Lenny's Market, in Renton's Wal-Mart Plaza, is not a restaurant, but rather a combination bargain produce store, imported food store, gourmet store, and is uniquely Renton.
The place is a large, with concrete floors. It is crammed with the lowest priced fruits and vegatables in the Seattle area. When tomatoes are selling for 3.99 a pound at QFC, they're 1.19 at Lenny's. How? Do they steal from QFC? Their variety of fruits and vegatables is huge, especially of Asian varieties, and the quality varies from "about to go bad" to "excellent".
Inside the store, they have imported goods one never sees around here. Canned Turkish coffee, Bulgarian eggplant salad, hummus from the United Arab Emirates, many varieties of soy and chili sauce, pizza sauce from Argentina, Lithuanian smoked sprats(what's a sprat?), and Armenian pastries.
They also rent part of the store to a Russian deli.
But what is most intriguing is the shoppers. At any given time, you'll find Africans, Asians, Indians,Mexicans, and a few who look like out of place, elegantly dressed attorneys from downtown Seattle.
Restaurant owners also shop there, and then charge 7.50 for something they bought at Lenny's or 75 cents.
The place gets crowded, and the parking lot is a nightmare.
But if you're willing to go at off hours, you will be rewarded with unusual finds, bargain prices, and an entertaining shopping experience.
2 comments:
Lenny's is near Wal-Mart, not quite inside the store: there's a kind of strip mall alongside Wal-Mart, with a beauty supply place, Lenny's, a haircut place, and a dollar store.
And the coffee? Yes, it's caffeinated..Y'know what I've read(which surprises me)? That drip coffee has more caffeine than espresso.
It's closed now, isn't it?
Post a Comment