My husband and I love finding authentic markets. In the Chicago suburbs we visited Indian, Japanese and Korean ones regularly! It was awesome to have such a variety of freshly made and imported exotic (to us) foods nearby. We're happy to have found Italian markets here in Ohio, too!
Cleveland
When we first started dating, we'd meet in Cleveland in the Little Italy neighborhood. There's not so much one single stop there, but several shops, restaurants, and cafes all along Mayfield Road that have been worth frequenting for decades. So many good memories! There are also some great food vendor stalls at the West Side Market that have authentic Italian products--plus many other foods from around the world! That market has been running since 1912 and was built to replace one across the street that had been running since 1840. So much history!
Akron
My favorite Italian market is DeVitis. Family owned and operated, with founders who opened their first store in the 1950s after working in the grocery business for many years before that, the smell is nostalgic, the space is quaint, and the people are kind. I grew up going to this market, along with several generations of my family and friends.
Here's what we normally get at DeVitis:
Housemade hot and mild sausage - both are good, but I like the hot/spicy the best. I do like to have a mix, though!
Soppressata - this is my Italian meat of choice recently and goes great on a charcuterie board! (post coming soon)
Italian Prosciutto - my hubby's favorite, we are always sure to ask for the imported one. They slice this and the Soppressata at the deli counter to order.
Olives - Imported from Italy, great for a quick snack and for charcuterie assortments.
Lasagna - my hubby always get a piece of the house made meat lasagna to go. He likes having it for lunch during the week!
Subs - my husband and dad both like the sandwiches here. Pre-made & ready to go!
We have plenty of other favorites that we don't always get regularly like the cheese dip (which is phenomenal with crackers, lol) and their kidney bean salad (it's sooo good)!
Columbus
My husband's memory of an Italian market is Vincenzo's. We went there on a mini vacation to Dublin not too long ago. It was easy to get to and in the same plaza as a Trader Joe's so we just loaded up the empty cooler from our weekend stay and did some shopping at both places!
At Vincenzo's, we picked up:
Some unique bottles of wine that passed my test
Some prepared foods (lasagna, meatballs, and calzones)
Olives
Fresh baked bread and cheese
My husband's favorite: the house-made chicken pesto salad
It's an even smaller market than DeVitis', in size, but I don't think there's anything missing! The sandwiches are huge and filled with great ingredients too.
Want more Italian eats? Keep an eye out for my Napolitano pizza review coming soon. What's your favorite traditional Italian market and where is it? Tell me in the comments and as always, keep up with me in my stories!
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