Groceries & Markets to the south...

After living on the northside for several years, I've taken for granted all the great groceries I had access to. Some of my usual stops for groceries included Devon Market, Morse Fruit & Meat Market, La Fresacita, Edgewater Produce, Patel Bros, Viet Hoa, Broadway Market, etc.

Now after relocating to downtown, I'm feeling my way around the new surroundings and I'd like to find groceries that are comparable to those I frequented when up north (which is probably a challenge). I don't want to shop at Dominicks, Jewel, Whole Foods or other big box groceries if I don't have to. If you have any ethnic groceries in the areas of Chinatown, Bridgeport, West Loop, Hyde Park, Pilsen, and surrounding areas that I can add on my list to check out, I'd greatly appreciate it!


Also, what are the thoughts on the places near Fulton Market that are wholesale, yet open to the public? I recall seeing a couple along Lake St... are these worth a visit?

So far, here's what I have on my list to check out...

Conte di Savoia European Specialties
1438 W. Taylor St.

La Casa del Pueblo
1810 S. Blue Island

Supermercado El Guerno
2101 W. Cermak Rd

Richwell Market
1835 S. Canal

Graziano's
901-905 Randolph Street


And these were suggested by fellow LTH'ers - thank you!

Peoria Packing
1300 W. Lake St
Chicago Il
312-738-1800

Chicago Meat Market
3021 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
773-777-7116

Isaacson & Stein Fish
800 W. Fulton Market
(312) 421-2444
http://www.isaacsonandsteinfishcompany.com/

Pete's Market
2526 W. Cermak Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

Cermak Produce
1711 W. Cermak Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

Cheese Purveyor
4727 S. Talman (between Western and California Avenues)
Chicago 60632
Website is http://greatamericancheese.com/

Hyde Park Produce
1226 E 53rd St.

Treasure Island
1526 E. 55th Street

Gio's Restaurant and Deli (Italian)
2724 S Lowe Ave

Welcome to the nearly-South Side. I moved from Racine and Armitage to 31st and Halsted in Bridgeport about 3 years ago. The culinary shock was horrific. If you're not willing to go the Whole Paycheck route, the shopping is pretty bleak down here. Sorry. That said, there are a few places to get the goods...

One is Gio's Restaurant and Deli at 2724 S Lowe Ave. They have a pretty good selection of dried pasta, some frozen pastas, canned goods, biscotti, etc. They serve dinner there too. It can be great, if you choose carefully from the daily specials. BYOB.

There's a very good cheese purveyor, open on Saturday mornings in a warehouse at 4727 S. Talman, Chicago 60632 ( between Western and California Avenues ). They carry a few other things, too, like specialty grains. Website is http://greatamericancheese.com/.

I find that Hyde Park Produce at 1226 E 53rd St. is the best thing going on the south side. In addition to great fruits, veggies, deli, dairy, etc, a group of French nuns sell amazing tarts and sweets there on the weekends. Amazing. The meat department is very limited, but you can always hit Treasure Island at 1526 E. 55th Street.

If you discover new sources, please share!

I heartily endorse Hyde Park Produce. Finally, good quality and affordable produce in Hyde Park.

I would also check out Pete's Market. There's a bunch of South Side locations, but they tend to be huddled on the Southwest Side. The closest to you would be the one on Cermak. You might also want to check out Cermak Produce. I've never been to the Cermak location, but the one up here on 52nd & Pulaski is very similar to Pete's Market, without some of the higher-end organic foods:

Pete's Market
2526 W. Cermak Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

Cermak Produce
1711 W. Cermak Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

It's only for fish, but as you asked about Fulton Market I thought I'd mention Isaacson's, on the corner of Fulton and Halsted. Great selection, great prices, usually very fresh. Just be prepared to serve yourself (plastic gloves provided, but wear short sleeves), and choose your footwear and pants-length wisely (floor is often wet...)

Oh, I missed the note about Lake Street. Yeah, there's places worth visiting there. If you like meat, especially pork, hie thee over to Peoria Packing. Previous thread on the subject.

Peoria Packing
1300 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607

So I took advantage of the beautiful day Saturday and hit up some of these stores. Here are my reviews...

Cermak Produce - 1711 W. Cermak Rd.
This was a nice place for produce and very reasonable prices. Another plus was having an Aldi's next door for a few basic items.

Supermercado El Guerno - 2101 W. Cermak Rd
This was a good store for produce.. and I noticed very little shrink wrapped meats/poultry available. Seems as though patrons of this store are used to taking a ticket and waiting for the counter folks to package your meat selections as they come. The line was a bit long however the prices seem reasonable. Overall everything was clean and orderly - definitely a plus!

Fairplay Foods - 2200 S Western Ave
This was an okay store - nothing too exciting to report about. Staff was friendly, store was clean and organized with a nice layout and prices were comparable or even less than your average Jewel/Dominicks. I scored some great looking asparagus for $.99 a lb which was a nice surprise!

Pete's Market - 2526 W. Cermak Rd.
Now THIS is what I'm talking about and what I was looking for! I loved visiting Pete's and it was not only clean, organized and well kept, but the prices were outstanding. Quality wise, so far the produce I got has been great and I'm looking forward to the various meats I purchased at quite a bargain!

Graziano's - 901-905 Randolph Street
I had the pleasure of talking with Jim here and he was especially helpful. He shared with me a little bit about the neighborhood and the various other places nearby where I could take a peek for groceries... including the produce market and 2 meat shops across the street on Randolph. (I think the names were Columbus, Nick's and another name that escapes me)

Isaacson & Stein Fish - 800 W. Fulton Market
When I was a child, my mom would make a couple trips from the far north suburbs to Chicago just for fish. She used to call it "Fulton's Fish"... and when I went to Isaacson & Stein's I was brought back to my childhood days. The "Fulton's Fish" I remembers is in fact Isaacson & Stein! It's not quite as big as I remember and the selections were definitely less than years ago... but it's good to know this place is still around!
I also checked out:

Rubino's Seafood - 735 W Lake St
The building itself is large but upon stepping in, the offerings were down to 1 refrigerated locker where only a few random seafood were presented in large rubbermaid bins filled with ice. It was around 1pm so perhaps all the good stuff is available early in the morning...

Alliance Paper - 913 W Randolph St
This is a great place for food packaging however I wish they could sell items in cases less than 1000 pcs... or just smaller amounts overall! I guess I'll have to seek out others who may want to split some of the packaging so we can take advantage of the wholesale prices

Herzog Store Fixtures - 1034 W Madison Street
The owner, Steve?, was great to talk to and they have some fun items available. They were even generous enough to provide me with 3 loose martini glasses they had on hand since they wanted to rid them and avoid breakage!