Patel Groceries Now Little India

The Churn by Lori Writer

The northeast Minneapolis Indian grocery mainstay Patel Groceries (1835 Central Ave NE) is now under new ownership, and changing its name to Little India.

5 Comments

  1. Abir Roy

    Little India was Patel Grocers before. After a split, Patel is in Bloomington and they renamed this store Little India. They have a store called Super Meat Market, where they will sell you EXPIRED frozen stuff. Once you bring it home and thaw, your neighbor will run out of their home because of the stink it raises. It is frozen AND ROTTEN.
    I challenge you to find anything in that fish store ( or with most food items they sell in their grocery store) that has expiry dates printed. YOU WON’T FIND IT.
    We had the same experience. We bought some totally rotten ( but frozen rohu fish). And once we came back, they refused to exchange and refund. Their excuse: I didn’t bring the bad fish soon enough for them to resell it to some other (unfortunate) customer. What a logic. They qualify for the 2012 Presidential Debate, hands down.
    We have been a customer with them for 10+ years. Once the owner Nayeem (the only sensible guy in the whole store) is not in the store, his brain-dead brothers deal with the customers with Iron Fist, and speak to them once in a while, as and when they get a chance to catch their breath from incessant Paan Chewing.
    A disgrace in the name of business.

  2. Mark

    I have never experienced anything but good fortune, courteous service and an excellent selection at Little India – Patels. It sounds like “Abir Roy” has some other kind of axe to grind, based upon the vitrolic nature of his complaints. I am not familiar with a “Super Meat Market.” Maybe it is at another location? This is not a store that features meat, except perhaps for a small selection in the frozen section. If you want fresh meat and especially fish (you seem to be complaining not just that it is “rotten” but that it is frozen)you should be shopping for it elsewhere. If you really purchased rotten meat, you should have contacted the health department.

    I have shopped at Patels, now Little India, for 20 years. The prices are outstanding, including large bags of spices for 1/4 -1/2 of what you would pay for a small bottle in a regular grocery store. Fresh and dried curry leaves are in abundance, and there are hundreds of varieties of rice and dhal to choose from, as well as a wide array of sweets. The spice aisle alone is massive. The manager and workers have always been helpful and have given me, a Westerner, much help as I purchase groceries for the extensive Indian cooking I do. I highly recommended this Twin Cities mainstay and urge you to check it out.

  3. Pete

    I too love this store and have nothing but praise for it. I come from Glasgow Scotland and was worried when I moved here that there would be no where to buy my Indian groceries. I have shopped at this location for 10+ years.
    I could spend the day there, the smell of exotic spices is intoxication. Not only do I get all my Indian supplies here I also get some UK food too, like biscuits and tea (PG Tips)
    I recently visited to buy mung beans to make bean sprouts and the owner took the time to pick the right beans and guide me through the process. I am now an expert bean sprouter : )
    This is the BEST store in Minneapolis.
    On my way there today, wonderful place!
    I must add however I make better Samosa myself than the ones they have for sale……… but I still buy em : )

  4. Mark

    Thanks, Pete!

    I looked and asked the last time I was there about the meat market next door, and it is indeed part of Little India. Maybe meat’s not their strong suit, but I wouldn’t buy my meat there anyway. The rest of the store is great. (And I agree about the Samosa). :)

  5. Philip Feyo ( Friend Of Lalji Patel)

    They used to sell the best samosas at Patel Grocery, Are they still available?

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