Shop And Save Market

I like my new Shop And Save. Really a decent store.This week's add misprint is kinda funny tho. In the fish section - 1.49/lb.

http://shopandsavemarket.com/images/attachments/3a2CwPLf.jpg

Funny...good eye at spotting that crap. Did you go in and ask for some?

Shop & Save Market will take over the shuttered Dominick’s at Devon and Nagle. http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141017 ... -dominicks

Dave148 wrote:Shop & Save Market will take over the shuttered Dominick’s at Devon and Nagle.

They had their Grand Opening a few days ago on the 12th and I checked it out last night.
I'd say it resembles a Tony's but less Mexican-Italian and more Polish.

Produce looked fine if not exotic.
They had 16oz organic salad boxes for $3.
Annoying Thing: Avocados were stacked almost vertically on a display so when you take one from the wall, there's an avocadacalanche likely.

The seafood area was better than I'd expected but not as nice as Fresh Farms or HMart.
I noticed live lobsters were $6.99/lb which doesn't seem too bad.

They'll have beer, wine and liquor eventually but it was only partially stocked last night.

On my shopping list was an 8oz container of light sour cream but there were only larger packages.

Overall, pretty nice though nothing outstanding.
I'll put it a notch below the Tony's on Greenwood but well above the same on Elston.
It is close to home and convenient so I think I'll visit often.

6312 N Nagle Ave , 60646
773 / 775-5900

South Shore to get long-awaited grocery store in former Dominick's space

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... l#nws=true

Hi,

The closest to my home Shop and Save Market is behind Golf Mills in Niles. The one I visit the most is at Archer and Central in Chicago. My comments are related to the Chicago location.

When you walk in, there is location to buy food to eat, prepared food to take home and a deli with fish, meat, sausages and cheese. There is a small refrigerated area of Polish food to eat at home: soups, pierogi (many variaties including tiny mushroom dumplings for soups), salads, sauerkraut and cheese.

In this Polish area over the summer, they had Steak Tartar ready-to-eat. I was really curious what ready-to-eat Tartar would be like. I wasn't hungry, I had no cooler and knew I could not keep it food-safe for the ride home. Until yesterday, I did not see this product in their prepared foods case again.

Yesterday my luck was finding the prepared Steak Tartar with chopped onions and pickle on top for $5.99 per pound. I bought the smallest package, paid and sat down to check it out. The meat was very smooth with no other visible ingredients beyond the onions and pickles on top. The meat was already seasoned with what I will guestimate was some type of Maggi. When you eat Tartar in a restaurant, there is always an array of chopped onions, pickles, capers, mustard and always an egg yolk. I tend to pretty much mix in whatever is there, which may or may not be be ideal. In this ready-to-eat variant, I liked whatever they choose to season. Maybe I am better off not doing it myself.

In the meat area, I bought a three-inch thick Porterhouse steak for $3.99 per pound. They were selling Sirloin steaks for $2.99 per pound.

All the Shop and Save stores have different personalities. What I find at Archer may or may not be present at other locations.

Regards,
Cathy2

Yes, a lot of the Polish groceries will sell tartare. I somehow never noticed Shop & Save's version even though I shop at the one at Archer & Central about once a week. I assume maybe it in that cooler with all the soups? I generally don't check that area out.

But, yes, you are correct. That is Maggi seasoning you are tasting there, and all the Polish versions I've had from delis here in Chicago have been very smooth, not like the rougher chopped (or ground) versions with capers and such that you might get at non-Polish restaurants. I'm not sure if its a defining feature of Polish tartare, I just know the ones I've had here have always been like that.

Hi,

I have my eyes wide open about the beef. I will let you know how it goes.

Mike Sula at The Reader did a Guide on Polish Sausages back in April.

At least at the Archer store, the bakery has a picture and description of their various breads. If they would add a Polish Sausage Guide, too, that would be perfection.

Fortunately, we can rely on what Sula offered.

Regards,
CAthy2

Binko wrote:Yes, a lot of the Polish groceries will sell tartare. I somehow never noticed Shop & Save's version even though I shop at the one at Archer & Central about once a week. I assume maybe it in that cooler with all the soups? I generally don't check that area out.

Yep, just left of the deli area.

I am there every few weeks. Until this Saturday, I had not seen it in several months. Either it sells out quick or it is something they do occasionally.

I did try to get some crackers from the steam table area, but none could be found behind the counter.

Regards,
Cathy2

The Shop and Save here in Des Plaines is part of my weekly grocery rotation, including the new Butera (much better than Butera stores I've visited in the past), Aldi, and Sam's Farmers Market.

They're constantly upgrading the store on many fronts, but I do take exception to recent developments in their Deli section. I was once a big fan of many items there, but that opinion has changed. I still appreciate their unique selection of international versions of Bacon, and their hot smoked salmon is a key ingredient when I make my salmon party dip.

I frequently bought their grilling sausages and found them to be the best around. They were pre-smoked and full of flavor. I proudly served them to guests, defying them to find a better sausage. Unfortunately, Shop and Save's Deli manager changed their sausage purveyor. I discovered this the hard way; purchasing a half dozen or so links, throwing them on the gas grill, on low heat mind you, closed the lid and walked away for a few minutes, only to find them engulfed in flames upon my return. I'm not just talking about high flames coming from underneath. I'm saying the sausages themselves had such a high fat content, they actually caught fire.

Upon tasting the one or two that survived with only a modicum of scorching, I determined these were not the same sausages they used to carry and were in fact inferior and unacceptable. A conversation with the store's general manager confirmed everything, but his explanation seemed suspect. He claimed they changed purveyors because the flavor of the more authentic Eastern European sausages they previously carried were not acceptable to their American born customers. He said even the first generation immigrants from that region preferred the flavor of the new sausages. I was baffled by reasoning, but realized there was little to be done.

I still stop by the Shop and Save Deli but my purchases are rare, and limited to only a few choice items. I now make most of my sausage purchases at Sam's Farmers Market Deli. In fact, I used some of their sausage in the Jambalaya I brought to one of irisarbor's fabulous Mardi Gras potluck parties a couple of years ago. It was very well received.

Buddy

The former-Dominick's Shop and Save across from Superdawg on Milwaukee Avenue & Devon is very good and I like it better than I did five years ago upthread.

They have a pretty large hot food area with seating. U-turn to the left at the entry doors to see the case of cold salads & slaws, pierogi, soups, and, probably, tartars. The deli counter is quite long and the free standing coolers opposite have many treasures. There's a bakery, seafood and meat counters. Produce is usually decent. Prices are always reasonable.

From the Openings & Closings thread:

Cathy2 wrote:

tjr wrote:ShopNSave to open soon in the shuttered Whole Foods at 1331 N Rand Rd in Palatine. Hoping it will continue their trend of big hot bar, big Polish bakery, lots of relatively cheap cheese and sausages. That's just west of Rt 53.

https://www.shopandsavemarket.com/

ShopNSave stores have unique personalities related to the customer base in the area. The store on Archer does feature a lot of Polish. I have been to others that were distinctly middle eastern or Russian. It will be interesting to see what customer base they are attracting at the Palatine store.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy, can you (or anyone else for that matter) do a catalog of ShopNSaves by specialty? I was at the Archer store this week, plenty of Polish and Latino groceries but couldn't even find a middle eastern section. And none of the big kolach filled pastries/cakes either. Very extensive hot bar, though, similar to Downers Grove and larger with far more selection than the Nagle or Des Plaines stores.

tjr wrote:Cathy, can you (or anyone else for that matter) do a catalog of ShopNSaves by specialty? I was at the Archer store this week, plenty of Polish and Latino groceries but couldn't even find a middle eastern section.

I can almost guarantee you that the ShopAndSave on S Harlem has a decent Mid Eastern selection. I vividly recall an early fall day when I popped into that one, and the entrance was hundreds of boxes of different brands of dates stacked everywhere with sale signs.

8847 S Harlem Ave, Bridgeview, IL 60455

(It's just down the street a lil from Harlem Foods, too!)