I didn't see a dedicated thread and the last posts were from 4 years ago, and thought this store could use some LTH love.
We've had challenges with food stores not having everything we like, being crazy busy, having challenging parking, or horrible traffic around the store.
While I popped in a few times a couple years ago, we've been going more frequently and constantly finding things we use and not the easiest to find.
Almost all of our cart is produce, with a few items from the center of stores. The produce department is very good, but my guess is the amount of shoppers and the footprint keep it from being great. But to be honest, not sure there is really any better produce department in the neighborhoods I shop in. I was spoiled when we lived in Lake Forest and had Sunset Foods and Heinen's (but I haven't been in a few years so that may have changed).
Some recent finds at FMP that aren't the easiest to find are Silver Hills bread (our current favorite is the Big 16), Oatley milk, and Publican Bakery baguettes (nice to not need to always make a special trip for a great baguette). Lots of great stuff here, and if you aren't making a special coffee run, they have a nice coffee selection, including my favorite roaster, Metropolis.
Found a carton that had Atotonilco corn tortillas that were still warm. There were also some Atotonilco corn tortillas next to it in a different package. I asked a guy who seemed to be the manager and he explained they get the fresh ones daily and they have no preservatives and not meant to sit on the selves for days, which was the other package. Curious to try them.
I complimented the manager on the selection and he was very friendly and thankful for the compliment. He mentioned that they would special order anything we couldn't find, which someone else mentioned here. I saw a different manager there a few weeks ago that was also really friendly and spoke very kindly to his employees, which was nice to see. I prefer to spend my money with a non-corporate owner who seem to care about their customers and employees.
Overall it's a pleasant shopping experience, as opposed the other stores in our rotation.
Fresh Market Place
2134 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60647