The best gourmet mini-marts in L.A.

Find a little bit of (expensive, organic, small-produced) everything at this small neighborhood grocery and specialty shop in Atwater Village located just steps away from Morihiro, Dune and Proof Bakery. Within its well-designed interiors, you’ll find L.A. food favorites like Bub and Grandma’s bread, frozen Woon dumplings and a curated selection of fairly pricey and obviously, painstakingly artisan-made kitchen and home goods that make great housewarming gifts. Though the bulk of the shop’s real estate is dedicated to esoteric natural wines, Wine and Eggs also carries locally sourced produce, pantry items and (duh) eggs.

While the Original Farmers Market doesn’t possess the seemingly de rigueur Millennial design cred of other mini-marts on this list, this tiny Grove-adjacent specialty food shop possesses a dazzling array of upscale non-alcoholic drinks in its cold case, plus cookies, chocolates and small kitchen goods you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. In terms of groceries, Monsieur Marcel also carries the requisite selection of high-quality wines, olive oils, pastas and other gourmet imported fare, as well as counters hawking first-rate cheese and wild caught seafood. Plus, the Farmers Market offers 90 minutes of free parking with vendor validation.

Now under new ownership by the team behind Jon & Vinny’s, this longtime micro-grocery with locations in Echo Park, Highland Park and Larchmont continues to offer an array of cookbooks, fresh produce and other locally sourced specialty foods, including Gardena’s Meiji Tofu, Sightglass coffee and Straus Family Creamery dairy products. Cookbook also sells a few prepared deli and frozen items made in-house, plus French cooking knives, imported tinned fish and cured meats, and plenty of other high-quality, painstakingly sourced grocery items. The newer Larchmont location also offers a fairly overpriced café with charming patio.

Next to Last Word Hospitality's Barra Santos and Shins Pizza, this upscale market in Cypress Park stocks all manner of gourmet goodies, plus an extensive variety of household essentials for locals. On a recent visit, we spied Torres truffle potato chips, several varieties of extra-virgin olive oil, cakes and other sweets from Cake Monkey Bakery, burritos from Burritos La Palma and a healthy assortment of tinned fish. Fresh cut flowers, organic produce, readymade sandwiches and a curated selection of beverages make the Golden Poppy Market an obvious choice for anyone living in the area looking to pick up a quick but impressive housewarming gift or a last-minute picnic. There's also a charming back patio set-up if you'd prefer to enjoy your sandwich and bag of chips on the premises

Located in the heart of Chinatown, this adorable 250-foot superette hopes to preserve and represent Asian American identity through food. Here, you’ll find a constantly changing selection of high-quality seasonal produce, gourmet pantry items—with many Asian American-owned brands—and delicious, nostalgia-inducing baked goods by local bakers. A handful of items we found on a recent visit: Omsom flavor packets, Nguyen Coffee Supply beans and stir-fry sauce from Historic Filipinotown’s Woon Kitchen. In addition to foodstuffs, owner Linda Sivrican also carries artisan home goods and perfumes from her L.A. fragrance brand, Capsule Parfumerie. (Note: Compared to others on this list, the shop keeps fairly limited hours.)

Nestled in the heart of Little Tokyo, this Korean-owned specialty market offers a range of gourmet pantry, home goods and ready-made snacks with a particular focus on Asian American brands and local artisans. In the back, there's also an in-house coffee roaster, where owners James and Cindy Choi prepare beans daily for made-to-order espresso and tea drinks. What's more fun for passersby dropping in, however, is the range of colorful cans and bottles in the fridge. Think popular South Korean energy drink Bacchus-F and Binggrae banana milk alongside Mad Tasty hemp-infused sparkling water and mushroom-infused Culture Shrooms cold brew. A DIY dried flower bar, live house plants and children's books set Yoboseyo's decor selection apart from other gourmet markets—as does the robust freezer section stocked with XCJ soup dumplings and locally made ice creams in Asian-inspired flavors like miso caramel and lychee strawberry.

As well as being one of Silver Lake's most well-known restaurants, this bright all-day eatery's market section is a one-stop shop for Angelenos looking to splurge on a memorable housewarming gift, fancy homemade dinner or just a decent bottle of natural wine. High-quality spices, dried pantry goods and tinned fish (yes, there's locally owned, more sustainably sourced Fishwife proudly on display) are a boon for home cooks looking to get their hands on the latest brands featured in Bon Appetit, and Botanica's employees will never steer you wrong when it comes to picking out the right bottle of vino. In the cold case, there are cheeses, charcuterie, and specialty beverages like trendy booze-free aperitif brand Ghia and Fermensch Kombucha—all of which are the perfect start to any picnic at the nearby Silver Lake Reservoir.

In 2020, this downtown Culver City art gallery flipped to a specialty market and weekly food pantry and hasn’t looked back since. While you’ll still find artisan jewelry, greeting cards and ceramics at Gratitude Market, the shop now also offers a small but considered array of local fresh foods and high-quality pantry goods, from L.A. bakery favorites like Clark Street to ethically sourced spice blends, olive oils and grains from around the world. Towards the back of the market, a curated bottle selection from queer, BIPOC and female winemakers rounds out the perfect Westside gourmet mini-mart for housewarming gifts and other upscale food needs. In addition to funding the on-site food pantry, a portion of each sale goes to shop owner Lisa Schultz’s non-profit, the Peace Project, which helps combat food insecurity among Culver City families.

Replacing longtime neighborhood market Windward Farms, this gourmet grocer with a floral shop out back is the newest offering from Gjelina Group. This high-end deli and market carries Gjusta pastries and coffee, made fresh daily, as well as a large array of expensive, high-quality groceries (no single-serving bags of Frito-Lay here). You’ll find sustainably farmed shrimp from Transparent Sea, locally raised pork from Pead & Barnetts, and a large selection of tinned fish, charcuterie, cheese and even terrines in the cold section. A small selection of gift-worthy home goods, including AMASS Botanics, is also scattered around the shop.