There’s no greater testament to the ethnographic diversity of the northern suburbs than Niles’s Fresh Farms International Market (5740 W. Touhy, Niles, myfreshfarms.com), featuring products from at least five continents. Those numbed by the galaxies of banality that are Dominick’s and Jewel should prepare to have their doors of perception blown from their hinges as they wander among the mountains of produce, the oceanic-depth seafood department, the deli counter with its meats, cheeses, and prepared and preserved foods from around the globe, and towering aisles of international eats.
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While FFIM makes an admirable attempt to be all things to all people, there’s a lot to be said for specialization. What follows are a half-dozen niche markets in the burbs that do what they do better than anyone.
What Hmart is for Koreans, Mitsuwa is for the more established northern suburban Japanese community. There’s nowhere else to wander spotless aisles of sashimi-grade fish, sake, Pocky, fresh wasabi, rice, soy sauces, and tsukemono—and if you can find a better bowl of ramen in the midwest than at the food court’s Santouka, I’ll eat your sandals boiled in tonkotsu stock. 100 E. Algonquin, Arlington Heights, mitsuwa.com.
Grand Duke’s Deli
»Check out restaurants in the north and northwest suburbs.
»Check out restuarants in the west suburbs.
»Check out restaurants in the south suburbs.
