This happened waaay sooner than I expected it to y'all. I'm kinda shocked.

The wonderful folks over at A-Tan have gone and opened up an Asian Market next-door to their restaurant in town. An Asian Market. In New Braunfels. Our city didn't have to triple in size. We didn't double our ethnically Asian citizens. We didn't do nothing! No giant fan fare or balloons, just **POOF!!** ASIAN MARKET IN NEW BRAUNFELS!

"between COVID, Tiger King, and murder hornets, 2020 New Braunfels deserved a boost... an Asian Market"

Please do not think in any way that I am anything but all for this in everyway. I have Aaaall the fanfare and balloons here for this opening y'all, but I honestly felt we'd have to earn this somehow. I've just been sitting on my butt thinking, "There's no way we could have our OWN Asian Market in New Braunfels anytime soon! Sure some imported snacks at checkout at the Boba establishments and 1/4 of the "imported foods" aisle at HEB, but New Braunfels will need like 3 more Thai restaurants, an authentic Szechuan buffet, and a population of at least 150,000 before any of that sort of establishment happens over here." I then would proceed to angst-ily drive the hour round trip to the Asian Market of my choice in SA.

But NOOOoope y'all! Some angel up in heaven decided that between COVID, Tiger King, and murder hornets 2020 New Braunfels deserved a boost and  has been too much of a hell hole on earth for things to be considered in balance and sent us our very first, brand new, sparkly Asian Market. Everybody please applaud. … I'll wait.

There's whole fish in the freezer that is not the poop-eating, farmed, Tilapia that HEB has, which had been the only other fish option in town that comes with it's head, bones, and tail attached. bags of rice including short grain (my fave!) There's a fridge full of an array of sake. Mochi! Lots of mochi! With icecream and red bean paste!  Noodles! Noodles! Noodles! Beautiful dishes. Rice cookers. Dried squid (woop woop weird snacks!) and delightful fizzy sodas. Japanese mayo. Milk tea. Curry.
There's whole fish in the freezer - that is not the poop-eating, farmed kind - for your specialty Asian fish dishes, when Tilapia just won't cut it (always).

There's still a few items that I will have to drive to San Antonio for, but A-Tan Market will save me soooo many trips for just a couple ingredients and they will be stocking their shelves with more options soon. It does seem to be slightly more expensive than the shops in San Antonio or Austin, but hey, A-Tan currently owns the market and has no competition and I am so sooo happy they are here.