A&G grocery on Belmont

Not sure if anybody has mentioned this place, so I'll be brief. However, it's worth a mention just in case--I think it's relatively new.

I've never really reviewed a grocery store but I'll try...

Main emphasis is Italian, Polish and Mexican with all the standard American grocery store standards.

Bakery items:looks like they make Italian and Mexican in-house. They also have a VERY VERY wide variety of local bakery bread and cakes. Almost overwhelming.

Produce:Think Caputos but bigger.

Deli:Huge selection of meats. Maybe 100? A lot. Good prices too. Really good cheese selection and prices. Grana Padana at 7.99 a pound for example.

Fish and meat:Fish could improve on. Didn't really pay attention to prices. Bought some Italian sausage that was just OK. They do sell rabbit (frozen), though and some other things you don't see everywhere.

The other half of the store:Pretty standard American grocery fair (but much more extensive than most non-chain stores in Chicago) . There are sections for Asian, Italian, Polish and Mexican specialties, though. They also offer some Whole Foods-esque items (and at half Whole Foods prices). All in all this is a pretty darn good store for 1-stop shopping.

A&G is located just west of Central on Belmont (parking lot in the back).


A & G Fresh Market
5630 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60634
773-777-4480

Moved and expanded but not new. They were on Central a block or two north of Belmont and were a pretty typical good neighborhood fruit and vegetable market. From their ads in the Sun Times it looks as though they have some pretty low prices on some things at least until their volume goes up.

We haven't been to the new location yet but intend to try the next time we are out that way.

I paid my first visit to A&G market this past Saturday morning. I'm a huge fan of Chicago's independent, multi-ethnic markets, especially Marketplace on Oakton and Lincolnwood Produce.

As soon as I entered this store, I was struck by its size. It's easily as big as many big chain grocery stores and bigger than many. I entered from the rear parking lot and I was immediately put in front of their bakery section which is clearly the most impressive pan-bakery selection in the city. In addition to what appears to be their own fresh baked goods, they have a section devoted to almost every independent baker in the city. I picked up a very fresh loaf of my favorite all-purpose polish rye from Europa Bakery.

Their deli is very good with all the standard entries, plus a very good variety of polish sausages hanging in the background and polish meats. I especially liked the selection of imported dried polish mushrooms on the deli counter. Finding no halloumi cheese in the cheese case dismayed me, and when I asked, they didn't know what I was talking about.

I spent most of my time in their produce section, which is not as large as it first looks. The bins actually straddle two aisles so you've got the same thing on both sides. I found mediocre to poor quality produce across the board here. I wound up only taking home some apples, a fresh bunch of cilantro, and some serrano chiles. I also really disliked the organization of their produce. There was one group of chiles in one place (jalapenos, Hungarian yellows, poblanos) and then a bunch of other chiles in what was a mini "ethnic" area of the produce section. This small area was hiding a bunch of other stuff like Chinese eggplant, serrano chiles, and daikon. Why not put the peppers with the peppers and the eggplant with the eggplant? Instead they found a corner for all the "super-ethnic" stuff that doesn't sell as fast. It's hidden away and I almost missed it.

I saw a sign for "Vidalia Onions" which was obviously wrong, this being March. I figured they either had to be Texas Sweets or Peru Sweets. They were indeed from Peru, and not from Georgia. Many people say that the Perus are indistinguishable from true Vidalias but I haven't been able to find them both at the same time to do a taste test. When I can get Vidalias, the Perus are gone, and vice-versa. Anyway, deceptive advertising...call them "Sweet Onions", not Vidalias.

I also found a ton of nearly or almost expired milk and yogurt. I asked the dairy man for the fresh milk and he pointed at a shelf of Dean's that was expiring in four days. No thanks.

The canned/dry goods section had about 2/3rds of it acting as a regular Jewel and the other third divided between Polish, Latino, and all flavors of Mediterranean. There are a few Asian noodles and sauces, but very little.

The prices were as low as expected and very competitive with Marketplace and LP.

My first impressions was "Great! This place is huge!" and I left feeling "Too bad this place is so big." I got the feeling that they don't have the staff to run a store of this size, nor do their buyers have the experience stocking so many square feet. This is a very good store if you live close to it and for Polish people who don't want to make the trek to the nearest Bobak's, it's a very good substitute for sausages and Polish groceries. I'll be back there to further explore the fantastic bakery offerings, and here's hoping that the Dominick's-level quality of produce I found was a fluke.

Best,
Michael / EC

The produce quality issue on Eat Chicago's recent visit is a cause for concern. The first time my wife and I shopped at A&G our early reaction was to wonder whether they would have enough turnover in perishables to keep the quality up. The amount of each produce item in the double-sided displays used for many items was a particular source of concern. We have only been there in mid-week. I'll cut some slack on Monday or Sunday afternoon but not at other times. We seriously avoid food shopping on weekends except for farmers' markets, so our experiences may be somewhat different from weekend shoppers. Still, the produce should be fresh on Saturday.

Our last visit was in January, but the quality was still high. As with every produce store I have ever visited. a few things are a little tired while others are quite fresh. I hope that Eat Chicago's experience was a fluke and not the start of a downward spiral such as the one that occurred at Andy's Fruit Ranch several months after their expansion.

The previous occupant of the space was a Goldblatt's store, which goes a long way toward explaining the size.

Alfredo & Guido have been in the produce business for almost 30 years, starting at their original School & Central location. One of their sons runs Family Fruit Market at Six Corners (Milw/Cicero/Irving Park). Another has branched off into the suburbs, I believe Hoffman Estates, and there is another suburban store in the works.

Based on my mom's observations, the new A&G has very high turnover, so the produce, hopefully, is fresh. I personally know the business at Six Corners is very busy, and I've never had a problem with the quality of dairy, bakery, deli, produce, etc. there.

A&G is filling a grocery store void in the Belmont Central area--the Jewel at Laramie/Belmont was closed for over 2 years, due to construction delays, and the Dominick's at Addison/Central closed down permanently. People shop there because of the quality, value and variety. It's United Nations under one roof.

Regarding Bobak's--most Polish people don't truck to a Bobak's to stock up, but patronize their local delis and stores. Everyone swears by a favorite. Bobak's is a SW store which started on Archer, and has now expanded into the S & SW suburbs. The Polish chains on the N & NW sides are Andy's/Mikolajczyk's, Wally's, and on a smaller scale, Montrose/Cicero Deli. I myself cherrypick, and if I have a taste for something in particular, go to a particular store to get it. I wish A&G much success--the family has put a lot of work and sweat equity into their business. Many of their employees have been with them for decades--which says a lot in these days of no employer or employee loyalty. They must be doing something right. Anna

They must be doing something right. Anna

Without a doubt, they are doing a lot right. Their bakery section is second to none, their deli is excellent, and their international groceries are among the best I've seen (minus strong Asian concentration, but they don't serve a strong Asian constituency). I think A&G is excellent for their neighborhood and I would personally pass up 10 Jewel or Dominick's stores to shop there.

I do sincerely hope that my report after my next visit indicates that the product quality I found was just a bad day for them.

Anna Z. Sobor wrote:Regarding Bobak's--most Polish people don't truck to a Bobak's to stock up, but patronize their local delis and stores. Everyone swears by a favorite. Bobak's is a SW store which started on Archer, and has now expanded into the S & SW suburbs. The Polish chains on the N & NW sides are Andy's/Mikolajczyk's, Wally's, and on a smaller scale, Montrose/Cicero Deli.

The only reason I made the comparison to Bobak's was because of the similarities to me, i.e. the size, the large deli, and the vast array of imported Polish items under one roof. Also, I have never seen so many Bobak's products in one store other than a Bobak's. Hence, my comparison.

I like both Wally's and Andy's, giving the slight edge to Andy's atmosphere and prepared foods (for my tastes). In hindsight, you are right in that drawing a comparison to these stores may have been appropriate as well.

Best,
Michael / EC

I guess I need to reiterate what I've said before about A&G (and my apology to CMC, I believe you posted when I was in Texas and not as on top of LTHForum).

We've been to A&G a few times, the last on Monday. I found nothing inadequate or mediocre with the produce on my visits. I would compare it very much to Stanley's or Caputo's, which means that the store buyers are often obtaining better deals by taking things near the end of their cycles. But such deals! Pints of strawberries on Monday were 59 cents, romaine lettuce was 29 cents a pound and mesculun mix was $1.50 a pound.

I was also impressed with the variety of produce. Caputo's has a few more Italian things, on Da'Bomb the Indian stuff is extensive, on Argyle they may be greater Asian vegetables, and a Mexican place may have a few extra peppers, but as a selection of all of these, A&G was better. They had fresh garbanzos just like Caputos, menthi leaves and bitter melons and tinhoora or whatever those baby Indian squash are called. There was still about six kinda chiles including Thai. Etc.

We bought a gallon of Swiss Valley milk, and I checked the date this morning, March 27, so it seems fresh to me. What I really like about the dairy section though is all the farmer's cheeses and kefir and no-name butter wrapped in wax papper. There is a fair amount of smoked fishes and heerings, but nothing as cool as what I saw at Woodman's.

There is a huge selection of loose candies from Poland and other parts of the world that are fun to pick through.

As I mentioned before, the selection of breads, especially ryes is almost too daunting, and the deli is very well stocked.

I am glad A&G is pretty close to me. My only complaint is the nearby Euro coffeee shop does not brew nearly as good an espresso as Caffe Italia across from Caputo's.

Rob

Since this thread is discussing Polish grocery.....My fiance's mom is coming today, and would enjoy shopping at a good Polish grocery around the Milwaukee-Belmont or west of there area. Which do you think is the best? A&G, or another?

Food Nut wrote:Since this thread is discussing Polish grocery.....My fiance's mom is coming today, and would enjoy shopping at a good Polish grocery around the Milwaukee-Belmont or west of there area. Which do you think is the best? A&G, or another?

A&G is very multi-cultural with a strong Polish undercurrent. If you're looking for a more distinct Polish market experience, I think you're better off at one of the other places Anna mentioned. Andy's and Wally's are both great and you can hit them both on the same walk.

Wally's Market
3256 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-736-1212

Andy's Deli & Bakery/Mikolajczyk Sausage Shop
3121 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-486-8160

Best,
Michael / EC

For specialized Polish meats and stuf, I think Kurowski's Sausage shop is tops. For baked goods, I am highly parital to Delicious Pastries, 5927 W. Lawrence (at Austin).

Rob

I read with interest the comment on milk at A & G. Be aware that Chicago has a very stringent milk law. Milk has a pull date of 14 days after the date of pastuerization in Chicago. There is no such law for the rest of the state, so therefore milk in the city is never dated far in advance. If you find milk dated 14 or more days this is not legal in Chicago and is meant for the suburbs. Also milk lasts longer than 14 days so if it has been refrigerated at home and has no odor or curdles the milk is drinkable. The biggest hazard to milk is temperature abuse and not the sell by date.
Paulette

Rob, that bakery is not "Delicious", it's "Delightful" and it's de-lovely! We went there today in search of Polish babka. We had been all over the place including Kurowski's (which was so packed five deep at counter that we gave up without buying. They were serving number 23 and we were holding number 79) and we did not see any babka anywhere that were impressive. A lot of heavy-feeling commercial baked stuff that was wrapped in plastic. I was at the point where I was considering baking my own.

Really, we were giving up and heading home when we thought to try just one more place -- your recommendation.

Delightful Pastries
5927 W. Lawrence
east of Austin
(773) 545-7215

What a fabulous... er... delightful place! They have wonderful feather-light, buttery, rum-soaked (or not, various kinds) babkas made on the premises by very exhausted Polish bakers. Also very light poppyseed cakes and coffee cakes, polish cheesecake, colachkys, paczckis, and lots of other stuff.

If anyone cares, they are open at 5 am on Saturday to accomodate the Easter traffic. Look for me there at about 7 am. I'll be the one holding a coffeecup in one hand and a long list in the other. THANK YOU for this recommendation.

thanks for the correction, and I realize it's not the only typo in the post above.

If you go to Delightful on a regular ol' afternoon, when no so crowded, they will spend of time with you, plying you with samples and otherwise teaching you about their stuff. Their breads are excellent too.

Of course, across the street is my lately forelorn Halina's for delightful soups and dinners.

The deli on the same side of the street as Halina, while not the *best* Polish deli in town, is still pretty darn good.

Rob

The wife and I decided to try a new recipe for corned beef where it is slow steamed (with beer of course) on top of some veggies in a Crock pot rather than completely submerged in liquid. We were in need of some decent rye.

I did an LTH search looking for a place to get good rye bread and came across mention of A&G. We had already planned to make our first ever stop at Fonda del Mar (we'll post our experience there in 3 shakes of a delicious lamb's tail), so figured we'd go a little further west and check out A&G.

Well, I was impressed.
I have never seen a larger selection of local breads anywhere, not only the number of bakeries represented, but the variety from each place.
We got white seeded rye from Forest View Bakery and a Black Lithuanian Rye from Ideal Pastry.

On my way to the breads, I stumbled upon the pies. Already excited by the not-so-common presence of a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie, I almost kissed the woman standing near me when I saw through the slits in the crust inside the slits that the chucks of Rhurbarb were large and plentiful. Personally, I have no need for Strawberry in my Rhubarb, but alas, pure rhubarb pies aren't to be found in these parts and this was the best rhubarb-to-strawberry ratio I've seen in some time.
All of the identifiable chunks you see in the pie below are rhubarb.


Some LTHers have expressed concern over the freshness of the produce. I saw rows and rows of enormous variety and close to if not the freshest and most varied produce I have seen in a Chicago market. Since some of you are already asking, “when we’re you there, it was Friday around 3.
There are places that have produce that A&G doesn't, but I would venture that very few have more total variety. Just a minor example, they had "regular" eggplant, "Indian" eggplant, Japanese eggplant, and Italian eggplant (much bigger than your head, pictured below).

Has anyone ever used Italian eggplant what advantages/disadvantages do they have?

The deli was also quite impressive. Not merely Bobak's, but many varieties of polish sausages, many cheeses (3 kinds of fresh Ricotta and 3 kinds of Fresh Mozzarella), and some high quality deli meats. Most things were very reasonably priced, such as the $3.50 lb Bulgarian Feta and $2.99 lb Kalamata Olives in Garlic oil.
The seafood counter is worth noting. Everything looked fresh. The variety of fish was small, but a notable variety of shellfish. They had some fresh and pre-cleaned baby squid for $2.99 lb. and some enormous sea scallops for $10 lb.. Other things included, crawfish, clams, oysters, frogs legs, mussels, and many shrimp varietals.

We spent over an hour there scoping everything out and feel it will be worth a special trip each month from Bucktown.
[/img]

A&G had a strong bread selection from its earliest days at the Belmont location. The diversity of Italian bread did not last long. Now the assortment of Polish and other Eastern European breads has been diminished following rearranging the bread section. There is one less island of shelves while the top shelves are lower than they used to be. They seem to have dropped several bakeries. It may be an optical illusion, but the space allocated to products from their in-store bakery and sweet stuff from big industrial bakeries seems greater. At minimum the percentage of space for this stuff is much greater than it was a couple of weeks ago. The only plus is that maneuvering a cart through the bread department is much easier than it was with the wider aisles and no post in the middle of one of the aisles.

The A&G is my regular supermarket and a great place. I was considering posting a review, so I am glad that this topic came up.

Deli: I love the deli at the A&G for their broad selection and very good prices-- their full pound prices are about the same as Jewelinicks' half-pound prices. The Boczek Domowy (Polish Home-style Bacon) from Andy's Deli is cured with a bit of caraway and very tasty. I also love the service-- fairly quick and they always give a ham slice to my 4-year-old, which distracts her at least until we get to the lettuce aisle.

Produce: I have found the quality of produce to be steadily improving here. Certainly I am finding a failure rate (that is buying something that I have to throw out when I try it) no higher than for my Angelic Organics CSA box. I love that I can get daikon radishes for Vietnamese pickles, cheap romaine for my iguanas, tofu for stir-fry, and rosemary too, plus a wide selection of fruits and other veg. You do have to be vigilant in selecting produce-- the comparison to Stanley's is apt.

Can't find anywhere else: The sofrito coquil (maybe spelled wrong) which is in the refrigerated case with the house-made pico de gallo is outstanding. I bought it by accident thinking it was pico de gallo and now it is my secret ingredient that I cannot live without. I was talking about it with one of the meat department managers and he said he makes it using his Cuban grandmother's recipe. I freeze it in ice cube trays, then when I want to make rice and beans, I sizzle a cube in olive oil and simmer it with a can of black beans. This sofrito is red and green, not all-green like the sofrito sold at Tony's.

Dry goods: The A&G has a great selection of Polish (of course), Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Asian foods. My one problem is that these are organized by ethnicity rather than food type-- so dry chickpeas are in at least 3 different places, and maybe a couple more I haven't found yet. Of course for some things this is an advantage but I have found it more annoying than helpful. Polish cookies and herbal teas are a bargain. They carry Boilan's Birch Beer, to my daughter's delight.

Dairy: I have not seen milk that is close to the sell-by date. The milk is usually a loss leader, so at least one brand will be at a good price.

Bad things: The parking lot is crazy, especially on weekend mornings, and the spaces are small-- I have had my bumper scraped at least once and my car is very small. The tortillas do not have as high of a turn-over as Tony's, so you won't find fresh calientes. I have never tried the fish, but as a rule I do not buy fish from supermarkets ever.

I agree wholeheartedly about the deli. My Italian MIL knows all three ricotta cheeses and informed me which I should get. It participated with MIL's heavenly homemade pasta sauce to achieve a delicious lasagna.

The Lithuanian Rye I purchased was good, but not great. Some of the items in the bakery section, however, were delicious and very inexpensive. I ate them too quickly to remember what I got (this was a few weeks ago).

My only wish would be for a real butcher area. If it was there, I didn't see it. I needed a pork shoulder to make sausage and all I could find were some small hunks at 2.29 a pound.

ViewsAskew wrote:My only wish would be for a real butcher area. If it was there, I didn't see it. I needed a pork shoulder to make sausage and all I could find were some small hunks at 2.29 a pound.

You could have visited Chicago Meat, which is located just south of Belmont on Cicero. They've got all the shoulders you need at good prices, too.

Chicago Meat Market
3021 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
773-777-7116
www.chicagomeatmarket.com

My recollection of A&G is that there are butchers, Mexican butchers, in the area past (south) of the deli. I've never called specifically on their services, but they are there. I suppose the problem you are more concerned with is the state the meat is in before it gets to the store, that is boxed--and I am just assuming for the sake of this post that the meat there is boxed, I do not know. So, there are people who could do some cutting for you, the question is, what.

That all said, I believe I've mentioned this before, but if offal is your thing, A&G has one of the biggest selections around. About any guts and such legally for sale can be found there.

I do also have to say, that I like A&G a lot, and do not mind shopping there, but all things being equal, I'd rather go to Avenues a few miles west on Belmont (at Oak Park Ave); the deli section is much bigger, more prepared foods, and the kinda milk I like.

PS
It's fun to re-read my older post on this place. It is clear that A&G has not so much changed as I have changed. Some of it is simply a fact of finding a better place (the way Yum Thai was still good but then came Spoon), but most of it was my dive into all things local. Swiss Valley milk. I bought that

stevez wrote:

ViewsAskew wrote:My only wish would be for a real butcher area. If it was there, I didn't see it. I needed a pork shoulder to make sausage and all I could find were some small hunks at 2.29 a pound.

You could have visited Chicago Meat, which is located just south of Belmont on Cicero. They've got all the shoulders you need at good prices, too.

Chicago Meat Market
3021 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
773-777-7116
http://www.chicagomeatmarket.com

I have been there for shoulders (and fatback) before and would have gone had I known ahead of time that A&G wouldn't have what I wanted. My point was simply that if anyone is looking for this here, they shouldn't bother.

Vital Information wrote:My recollection of A&G is that there are butchers, Mexican butchers, in the area past (south) of the deli. I've never called specifically on their services, but they are there. I suppose the problem you are more concerned with is the state the meat is in before it gets to the store, that is boxed--and I am just assuming for the sake of this post that the meat there is boxed, I do not know. So, there are people who could do some cutting for you, the question is, what.

I did walk over to that area - past the deli, past the seafood...I did see meat, but only prepackaged meat, not a counter. I surely could have missed it, though. I also didn't see anyone around in that area to ask. By all appearances, to me is also looked like a place where the meat was, as you said, pre-boxed and simply packaged at this store.

The meat counter is to the right of the fish counter when you are facing the latter. Some of the more Mexican-oriented cuts are available only at the service meat counter.