products from Toronto and GTA get transported over. This supermarket also does not provide bags, so be sure to bring your own.

Horrible service at close
We had an extremely bad experience today. On the flyers we found online, it clearly indicates that the hourlong s are 9am-​9pm. However, we barely got in at 8:35 because the front door was already closed. We felt extremely rushed and was unable to find the stuff we were shopping for.
At the cashier, I was literally ordered to stop chatting with my partner and start to put the groceries into bags because they were in that much of a hurry. I explained to them why it’s unreasonable to kick people out before close and how it makes us feel when the businesses fail to keep their promises especially on such basic things like business hours, but they argued back saying they have to be closed right at 9pm and I should just come earlier next time. When we actually left, it was not even 8:50pm. They should say they are closed at 8:45 if this is what they do. We drove 30 minutes to get here from out of town, and felt extremely frustrated and defeated after we left. We were actually shopping for the month so they lost a $ 200 business. Will never go back again.

They take a ride on Hamiltonians money. Toronto Asian supermarkets (even the ones owned by Loblaws) are cheaper, cleaner, and much more fresh.
Nations Fresh Food Market is hardly anything to Fresh. Sales in flyers are sometimes based on best before dates happening in the next week… They don’t accept Credit Card because they want more $$.
Cooked Food items with coupons are the only driving factors to the busiest times of the day.
MSG is found everywhere in the Chinese section — stay away, nothing is authentic.

I have been to Nations several times for their Phở soup and never had a problem until today.
Just got our food when all of a sudden a cockroach appeared. We had no idea if it was in the food.
When we brought it to the attention of staff all they had to say was sorry.
Never eating there again!

First thought that comes to mind is that it’s very clean for an «Asian» supermarket. There’s a buffet food selection that goes on sale after 4/​5PM (I do recommend the phở place in the corner).
Their grilled chicken, pork chop, egg and rice combo is actually one of the best in Hamilton.
Their phở is cheap and usually satisfactory — however, do NOT get the XL as they do tend to decrease in flavour and be composed of soggy noodles???
However in terms of groceries — since they are one of the largest supermarkets (Asian) in Hamilton — they are sort of a monopoly. Therefore prices here for the groceries are slightly higher than the ones in Toronto though.

My children and I stopped in on a Sunday for a bite. The buffet selection was incredible, I found the price abit steep as it’s based on weight. (I’ve heard there are coupons in the flyers). The food itself was very good, great tasting and the kids loved it. I myself had the phở, found the price fair ($ 6 for a medium size bowl). The staff was friendly as to recommending a selection. It had huge flavour, lots of noodles and meat. Can’t wait to go back.

I was told about this place and it’s great deals when first arriving to Hamilton in September. After searching around throughout Jackson square I finally located it in a distant region of the mall. Going in, it had a very unique feel to it with the fruits arranged as if it were an open market. Beyond this, the prices I found were pretty good, I must say. Excellent deals for meats, fish and seafood as well as select vegetables. It also consists of a great selection of spices for cooking among many other items. It had essentially everything I was looking for although there flyer listed online is not the most easy to read piece of work. My only issue is that unlike my other supermarket experiences, many foods were not checked for their expiry, encountering several canned goods and bread that were long expired and still shelved. As well, the cashiers are seldomly capable of speaking English making any queries on your bill a glorified, albeit frustrating, game of charades. Overall, I would say that this store is great for select items but not all. Utilize the end of day sales, take advantage of sales when listed, enjoy the cheap grocery options available, and ALWAYS check the expiration since it’s apparent that no one else does.

Best quality buffet style food to be found in Hamilton! At great and affordable prices too! Definitely recommend.

If you like trips to the zoo where you’re one of the animals, then this supermarket is for you. Overly small aisles, cheap developing-​nations products, staff that can’t speak English (and don’t know how to smile or say thank-​you), and confusing checkout lineups are just some of the joys that await.
We tried to ask the sushi staff if there was any sushi with masago and it took several employees to finally get the near relayed. The cashiers and hot food staff have these permanent scowls on their faces. The only staff that had at least common courtesy were the non-​China ones. I’m of Chinese descent, and it really angers me that many of these recent immigrants aren’t adapting to Canadian norms. Nations was a great showcase for this.
Sure, the groceries were a bit cheaper than other places, but I really did notice that the produce was not as fresh. The only thing good about this place is that you can find many Asian items unavailable elsewhere.
I would absolutely not go back, unless there was something I couldn’t find elsewhere locally.

Great super market, all sorts of things available. In terms of their hot food, their buffet is good and well priced, I see it as a more limited and cheaper mandarin. It could use a more frequent change of menu… Their sushi is worth getting, made on the spot, fresh and tasty. Well priced too.

Single-​handedly the best Chinese supermarket I’ve ever been to. There is a massive selection of produce and products, many of which are Asian foods and drinks. There is a huge hot counter, so this place is perfect for lunch or dinner. Pro-​tip: Come after 5 pm for sale on some hot counter items. The store opens 9 am to 9 pm every single day of the week. Service here is sub-​par though, the cashiers aren’t friendly and a bit slow. This place is near the Jackson Square food court and close to a Starbucks at the Sheraton Hotel. Pro-​tip 2: Roast pork and chicken here is very tasty and cheap too!

What a fantastic selection of foods right in the middle of Downtown Hamilton. They have everything here including a large hot counter.
The foods are definitely oriented towards the Asian market with Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean foods, but there is something here for everyone and the prices seem pretty reasonable. Their take-​out sushi dishes are delicious!

Tasty and cheap !! Seems every day around 6:00 pm food are on sale !!! Good time to buy cheap welldone food

We were referred by friends to Nations Fresh Foods and went there today for the first time.
It’s located in the Jackson Square Mall in Hamilton.
First off, parking is a bit of a nightmare to find a spot during day time hours. The sign said parking covered for shoppers of Nations Fresh Foods but here’s the thing, They only cover 1 hour. I spent $ 180 in groceries and on my way out had to pay an extra $ 3.00 to get out and the machine is ill designed where I could no access my $ 2.00 change. Customer service Fail!
The store itself if big and has a huge selection of items from Asian countries and regions. China, Philippines, Vietnam and Korean produce were featured.
They have a huge selection of ready to eat foods and a nice food court to enjoy your meals.
There’s no public wifi and inside the market my 3G connection was unavailable, another little thing that annoyed me.
The seafood section is smaller that the other market we usually go to but still have live fish, crab, oysters, clams and lobsters.
They do not accept credit cards, debit and cash only.
Checkout service is bland, again, you are nickled and dimed for bags. (Make plastic bags recyclable and give them away)
When I first walked-​in I was impressed, but as time went on I start seeing small things that made rethink about coming here instead of going to T&T.
Good store, good prices, so-​so service but the thing that stayed in my mind after leaving were being charged for bags and parking.

Yup, pretty much one of the best grocery stores I have been to.
If you like T&T you will love Nations. The produce selection is outrageous and many items cannot be found at any major chain which would explain why I always see chefs in their whites shopping there.
The fish and meat department has a selection, including an offering of live tanks that puts to shame the major chains and the prepared foods selection spans North American and Asian delights of all kinds. You can get just about any type of fish you can think of here.
Now for the best part, the prices. They are so good and there are some ridiculous regular deals like large containers of strawberries for $ 3.99, live Lobster for $ 8 a pound, the fattest tuna steaks ever for $ 6 and three bone, well-​marbled prime rib roasts for $ 10 to name a few. Just about any and every meat cut is offered like pig ears, tripe and tongue.
A good fresh sliced fine cheese selection is lacking but Asians aren’t that big on cheeses. The store is clean and modern and the prices at Nations are far below the major chains on just about everything.
After shopping at Nations I truly felt ripped off by the other grocery stores. So glad I found this place.

I have an unhealthy obsession with grocery stores, and have been to many, big and small, all over the world. I’ve spent a substantial portion of my life in grocery stores. This is easily the BEST GROCERY STORE I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. Yes that was meant to be in all caps. Because it’s so true.
Produce is as cheap as a Chinese grocery store, cheap spices like in Indian grocery store, tons of import items from Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. Typical grocery store goods too. Everything is so cheap. You can find all the ingredients to pretty much any recipe you want.
Lots of cheap and good prepared food too: Western food bar, olive bar, salad bar, Asian food bar, cheap sushi, Chinese BBQ, Japanese teppanyaki, Chinese dim sum and congee, a full vietnamese restaurant (!), a bubble tea stand, a coffee bar, a pizza station, a panini station, sub sandwich station. So much goodness.
The only downsides I see: limited chip selection (who cares when they have so many other snacks?), and no credit cards (this is legitimately annoying).
Some tips:
* A lot of the prepared food goes on sale at around 7pm every day.
* Most of their fried noodle and fried rice dishes aren’t very good. Starchy and not flavorful
* Their roast pork is great.
* The ramen is bad. Go to Neko’s instead.
* The Japanese teppanyaki combos are all great, especially the unagi
* The sushi is a great buy
* They sell pre peeled garlic in the far left corner of the store. So convenient! Combine with a garlic press for maximum enjoyment :)
* They have packaged small chillies in the corner near the garlic. Great for spicing up Indian food.