M & K Market

On a Rossi Park day Vic is usually loathe to stop at a store but yesterday he really wanted a snack. We stopped an M&K Market on 8th and Anza. M&K Market looks small and little nondescript when just driving by. Judging by the old fashioned signs this market seems like it would be just like many other corner stores past their prime and run by people generations away from whoever “M” and “K” were. But, I’ll just call this store the “biggest little store in San Francisco” until I find one better.

Vic and I walk in and I am struck by how big the store actually is. There are three aisles of fully stocked shelves. Vic is drawn immediately to the full display of Hostess pastries. “How about this,” he says as he picks up a package of orange cupcakes. I redirect him toward some chocolate ones and he agrees that it would be better. The first package I pick up expired almost a week ago but there are plenty with better dates behind it. Vic then goes to a chip rack and picks up a small package of Cheez-its, one for himself and one for Vida.

I was thrilled to go to the coolers at the back of the store and find that they were the old-fashioned reach-ins with big silver handles on each of seven doors. I was transported back to the Cascade Market. I could just see myself as a kid pulling the heavy doors open to get a soda and slamming them closed. They make this great clicking sound when they close—much superior to the hissing self-closing doors of the modern reach-in. They had a cooler like this in the market in my building as well. There is so much door in relation to the window that it’s a little difficult to see all that’s in them—not to mention that there are no lights. I peek through the thick glass and see just the bottom or top half of many kinds of beer. The poor selling seasonal Lagunitas beer “Brown Sugga” has an inordinate amount of shelf space— bought a few too many cases of that one I guess. Knowing the age of that beer I was a little hesitate to buy anything too fancy and I just grabbed a 12 oz Heineken in a can—couldn’t resist the little green can even though I’m not generally a Heineken fan. It’s amazing that they can replicate the skunky quality of their typical green bottle in an airtight can.

We continued to wander the aisles and I was amazed to see a full selection of various Asian ingredients—spring roll wrappers and noodles and sauces along an Italian section full shelf of various pasta shapes. The owners of this market are aiming high and people who live near them are probably very grateful. Once again we bought a box of Honey Nut Cheerios that doesn’t expire until 2011. Finally, we found the push-up Popsicle Victor and I had been looking for.

There were two people working behind the counter and the extensive selection of liquor and lottery tickets. An older man with a cowboy hat was chatting it up with the regulars while a younger guy bar backed. I couldn’t resist a bingo scratcher ticket for Vida. We paid a reasonable twelve bucks for our many purchases. Victor insisted on waiting to eat his push-up until we got to the park—the weather has turned back to normal so it was freezing cold. I unwrapped his push-up to find, hmmm, a little dehydrated. I guess that’s why neighborhood stores don’t stock them, just not enough push-up aficionados in the Richmond. I was about to put him back in the car and return it but he didn’t seem to notice it was past its prime. He gobbled it down and then we played fire engine on the double slide.

Vic’s Snack—Push-Up and Cheez-its Vida’s Snack—Honey Nut Cheerios Beer of the Day—Heineken 12 oz can.