Bizio's Market - Olympia Fields

Always on the lookout for more places to shop, somehow Bizio's fell off my radar. It's been open for over a year. When they first were close to opening, we peeked in the windows. They were advertising themselves as a gourmet/specialty grocery store. I didn't make it in there until about six weeks ago, but I'm glad we found them.

Bizio's is a grocery store, but is not like any other grocery in the south suburban area. They are family-owned and I have yet to be in the store when the family is not present. They have a huge deli case, filled with homemade salads and desserts. Another case holds homemade meals prepared by the wives of the owners, including a lot of greek specialties. My daughters were thrilled to find homemade spanikopita and pasticchio, along with lasagna, moussaka, greek chicken and meatloaf. My husband is partial to their homemade garlic beet salad, and their tortellini salad, layered with sundried tomatoes, is so delicious we purchase it almost every week. I'm slowly trying to eat my way through the deli case. Yes, I could make a lot of this stuff myself, but I work full time and there are only so many hours in the day! It's nice to have such good quality food already prepared to bring home on those days when I'm just too tired to cook.

I was delighted to find at the end of one aisle a huge display of nothing but olive oils and right across from it a huge display of vinegars. A lot of the items are things I cannot find in my other local stores. They carry a huge selection of specialty imported items. I've also found a lot of local items that I haven't seen elsewhere.

And let's not forget the meat department. We've been buying meat there for the past few weeks. I've never seen such a clean and gorgeous display. The butcher is very friendly, and told me they get their pork from Indiana, for those of you who are trying to eat local. Beef is hormone and antibiotic-free. There is a great fish selection. They will be happy to special order for you. While I did not buy the lamb, several people were in the store purchasing lamb rib roasts and legs of lamb before Easter.

The owners are obviously trying to please the community and are willing to special order to keep people happy. I'm thrilled to have Bizio's in my neighborhood.

Suzy

Bizios Fresh Market
3446-50 Vollmer Road
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
Phone 708-983-6970
www.biziosmarket.com

The produce is pretty crappy, even for around here, with lots of it prepackaged so you can't hand select things, and you can't buy just one.

Are they really getting their meat from Indiana, or is that just where their distributor is?

I'll try it again, but consider me still in grocery hell down here.

When we first started shopping at Bizio's, the produce department was stellar -- it's really fallen off. That's the down side to Bizio's, in my opinion. The deli is still wonderful and the people manning the meat department are doing a great job.

Suzy