11 Unique Grocery Stores Across The US You Need To Visit
In the United States, there are countless grocery stores you can visit to fill up your shopping cart and refrigerator. Our country has been dominated by mass supermarket chains, only featuring basic ingredients like dairy products, dry ingredients, produce, meat, and seafood. Everyday shopping at these stores can become boring, and if you're an avid home cook, you probably crave some innovation and diversity in your shopping experience. Thankfully, we are blessed with numerous grocery stores across the country that offer a plethora of unique food, ingredients, and products.
Nationwide, you can find niche grocery stores selling distinctive and curated products tailored to their demographic. Whether it's Erewhon in Los Angeles selling vibrant green juices, Foodland in Hawaii cranking delicious poke bowls, or Papaya in Detroit selling jars of homemade hummus, these unique grocery stores are constantly evolving, giving us greater accessibility to ingredients and food from around the world. Here are 11 noteworthy grocery stores that set themselves apart from the standard American grocery store you should check out.
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Amazon Go Grocery is a unique cashier-less grocery store concept in which customers shop and are charged through their Amazon account. The company recently opened its first store in Seattle, Washington, and currently has around 17 locations nationwide. The "Just Walk Out" technology is now available at over 500 Whole Foods locations, Amazon stores, and over 150 third-party stores in airports, stadiums, and convenience stores.
In addition to the innovative technology, Amazon Go is a great place to pick up staple grocery items such as dairy products, fresh produce, baked goods, meat, and seafood. The store offers an array of prepared meals and ready-to-eat foods, including rotisserie chicken, pizza, and ribs, all made onsite. You can also find prepared sandwiches, salads, pasta salads, and family-style Indian meals. You might be wondering, who's there to bag your groceries after you're done shopping? Don't fret; the store is equipped with bagging stations that include reusable and paper bags for customers to reorganize and bag their goods.
While you could hop on a flight to Rome to shop through the city's ancient farmers' markets, you can do the next best thing — head to Eataly. For those of you who don't know, Eataly is famous for its distinctive blend of marketplace, restaurant, and educational space, founded on the principles of Italian cuisine and culture.
With 10 locations in the United States, each Eataly has its unique layout and offering. Each Eataly location features an artisan bakery producing breads, pizzas, and focaccia alongside a fresh pasta section offering homemade spaghetti, ravioli, and other pasta varieties. Across locations, you find an array of exquisite dining options. For example, the Los Angeles location has the restaurant Capri, which focuses on the niche flavors of Southern Italy. On the other side of the country in New York City, the Flatiron location has Bar Milano, a restaurant featuring delightful Northern Italian classics like risotto and pollo alla Milanese.
Every store has a marketplace that's stocked with top-quality food and ingredients imported directly from Italy. You'll find a wide variety of Italian cheeses and an impressive deli station where you can order an array of Italian cold cuts. Alongside having amazing building blocks for a charcuterie board, they've got various dried pasta, legumes, olives, and tinned fish. The next time you're in a major U.S. city, see if there's an Eataly nearby and treat yourself to a good meal and a shopping cart filled with Italian goodies.
Tokyo Central is a Japanese grocery chain located on the West Coast. It is a haven for anything Japanese, including fresh produce, seafood, meat, beauty items, books, and housewares. Founded in 2015 by the Marukia Corporation, the grocery store chain opened its first location in a suburb of Costa Mesa, California. Over the last decade, Tokyo Central has expanded to 12 locations across California and one storefront on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
The store features an excellent grab-and-go section with hot bento boxes, freshly made tempura, ramen bowls, nigiri, sushi rolls, and onigiri. This section is a great lunch option for road trips, work breaks, or even just a snack. In addition to all the savory delights, you can find Japanese whipped cream sandwiches, fruit cups, and chewy, irresistible mochi filled with red bean paste and peanut butter.
Its selection of sushi-grade seafood is astonishing. You'll find an array of precut sashimi, such as fatty otoro, grilled unagi, buttery salmon, sea bream, and octopus. If you want to practice your sushi knife skills at home, you're in luck, as it also offers a variety of whole and half sushi-grade fish ready to be made into sushi rolls.
After checking the seafood section, head to the housewares department to explore their extensive collection of kitchen gadgets and appliances. Its housewares department has everything you could imagine, from rice steamers and onigiri shapers to bamboo sushi mats, chopsticks, and ceramic tea sets.
If you're taking a trip to the beautiful Hawaiian islands and wondering where you should go grocery shopping for your trip, check out the iconic supermarket chain Foodland. It's the island's largest locally owned and operated grocery chain that's the perfect spot for picking up local products, fresh food, and delicious meals. Foodland has 31 locations across the islands of Kauai, O'ahu, Maui, and Hawaii'i.
Foodland is well-known by locals to have some of the best poke selection on the islands. You can either buy them by the pound or in a poke bowl with steamed white rice. It has an array of different types of marinated ahi poke, including spicy mayo, shoyu, and oyster sauce, as well as salmon poke and kimchi-flavored mussels! Top it with a little bit of soy sauce and furikake, then you've got lunch! Alongside all the fresh seafood options, you get fried chicken karaage, Hawaiian mac salad, shrimp tempura, salads, spicy edamame, and various Korean side dishes.
Alongside the glorious hot and cold bar, Foodland also has a handful of restaurants in various locations. The Ala Moana location has the innovative restaurant Eleven that has a creative cocktail menu, an extensive whiskey list, small tapas-style plates, and delicious desserts. If you're looking for something a bit more casual, try the Pau Hana Bar, which has craft beer on tap, simple cocktails, and local comfort food.
Everyone has heard of Erewhon in recent months. The Los Angeles-based grocer has been broadcast across social media for its celebrity-endorsed smoothie collaborations, valet parking, and steep prices. This upscale grocery chain has 10 locations in Los Angeles and is currently planning to expand to three new locations in 2025. Erewhon's primary focus is to promote health and well-being by providing a curated selection of organic and ethically sourced ingredients and products.
As you stroll through the polished aisles, you quickly realize it's just an ordinary grocery store, albeit with a health-conscious, curated twist. The refrigerated section is stocked with house-made bone broth, locally sourced cheeses, and vegan ice creams. You can find a variety of gluten-free flours, and nearby, there's likely a wall of glass jars filled with nuts, paleo granola, and air-dried fruits. In another aisle, a plethora of vitamins and supplements further exemplifies how the grocery store curates its products for a demographic that prioritizes a healthy lifestyle.
Thinking of Erewhon, thoughts of the iconic juice bar and viral Hailey Bieber Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie may instantly come to mind. However, that's not the only offering from the store. The in-house kitchen creates a delicious variety of cold and hot foods, including coconut chicken tenders, buffalo cauliflower, and its famous crispy rice sushi sandwich. It features a mixture of wild tuna, salmon, and crab topped with teriyaki sauce. Tourists and locals across Los Angeles make a pit stop at Erewhon solely for its delectable in-house kitchen creations.
If there's one grocery store in Manhattan that a local New Yorker will tell you to check out, it's probably Kalustyan's. This gourmet grocery store started in 1944 as a tiny spice shop run by Kerope Kalustyan. In 1988, he sold the store to Osmani and Sayedul Alam, who focused on expanding it and making a plethora of Middle Eastern ingredients accessible to all New Yorkers.
Any ingredient you can think of, whether it be a spice or herb, Kalustyan's likely has it in stock — and if not, they'll happily order it for you. Every aisle is packed with myriad products like canned hummus, pickles, olive oil, and teas. The store is practically stuffed with endless bags of spices from around the world, from garam masala from India to black peppercorns from Ecuador. Just when you think their spice selection is impressive, take a look at the countless bottles of flavored syrups and a nut section that could easily triumph over any major grocery chain.
The refrigerated section features a variety of cheeses, yogurts, and house-made labneh balls seasoned with cumin and chili oil. The store also offers cookbooks, kitchenware items, and staff members who gladly share ideas on what to make with the ingredients you've picked up. Just like how it would be a shame to miss iconic landmarks, like the Statue of Liberty, it would be an even bigger pity if you didn't pop your head into Kalustyan's on your next trip.
Northgate Market is a grocery chain that focuses on Mexican and Hispanic grocery items and prepared foods. It was founded by Don Miguel González Jiménez in 1980 after immigrating from Jalostotitlán, Mexico. The first store had humble beginnings in a converted liquor store in Anaheim, California. Over time, it has expanded to 44 locations across the Southern California area.
In store, you can find a wide range of produce, fresh cuts of meat including carne asada and al pastor, seafood, cheese, and other Mexican and Hispanic grocery items. At some locations, it even has a traditional Mexican bakery (or panaderia), offering breads and pastries like pan dulce, conchas, and tortas.
The recently opened Costa Mesa location introduces a new concept called Mercado González, and it's worth stopping by if you're traveling through Orange County. The Mercado González location is basically a miniature amusement park for Mexican cuisine, featuring 20 puestos (or food stalls), each offering traditional and delicious food. The Churreria El Moro stand from Mexico City is a highlight -- they're frying countless batches of crispy, chewy churros alongside seven different types of hot chocolate. If you're looking for something savory, try La Tamaleria, where they're cranking out handmade tamales, or head over to Birrieria La Tapatia to taste their mouthwatering birria tacos and quesadillas. Oh, and be sure to stop by the Tortilleria La González on your way out to buy some freshly made corn and Sonora-style tortillas as a souvenir.
Planning a vacation to The Motor City? If so, you should check out Papaya, the unique Middle Eastern grocery chain located in the Metro Detroit area. Established in 2002 by Khalil and Faried Saad, the company has five locations, and it has been making Middle Eastern ingredients accessible to the Detroit community ever since.
The grocery store is renowned for its selection of high-quality fruits, vegetables, and Middle Eastern pantry staples. At Papaya, you can find various tahinis for your hummus, countless bottles of rose water for your desserts, and gigantic bags of basmati rice and legumes. It doesn't stop there — the dairy department has loads of delightful products like labneh and Arab-style feta. The company imports many of its Middle Eastern products from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt, offering a one-stop shop for various Arab delights.
If you're looking for Halal-certified butchery to pick up some meat for dinner, look no further. The butchery at Papaya is completely Zahiba Halal operated, and all of its meat products are hand-slaughtered by its butchers weekly. You can find a wide range of Middle Eastern-style cuts of meat, including chicken tawook, beef shawarma, raw beef kafta, and housemade shish kebabs.
You can recognize you're in a good Indian restaurant if the space is filled with families, an aroma of spices lingering in the air, and it's an inviting atmosphere — all of these qualities transfer to Patel Brothers, the largest Indian grocery chain in the United States. The company was founded by two brothers, Mufat and Tulsi Patel, who opened their first store in 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in a 900-square-foot shop, Patel Brothers has expanded to 52 stores nationwide.
Patel Brothers is cherished for its extensive variety of authentic Indian and South Asian grocery items not typically found at a standard American supermarket. The store offers a plethora of teas, essential spices for Indian recipes, bags of grains like rice, dal, beans, and lentils, as well as some of the freshest produce available. They have on hand nearly every Indian ingredient, snack, and sauce you can imagine.
At every Patel Brothers, an in-store kitchen and bakery create fresh buttery roti, crispy naan, and crunchy samosas. It offers delicious house-baked breads and pastries alongside traditional Indian desserts. Its frozen section is exceptional as well, offering a variety of frozen samosas, scallion parathas, creamy mango ice cream, and pakoras, ready to be re-fried. It's a great place to stop by if you want to stock up your freezer with easy meals.
If you're taking a road trip to the charming southern state of Georgia, you should definitely visit the famous Your DeKalb Farmers Market, referred to by locals as "YDFM." This spacious international grocery store is located outside of Atlanta, and it's a great spot to pick up some snacks for the road or as a pit stop for lunch.
The sheer size of the grocery store is truly breathtaking -- the store is over 140,000 square feet, and it is constantly bustling with activity. You can find products from over 180 countries, offering a vast array of different ingredients and products you might not be able to find at your average grocery store. Among the offerings are over 500 varieties of cheese, 60 different types of coffee (roasted onsite, of course), 700 varieties of wine, and 500 varieties of beer.
The bakery at YDFM only uses organic ingredients. Every day, the store produces over 150 varieties of bread, pastries, muffins, cakes, and pies, all made in-store by their trained bakery staff. In addition to the bakery, YDFM features a large in-house food production that creates over 50 types of fresh and dried pasta. It also offers delicious prepared foods like jumbo stuffed pasta shells, quiches, mac and cheese, roasted beef pastrami, and smoked salmon. You can even customize your own pizza!
If the glitz of Erewhon isn't really your scene, you should head to the North Hollywood staple, Olive Fresh Garden Marketplace. This quaint Armenian market features an array of ingredients and food from the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Caucasus region. The store is easy to locate from its bright white sign with Armenian letters and a fairly large parking lot (a rarity for Los Angeles).
As soon as you walk in the doors, you'll notice the produce department piled high with citrus, grape leaves, melons, green almonds, Persian cucumbers, and plumpest cherry tomatoes in the San Fernando Valley. On the other side of the store, the in-house bakery makes some of the best Armenian-style bread and lahmajuns, a traditional flatbread topped with minced meat. Behind the fish and meat counters, the staff are constantly packaging wild boar, lamb, smoked fish, and Russian caviar for happy customers.
The pastry section is every dessert lover's dream. It has a large variety of Western-style sweets like strawberry cheesecake and cream puffs. Additionally, you can discover a new world of sweets by picking up a rose water cake encrusted in walnuts or maybe freshly made ponchiks. Not into baked goods? The store has a wide assortment of single-serving and value-sized ice cream bars. Go there on a summer day and dig through the freezer to find the Soviet-style ice cream bars and fruit popsicles that are always in stock.
Read the original article on Chowhound.
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