Non-restaurant stops for visiting food geeks?

I'm bringing a good chef/foodie friend to Chicago for her first visit in December. We already have lots of restaurants picked out. But since we can't eat all the time, I was looking for suggestions on other food-related things she might enjoy in the city. Like neighborhoods with good specialty grocery stories (is there a good Latino market in Pilsen, for example?)

Any ideas for things to do while we're not eating?

Don't miss the Indo-Pak grocers on Devon west of Western.

Butcher and Larder is such a pedagogical stop, since Rob and the staff are always willing to give mini-tutorials on where cuts come from and what to do with them.

Logan Square Farmers Market is a real Sunday morning delight, fun to look at, very festive, great taste of a neighborhood, even if you don't eat / buy anything.

If you feel like wearing galoshes, I think Isaac Stein & Co is a very unique shopping experience (wholesale fish).

If your foodie friends are cooks / hosts, restaurant supply stores might appeal, or even the Crate & Barrel outlet (since those aren't in every city).

Is apple picking happening yet?

Where is she coming from? If she's not from a big city with a robust Chinatown/Koreatown, then a Chinese or Korean grocery might be a hit-- maybe the SuperH?

Cheers, Jen

Patel Bros

The Spice House

The olive oil place that I think is really close to the Spice House (never been, but I've been gifted some of their stuff)

Super H in Niles

The Asian market on Broadway just N of Lawrence on the E side of the street in the NE corner of the strip mall. I flippin LOVE that place.

Chicago Food Corp / Joong Boo.

Cermak Produce on Cicero just south of Cermak is a decent sized Latino Mkt.

La Casa Del Pueblo on Blue Island is smaller but a good one - great cafeteria style nummies too, PLUS it puts you near EL Milagro for tamales. I used to like La Casa'a better, but not lately, and there's a rumor that the tamale making lady from La Casa is no longer there which would account for my tastes changing.

Mitsuwa

annak wrote:Butcher and Larder is such a pedagogical stop, since Rob and the staff are always willing to give mini-tutorials on where cuts come from and what to do with them.

Logan Square Farmers Market is a real Sunday morning delight, fun to look at, very festive, great taste of a neighborhood, even if you don't eat / buy anything.

If you feel like wearing galoshes, I think Isaac Stein & Co is a very unique shopping experience (wholesale fish).

If your foodie friends are cooks / hosts, restaurant supply stores might appeal, or even the Crate & Barrel outlet (since those aren't in every city).

Is apple picking happening yet?

The OP said her friend was coming in December. No apple picking and whatever markets may be still open, they will be indoors. Heritage Prairie Farms, just west of Geneva is open all year and grows greens and micro greens all year long as well as producing terrific honey. Reem's Market in Elburn is a quick 15 minutes further west on Rte. 38.

http://www.heritageprairiefarm.com/

http://elburnmarket.com/

That is a loaded question. Right off the top of my head, I could name a few dozen ethnic places to visit, not considering specialty shops. Here are just a few.
Check out some of the Balkan Deli's and Bakeries. I highly recommend Zoran Lalich's for the best Bacon I have ever eaten. He makes some darn good sausages also.
Lalich Delicatessens
4208 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 545-3642

Sandy's is also another good Serbian Bakery/Deli in the area.
Sandy's
5857 West Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL 60630‎
(773) 794-1129

If you are on Devon, you should check out City Fresh at Kedzie and Devon. They have a great selection of Sausages, Cheeses, Wines and Baked Goods from the Balkans.

City Fresh Market
3201 W. Devon,
Chicago, IL 60659
Tel: 773-681-8600

La Unica would be a good stop also for Pan Latin goods

La Unica Food Mart
1515 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60660

While you are there you could stop at Devon Market across the street for Balkan and Eastern European goods

Also in Rogers Park, is the Caribbean American Bakery for Meat pies, Bula cakes and spice buns

Caribbean American Bakery
1539 W Howard St
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 761-0700

My favorite Mexican markets are the Supermercados Morelia. They sell a great array of prepared food and fresh made tortillas and other baked goods.
Morelia Supermarket
7300 N Western Ave,
Chicago, IL 60645
(773) 761-3291

Morelia Supermarket #2
4833 W Diversey Avenue
Chicago, IL 60639


The Oakton Market in Skokie is fun because of the sheer size of its produce section which carries all kinds of ethnic produce (like 6 kinds of eggplant). The bread selection is pretty impressive also.

Marketplace On Oakton
4817 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 677-9330

While you are there, you should stop at Eurostyle for Russian sausages and other goods.(including a great vodka selection)

Eurostyle Sausage Co
4861 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 329-1430

Fresh Farms in Niles on Touhy is pretty cool also

I'd suggest getting a copy of A Cook's Guide to Chicago by Marilyn Pocius. It's a bit out of date (2006) but is still a great resource and perfect for getting a broad view of what's available.

Maxwell Street Market would also be a good destination.

Chinatown for woks, and the noodle factory?

Super H Mart and Fresh Farms, then lunch (salt ramen w/pork) at Santouka at Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights.

Niles has more than 50 food-shopping destinations, spanning Korean, Indian, Filipino, Serbian, Polish, Jewish, Greek and more. I'll be glad to take you and your friend on a tour, if you like.

Not sure where you will be and how far their interests span but any of the excellent coffee shops and some of the roasting tours can be fun if someone is into gay coffee/espresso.

Also, the Lincoln Park whole foods has yet to disappoint any of my out of town guests. Everyone is not expecting much because they have been to one, but getting a walk around beer or wine is a fun stopover.

Pastoral is also nice.

Too much to do.

Super H in Niles.

How about a trip to Blommer's? Contact them - you may be able to take a tour!

Does it strike anyone else as odd that Fox & Obel hasn't been mentioned?
Or are we all looking forward to Eataly putting the nails into that coffin?

Not clear on where the visitor is from but Mitsuwa has several US locations and H-Mart has lots of locations so they aren't necessarily that unusual (again, depending on ehre the visitor is from).

spinynorman99 wrote:H-Mart has lots of locations

Yeah, but the Niles H-Mart is the largest H-Mart in North America, according to the mailings they send here.

nr706 wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:H-Mart has lots of locations

Yeah, but the Niles H-Mart is the largest H-Mart in North America, according to the mailings they send here.

By square footage maybe, but they have a number of items (mostly packaged foods) repeated throughout the store, which always seemed odd to me, like they couldn't get enough variety to fill the shelves.

Thank you all for the great replies! I got really busy and hadn't had a chance to look back for replies (I thought I had notifications set up - must check my settings). There are some great ideas here! My friend is from the DC-ish area. We will be staying in Logan Square and will not have a car, so places we can get on the L are preferred. I'm going to forward her link to this thread so she can tell me what appeals. Thanks!

tammylc wrote:Thank you all for the great replies! I got really busy and hadn't had a chance to look back for replies (I thought I had notifications set up - must check my settings). There are some great ideas here! My friend is from the DC-ish area. We will be staying in Logan Square and will not have a car, so places we can get on the L are preferred. I'm going to forward her link to this thread so she can tell me what appeals. Thanks!

Not sure if this fits in your plans at all, but go to Bang Bang Pie Shop for biscuits and pie. It's in Logan Square,
California near Armitage. The pie is great, but the biscuits are seriously the best on this earth.