best place for best salami/italian cured meat selection?

I am putting together a cold cut spread for tailgating this weekend and I want to get a selection of good italian cured meats and cheeses. I have never been to places like Bari Foods, D'amato's, etc. so I don't have a good basis for comparison. I'd like to get stuff that is a step up from the standard genoa salami, mortadella, etc. from a company like Boardshead. I'd like to find things like soppressata, finocchiona, coppa etc from more of a artisanal salami maker. I one place I know of that carries this type of selection is Panozzo's in the South Loop area. Are there any other places closer to the north side that have a similar selection?

http://www.panozzos.com/also/

If you expand to German, Polish and Balkan stuff, there's a ton on the Northside. Paulina, Gene's and Beograd come to mind. For Italian, a trip west to the Riviera and Caputo's among others on Harlem can't be beat. The house made stuff at the Riviera is terrific and can't be bought elsewhere in town.

A few years back Fox & Obel carried a nice selection from Salumeria Biellese. I'n not sure how extensive it is under the new management.

F&O's selection is still pretty decent.

I've also been surprised by the quality of the options at Cippolina and Olivia's Market in the North/Damen area.

I haven't been there recently, but Juicy Wine Bar / Company had a very good selection (exclusive, I believe) of Armandino Batali salumi, and at least is somewhat northerer.

694 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago IL 60622

Out west, Marion Street Cheese Market has some unusual selections, including some very nice speck. Both of these places are pricey. Caputo's offers best bang(er) for buck. <boo>.

Panozzo's in the South Loop has, in my estimation, the best salami and prosciutto selection in town. They generally have the full lineup from Fra' Mani and La Quercia (two high-quality US producers), in addition to a number of other brands both domestic and imported. The staff is extremely friendly, slices their meats to proper thickness (which can be an issue at places like Whole Foods), and they've got a nice variety of other prepared foods if you're interested.

If you're game to try salamis outside of the Italian styles, there are a lot of interesting location options.

George's, on W. Lawrence, has a really interesting variety of dry-cured Eastern-European salamis that they make themselves. Apparently they used to make everything in the back of the shop, but started doing a healthy wholesale business to locally-owned Chicago groceries (I've seen their stuff at Harvest Time and others) and now have a production spot in the burbs somewhere.

At a recent party I threw, the crowd favorite dry-cured salami was the "Braunschweyger" from Alef Sausage in Mundelein. Despite it's name, it was nothing like what I think of as braunschweiger - it was a mixed beef/pork dry salami. Delicious. I bought it at Kasia's along with a bunch of other salamis and sausages.

The nice thing about both George's and Kasia's is that you can try a lot of locally-produced Eastern European-style sausages at incredibly low prices.

-Dan

Panozzo's Italian Market
1303 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605-2601
(312) 356-9966
http://panozzos.com

George's Liquors & Delicatessen
1964 West Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640-4010
(773) 728-6333

Kasia's
2101 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago
(773) 486-7500
http://www.kasiasdeli.com

Alef Sausage Inc
1026 Campus Drive
Mundelein, IL 60060-3831
(847) 968-2533
http://www.alefsausage.com

I'll have to try Panozzo's some time, thanks. I've had good luck with Fox and Obel. The help there is hit or miss, I usually get great help from Nick. Some of my favorites are the Petit Jesu for a salami, Pio Tosini is probably my favorite underneath all of the Iberico grades, with belotta being at the top, it really is that good! I've had a lot of different types of La Quercia...which were all very good performers too and they won't cost you a fortune. There is also some nice Spanish slicing chorizo there too.

yum!

dan