The 99 Ranch Market in Mountain View is finally open. I visited the store on Saturday to check it out. This new Asian supermarket is conveniently located on 1350 Grant Road, just off El Camino Real, with easy access to highways 237 and 85. For those people living in Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto, switching over to the Mountain View 99 Ranch Market (from the Cupertino location) will save you about 7 miles of driving each way.

I found the Mountain View 99 Ranch Market to be the cleanest 99 Ranch Market I have visited, but maybe that is just because it is the newest. Only time will tell. I also found the store to be absolutely cold. Maybe they’re still working out the kinks in their air-conditioning system, but the entire store was down right frosty (in temperature only). Finally, I found the store to be well-stocked. For example, the previous weekend, I couldn’t find Gold Plum Chinkiang vinegar at the Cupertino 99 Ranch Market. That happens on occasion when all the store has in stock is the Asian Taste brand. However, the Mountain View store was fully stocked. Again, this may just be a new store issue where the managers wanted to leave a positive impression and made a concerted effort to have everything in stock. Anyways, I walked away with a week’s work of groceries and a positive impression. For now, the Mountain View store is just a place to buy groceries and drive off. It remains to be see whether Asian restaurants will fill in around the supermarket, like at the other 99 Ranch supermarkets, to provide a broader ranger of Asian goods and services.