LV’s Produce

I was hanging in the ID one day and was headed to another produce shop up the street. I saw this place and thought I would give it a shot. The fam and I pulverize fruits and veggies everyday so we’re always looking for produce.
The place isn’t fancy but I don’t think it’s a big deal. There seemed to be a lot of staff in there for the size of the place. It wasn’t very busy — about 6 people shopping. I was just looking to save a few bucks on staples. I won’t make that mistake again.
I picked up nice pears for more than half the price at grocery stores, a bunch of kale that was a beautiful color, peppers, and more. I saw canned and bottled goods toward the back but I didn’t need anything. It was stuff like oyster sauce, sriracha, and the like. There were also cold cases lined up against the wall. Since I was out and about, I didn’t want to get any frozen or cold items so I skipped those.
My friend didn’t see any sweet onions. He went to ask one of the stockers. No response. I’m not sure it’s because he couldn’t speak their language or because they wanted to ignore him. I shrugged, grabbed my basket of 8 – 10 items and headed up to the cashier. I was the line. Just me. I put all my stuff on the counter and… didn’t get served. The cashier stood right in front of me and continued to converse with another woman. When she was done, she acted like she was going to ring me up. But that didn’t happen either. An older Asian woman came over, literally pushed me out of the way to hand the cashier five coins, and paid for her stuff. I had a long day and didn’t want to make a fuss. I paid for my stuff and left. Never to return again.

Truly no frills, LV’s Produce (formerly Van’s) looks like an old warehouse. There is no central heating, so when it’s freezing outside, you’ll be freezing inside. The space is dominated by a large fresh produce and vegetable selection, including many kinds of Asian vegetables (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.), like lemongrass, sugarcane, nagaimo, gingko nuts, all manner of leafy green vegetables, etc. Their prices are usually among the lowest in the International district, up to 50% lower than QFC (though QFC won’t carry most of what LV’s has in stock). There’s no attempt to make the produce look pretty but the produce is usually fresh. Check the board to see what their current specials are.
Towards the back they have a small selection of grocery items like sauces, spices, candies, and canned goods. The frozen goods selection is small.
You can get tofu, steamed rice rolls, frozen dumplings, etc. It feels like a place that Asian restaurant owners would shop for tapioca pearls, produce, etc.