Lewis Produce Market, Waukegan

Hi,

Yesterday I was at Lewis Produce Market in pursuit of an ages old quest: fresh raw turkey tails. I have been searching for these for at least eight or more years. My Dad and I happen to admire these appendages on any bird we consume. He assumes they are always for him. Somestimes I will snag the tail before it leaves the kitchen fending irritation none was delivered with the bird. Long ago, Helen commented she bought extra turkey tails to roast. It has been on my shopping wish list ever since. Finally it was quenched yesterday.

Lewis Produce Market is really quite an interesting place to visit. Your visit begins by giving a quarter ransom to obtain a cart. Aldi and Lewis are both right about refundable payment for using a cart. You are quite motivated to return it to the store to collect your quarter. If you don't bother, there is someone lingering who will happily take it back to earn a quarter tip.

In the vestibule, they have a taco stand with tacos priced at a dollar. There is also fresh squeezed juice available. I can see people popping in for an inexpensive lunch, then shopping to pick up a few odds and ends.

You walk straight into the produce department like H-Mart. The vegetables and fruits are priced well like you see at Stanley's. These places are reasonable places for purchasing if you consider the deal you make: cook it now or forever hold your peace. The vegetable selection covered a broad range from plantains in various degrees of ripeness to bitter melons. While there is definitely a leaning toward Hispanic clients, their range of offerings accomodate Indian and Asian produce requirements, too.

They have a butchers on the premises who are preparing meats for their mostly Mexican clientelle. You can likely get what you want prepared your way, if you can convey your thoughts to them. Most of the counter staff speak so-so English. If you can patiently described what you want, it can be interesting. For instance, yesterday they were selling pork shoulder for 88 cents a pound. I wanted two shoulders of roughly the same weight. The counter person thought I wanted the pork shoulder sliced. He eventually grasped I wanted a second shoulder. I gave up on having the same weight.

They seem to work more from primals than boxed meat. I saw a leg of beef being trimmed from just above the hoof to the knee. I think I might be able to get the steak with fat cap Kari Underly showed at the beef cutting demonstration. She said it is a popular cut in South American never seen here. I feel a challenge! (If it can take me 8-10 years to obtain raw turkey tails, I can wait.)

They had quite a bit of prepared food such as carnitas (with some intestines coiled in there) and various rice preparations including Puerto Rican variants with Pigeon Peas. There is more than I am suggesting, which I will elaborate after a future visit.

The frozen foods had roti and parantha. There were calamasi concentrates as well as straight unadulterated calamasi juice, which is native to the Philippines. While it may not be a straight substitute for going to Devon Avenue. It certainly is a stopgap and delays visits to the Chicago for some foodstuffs. From where I live, it is quicker trip to Waukegan than to Chicago without as much traffic issues.

Where I live there are two Jewels, a Whole Foods, two Sunset Foods, a Garden Fresh Market and a Dominicks less than 4 miles from home. Waukegan has two Jewels, a Dominicks, an Aldi and quite a few independent grocers large and small. North Chicago does not have any major grocer. If Waukegan were more ethnically diverse, it would rival Niles.

Lewis Produce Market
(847) 693-3100
2727 Grand Ave, Waukegan, IL 60085

When passing by on Hwy 41 North Bound I have made it a practise to stop at Lewis Produce for a couple of years now after my landscaper told me about the place. I agree with Cathy2's comments pretty much. But now there is a new SuperMercardo in Kenosha, 'Kenosha Fresh Market' which obviates the need for me to visit Lewis Produce.-Dick