MT Supermarket
Live tanks of tilapia, Dungeness crab, lobster, catfish and clams, and a bulk bar of fresh tofu, bamboo, pickled vegetables and shredded jellyfish.1
Why go
It anchors Chinatown Center on North Lamar and is the largest Asian market in Central Texas. Mick Vann, a retired Austin chef who writes the Chronicle's food coverage, walked the 55,000 square foot store when it opened in 2006. The family's My Thanh Market had run 15,000 square feet since 1984.1
Order this / avoid
- Buy off the live tanks, which is the whole argument for driving up here instead of to a chain. Then work the produce wing, roughly twenty kinds of Asian greens with fresh lychee and jackfruit in season, and the bulk bar for fresh tofu, bamboo and pickled vegetables.1
- Also here: fresh boneless chicken feet, duck heads, pig ears and six kinds of fishball, plus a whole section of mock meats built on tempeh, wheat gluten and soy. Housewares runs three aisles, which is where the woks and the steamers are.1
- Avoid: planning it as a quick stop. Vann budgets a few hours, and twelve checkout lanes exist for a reason.1
What locals & experts say
- Mick Vann in the Austin Chronicle, July 2006:
It's close to the size and complexity of some of the larger markets found in Houston, and you'll be amazed with the diversity of products.
1 - He counted the freezers, and the count says what kind of shop this is. Six open chests each hold 25 to 30 bins of seafood, with separate freezers for shrimp, squid and cuttlefish on top of them.1
Good to know
- Where it is: 10901 N Lamar Blvd, Suite G, in Chinatown Center near Braker and Lamar. The Chronicle piece's header carries an older North Lamar address while its own text describes this store. The address here is the one Austin Public Health holds for the premises.
- Hygiene: Austin Public Health holds two permits at this suite, one for the supermarket and one for the meat and seafood counter. Both were inspected on 19 February 2026 and both scored 88. Before that the supermarket ran 93 and 100. The counter ran 87, 87, 89 and 90. Every score sits well above the 70 that Austin's ordinance treats as failing. Look the address up yourself and you will find sixteen businesses on it, because the whole mall shares it. Only those two permits are this store.2
Verdict
should-visit — This is a shop, so bring a cooler and an afternoon rather than an appetite. The live tanks are the thing a chain cannot sell you. Everything I can tell you about these shelves is twenty years old, and it is the newest account I have found.