Valli Produce

I've been wanting to showcase some of my favorite grocery stores around my little neighborhood for quite some time. I finally remembered my camera, so voilá, here's Valli Produce where I buy most of our produce. (Imagine that.) It's cheap. It's close. It's Italian. What's not to love?

The decor is to die for obviously. A nice Italian countryside.Also, they continually play old Italian songs--think Frank Sinatra in Italian with an accordion. Where else could I buy fresh green olives? Well, actually, there's several places around here, but whatever.But these green figs are definitely the only I've seen, in my life for that matter.
Here's snapshot of one aisle. Underneath the yellow squash there's flour--Five Roses in fact. Yeah, Canada!
Yum! Don't know what they are, but they certainly look interesting. (Okay, I know what rhubarb is.) They also sell dandelion greens here as well. Just FYI, if you ever have a craving.

I love the variety of people I see there too. When my mom came to visit she stopped some Hindu ladies complete with their saris to ask them how they cooked a peculiar two foot long, thin, green zucchini looking thing. They later stopped us to ask us how to pick out a good watermelon. I love my mom. She also asked a little girl how to eat this little olive-like fruit with a spiny peel, but the father came up hurriedly looking a little askew at Mom. Apparently he's not used to over-friendly people like my mom who have conversations all the time with complete strangers. Seriously, one time we stopped to buy some chocolate at a baking goods store and by the time we left, much later, her and the store owner had both been in tears sharing some spiritual experience. Another time, we had been eating icecream at a Jake's with a plethora of my nieces and nephews, and three college-aged men came in together. My mom gave them a lecture on how "this is what it's all about" gesturing towards all the young kids and told them all to go out and get married for heaven's sake.
Oh, and their bottled fish selection is the best. Not that I've tried it.
The Polish and Greek aisle.
Ah, where I buy my couscous and curry. The Italian aisle has more types of canned tomatoes than I believed possible. And just in case you want to catch up on your world gossip magazines. I really have no idea what language these are in, but I'd guess Polish.
And I saved the best for last. They have a to-die-for pastry selection. All kinds of delightful looking things. Cannoli is tasty. I always want to try something different, but Leo always wants to get what he already knows he likes. Hmm... They also sell Italian gelato. Yum. I like to get the free samples. (See, the lady glaring at me? I guess she thought I was some kind of psycho snapping pictures all over. Oh well.) Now this is my absolute favorite part. Chocolate from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and several other countries I can't remember right now. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Eventually, I'll showcase Wally's (the Polish store) and Las Rositas (where we buy little tacos for a dollar that are delicious) and there's also a Japanese store down the street a bit (it's actually bigger than the Jewel-Osco--that's Albertson's for anyone out West). Oh, and a friend of mine in the Spanish ward told me of a store that I have to go check out where she found Papas Criollas that are really good (she's from Colombia, so she should know). I about kissed her! I love Papa Criollas!! Anyway, goodnight for now. Come visit me in Chicago, and I'll be happy to show you around. :)