Otto's Hungarian Import Store & Deli - Burbank, California

Natalia Dextre Lozano

We went three days ago so excited to buy Hungarian food; so disappointed, none merchandise has price , then overpriced and expired, we realized at home ( other state) never again

Ali

Racist, dehumanizing, and unacceptable behavior from the owner…

I had an upsetting experience at this store, specifically with the owner. I live in the neighborhood, a few houses away from the store. I feel horrible for the people working there with him. I don’t know if they are his kids or employees, but I genuinely feel bad for how he treats them in front of customers…

This is what happened, as soon as I walked in wearing a pink hoodie, he immediately demanded, in an angry tone with a scary face, that I have to take it off. Despite complying, he then ordered me to leave the store, claiming it was policy not to allow people wearing hoodies to enter. I feel bad that I took off the hoodie as it was very humiliating.

His reasoning? There is a camera that needs to take customers’ pictures, and hoodies are not allowed—even in the cold of winter. That was his reason..

I asked him very calmly to show me where this policy is written so that his customers know before entering the store and he didn’t answer. He asked me to get out of his store with an angry face. I didn’t argue and left, but I feel very disrespected and humiliated.

This policy is not only unreasonable but also discriminatory, targeting people based on their appearance. The owner’s tone and treatment were completely disrespectful and dehumanizing, leaving me feeling humiliated for simply wearing a hoodie to stay warm.

I strongly urge others to reconsider supporting a business that enforces such oppressive and arbitrary rules while treating customers with hostility. No one deserves to be treated this way.

Jennifer S

The owner is nice. I kind of felt awkward because he was kind of circling me so I asked him why he is doing that. Then he was like oh I'm just trying to see what you are recording and I was totally confused...it made me uncomfortable. I was not recording anything. I took one picture of a funny sign in hungarian....I guess people go there to record stuff cuz 90% of their stuff expired years ago. Anyway I continued looking around. Then he sent one his employees to follow me around. Like I know they dont know me and have to make sure I wont steal but still I wanted to continue shopping but the way he was following me around made me feel uncomfortable. So I didnt check their other stuff but it was probably also expired so didnt even bother. I mainly went there to buy some túrórudi...but didnt have any. He kindly took my info mentioned that he will contact me if they get some so I'm just waiting for that. Unless you know the stuff is arriving fresh I wouldnt buy anything without a clear expiration date. I was looking for the expiration date on most things. Some I could find that hasn't expired yet...I purchased it and tasted good. Other items didnt have expiration dates or it was smudged on purpose or covered up with a sticker. Usually chocolate still lasts after expiration date so I didnt mind things that expired within the last year but I found things that expired in 2010 and 2015 and so on. I found one chocolate that I really wanted. All the boxes were dirty and dusty. It looked really old but didnt have a date so I thought I would give it a shot. Immediately after purchasing I wanted to try incase it's not good and it wasnt good. It was old, dry and discolored so I asked him if I can exchange it to something of same value and of course he let me so that was nice. I just got another one of the same chocolate that I knew was good. I also picked up something that expired in 2018. It's a really good brand chocolate so I still wanted it even tho it expired a year ago. The expiration date on this one was a removable sticker...so it makes me think it might have expired even before. Anyway I was wondering how much he would charge me for it...if he was gonna charge me a lot I was gonna mention even though its expired? But he ended up giving it to me for free. Which kind of shocked me....and made me doubt that it only expired a year ago. So I took it and thanked him...of course I was curious so as soon as I got to sit down I opened them and they looked super old. They smell bad and tried biting into one of them but it was super hard. Thankfully I didn't pay for it but I feel like he knew it wouldnt be edible so he couldnt have charged me for it. So it makes me think it expired years before.....at least I have one that expires in 2020 and it tasted good and have 2 others that I'm not sure what the date is but the taste is only a little expired and tasted edible. I feel like it wouldnt be a bad store if they had products that are not expired, it would be much easier to shop in there. I feel that its stuff that didnt sell over the years and they dont wanna toss it because that's losing money....it will just continue giving them a bad reputation because while I was in there he was getting orders...for fresh produce so i feel like if you pre order during the holidays you might get lucky and get stuff that's fresh. I hope they realise eventually that they should throw away all the expired stuff. For now I wouldnt like to go back because I'm scared to buy anything without a date and there aren't a lot of options and this is just for chocolate...I dont want to imagine their meat or canned or jars or other stuff they have. I am not a picky person for sure and I dont get scared easily but that store scares me....its like playing Russian roulette...dont know what you get until you buy it and open it.....other than that the owner was very kind!

Dr OLGA LAZIN

This retail food establishment that defies SAFETY RULES for 2320 W Clark Avenue burbank, CA 91506 OTTO's food,perplexed at the price gouging, and lack of any labeling. Otto is a sick, unsanitary criminal. Items prohibited in the EU, laced with chemical rest on dirty shelves! Ottó is lying about Mici, to me personally, sausages full of carcinogenics. He overcharged me at least $220, and did the same to Marianna Takacs Derecskei. We were spoken to very impolitely, as Ottó was afraid of us taking pictures of the disorderly store. we got very sick, and got food poisoning from the bloody sausages, unlabeled, no ingredients listed, see pictures. Adding the blown up receipts here. do not buy from this store, we are alerting the food Department in Burbank to inspect this dumpster. dr Olga Lazin

Gail Hopkins

I grew up in a small Hungarian neighborhood in NJ. My mother was Hungarian and would cook and bake the most wonderful food. My mother passed away in 2010 and I have since moved to the other side of the US. I turned 70 a few weeks ago and my sweet daughter sent me a Dobos Torta from Otto’s. I was in heaven. The torta was absolutely delicious and brought back many memories of what I remembered a Dobos Torta to taste like. There were so many layers and the icing was not too sweet. Otto’s took great care in the wrapping and packaging of the cake and it arrived to me totally intact just like it had been baked that day. I will definitely be ordering from Otto’s again!

Chloman Chomiko

I can't give zero stars. Ordered on line 2day air, they shipped my $200 perishable order united postal service express. 1/2 the package arrived 7 days after ship date. I got slushy stuffed cabbage and warm moist raw sausage. They refuse to give a refund. I've reported them to the BBB requesting their online business be revoked....Anyone up for spoiled meat & food poisoning? Do NOT shop here, plenty of other options out there

Raymond

A decent sized selection of imported items. just make sure you ask about pricing first before you buy. imported items can be pricey

M Designs

If I could give this place negative stars I would!!! He doesn't deserve to be a Business owner with such nasty behavior! Don't think twice to stop by. You will get very bad service!!! He is rude, not friendly, paranoid, no customer service whatsoever ever!!!! I came from very far to get the worst Hungarian service in my life! What a waste of time - don't waste your time - loser with zero respect!
The man makes you feel like you are doing something wrong when he is just nasty attitude! What a tasteless place! I was so wrong to step foot in such a place with the worst service ever! I read the reviews and was so excited - I made a huge mistake - dont believe the reviews! The Hungarian man is so weird and has a nasty attitude! Beware!!! He said I was recording when I was showing my family what to purchase and right there he became even ruder! No wonder why he has no customers in his store! Who would want to buy from such bad people! Oh I can't forget to mention that he is a liar too! Just look at these reviews. Cheating people, that's not cool! Not good business ethics!