Howard St. Jewel -- Evanston

Just returned from the overhauled Jewel on Howard in Evanston (just east of McCormick Blvd.) The store is going to have its grand re-opening later this month, but it's pretty much finished. I don't want to reinitiate the corporate v. local grocery shopping discussion -- we probably all prefer to shop locally when possible, and I'm a big promoter of Oakton Market, one of our locally-owned gems. But sometimes you need Cheerios and Tide, and I have to say it was fun wandering through this new Jewel -- they have two big aisles filled with "international" items, and an impressive variety it was. Lots of good stuff to choose from, ranging from a healthy variety of Mexican items (including industrial size cans of hominy); good selection of indian foods; a fair amount of asian stuff; carribean foods; a large section of organic and natural foods; tons of "gourmet" salsas and sauces, including a Dean and Delucca kiosk (though not much there yet); fancy root beers and sodas; and an impressive soul food section -- not too big, but includes all sorts of chicken and fish breading mixes, sauces and mixes from Sylvia's in NY and "skillet corn" and other canned goods from Glory -- not stuff I've found elsewhere. The rest of the store is impressively stocked. Perhaps most interesting of all is the separate kosher deli, bakery, and meat counter they will be opening soon. I'm already of fan of the LaBrea breads Jewel carries -- they're as close to good bakery bread as I've ever found in a supermarket. Now, the produce is still mediocre and limited in variety, and they didn't seem to have much in the way of cheese, either, which surprised me. So there's plenty of good reason to patronize our local markets for all the joys they offer us. But when you need to hit the big store, this Jewel might provide a few nice items to throw in your cart.