Ultra Foods, Prospect Heights

Ultra Foods
1241 North Rand Road
Prospect Heights, IL 60070
http://www.ultra-foods.com/

After being vacant for nearly 10 years (the previous tenant, a Dominicks which took over the spot from, uh, I don't remember, kept the location locked up even though they weren't doing business), Ultra Foods finally opened in Prospect Heights.

First impressions: Uh, oh, discount warehouse stuff. The first shelves you see are warehouse-style, mostly filled with Centrella dry goods. But the next few steps bring you into a huge produce section, with lots of "international" items (what the heck is a Dosekal? Neither the produce guy nor Google were any help), with a fair variety of chiles, greens, etc.

It's definitely not just discount warehouse: it's primarily name brands plus house and Centrella -- a huge step up from, say, Sav-A-Lot. There's several stations with pre-prepared foods including sushi (and rotisserie chicken at $4.99), a decent-looking bakery, big butcher and deli areas including lots of fresh sausage (anyone ever heard of "Legendary Larry's?").
Right now, with it only being open a couple days, the place is spotless, shelves are stocked full.

Prices: Some good, some bad: They had Perdue boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $1.48 a pound, and the 64-oz Skippy for $8.29... but ground lamb was $9.99/lb !?!!!??

I don't think it's as good an international shopping resource as, say, the Super Tony's on Greenwood in Niles (also a former Dominick's). It reminds me more of the bigger Garden Fresh units like the shuttered one at Palatine and Rand, although unlike GF it stocks a decent amount of toiletries, breakfast cereals and soft drinks.

Will it replace my standard shopping at Jewel (for staples and quick needs) and Mariano's (further but better meat, produce and bread)? Perhaps. Their produce and international foods selections are better than Jewel's, and closer than Mariano's by a scant bit, and I am more likely to be in that area of Rand than Mariano's area of Northwest Highway.

You'll learn. If it's in your rotation of stores, you'll figger out what their deal is.
I use Ultra for 2 Liter soda, Domestic beer sales (you'll see, trust me.)
Moo/oink turkey hot links when they go on sale - again, you'll see.
Every few months, they have an 88c sale where they put a bunch of junk food on sale for 88c. Again, you'll see.

Other than that, for me, I rarely shop there, but I check their sale ad every week. You'll see though, you'll see. When they do a "for real" sale, it's worth stopping and loading up. I'll try to remember this thread next time they do a sale worth stopping in for.

Hi- Rachel over at the local couponing blog mash up mom, shops at Ultra frequently, and posts her purchases on her site. Here is a link to her latest trip there.

http://www.mashupmom.com/ultra-jewel/

BTW- One of the reasons she loves Ultra is because they take coupons expired up to 30 days, and they and Strak and Van Til are the only stores in the Chicago area that do. Ultra also gives you $.10 back if you bring your own bag too.

Ultra is the low-cost "warehouse" division of Strack & Van Til, so it makes sense the two have similar policies.

Ultra has some pluses, particularly if you have a large family. However, I stopped going there many years ago unless I wanted something exclusive to S&VT, such as most specialty and market research items from the large Pepsi bottling operation in Munster. I quickly tired of weekly specials being cleaned off the shelves by early afternoon, and their refusal to restock the shelves until overnight.

Hi- Ultra won't give you a rain check? When Jewel is out of something that is on sale, I usually ask for one.

[quote]Ultra is the low-cost "warehouse" division of Strack & Van Til, so it makes sense the two have similar policies..[/quote]
I was wondering about that: The credit card reader flashed a message about "Thank you for shopping at Strack & Van Til" or something like that.

I find Ultra to be a good store and I shop there fairly often. Now, its usually that or Marianos. I also have a few other stores in my rotation, like Trader Joes which I go to every few months, and Whole Foods. Aldi now and then. Jewel rarely and Dominicks is closed. Ultra has many name brand items unlike Aldi. The Wheaton store has been remodeled and its nice. I like that they have many varieties of Michigan apples, and Wisconsin russet potatoes. I did have a bad experience there lately, I bought a bag of Halo tangerines and they were rotten. I did not look at them close enough when I bought them. Just pitched them did not go back to get my money due to cold weather. Ultra's meat seems okay and they have a lot of items that are harder to find at other stores such as ham hocks, frozen duck, and goose.

NFriday wrote:Hi- Ultra won't give you a rain check?

I'm sure they would, but that's not the point. If I go to a store to purchase certain items, and those items aren't on the shelf, I have wasted a trip to that store. I made the decision to stop the wasted trips to Ultra.

I like Ultra - lot of variety. Only place in the area I know of that carries Tender Quick and fresh hocks.
Yes it's true sale Items get wiped out quickly so you have to shop early but you can find some good deals and I like the Friday fish/shrimp fry (that can be a bit crazy too).

Ultra (Wheaton) is the closest grocery to me so it often gets my business when I need something for a recipe. Unfortunately they often don't have what I'm looking for. Despite our proximity to hispanic neighborhoods they didn't have cilantro (or it was very sad looking) when I needed some. It seems like for anything out of the ordinary I am out of luck. We now have a Marianos just a few blocks (or maybe a mile) further and they seem to be stocked better. For regular planned trips I usually head to Valli on North Ave or Caputo's. I'm looking forward to the Caputo's they're putting in on North Ave.

Living in Hammond, IN, I'm about 1 1/4 miles from the original Ultra store and 3 miles from the Ultra/Strack and Van Til headquarters in Highland. (They used to run the Cub Food stores years ago too.) I also have a Food for Less (Kroger's version of Ultra) about 2 miles from me. Every Wednesday, the local paper has the sale ads from Ultra and SV&T. What's on sale this week at Ultra will be on sale at SVT next week and vice-versa. I stock up on meats and frozen vegetables when they are on sale, so I don't have to shop every week, except maybe for fresh fruit and vegetables. The prices are higher than Aldi, but I'll pay a little more for quality and taste any day.

I like the weekly seafood dinner specials at their Downers Grove location. They rotate the specials weekly varying from shrimp, ocean perch, catfish, tilapia and basa (also known as swai). All dinners are breaded & fried right in front of you so all you have to do is take them home and eat. They smell and more importantly taste great too! Sometimes on Fridays during Lent, the line can be quite long.

The weekly special starting this Thursday is a 1/2 lb of breaded tilapia (you have three breading options: original, lemon & pepper or Cajan); 1/2 lb. of french fries and 1/4 lb of cole slaw and your choice of tartar, cocktail or hot sauce and ketchup all for only $3.99.

It's the very BEST deal at Ultra Foods.


Their Amish rotisserie chicken and Fried Chicken are also popular items.



BTW, in answer to one of the above posts, yes Ultra Foods will give you a rain check if they're out of a sale item. Ask your cashier or go to the service desk.

Ok, any rib tip makers out there?
This week's Ultra ad has a 10lb box of "Plumrose" rib tips for 7.98. That's decent, I've never bought that brand, but I'll prolly go grab a box for a spring que. This has me wondering if anyone has a joint for consistent rib tips on the cheap. I normally load up on "Aunt Bessie's" brand frozen 10lb boxes that get dirt cheap around the holidays at Ultra. I've never really looked hard at the Mexican tinged mkts I go to. I should. From what I recall, I think their tips are usually pre-chopped? Would rib tips normally be costillas or costillitas?

Ultra closed their doors this week.
The Mount Prospect Journal says that another 'well-known' supermarket is lined up to take its place, and assume the other 13 years on the 15-year lease.
http://www.journal-topics.com/business/ ... 713ab.html

I can't say I'll miss them much. They were cheap -- some very good deals to be had especially in meat; they had a lot of products on their tall shelves, good variety of produce, but never cared for their baked goods, and they were missing some of the branded items I buy (Brown Cow yogurt, Newlyweds English Muffins). I'd stop there if it was on my way from somewhere else, but I'd have to pass Jewel and graze Fresh Thyme to get there, and there's a closer Mariano's.

Prospect Heights has announced that Tony's Fresh Market will be taking over the Ultra Foods site. It's of a size with the one on Greenwood in Niles, and my guess is they'll reuse the high shelving of Ultra -- pretty close to what's in the other store.

I've only been in Tony's a few times, but mostly liked what I saw. Ultra may have had a better produce selection, and maybe more major brands, but worse selection in meat, bakery and especially ethnic groceries. With Mariano's so close to me now, and Fresh Farms about the same amount of time to get to, I probably won't be in Tony's that often.