Take a break from the traditional super markets sometime and try something different. Not just a bodega of unusual imported items from some far off land. A good ethnic market needs to have all the specialty items and also the usual things anyone would need from any other super market. Shopping for the weekly groceries is a monotonous experience at my age of domestication. Thankfully I find La Bonita to be a welcome unaccustomed shopping experience.
Back when I was vegetarian for years (& much leaner) I couldn't shop at these stores. The butcher section emits so many particles of animal carcass in the air that I could not allow myself to breath in the smell. The meat section is kind of like a mini DMV line. Everybody takes a number and the butchers call your number before you go to town by telling them how many pounds of what kind of meat you want. The meats here are perfect for the college student or lazy house chef. All those different Mexican style meats are already seasoned and ready to cook out of the bag!
Oh yes and I do mean BAG, lol! When they fetch you the meats they are then stuffed into a red bag and tied. LOL, I love that part. Better for the environment with no styrofoam or blood soak packet. The only way it could be greener would be at a real butcher shop that wraps meat in paper. Seafood selection is pretty standard. Most every domestically available cut from most standard animal are represented along with some specialty parts and pieces for the gastronomically daring. It's all pretty dang fresh and at very low cost too. 5/5 for the meat dept.
The isles are very Latin oriented. I will have to say that most of the ethnic dry foods are very fair priced. However those average items for American shoppers may be a bit pricier by a few cents to a few dollars. Quite the opposite as at regular grocery stores where the ethnic foods are way higher. Also the variety is custom tailored for Latin shoppers, many small items are missing altogether. I go to Smiths or Winco for those anyway. Dry goods isles 2/5
Snacks are not a giant double section isle here. Big difference from their counterpart super markets. The chips are usually full retail price and tucked all the way to the back corner. Which is a good thing I suppose. One thing they do go big on is the bakery section. My borderline diabetic partner has a hard time walking past the Mexican sweet bread displays. She is Mexic-asian (and also my translator) so she grew up on all those partially sweet crusty bready colorful creations. I'm more of a O-face Doughnut guy, but the Mexican sweet breads have grown on me.
The whole place is pretty fun and cheaper in many aspects. Not the cleanest out there, but not filthy in any way. Like I stated this is the perfect market for college students or lazy home chefs.