Good-bye, Chicago Fruit Market on Montrose!

It was with great sadness that I watched the closing of the Chicago Fruit Market on Montrose and Albany. For several years I have enjoyed the good produce, dry goods, feta cheese, Mexican groceries, and Balkan imports at cheap prices. The store was big enough to stock most everything I needed but small enough to be friendly and easy to pop into. Shoot, it was one of the reasons I bought a house on that block!

For about a month the inventory dwindled, then a sign boasted "New Management!" although the doors were closed the entire Christmas week. Now there is nothing but a sign advertising a store for rent.

It's not that there are no grocery stores left: Andy's Fruit Ranch up on Kedzie is a great store and Cermak Produce is not bad for produce although they have the world's worst cheese. But CFM was a gem in its handy location, perfect size, and generous supply of whole ingredients.

If anyone wants to open a nice little grocery store in that location I promise to shop there and tell all my friends about it. I will even help you pass out flyers. It's a great neighborhood, with lots of cooking families and a slight influx of yuppie-types with foodie tendencies. I have often dreamed of opening a grocery/deli on that block myself but am still quite a few years away from that goal.

So it goes . . .

Very sorry to hear about that, Angie-lala, but selfishly, it makes me just slightly less nostalgic about no longer living a half block away.

Never a great market, in my estimation, but certainly a great place to have at the end of your street. Spent many an afternoon jogging down there to get one last thing for dinner, waiting for the coals to light. Good times. I do hope another market can make it there, though especially with Cermak going in, I do think the competition is pretty tough. I don't suppose another meat market has popped into the store on the corner across the street, either.

There is still a proud, almost brand-new sign across the street for the Chicago Meat Market, but no meat within.

If I were in the market for more meat I think I would head up Kedzie to one of the Arab butcher shops.

Angie-lala wrote:There is still a proud, almost brand-new sign across the street for the Chicago Meat Market, but no meat within.

If I were in the market for more meat I think I would head up Kedzie to one of the Arab butcher shops.

Is this going to be a branch of the Chicago Meat Market on Cicero? If so, it will be a great addition to that neighborhood. The one on Cicero has a vast selection of meats including whole lambs and pigs. Much larger than anyplace lese in town except perhaps Peoria Packing.

I don't think so. Nice, new awnings went up for all the businesses in that building maybe a year ago. There were 2-3 incarnations of Chicago Meat Market at that corner (Montrose and Albany) during the two years I lived there. I'm guessing that for a time, especially pre-Cermak produce, pre-updated Andy's, the Chicago Fruit Market and the meat market across the street served a useful. Now, I'm not so sure. The most recent meat market owners didn't last too long, probably not more than 6 months.

Well, yesterday was my first and last trip to Andy's Fruit Ranch. Has the quality changed over the years?

Pie Lady wrote:Well, yesterday was my first and last trip to Andy's Fruit Ranch. Has the quality changed over the years?

Yes. Ten years ago Andy's was among my favorite places to shop. It's bigger now but definitely not better.

Andy's Fruit Ranch
4733 N Kedzie Av
Chicago
773-583-2322