Home
TESO Mini: A Japanese Convenience Store Opens on the UWS

TESO Mini: A Japanese Convenience Store Opens on the UWS

April 21, 2025 Food & Drink 1 Comment

Free Upper West Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox

TESO Mini celebrated its grand opening on the Upper West Side on Friday. This intimate grab-and-go spot, with yellow walls and honeycomb lighting, is a smaller-format concept from TESO Life, a Japanese-style department store which carries a wide range of products, from skin care to ramen. Thanks to Dave Cook of Eating In Translation for the tip.

Advertisement




Visiting the new store at 2764 Broadway (between 106th and 107th Streets) almost felt like stepping into a comic book. The shelves are neatly stocked with a poppin’-fresh, colorful assortment of instant noodles, candies, beauty products, stationery, and home goods. You’ll even spot some familiar anime characters, like Pikachu band-aids and Hello Kitty moisturizer. The layout encourages quick browsing, but it’s easy to get a little caught up on your first visit, with so many products you might not have encountered before.

Prices seemed exceptional. We picked out some crawfish rice chips ($2.99) because we can’t make it to Jazzfest this year, a green tea fuwa fuwa ($1.49) that reminded me of mochi (maybe it was), and Kuromi Chocolate ($2.49) purely because we loved the packaging.

Advertisement



Everything was delicious, and the store clerk even gave me a free bag of Calbee fruit and granola, which went great in my oatmeal this morning. If you like trying new things, you definitely need to drop into this spot. They also have a microwave to the left of the register if you want to zap your buy in a jiff, near some adorable Japanimation characters.

The back right corner also has some good home essentials, like cleaning products and kitchen supplies. We also discovered some KitKat varieties we’d never seen before, like a large bag of KitKat strawberry shortcake for $6.99. In the back, there’s a frozen section with a variety of ice creams and gyoza dumplings, to name a couple. There’s also a fridge on the left side of the room where you can find beverages, macarons, tofu, and more.

TESO Mini is open daily — a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Have a news tip? Send it to us here!


.





Related Posts

About The Author

bobby-panza

Bobby attended Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, where he studied journalism and wrote for local children’s magazine Moo Cow Fan Club.

Years later while living in New York City, trudging home on a dour January day, Bobby read his favorite bookstore, the venerable Westsider Rare and Used Books, would soon close its doors due to ballooning rent. The owner was quoted saying the only thing that could save his shop was if someone raised $50,000 but doubted anyone would do it. Bobby immediately sprang into action, wanting to show the owner that someone would indeed answer the call.

Single-handedly launching a viral online fundraising campaign that reached far beyond New York City, Bobby helped raise the money in just four days, with the bookstore’s saga receiving coverage in the New York Times and NBC. Having spent years exploring Westsider’s cramped and cozy aisles, it warmed Bobby’s heart seeing people come together to save something they truly loved.

A proud Upper West Side local, you can typically find Bobby in Riverside Park, at the New York Philharmonic, or recording poetry for his YouTube Channel, Bobby Slam, in his beloved Westsider Books.

You can also follow Bobby on Twitter and Instagram.

Bobby is also a regular contributor for EastSideFeed.com. His articles for this publication can be viewed here.

Tags:

Latest Comments

  1. RSBA April 21, 2025

    For those further South, don’t forget about Shinbashi (218 W 72nd Street). They aren’t huge but have many of these Japanese pantry items, plus unbelievably delicious fresh food to go.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Advertisement