Marietta's Best-Kept Culinary Secret Has Been Open Since 1992

Most Marietta food guides spotlight the newest ramen bar or the trendiest brunch spot. They rarely mention the specialty grocery store that has been quietly supplying serious cooks for over three decades. That store is Tomato Japanese Grocery, a family-owned institution rooted in the Marietta community since 1992.

We recently moved to our new home at 2359 Windy Hill Rd SE, Suite 250, just up the road from our original Cobb Parkway location. Same neighborhood, same loyal customers, fresh new space. Marietta earned recognition as one of the best food cities in the South in 2025, and we'd like to think we've played a small part in that story. Here are seven reasons why serious cooks have quietly relied on us for years.

Reason 1: Sashimi-Grade Fish You Can Actually Trust

Finding sashimi-grade fish in suburban Atlanta is harder than it should be. Most grocery stores stock standard fillets but cannot promise the sourcing standards that raw preparations demand. At Tomato, we carry sushi-grade and sashimi-grade fish selected with the same care a Tokyo fishmonger would bring to the task. For professional chefs and dedicated home cooks, that sourcing grade is not a luxury. It's a matter of food safety, texture, and flavor.

Nearly 32% of restaurants face ingredient sourcing challenges, and 28% report higher costs tied to international supply chains. That makes a reliable local source more than convenient; it's essential. Marietta's growing Japanese dining scene, including spots like Shibuya Ramen and SAYO, reflects rising demand for authentic ingredients in Cobb County. Not every chef can work through a national distributor for small-batch needs.

Tomato fills that gap at the neighborhood level. We're the local answer to a sourcing problem that mainstream stores simply aren't built to solve.

Reason 2: A Pantry That Goes Way Beyond Soy Sauce

Walk into a typical grocery store and you'll find one or two soy sauce options, maybe a bottle of rice vinegar. Walk into Tomato and you'll find an entire world of Japanese pantry staples: specific regional misos, artisan soy sauces, real mirin, cooking sake, dashi in multiple forms, yuzu kosho, and several varieties of Japanese short-grain rice. These aren't generic substitutes. They're the actual ingredients that define regional Japanese cooking.

The trend across the U.S. is clear: chefs and home cooks want hyper-regional authenticity, not watered-down fusion. More people are cooking Japanese food at home than ever before, and they're looking for specialty pantry staples that mainstream stores don't carry. About 42% of consumers now prefer ready-to-eat packaged Asian cuisine products, which speaks to the growing appetite for items like our instant foods, tofu, and miso selection.

Every product on our shelves is chosen with over 30 years of family expertise. We know what belongs in a Japanese kitchen because we grew up in one.

Reason 3: Freshly Made Bento Boxes Under $9

Our freshly made bento boxes are one of the first things customers mention when they talk about Tomato. Sushi rolls, steamed dumplings, curry rice, and rotating specials, most priced under $9. With roughly 70% of U.S. grocery shoppers expressing serious concern about rising food prices, affordable quality is a genuine differentiator.

A chef grabbing lunch while picking up ingredients and a first-time visitor curious about Japanese food will both find the bento counter a perfect introduction. Stock your pantry with dashi and mirin, then sit down with a freshly made meal before you leave. That's the one-stop experience we've built over three decades.

Fresh food made in-house, every day, reflects who we are: a family-owned store that puts care into everything we offer.

Reason 4: Japanese Snacks as Your Gateway to the Store

Regional Kit-Kats, Pocky in every flavor, mochi, daifuku, ramune, and whatever viral Japanese snack is trending this month. Our snack aisle is one of the most popular corners of the store, and for good reason. Japanese snack culture is a low-barrier entry point for anyone curious about the cuisine. It's welcoming, fun, and never intimidating.

Here's what we see happen all the time: someone comes in for a matcha Kit-Kat they spotted on social media. They browse. They discover our pantry section. They leave with a bag of proper Japanese rice and a bottle of ponzu. That discovery experience is something you simply can't replicate scrolling through an online listing.

With 41% of U.S. consumers naming sushi as their preferred Japanese cuisine type, mainstream curiosity about Japanese food culture is at an all-time high. Snacks are often where that curiosity starts, and Tomato is where it grows.

Reason 5: Matcha, Hojicha, and a Tea Selection That's Ahead of the Curve

Japan's tea exports surged approximately 86% in a single month of 2025 compared to the prior year, driven largely by the global matcha craze. Consumer interest in hojicha, the roasted green tea with a toasty, caramel-like flavor, is up about 46% in 2026. We've been stocking these teas for years, long before they became trending ingredients.

Our beverage selection includes matcha, hojicha, sencha, ramune, and specialty teas that most Atlanta-area stores don't carry. Matcha has expanded well beyond lattes into desserts, pastries, and savory cooking, which means quality sourcing matters more than ever for home bakers and chefs.

A store with 30-plus years of Japanese product knowledge stocks these categories thoughtfully, not reactively. We're not chasing a trend. We've been here the whole time.

Reason 6: Open Seven Days a Week with Weekend Hours Built for Cooks

We're open every day of the week: Sunday through Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM, and Saturday from 9 AM to 7 PM. Those extended Saturday hours aren't accidental. They're designed for the home cook's weekly rhythm: Saturday morning prep runs, weekend meal planning, and Sunday dinner sourcing.

Professional chefs stocking up for weekend service can count on us being open early on Saturday with the longest hours of the week. Compare that to specialty importers or online-only shops that require days of shipping lead time. Tomato is available locally, when you actually need it.

Our community shows up, too. With over 12,000 Instagram followers and 6,900-plus Facebook likes, we're grateful for a customer base that's active, engaged, and genuinely invested in what we do.

Reason 7: Shop In-Store or Ship Nationwide — Your Choice

Not everyone lives in Marietta, and we understand that. That's why we offer nationwide shipping via UPS, making us one of the few family-owned Japanese grocers with a true hybrid model. Local Marietta and Cobb County shoppers can visit us in person or arrange in-store pickup. Japanese food enthusiasts anywhere in the country can order from our online store and have authentic ingredients delivered to their door.

Most "best Japanese grocery" lists focus on New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. We ship to all of them. The U.S. Japanese restaurant industry is valued at $32.2 billion with over 22,800 businesses operating nationwide. That's a large community of people who need authentic ingredients, and we're proud to serve them from right here in Georgia.

This isn't a faceless warehouse operation. It's over 30 years of family expertise, carefully packed and shipped with the same care we'd give a neighbor walking through our door.

Why Tomato Has Earned Its Place at the Heart of Marietta's Food Scene

Longevity. Quality. Value. Community. Accessibility. Those aren't just words on a wall. They're the reasons we've been here since 1992 and the reasons chefs, home cooks, and curious foodies keep coming back.

Marietta's culinary identity is growing fast. The Taste of Marietta festival, new Japanese dining spots, and the city's 2025 recognition as a top Southern food city all point to a community that takes its food seriously. We're proud to be the ingredient backbone behind so much of that story.

To our longtime customers who've been shopping with us for decades: thank you. To those discovering us for the first time: welcome. Stop by our new location at 2359 Windy Hill Rd SE, follow us on Instagram at @tomatostore1, or browse our online store with nationwide UPS shipping.

Tomato Japanese Grocery isn't just a place to buy groceries. It's where Marietta's love of Japanese food begins.