Need grocery Recs. near Univ. Village

I'm moving in a few months to the Univ. Village area. I need recs for grocery and produce stores. Here in the Oak Park vicinity, I shop for my main staple of veggies at Caputo's, Tony's and a few other places. I know I can always go to Chinatown and Richwell market for my asian staples, but I'm looking for more Stanley's and Caputo's type places around my soon to be neighborhood. Of course I know about Jewel and Dominicks but I'm looking to not spend an arm and leg.. if yah know what I mean.

Recs are greatly appreciated!

Hi mby385,

welcome to the Near West Side! Unfortunately, there's nothing like Caputo's nearby. Antonius and I do, however, make the rounds of a number of food stores in the area. You already know about Richwell Market and Chinatown.

For Mexican, there's La Casa del Pueblo on Blue Island south of 18th; also a Cermak Produce and an El Guero further away on Cermak. We try to get a lot of grocery items at these stores, keeping trips to Dominicks and Jewel to a minimum.

For Italian: Conte di Savoia on Taylor and Graziano's on Randolph.

thread on Graziano's:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2975

for Greek: Athens Market on Halsted
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1364

Finally, a new Whole Foods is under construction on Canal north of Roosevelt.

good luck,
Amata

The Egg Store down on Halsted in Bridgeport also has an interesting, but not always reliable produce selection.

3008 S. Halsted

I personally prefer Cermak Produce. Whole Foods will be a nice addition, despite whatever nightmares that mall is going to wreak on traffic at Canal and Roosevelt.

There's also the Maxwell Market (every Sunday) produce stands--mostly Mexican standards (cilantro, onions, cheeeeap avocados, dried beans galore, tomatillos, papaya), but there's always a vendor selling bulk boxes/crates/flats of fruit (strawberries, mangoes, kiwis, etc.) on the north side of Roosevelt.

The lack of a diverse selection of high quality produce is definitely a problem in the area, and is the main reason I signed up for a Spring CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription...and will sign up for a Summer subscription.

Welcome to the neighborhood!