California’s newest warehouse-style grocery store might look like a familiar big-box giant, but shoppers say it’s playing a whole different game. Resco Food Service, a sprawling Asian market tucked in the City of Industry, has quickly become a destination for anyone chasing bulk snacks, fresh produce, and specialty imports you won’t find in most supermarkets. It’s the latest addition to the San Gabriel Valley’s thriving grocery scene — an area already known for its deep lineup of Asian markets and restaurants.
The resemblance to Costco is hard to miss, from the towering pallets to the forklift-ready aisles. And while Costco is known for having some of the best food bargains around, Resco’s open-door policy adds something new: anyone can shop, no membership needed. Its optional $20 yearly plan seems refreshingly modest, considering that not long ago, Costco raised its membership prices to $65 for Gold Star and $130 for Executive tiers. For locals, it’s a welcome middle ground between the accessibility of a supermarket and the thrill of a warehouse hunt.
Located at 17171 Gale Ave, the space blends warehouse scale with supermarket polish — bright lighting, spotless floors, and enough parking to keep weekend crowds from boiling over. For a region already spoiled with Asian grocery options, Resco’s size alone makes it stand out. It’s a new heavyweight in a city that loves a good deal.
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What you’ll find inside California’s Asian Costco
Top down view of various products from Asian grocery – Ymgerman/Getty Images
Step inside Resco, and it’s easy to see why shoppers are comparing it to Costco. Aisles rise floor-to-ceiling, with bulk sacks of rice and peanuts weighing up to 50 pounds, along with towers of ramen, sauces, teas, and frozen seafood. The snack section alone could pass for a museum of rare finds — seaweed-flavored Turtle Chips, matcha Kit-Kats, and Lay’s in unexpected flavors like fried crab. It’s the kind of variety that turns a simple grocery run into a weekend outing.
Shoppers weave past produce bins loaded with lychee, bitter melon, and red yu choy sum, or head to the meat counter for Wagyu beef, pork ribs, or cuts rarely seen elsewhere, like quail or even duck heads. Restaurateurs can stock up on restaurant-sized Sriracha bottles and cases of cooking oil. It’s a lineup that captures the foods you can only find in Asian supermarkets, but on a Costco-like scale.
The store even carries kitchenware, rice cookers, and seed packets for anyone looking to bring the market flavor home. For now, Resco may have just one location, but it’s already shown there’s room in the warehouse world for something new — and shoppers seem eager to see where it goes next.
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