I have long been a cheerleader for my favorite Chicago-area of Marketplace on Oakton. The combination of plentiful produce, surprisingly low prices, and an impressive multi-cultural lineup of goods has made me a regular shopper there for years (before they moved from their previous store a couple blocks west). I live nowhere near Marketplace, but I make the drive at least twice a month.
Many people, readers of this blog included, have prodded me to try Lincolnwood Produce, about a mile south of Marketplace on Lincoln & Touhy. So, on my last early-weekend-morning shopping run, I chose Lincolnwood Produce instead. I had been there once before (years ago) and I must have caught it on a bad day. The shelves were a mess, the floors were dirty, and the selection didn't impress me at all. I found the whole shopping experience depressing, which is not how I want to feel when I buy fresh food. But, that was at least a couple years ago.
My most recent trip, less than two weeks ago, was another experience entirely. I spent over an hour investigating everything Lincolnwood Produce has to offer, often times comparing it to Marketplace in my head. While both these stores are very similar on the surface, they are different (and highly complementary) when compared closely. One excels where the other falls short, and vice-versa. For example, Marketplace has a significantly better selection of Asian produce (bok choy, gai choy, Chinese eggplant) but Lincolnwood was stocking broccoli rabe and escarole, two wonderful green veggies that are essential to my enjoyment of Italian food, that I never see at Marketplace. Their produce departments are most definitely two halves of a whole experience.I found the deli and cheese selection more impressive at Lincolnwood, if only due to the size, but the frozen food and meat and poultry case was remains the best at Marketplace. Grocery items/dry goods are much better represented at Lincolnwood. I picked up a bag of dry, Vietnamese rice noodles for a buck that I never saw at Marketplace. (Yes, I know I can buy these in the Asian markets near Broadway & Argyle). Lincolnwood also had a lot of baccala (salt cod) which I never see at Marketplace.
When it comes to size, Lincolnwood appears to be the bigger store, but this may be an optical illusion. They seem to have more shelf space, more room to spread out in general.
The bottom line is that both stores have an amazing selection of goods that place them both among the best multi-cultural markets I have ever been to. They both serve a unique community that holds populations of Korean, Chinese, Indian, Russian, Polish, Middle-Eastern, Greek, and Orthodox Jewish people (among others). Marketplace skews to the Asian side in it's product line while Lincolnwood seems to skew a little more Mediterranean.
I will probably not start shopping at Lincolnwood instead of Marketplace, but I will throw in a visit once in a while just to mix it up. I think the prices are slightly lower at Marketplace (no hard data, just an impression) and I like the general "feel" of the place better. Marketplace seems busier, livelier, and happier. This is not a knock on Lincolnwood Produce, but probably a product of my general bias for the store that has fed me so well for years.
Thanks to everyone who urged me to try Lincolnwood Produce.
Check it out at 7175 N Lincoln Ave, Lincolnwood, (847) 329-0600.