Minos Imports, Addison
A couple of weeks back, on a fine Saturday afternoon, I felt a sudden and intense urge for
volvoí or
lampascioni (about which I’ve written before). Unfortunately, on a visit the week before to see my friends at
Athens Market (link) , I discovered that they had run out of this bitter treat and had no idea when they would get them again. To make matters worse, another Greek store I’ve written about,
Ellinikon Pandopoleion (link), does not carry this item, at least so far as I could see in the course of several visits. But luckily, Amata applied some of her research skills to the problem at hand and within in a short time, we had a promising destination:
Minos Imported Foods and Liquor. There I found not only great quantities of delicious
volvoí but an absolutely fabulous Greek food store and one of the best ethnic groceries in the region: Thanks to the large number of Greeks in the area, this shop is able to offer a very wide selection of all the common and many not so common specialty items, but beyond that the store also caters to various ethnic groups from the Balkans resident in Addison and environs, adding a further dimension to an already impressive range of offerings.
Minos Imports is on Lake Street, which is undergoing some work at the moment...
...but access to the parking area in front of the shop is no problem.
As one enters the store, the ‘deli’ counter is to the right, the grocery aisles to the left. Here is one of the cheese coolers (with a sign showing the prices on roasted meets in the background):
Further toward the back is a cooler with various fish items, tinned, salted, etc. (bacalà, salted sardines and anchovies, tinned tuna, etc.); beyond that is the counter containing the roasted meats which are available on weekends (more on those anon):
The grocery section is large and the selection of all the important, basic items is quite extensive. Here are the shelves with olive oil:
And here the pasta products and some canned prepared items:
Along the far wall is a long row of freezers containing all sorts of items, and toward the back along that wall are more coolers containing various dairy items and more:
In the far back of the store is a small selection of basic vegetables and fruits for convenience’s sake. Below them, in the large cooler is a splendid array of ethnic sausages of all sorts. In the back of the picture, one can also see part of a set of shelves holding all manner of pickled vegetables from the Balkans:
One cannot eat without drinking and Minos offers an impressive array of Greek wines and spirits, as well as wines and spirits from the Balkan countries:
Pára polí retsína i rakí? No, no... nothing like that... Lucantonius, when he saw the staggeringly enticing selection of cookies and sweets, simply said
«po po!» and fainted.
While we were in the shop, we had a chance to speak a good bit with George, an exceedingly friendly and engaging man who is, I believe, not the owner but the manager of the store. We were thus able to ask a bit about the store and its clientele, as well as about the availability of many of our favourite Greek and especially Cretan products. He kindly offered Amata and me each a nice chunk of fresh bread, still hot from the oven, and a nice little piece of feta to accompany the bread. Yes, they bake their own bread too...
More to follow, with further pictures...
Kalí sas órexi!
Antonius
Minos Imports
648 W.Lake Street
Addison, IL 60101
630.543.0337
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