Al-Jazeera Market

Al-​Jazeera is a middle eastern grocery located on the nice half of Webster Street on Alameda Island, that is, on the western half of Webster Street. The market is clean and very well organized. For the uninitiated, being in Al-​Jazeera market is like instantly being transported to a far-​off tourist destination, such as Egypt, Turkey, or Isreal. Most of the packaged goods will be unfamiliar to the typical American, and thus will ge a potential source of fascination. Nearly every weekend, I get my exercise by walking from my home near High Street to the aircraft carrier and back. Al-​Jazeera is my «pit stop» during my weekly walk, and I always buy halvah. Al-​Jazeera sells about ten types of packaged halvah, and I enjoy pausing inside to choose my halvah, and I munch on it during the final three miles of my walk. (It might ge added, that at the time of this writing, the available hummus is not good. It is relatively flavorless, and only one type of hummus is available. Thus for the hummus-​lover, Trader Joe’s is the best source.)

Turkish coffee pot and coffee with cardamon flavor. Make your own from now on. Great deal of weird stuff like German sauces. Iraqi date molasses, lebanese honey, freshly baked Afghan bread, Iraqi dried dates, lebanese olive paste, brazilian corned beef, lebanese spam, and Indian rice.
Find Turkish delights. Lamb shank and lamb legs, or fresh ground lamb, cheese spread, rice puddling package. Fresh baklava. Light on Moroccan. Sort of absent really.
German candies and biscuits. Loose tea. Different kinds of grain (aside from rice).
Well organized shelves and lighting. Very clean and selection is abundant.
Odd location because I don’t see Alameda as an ethnic town, but this saves me a trip to Telegraph Ave if I really want to get serious with Lebanese cooking.
The immediate save is Turkish coffee. I make them now at home. Pretty certain it’s close to Istanbul. Ah… I do miss Turkey so.

Good market, variety in products, fresh meat and friendly owner. You can find all types of spices, sauces, all recipes to cook Mediterranean food, good luck!

Very nice and clean place and the staff are very friendly. They have very good hummus :). Also i m so happy i found this place because they have lentils, rice, fruits, veggies thats everything i need :) and amazinly they had mangoes too :)

For health reasons I have been encouraged to eat more organ meet. I have never enjoyed the taste or the texture of liver. The gentleman in the store did everything they could to make my experience eating the liver I purchased at their location be pleasant. One recommended barbecuing and one called his mom for a recipe. I used the mom’s recipe and barbecued it. The results were for the first time in 46 years I enjoyed liver. I really appreciate them taking their time to help me learn how to cook something I have had bad eating experiences with. I can’t wait to go back and get some heart. Helpful staff, good selection of meat and spices. Very happy they have taken up business in Alameda.

Very Nice People, Easy to find nice Turkish food in here, they also take orders if you can’t find what you’re looking for…

This is a really good food market. I recommend this place because they have fresh meat, good fruits and vegetables.

A much needed little supermarket on webster. I usually go here for meat (it’s always fresh, especially more than at Lucky’s in marina village) and prices are very reasonable. This place also has awesome international products (Mars bars!!!) and cookies/​treats from all over. Great new addition to the neighborhood love it.

I love this place. I’m able to find some of the staples of Indian cooking without having to drive to Berkley or San Leandro. There are many different types of dal, beans, rice, ghee etc. There are fresh veggies/​fruits which is nice when I am just out of cilantro or need a couple bananas or apples and don’t want to drive anywhere to get them. They also have quite a variety of sweets and chocolates, including a couple I had only found in Persian specific markets previously.
Other notable points:
the owner is very friendly and helpful, always smiling
they have pretty great hours considering most of the other small shop places on Webster (I’ve not ever tried to go at 8:45 but I have tried going to the Diaper Connection, locate nearby and now renamed Sweet Charlotte Boutique, during their business hours and on several occasions there was a post it note on the door that they would be back in 15min or they had changed their hours)
the store is very clean

I happened across this place on opening day and have been back a few times since. It’s ok. They have an interesting variety of stuff. Interesting drinks, meat/​chicken counter, wide array of grains/​rice/​beans, sweets/​cookies, fruits and veggies, etc.
But I have to knock 2 stars off for their employees. They claim to close at 9, but 3 times now my husband has tried to stop in on his way home at 8:45 and they are closed. Now it’s your store, close at noon if you want. But if you say 9 — YOU NEED TO STAY OPEN UNTIL 9!!! I’ve also called twice to see if they had a specific product before walking over — and both times they hung up on me. Like not intentional, but because they either can’t figure out how to operate a telephone or can’t figure out how to get a broken one repaired. Either way, it is super annoying.

Al-​Jazeera came to my attention via Carol C. lipsmacking pics of the edibles here.
AL-​J. flyer: «one stop destination «: halal meats, produce, teas, coffees, sweets,
fresh and frozen sweets, deli meats, dairy products, olives, domas, baked goods, produce, herbs and spices.
eats: «flakes», «nutymax» (2.98 total)
–deliz chocolate wafer snacks
–many chocolate items near the counter
–lots of baked cookies, other chocolates, pastries on shelves
leftover:
–sammies coming soon
–store very clean, spacey, organized
–owners friendly, courteiou
–where black & white used to be.
note: no alcohol, the chocolats here are much better than that.

According to the friendly owner of this business, Al-​Jazeera is Arabic for «The Island». This market is definitely a great improvement of the previous business.
The market is very clean, brightly lit and the aisles are wide. They sell a variety of Middle Eastern products, fresh produce and fruits, breads, baklavas, halal meats, etc.
Since I didn’t have a lot of cash on hand, and I didn’t see a scanner for debit/​credit card purchases, the only thing I bought was three lemons for $ 1.00. I will return to purchase the chicken in the meat refrigerated case, the breads and other items.

I visited this market a few days ago to see what I had heard on the street was true. Al-​Jazeera Market is a great addition to Webster St. which is becoming a International place to go for food, shopping and entertainment. The market has great eastern products and a meat counter with Blessed meats.

I could walk to a Kosher market near my home when I lived in Los Angeles. I could ride a quick bus to Ethiopian and Indian markets too. Nothing like this existed in Alameda when I moved here seven years ago. I eventually discovered a Filipino market of note nearby, but I needed something more.
Now all of a sudden I can walk to a Bosnian market that sells Southeastern European products, a discount store that sells Middle Eastern products and Al-​Jazeera, a halal and market. All of this is happening along the same street, very close to where Alameda Farmers Market sets up on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Al-​Jazeera is delightfully sunny and well stocked with Coca Cola in glass bottles, dried fruit and spices and halal versions of chicken nuggets and tinned meats. I can’t wait to try the butcher. What a wonderful and culturally rich experience for Webster Street!

I am so happy to have a fresh, clean market within walking distance. This place is even worth a drive if you want to support local small business. Fresh Halal meat. I bought two chicken legs and cooked them for dinner. Delish. Loads of spices and yummy Middle Eastern cheeses. Fresh fruit. They will have deli items soon, and lamb tomorrow just in time for weekend roast. Very decent prices. No complaints.