Andy’s Fruit Ranch

Let’s get this straight here off the bat. If you’re not necessarily in a mood where you need to know how the products you’re buying got here or if stuff needs to be organic, then you’re in for some serious savings.
And don’t get me wrong, I love Whole Foods type places, it’s just so hard to not come here when things are so. damn. cheap. For your beans, lentils, dry goods, canned stuff, and produce (not berries), give this place a shot. I got enough food for two different huge crock pot meals for $ 28. The eggs are all reputable brands and priced competitively. Again, as long as we’re not asking questions (I can already feel my animal hormone levels rising) the meat is pretty cheap here. Most of your needed carbs and condiments can be found here as well.
Two gripes:
1) The cheese section is crap. If you’re looking for anything outside of your standard hash house selection or cotija, you’re screwed.
2) There is a section containing loaves of locally-​produced looking bread. These are also crap. The slices don’t have the density to make a proper sandwich, much less one that doesn’t fall apart in your hands.
Otherwise, this is an excellent playground of canned seafood and European condiments. There are a few things that their either won’t have or will be unreasonably priced ($ 2 for a box of Kraft mac-​n-​cheese) but they do have decently priced beer (nothing too special) so you could theoretically get everything in one trip.
Again, as long as your expectations are tempered appropriately, this is a gold mine of savings.

I know being a cashier at a grocery store isn’t an ideal job, and I know that dealing with annoying customers all day can make a person insane. However, if that’s not your idea of a great job, then quit! But then again, if rudely telling the customer to get out because your closed (why are your doors wide open and why did 3 of your workers I passed by not tell me anything?) and throwing a tantrum when bagging up groceries is your solution, or your way of telling me off, then maybe you do deserve a job as a grocery store clerk, because any other job that looks for customer service, would never work out for you. Which is pretty much most jobs out there. Why do you hate your life so much? I’m so sorry I made you take the groceries out of the basket. I can’t believe I made you do that extra step after a long day of standing around. I’m sure everyone working there at the time just doesn’t care about your rude actions, and I’m sure they would do the same thing as you did. But as a manager in the restaurant industry myself, I would hate to have people like them working for me. As the owner of this store, I would at least have someone on every shift who would think like the owner, and take care of situations like this the right way, as if it were their store. Instead, when I asked the cashier for his name (who wouldn’t give it to me), and told him because I wanted to complain, everyone was standing around not giving a crap about how disrespected I felt. I’m not some privileged daddy’s girl, nor do I feel like I’m above everyone else. one thing I am, is stubborn. I’m someone who has worked hard to move my way up through a business, and I hold customer service as my highest value. If this is a business who expects to succeed, or even cares, I would expect a response to this. It may seem like I’m blowing this way out of proportion, but with this experience I went through, and the people I dealt with, I’m sure this will happen again to other customers. And that leaves you at risk of losing more customers, just because you choose to ignore it. To the cashier, I hope bagging groceries for the rest of your life is fulfilling.

Rosa J. has been trying to stock her refrigerator with a plethora of veggies and fruit in case that hubby needs to make something vegetarian at home. I normally eat very light during my lunch break, so having great nutritious items at home is just essential.
I went in during Andy’s off-​peak times, so their hot food selections were pretty depleted. Otherwise, they seemed to have some delicious food, such as catfish, spinach pies, and other items that I wasn’t sure what they were.
They also have pretty decent seafood department. The presentations and freshness of the fish I saw appeared to be more superior than what I usually see at Mayfair Market (on the opposite end of Albany Park on Pulaski).
However, I will stick with Mayfair Market (MM) for fresh produce. Andy’s selections are adequate, but I prefer the prices I see at MM and it’s a much shorter commute for me.
What Andy’s has but MM lacks is the variety of ethnic items. I saw many Middle Eastern, Asian, Polish, and Mexican canned food, dairies, and pastries. They looked enticing, but I shouldn’t steer my focus to consume fresh veggies and fruit instead adding more calorie intakes that most likely would be storing in my body until the spring comes. I love polar bears, but I refuse to become one myself!
My conclusion is that unless I’m passing through Andy’s Fruit Ranch when I’m out and about, I won’t make a point going there because MM is just sufficient enough for my grocery needs.

Very reasonable prices on both produce, bakery items, and canned goods. They have a huge selection of dried fruit for cheap!

Really great deli with some of the best prices I’ve seen in my neighborhood! Produce is good, although a few items can be hit or miss ($ 2.49 a pound for lemons?! Cheaper at Mariano’s!). All the Eastern European snack foods and chocolatey delights your heart could desire. Friendly staff. I’m a regular!

–The guacamole from the deli is really good and I haven’t seen it around for a better price anywhere besides Cermak Produce maybe
–Great selection of teas, learned about a bunch of kinds I had previously never heard of or come in contact with
–Also a wide selection of mineral waters which I’ve been drinking more and more of lately
–The produce section is solid and you can always find seasonal produce for really low prices.

This is the most wonderful small grocery you can imagine. The staff are polite and awesome. The meat is the best. Produce selection is beautiful and quite diverse. They have things you’ll never find at Jewel like bitter melon, fresh olives that you can cure yourself or fresh dates that you can let dry in your own windowsill.
Plus all the multinational goodies from far east Asian to near west European.
Of course, if you need anything you see, you have only to ask the manager and he’ll see about getting it for you.
Their selection of cooked foods and cold deli salads is really good, tasty and prepared fresh daily. They have a corn salad that makes a fine meal. (I like to toss a bit of feta cheese in it.)
And speaking of feta cheese, what a great selection — cow, sheep and goat fetas — take your pick. And cured olives of many varieties. very good!
Wonderful selection of wines of unexpected quality. They’re not your usual. They’re also not all multi-​national versions of two-​buck chuck at inflated prices. They often have fruit wines grown and fermented locally (like Michigan) as well as plenty of local and imported wonderful ales, lagers and stouts.
A must stop if you’re in Albany Park.

I really like this place a lot. I can always find some great treat that I’ve never tried before. Sometimes it’s fun to take a little «trip» and buy an item where I can’t read the ingredients or the directions because they are in another language. It rarely turns out well but it’s fun just the same.
I had to take off a star because their coffee selection is really really bad. Otherwise I’d do most of my shopping there.

Andy’s isn’t my first choice in ethnic markets — it’s not too close to home, and Harvestime is. However, it was fun to browse while waiting to have dinner in the area. They have an insanely large amount of canned sardines — be warned, these are the large and not delicious kind (BRISLINGS ALL THE WAY!). Also, they sell Schweppes Bitter Lemon soda in 1 liter bottles, and that shit is just straight up delicious. The next time I’m drying for some bitter lemon, I’ll be back!

Andy’s, you are so fantastic, I can’t even begin to do you justice! I just recently moved down the street and am so thrilled that you are my neighborhood grocer! You always have fantastic produce at super reasonable prices! I’ve wandered your aisles seeking inspiration and have always walked away with everything I needed! You have everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I want/​need/​use to cook, from Polish goulash seasonings to Mexican beans to German Haribo! WOW!
And the things you have that I’ve never even considered using! Like Bulgarian wine! Or Mexican spices! Or pickled anything! Or canned herring! Who has such an amazing selection of canned herring?!
In short. Andy’s, you are awesome. I hope you stay just the way you are, forever and ever. I’m now just waiting for a ring to formalize our love.

Get Ready… My Boyfriend’s mother is coming to town. From Manhattan.
I get to cook to impress! I plan menus backwards, forwards and in case I am stuck at work late and cannot escape.
If this happens to you, go to Andy’s:
Have you gone to the frozen section?
They carry gnocchi. And not just any gnocchi, but a smoked mozzarella cheese gnocchi that is light, airy, flavorful and sublime.
I’d post a big, elaborate recipe, but with gnocchi like these, you won’t need it. A little olive oil or butter and parsley (maybe a bit of dill, some fresh cracked pepper, a light dusting of fresh Parmesan?)
one more thing, very important, If you buy this wondrous pasta and pour a jar of Prego or Ragu over it… I won’t threaten violence but I may unleash my perpetually-​hungry Beagle on your monstrous desecration of dinner.

We live in the neighborhood and this has become our go to for produce. It’s just as good as big box stores for about ¹⁄₃ the price. They also have a wide variety of ethnic food and spices, which we love.
Andy’s also has a wide variety of brand names for a smaller store. And they recently started selling Boar’s Head luchmeat which is great. Only complaint I have is that the butchers have no clue what it means by «shaved» luchmeat. No matter how thick or thin you ask them to cut it, it all comes out the same. Once they can get that figured out, I’ll give ‘em 5 stars.

I went for a bike ride on Sunday and was going to go to my regular produce store on my way back, but I came across Andy’s so I figured I’d check it out! Great little grocery store. Good selection of produce at a good price, it was pretty easy to find everything. They had coconut milk, which I also needed, but I didn’t really get t anything else. But, it appeared as though it’s a typical produce store — with great prices and selection on the produce and the other items are pricier. They did have a deli counter, I didn’t even look over there though, so I can’t say how that was. If I’m in the neighborhood again and in need of produce, I’ll be sure to stop by again!

Odd selection. You may not be able to find everything you need, but if you know they have it then it is good quality. I went in for dinner rolls once — the kind in the tube you make. They didn’t have them but had 15 kinds of filo dough.
So we can’t use them for our weekly trips — but they are great for getting a few items. The produce is great, as well as the guac from the deli (cheap!) made fresh daily.

This grocery store is my one and only.
I love this place. The produce is awesome– never lets me down. The meat is GREAT. It’s so reasonably priced and much higher quality than anything sold at Jewel. The dairy is good and reasonably priced. Dry stuff– like canned things and frozen stuff can be kinda pricey and a limited selection. But as far as fresh stuff, this place can’t be beat.
Also– check out the awesome bulk stuff, like twizzlers and snack mixes and chocolate covered raisins, up by the front near the registers. And the wine– a nice and reasonably priced selection.

«I thought you said they had a good selection of Eastern European wines. Why do you lie to me? I demand satisfaction!» That’s exactly what I said to Maria F. right before I spotted the hidden bottles of bliss. I had managed to locate a bottle of Banatski Rizling among the jumbled clusterf*ck of a display and was having a bit of trouble finding this supposed «sh*t ton of booze» from the Balkan region. It seemed the two bottles of Romanian wine and my Riesling might be it. I clutched my meager find and headed for the register. I glanced to the side and saw the word «Vranac» on a bottle at the other end of the aisle. I stopped dead in my tracks.
Not only did they have about three different kinds of Vranac, (I bought a 2007 Hercegovacki) but they also had a Serbian version of my beloved Bear’s Blood (Medvedja Krv — I prefer the Bulgarian Medvezh’ya Krov’) that everyone at dinner enjoyed, Zdrepceva Krv (Foal’s Blood) and a Plavac (Zinfandel). Add the Banatski Rizling and that’s 7 wines from the Balkans, which is already considerably more than your average liquor store carries. If that wasn’t enough, I know for a fact there were at least two more that I’m forgetting. So Maria F. wasn’t kidding; they have «a good selection of Eastern European wines.»
I ended up with a huge bottle of the Banatski, my 2007 Hercegovacki Vranac and the Serbian Medvedja Krv. It set me back about $ 30. The Banatski was larger than the other bottles and it was still under $ 12. I’m a fan of these cheap E. Euro wines because they can actually stand up to the scrutiny of my wine connoisseur friends without breaking the bank. Plus wines in a different language are guaranteed to impress and look more expensive than they really are.

I live equidistant between HarvesTime and Andy’s Fruit Ranch, but I’ve always been partial to the former. I decided it was time to share some more neighborhood love and go to Andy’s.
In addition to a huge selection of ethnic produce (think: Chinese long beans, sour oranges and bitter melon), Andy’s also sells wine and beer, something that HT does not. The wine selection was surprisingly vast, and prices were quite reasonable.
Their meat department wasn’t as good as HT, but they still stocked the basics. They have a good variety of dry and canned goods, many of which I’ve never come across before.
Andy’s is a great ethnic market that serves a very diverse neighborhood. I’ll definitely be adding them into my grocery shopping rotation, especially because their parking lot is a lot less headache inducing than their counterpart to the east.

I made a quick stop here today because I was in the neighborhood and needed a few items. The store seems clean and has a nice selection of ethnic foods, produce and meats. The deli is not as widely stocked as some others I go to on a regular basis (like Lincolnwood Produce), but I got what I needed.
They even carry Diet Inca Kola. Go figure!!!
I am sure I will be back. It is not far from home and centrally located among many interesting restaurants, shops and bakeries.

Looking for dried prawns (think shrimp jerky)? Look no further.
Want a butter lamb? Come to Andy’s
Need some Russian beer? Beer here!
Gotta have Gelatinous Mutant Coconut? Score!
We strolled in here as one of our neighborhood tour stops. After stuffing my face across the street it was a little hard to imagine buying, let alone eating any sort of food.
I could stroll the aisles of this store for hours gazing at all of the different ethnic food items. There were so many food products I’d never seen or heard of.
If you’re making a dish and are having a hard time finding unique ethnic items Andy’s probably has it and for a reasonable price.

Very affordable produce, but what I loved was the wide variety of ethnic foods. I bought some taramosalata (a Greek fish roe spread), some dates, and some figs, but there were so many other items of numerous national origins that I would love to go back and buy and try.
p. s. they have Mexican coke.