Otto’s Hungarian Import Market & Deli

Reviews

• Anne Explores LA +.

  star star star star_border star_border 1 June 2026

  $54 = Poppy seed roll, 2 sandwiches, expired candy bar, and paprika. Seems pretty steep, right?
  
  I will get straight to point --
  
  Positive:
  
  -Homemade mákos beigli (poppy seed roll)
  
  -They sell Hungarian and European products.
  
  -Neighborhood market originally called Clark Avenue Market since "100 years ago."
  
  -Hungarian owned since 1969. The owner was Otto, the current owner's father.
  
  -Sandwiches made with Hungarian meats and sausages.
  
  -Service is friendly.
  
  -They ship worldwide. Website needs updating. Looks like it was built in the 90s.
  
  Negative:
  
  -The store smells like urine when you walk in. It goes away as you step into the market.
  
  -There might be a vermin infestation because of the rat traps on the floor.
  
  -The store is cluttered and in disarray. The owner needs to tidy up and show more love and care in his business. It could use some remodeling or arranging. Maybe throwing expired goods will help clear up space?
  
  -The prices are steep and most items have no prices on them, which allows for price gouging. Just like Hungary where they ripped me off. It's sadly cultural according to the guidebooks.
  
  Warning: you must ask before you buy.
  
  -They sell expired goods.
  
  I can get Hungarian sausages elsewhere in Los Angeles like the Russian and Italian markets in Encino, the German market in Torrance, Jons, and Super King, etc. Some of their other products in this market are more difficult to find.  
  
  There are some improvements needed to be made such as the stench of urine when you walk in, selling expired products, and decluttering the store.
  
  I hope the son turns things around for the better. There is huge potential for this place to be more popular and a destination sandwich shop and market. Hungarian businesses are hard to find.
  
  I would love to continue to support this business, but the negative aspects outweigh the positive.

• Petras B.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 28 May 2026

  Beware! Sells expired products.
  
  No price labels on the products. Smells like bum hive inside. Bought expired coffee. Cashier replied "that's 'best before date'" rudely. Yeah right, it's almost 2 years after "best before" date...

• Derek W.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 27 May 2026

  My friend's teenaged son is autistic and collects empty import beer bottles even though he has never even tasted beer. I try to help him find some bottles that he can't find back in Michigan. I didn't know that he had called Otto's market a few times and tried to ask them about their beer selection and what distributors they buy beer from. He did tell me that he found the store online and wanted me to see what was available there for his bottle collection.
   I went into the store and was greeted upon entering. This is the only positive thing that happened during my visit. Throughout the store, there was a a very strong, overpowering urine smell. This is mentioned in previous reviews. There is also a large amount of outdated products. There are also no prices marked in products. I dismissed this and tried to focus on my mission of discovering which imported beer bottles my friend might want.
   I decided to take a picture of the bottles to text them to my friend so he could tell me which ones he might be interested in. The owner saw me do this and stepped in and told me not to take pictures in his store. I tried to explain why I was taking the picture. He said that he was aware of my autistic friend. He was upset that my friend had called him more than once resulting in long conversations without buying anything. He was also upset that I was in there taking pictures and not buying anything. I had only been in the store for three minutes at this point.
   I told him that I wasn't aware that my young friend had called him at all. I was just going to send him the photo to see which bottles he was interested in. He then proceeded to admonish me and tell me that he didn't think that a minor should be collecting beer bottles. I don't agree, but the man is entitled to his opinion. As I continued to try to politely explain, he even said that autistic people don't know right from wrong.
   My advice for the owner is to stop whatever or whoever is urinating in your store and do something about the stench. And put some prices on your products. And educate yourself about autism and mental illness.
  You are entitled to your opinion that a minor should not be collecting beer bottles. But you
  Need to know that they can know right from wrong.

• Jonathon G.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 26 May 2026

  I once bought a big bag of Haribo gummy candies from this place, almost broke my tooth on what I could have understandably mistaken for a rock and angrily opened the bag and smashed the candy on the floor. They all shattered like glass. Basically, this store sells expired food and a lot of it. How they've stayed open all these years is a mystery to me.

• M. K.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 15 May 2026

  This place has seriously gone downhill over the years. Back when Otto managed this place, it was more well-kept and sanitary. His son (Tom) currently runs the store and I almost get the impression that he only cares about his other side businesses and is purposely trying to run this deli into the ground.
  
  When we last visited in Dec. 2018, the first thing we noticed as we walked in was the pervasive smell of cat/dog urine. From the more recent yelp reviews, it looks like the urine smell is still there. And not to mention that by our estimates, 80% of what was on the shelf was past their expiration dates. The meat in the deli freezer also looked old. Seriously, would you feel safe buying food in a place like this?
  
  Tom seems pleasant enough to talk to, although one time he did get snippy and chewed us out (while there were other shoppers nearby) when we explained to him my girlfriend's food allergies and just had to make sure that what we were buying didn't contain such ingredients that would make her sick - at that point even though we were just inquiring, he took our questions out of context and thought that we were telling others that what he sold made people sick. OK, whatever..
  
  On the upside, the desserts that we got (the mákos and diós beigli) was pretty good, but we're deathly afraid of getting any specialty meat here anymore, due to the questionable sanitary conditions. Which sucks, because we used to really crave the European wieners and kolbász here, and I don't think there's any other place in SoCal (maybe Jons?) where you could get kolbász that's made with real Hungarian sweet paprika and not laced with chili peppers.
  
  I seriously think that in order to save this place at this point, Tom needs to toss everything out, bleach-bomb the place and start clean.