Fresh Farms in Niles, a Treasure Worth the Trip!

Coconut vinegar, King Arthur AP flour, lychee juice, european butter, 00 flour, green peanuts to boil, pistachios, palm sugar,radicchio, vegetarian fish sauce, saffron, Lotus biscoff, white miso, curry leaves, oh and a green smoothie while I shop are all here!

When I only want to make one stop and be assured of getting all of the items above, there's only one place. I may trek from the Near North Side of the city to get there but Fresh Farms in Niles really and truly is all that and a bag of chips as folks back home would say.

Each trip is two-fold for me: 1) getting what is on my list and 2) finding something new that I can't wait to try.

elakin wrote:i did my weekly shop at FF tonight and was blown away by their selection of "fancy" butter.

You know, all those euro and euro-style butters, amish, hand-churned, some with sea salt, big blobs wrapped in paper? can you guess how many they had? not the regular sticks, mind you...this is just the fancy stuff.

guess......i dare you.

27. Twenty-seven.

stevez wrote:I'm going to add to the positive things said about Fresh Farms and maybe even go a step farther and say that this is now my new favorite market. It has all the best of Lincolnwood Produce, Marketplace on Oakton and Devon all rolled into one "super market". Also, they even have the kind of everyday staples normally missing from ethnic markets that formerly required me to visit the dreaded Jewel. Kudos to the Fresh Farms people.

In addition to what had already been mentioned, I'll point out that they sell glass bottle Mexican Coke by the individual bottle for around .90 and by the case for a price only slightly higher than what I saw at Costco. Also, I had the good fortune of stopping by the bakery just as a batch of challe rolls were being pulled from the oven. They made some great buns for the burgers I grilled yesterday.

Mhays wrote:Stopped by a couple days ago, realizing that summer is here and I need to have food for lunch in the house - so I went to the somewhat daunting (in scope) deli. There I purchased Fresh Farms own in-house roast turkey breast, ham off the bone...and something with lovely dimpled brown skin caught my eye. Closer observation revealed it to be "Duck Loaf" and I promptly added that to my order.

It's quite good: it's basically a roast skin-on split duck breast filled with a duck mousse (or terrine - it's somewhere between the two in texture.) Lots of herby flavors, a bit more emulsified than I prefer, but it does have the actual duck breast on either side of the mousse, which helps a lot. It's the bologna of my dreams...
(don't be alarmed - that noise you hear is stevez's car pulling out of the driveway .)

Pie Lady wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:...He was going down the display case, pointing at each fish and giving his candid, unfiltered opinion about each of the offerings. "This one is good, this one is very good, this one is not good." Wait, what?* Did I just hear the guy actually tell his customer that some of the fish was not good? Indeed, I did. As he continued, it was clear that he was less than confident in some of the offerings in the case and had no problem being very up front with the customer about it. I found the exchange really refreshing.

I just had this same experience at the bakery case. There was a tempting looking confection called a L'Amour Cake. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. I asked what this was, and the lady behind the counter said "it's not good." "How come?" "If you like chocolate, it is good, but this one is not so fresh." Then she proceeded to tell me what was good: the red velvet and carrot cakes, both of which I also wanted. They were all in the same price range so I knew she wasn't screwing me. She not only saved me from buying inferior cake but helped me in narrowing my choices from 3 to 2. I felt like I just came from visiting Santa Claus at Macy's.

Fresh Farms' Main Thread

Fresh Farms Niles
5740 W Touhy Ave
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 779-7343

Already one of the richest Great Neighborhood Resources around, now I hope we can make it official!

Fresh Farms was on my short list of places to nominate. I'm glad someone did. I happily second this nomination.

Third. Amazing customer service. Really fresh and large selection of meat/charcuterie and produce, and everything really, and very reasonable pricing.

Yes to GNR! They are always adding new and intriguing items, so even after years of shopping weekly, I still spot new things to try. Fresh Farms Niles is a genuinely great resource that has spoiled me for every other grocery store.

I guess I would be a fifth. Shame on me for not nominating it before!

When I first saw this, I was of mixed feelings. Of course, I find this the best all around grocery in the Chicago area, liking especially the selection of fetas, the prices on olive oil, the prepared salads and mostly the bakery--Serban cakes! Still there was a teeny pinch in my kiske that made me wonder about it as GNR. After all, at the end of the day, it was still a grocery store. I know which way I lean, yet I was not quite ready to commit. Now, I am, but with a huge request from the nominator.

Why just Niles. Of the three, Devon, the original, is probably the weakest, but it has its own charm in its inventory of sub-continental ingredients, including the wide array of vegetables not found else where. Now, of the other two, I am not convinced, in the least, that Niles beats out Wheeling. Niles has my cakes, and the bakery seems larger, but there are more breads at Wheeling, and only Wheelin has the excellent black and brown breads. Wheeling has a deeper, is there deeper? selection of Russian style salamis. I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling. Frankly, giving Niles those cakes (big), more tofu, maybe more produce, where else is it top? Granted, there are some international destinations that Niles stops at more, but that's offset by the ones Wheeling does. So, I wonder, can the nominator consider amending to include all Fresh Farms?

I support Niles as is, but give more support to the whole Fresh Farm family.

Vital Information wrote:I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling.

The Niles store is about to unveil a new prepared foods section near the fish & deli depts. where the bakery used to be.

Hi- Does anybody have any idea when the Golf Road store is going to open up?

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling.

The Niles store is about to unveil a new prepared foods section near the fish & deli depts. where the bakery used to be.

Used to be? They took out the bakery or just moved it?

Pie Lady wrote:

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling.

The Niles store is about to unveil a new prepared foods section near the fish & deli depts. where the bakery used to be.

Used to be? They took out the bakery or just moved it?

The bakery is moved.

Vital Information wrote:When I first saw this, I was of mixed feelings. Of course, I find this the best all around grocery in the Chicago area, liking especially the selection of fetas, the prices on olive oil, the prepared salads and mostly the bakery--Serban cakes! Still there was a teeny pinch in my kiske that made me wonder about it as GNR. After all, at the end of the day, it was still a grocery store. I know which way I lean, yet I was not quite ready to commit. Now, I am, but with a huge request from the nominator.

Why just Niles. Of the three, Devon, the original, is probably the weakest, but it has its own charm in its inventory of sub-continental ingredients, including the wide array of vegetables not found else where. Now, of the other two, I am not convinced, in the least, that Niles beats out Wheeling. Niles has my cakes, and the bakery seems larger, but there are more breads at Wheeling, and only Wheelin has the excellent black and brown breads. Wheeling has a deeper, is there deeper? selection of Russian style salamis. I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling. Frankly, giving Niles those cakes (big), more tofu, maybe more produce, where else is it top? Granted, there are some international destinations that Niles stops at more, but that's offset by the ones Wheeling does. So, I wonder, can the nominator consider amending to include all Fresh Farms?

I support Niles as is, but give more support to the whole Fresh Farm family.

When folks here started talking it was Niles that I noticed. When I grumpily first tried Fresh Farms, Niles was where I went. As a city dweller nowhere close to the northwest side of the city it is still destination worthy. I have only been to Devon once. I have never been to Wheeling.--Pax

Pie Lady wrote:

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:I am a total sucker for the hot case at Wheeling.

The Niles store is about to unveil a new prepared foods section near the fish & deli depts. where the bakery used to be.

Used to be? They took out the bakery or just moved it?

They moved it around 8 months ago to the front of the store where the restaurant used to be.

A note: with the imminent opening of Fresh Farms at the Four Flags shopping center at the other end of Niles (on Golf just east of Milwaukee), should we label this nomination "Fresh Farms Niles on Touhy"?

JoelF wrote:A note: with the imminent opening of Fresh Farms at the Four Flags shopping center at the other end of Niles (on Golf just east of Milwaukee), should we label this nomination "Fresh Farms Niles on Touhy"?

But aside from where Ava shops ( ), is there any reason to distinguish amongst the chain. It's not like Johnnie's where one branch is different (I think). To me, what makes Niles/Touhy a GNR is no diff than what makes any other (existing) branch a GNR.

JoelF wrote:A note: with the imminent opening of Fresh Farms at the Four Flags shopping center at the other end of Niles (on Golf just east of Milwaukee), should we label this nomination "Fresh Farms Niles on Touhy"?

Joel do you know the Grand Opening Date?

And like I said to VI, I can not speak to the Fresh Farms in Wheeling or my one visit to the Fresh Farms on Devon.-- Pax

I'm not really a fan of designating by location--to me, if a place is a GNR then ALL locations should be worthy or it shouldn't be a GNR. I'm ok with there being some variation, so long as it's not drastic--Johnnie's fits this to me. Seems just too hard to police, too confusing to those not reading full threads and just relying on the list, etc.

But, having said that, it's the way we do it for now and I think what Ava and others are saying is that they aren't familiar enough with the other locations to be able to say one way or the other. So unless a consensus of other folks chime in, like you, to say the other locations are also great or the program changes to say "all or nada" (my pref), then seems to me, the nomination would have to stand as is.

I'm not sure if this matters at all but I live very near the Wheeling store and I find it seriously lacking compared to Niles/Touhy. In fact, I never shop there . . . well, once. OTOH, shopping at the Niles/Touhy store requires me to make a much longer drive and/or leave the office during the day and/or go to work earlier than I typically do. But I do it because the store is great and I believe, is worthy of GNR designation. Wheeling is not really in the same league, IMO. I haven't been to any other locations.

=R=

I do know the Devon store pretty well. It began as a produce store and that remains its strength; it is not a full grocery store, which the store on Touhy in Niles is. The Devon store has great produce and spices, especially if you are cooking Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi dishes. But it has limited deli and fresh meat selection, but no butcher or fish counter, and a small selection of ordinary grocery items such as canned goods, cereal, flour, etc. Being a smaller store, it can't offer the amazing variety of items that Niles can, although it's a good resource for those of us in walking distance. It is really quite a different sort of store from the Niles one, in my opinion.

I fully endorse the Niles Fresh Farms' GNR nomination.

pairs4life wrote:Joel do you know the Grand Opening Date?

I was in the parking lot for other errands yesterday. I'm no expert but I can't see it opening before the early summer.
Speaking of lot, sorry to say, I'm also really dreading what seems will be a terrible parking situation.
This has all the signs of being a blockbuster store but the parking lot appears far short.

The wheeling store is a great resource for a lot of things... But it's no Niles store. I wouldn't rank it much better than a typical Caputo's or Tony's or other Centrella-stocked supermarket.
I don't know when the one on Golf is due, but there originally was a tax break for opening before January 1. It's rumoured to be larger than the one on Touhy.

I think we should be able to award one store vs. all regarding GNR status. The Devon store is good, but nothing like the Niles store, so we shouldn't lump them all together. That just suggests they're all equally great.

JoelF wrote:The wheeling store is a great resource for a lot of things... But it's no Niles store. I wouldn't rank it much better than a typical Caputo's or Tony's or other Centrella-stocked supermarket.
I don't know when the one on Golf is due, but there originally was a tax break for opening before January 1. It's rumoured to be larger than the one on Touhy.

Hey, I don't want to be argumentative, and I know I have only so many times to make the same point, but I cannot help but to respond to this and to Ronnie's post above. Are we going to the same store? Been to the same store since the remodel? I guess we just value things differently.

First of all, I don't find the stores wholly different in overall size and inventory. Produce, meat, fish departments pretty much th same. As I noted above, I'm sure, if doing a lot of side by side comparisons, there's all sortsa things that Niles/Touhy has that Wheeling does not have. As I also noted above, I think there's plenty that Wheeling has that Niles does not, not even counting prepared foods.

I'm, what, aghast that the greatness of Wheeling is missed. The bakery puts out some of the best breads around, not just best breads for a supermarket. That's not something you can say for Caputos or Tony's. The pastries are different in Wheeling, mostly Russian instead of Serbian and Greek, but there's some excellent stuff. I know just from what I bought yesterday.

A whole wall of sour creams. I mean who knows the variations in such smetana? Yes, there is a variety called Canadian! Tons more in farmer's cheeses, kefirs and yogurts. Those Russians love their dairy.

Speaking of Russians, both Niles and Wheeling do a lot of house made salads, but I think Wheeling does even more, I mean (no joke) these salads play an important role in Russian cuisine and Fresh Farms Wheeling meets that need. These salads are both in the deli and pre-packaged.

Wall to wall, which deli is bigger, Wheeling or Niles? Both carry multiple varieties of barrel aged feta, many types of olives, but as I just noted, Wheeling has more prepared foods. And way more Russian style salami's, smoked meats and smoked fishes--I kinda believe that the smoked fish selection used to be better in Wheeling, but it's still fantastic and better than Niles.

As to Devon, judging it as an overall grocery seems weird. Judging it for its depth and variety of Indian-Pakistani items, well I can see how that's GNR worthy in its own right. After all, we do not judge Johnnies by their hot dogs.

Anyways, all three are GNRs in my minds and that's all that matters to me

Rob,

It certainly may just be a case of different strokes. I doubt any of us here all value or seek the exact same things in a grocery store. For me, it wasn't that FF/Wheeling was a lousy store, however there weren't many items there that I cared about that I couldn't buy elsewhere. Whereas, I find Niles/Touhy to be pretty much the best grocery store around. If I were required to choose only 1 grocery store, it would be the one. But if it didn't exist, there's no way the Wheeling store would be my choice. I guess that's how I see the clear distinction between the 2 stores as it pertains to GNR-worthiness.

=R=

I don't see the issue here. We do Al's on Taylor and not the others. Niles is what was nominated, and Niles is what should get the GNR. If you like another one, nominate it and it will sink or swim on its own merits.

Jazzfood wrote:I don't see the issue here. We do Al's on Taylor and not the others. Niles is what was nominated, and Niles is what should get the GNR. If you like another one, nominate it and it will sink or swim on its own merits.

What he said.

Word.

As others have stated, it is up to the discretion of the nominator to determine which locations should be considered for the GNR. Ava has restricted this nomination to the Niles location, so we should only consider that location in our discussion.

-Onur, for the GNRs

turkob wrote:As others have stated, it is up to the discretion of the nominator to determine which locations should be considered for the GNR. Ava has restricted this nomination to the Niles location, so we should only consider that location in our discussion.

-Onur, for the GNRs

Thank you. As I said upthread, I have never been to Wheeling and I have only been to Devon once.

I'm mixed on this one. On the one hand, I love shopping at Fresh Farms Niles. I'm not up that way very often, but if I'm within 5 miles, I almost always make a detour to stop by and do some shopping. Their selection of ethnic ingredients is unparalleled. Shopping there is an educational experience.

On the other hand, though, when I think of what a GNR grocery store would look like, I think of someplace smaller with a proud proprietor that helps you sift through a well-curated selection of unique items. Shopping at Fresh Farms, as wonderful a supermarket as it is, still feels a lot like shopping at a big box store.

turkob pretty much took the words out of my mouth on this one. Though I love Fresh Farms about as much as one can love a supermarket, I have mixed feelings about this nomination.

When we lived in the city, we regularly drove up to Niles to do our grocery shopping at Fresh Farms. Now that we live in Glenview, Fresh Farms is still our primary grocery store, even though we have to pass two Mariano's, a Tony's Finer Foods, Heinen's, a Fresh Market, and three or four Aldi's on our way there. Fresh Farms has good produce, a great deli, decent meat and fish departments, and a terrific selection of imported/international items. It's a really nice supermarket. You might even say that it's a great neighborhood resource.

There are a lot of great nominations this GNR period. Kaufman's, PQM, Cellar Door, Jimmy Jamm -- now those are GNRs! But, does a supermarket (even a great supermarket) really belong on this list? Something just feels wrong about it. I'm torn.

--Rich