Kurowski Sausage Shop

Kurowski Sausage Shop

Amata and I had some scores to settle on the north side and, after taking care of business, thought a little ethnic grocery shopping would be just the thing to put the spring back in our step.

We decided to drive down Milwaukee from up around Belmont and just see what we might find. Not surprisingly, we found that characteristically Chicago mix of Mexlish or Polican... the Mexican (plus some Central American) and Polish, that is... For whatever reason, perhaps memories of posts and photos by VI and Seth and others from the Mil-walk-athon, we decided to go to Kurowski's.

So transfixed by the meat and deli counter we were, that we barely noticed there was a whole other room with more groceries and produce. But since our farmers' market is going strong, we remained focussed on pork products and the imported grocery items of the main room.

Of imported groceries, we bought just some Polish made egg noodles, a bottle of horseradish mustard and a couple of absurdly underpriced bags of German spaetzle -- since we still hope to be moving soon, no need to stock up. From the deli counter, with the help of two very charming women (one with no English and another with less), we got some pressed pork loin and, on the recommendation of one of the two women, some bacon. We also bought two kinds of sausages, one fresh and one cooked, and will add a note about them after we eat them.

In addition, we bought a couple of rolls, a large loaf of bread ($0.69!) and a loaf of rye from the Baltic Bakery. Once home, we made pork loin sandwiches with the whole wheat rolls and they were very tasty.

Enough meat for two lunches, two dinners and a bunch of bacon on top of that, plus the noodles and spaetzle and mustard and two rolls and two loaves of bread, all that for $16.26.

Plus a very enjoyable time looking at all sorts of interesting items and communicating (sort of) with a couple of really friendly people. A lot more fun than going to the Jewel...

Antonius (Amataque)

Kurowski Sausage Shop
2976-78 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago
773-645-1692

Some pictures of the famous Kurowski sausages and store from the Mil-Walk-Ee.

Of course you really need smellavision to capture how great this place is...

rg

I love to stock up on Polish pantry items at Kurowski's and another store across from the Red Apple that I don't know it's name.

I think someone talked about the language barrier at Kurowski's before somewhere?

Are there English speaking deli staff? I'm very intimidated by this place. I'm Polish, but ignorant of the language. Like many immigrants back in the day, my grandparents refused to even teach their own daughter the language of their home country.

The only time I've stood in line for meat, I asked for fresh sausage and the woman said "fresh" and pointed at the wall of hanging sausage.

What are some of those crazy looking cuts of meat in the case?

What else should I be buying from that case that people wait in line for?

Hi Food Nut,

when Antonius and I went to Kurowski's we didn't know anything about what to ask for, and we don't speak Polish either. We just pointed at a couple things. The woman helping us understood "half a pound" but not "a third of a pound", to give you a sense of how much English is spoken there.

I'll see if I can dig up the receipt from there with the names of what we bought.

In the meantime, you might look at this website (a company based in Chicago, apparently) which has a lot of sausages pictured with their Polish names: Polana

A&A&All

Thanks for the Korowski tip. Finally made it in yesterday,excellent sausage etc. at very reasonable prices. Picked up a lb.of nice sliced ham for $3.09 and a beautiful pair of kielbasa Litewska ran a whopping $1.68.
The Kielbasa was litely smoked and got along just fine with the chicken and shrimp in last nights jambalaya.

The Arminetti liquor store a few doors north of Kurowski's has a great selection of Polish beers. Tyskie Gronie, a really fine Pilsner is currently on sale at $17.95 for a case of 20 half litre bottles

John

I was at Kurowski to shop for New Years Eve and I got a giant loaf of crust Polish white bread, still warm from the oven for $1 that was spectacular. A thick dusting of semolina on the bottom, thick crust, dense crumb, perfect for toast or dunking in olive oil. They were sitting on the racks at the front of the store.

Wow, another big hit from LTH forum. This place is phenomenal!! I needed a few pounds of kielbasa for a recipe and did an LTH search. I stopped by yesterday afternoon and I was really impressed with this store. I thought it was worth bumping this thread b/c Kurowski's hasn't been brought up in while.
This place is a fairly large double storefront deli/grocery selling all kinds of Polish food products with a heavy emphasis on pork. The pig scent in this place brought tears to my eyes (in a good way--it smells amazing) They have an incredible deli as well as a small selection of baked goods, prepared foods, packaged foods, candy, etc..,
As far as the language barrier goes...I was rather naive thinking I could hold up 3 fingers (for pounds) and say "kielbasa". They have tons of kinds of kielbasa so that was probably equivalent to walking into the Cheesecake Factory (which I try to avoid) and saying "cheesecake". In any case, there was a woman who spoke excellent English when I was there yesterday (one of the other counter people tracked her dwon for me. ) The people were very friendly and my impression is that if you go there without and extensive Polish vocabulary (I can say "beer" and "thank you"), they will make it work for you.
I should also add that this place is CHEAP (I spent about $5.75 for 3 lb kielbasa and picked up some very tasty liqueur filled 'Voila' brand chocolates for $3).

Another great Polish store is Gene's Sausage Shop and Deli It is on Belmont between Long and Lockwood. (Around 5100 W.) It has fresh meats and Polish dishes and the prices are very good.

***sidenote***

Has anyone else noticed the expansion of The Pierogi Factory -Alexandria Foods? They are taking over the corner! I remember when it was a tiny doorway with a Polish lady behind a half (Dutch?) door, filling your pierogi orders!

Kurowski's Sausage Shop!

To those who have never been, you must go!

They have an unparalleled selection of house-smoked meats and enough traditional polish grocery items to leave your tongue in a permanent knot.

The place is always packed, Polish is the language of choice, and the staff range from down right surely to begrudgingly helpful (this treatment may or may not apply to Polish nationals).

Over all, it's one of my favorite grocery stores in the city. In addition to having some of the cheapest fresh and smoked meats I've ever seen in my life, they also have a wide range of prepared and deli items which are delicious, homemade and literally penny's on the pound.

Some Stand-Outs at Kurowski's:

House-Smoked Rainbow Trout:

This delicate, flaky house-smoked fish might be the best I've ever tasted. Available in a wide-range of sizes, these smoked fish are an epicures dream at what usually amounts to less than $5 for a whole fish.

House-Smoked Kiełbasa Weselna

These double smoked, ready-to-eat garlic sausages are amazing, cheap and will def. be served at my Wedding.

House-Made Pierogi Ruski

Vavel Brand Black Currant Juice

Cracovia Brand Black Currant Jam

Kurowski's House Made Soups


Any other Kurowski heads on the board? Any products that I need to try aren't listed here? Let me know what's up!

Loftyendeavors,

Your post was merged into an existing thread of people from your tribe: Kurosku Heads.

(our search function found 32 mentions)

Welcome to LTH.

Regards,

Long live Kurowski's!
I'm Polish, no very little of the language, my grandmother had no English and my Mother was fluent in both English and Polish so I just point and gesture and sometimes I'm not exactly sure of what i purchase but it is invariably very good!-Dick

I am Polish in name, but in no other way really. I headed to Kurowski's on Good Friday in search of kielbasa for my sweet/sour cabbage/sausage soup for the LTH Small Household Food Exchange. I was completely overwhelmed. I never figured out where the numbers were for the meat counter and after making two passes, I was happy to find a suitable kielbasa pre-packaged in the self-service section. I made a mental note that the next visit must occur on a non-holiday weekend. I'm quite happy with the kielbasa.