Food Smart

A lot of pre-​packaged foods and a good beer selection but slightly limited produce. Literally everything is a bit overpriced. There is a post office, which is awesome, and they sell firewood.

I reviewed this store a few years ago and just wanted to say again what a great place this is. In the last year I have brought several people here and they were very impressed. Open 24 hours, a great selection of food, a post office and very friendly employees. Check it out.

Hey! I remarked earlier that there was no «use by» date on some of their produce. Well, there are types of foods that can’t post such dates due to packaging, shipping, climate conditions. I overlooked that. Still, one should check the produce as he or she would at any other supermarket. They have a lot to offer.
Support good-​natured local businesses like this one. Son buena gente.

This place is absolutely wonderful. The staff is so unbelievably kind and helpful! I have been coming here for three years and it’s very convenient for vegan options in the neighborhood! The beer selection is spot on with a ton of variety so there is something for everyone.

I lived in this neighborhood for two years and, although I didn’t enjoy my time in Chicago, I greatly appreciated Food Smart and the friendly, helpful, and kind staff. The management truly seems to go out of its way to hire decent employees, such as James and Modesto. They’re all nice, though. It was kind of embarrassing how often I would go there (!), but I didn’t have a car and it was right around the corner from me. They always had what I needed in terms of food and other items. Props for having a post office on the premises, too! Good wine and beer selection. Management is very receptive to any suggestions. There can be some shady characters who hang around outside the store at night, but the staff doesn’t tolerate these people harassing the customers. Thank you, Food Smart!

Love you Foodsmart. Your food and beverages are the best. Your staff is always a pleasure to work with.

For the amount of space they’re working with over there, Food Smart has a really impressive selection of everything. (even better than my neighborhood Mariano’s!) From local beers, organic produce, vegan specialty items and healthy drinks and snacks, a vegan with a love of organic produce and craft beer (such as yours truly) could easily stock up on groceries for a month there. And they do an awesome job of carrying some of my favorite vegan splurge items: Louisville Jerky, Bot Bakery, Soul Vegan, Chao Cheese, et al. Also, having apost office right in the store is pretty genius.
I struggled with deciding if this should be a 4 or 5 star review. In the end, it is a 4 star review because it is a bit overpriced. Yes, yes, I know that it is the price that must be paid to shop local and yes, yes, vegan food, craft beer and organic produce will always be expensive. So I cannot bemoan the price tags too much here. However, when I see the same items at Whole Foods and they’re cheaper over there… sorry, but that means it’s expensive. That’s really the only reason why Food Smart is not my go to grocery store 100% of the time; I simply cannot afford it. But I do like to stop in once a month or so to pick up a few splurge items. The staff is always super friendly and I always manage to find something new to try. Keep up the good work, Food Smarts! I’ll be back as soon as I can!

As a 24 hour grocery/​convenience store you will pay the price but it is worth the convenience plus the USPS right there without lines! They have a lot of produce you can’t get even at some regular grocery stores such as artichokes that aren’t always in season. Additionally their To Go area has a fantastic vegetarian and vegan selection which includes an incredible spicy tofu salad. I go for the convenience but return for its 24 hour appeal. Plus all the BYOB places nearby make it the perfect pit stop on the way to a fun night out!

After a long grueling ride with my biker gang sometimes you just want an individually wrapped hummus packets with a little chips its own separate compartment. There’s something satisfying about the little crackers in their own little pocket as they sit so neatly next to the hummus. Especially after sleeping in the same leather jacket on the ground, trying to come down off the biker speed Olaf made.
When we got there Rodney, having gone at this point without sugar for at least 3 weeks since we were locked in the backs of those Acura SUVs after battling the triads in Koreatown, picked out one of the most expertly wrapped and methodically concocted fudge pieces from a local chocolate artisan and popped it in his mouth.
«Mmmmhhhh…»
He almost fainted right there in the entrance, but regained his composure and walked over to me Purple Steve and Titos nephew Pooh Bear when all of a sudden we heard someone yell out.
It was Tito, he found the cheese and meat circle combination. Tito had been trying to eat paleo for the last few weeks so the incident with the triads was in his words, «Cleansing.» The rest of us wholeheartedly disagreed.
Right there in the whole first section when you walk in Foodstuffs we found enough provisions to last us on the ride from Chicago all the way to Salt Lake City. However we had some reservations about being shacked up with Purple Steve’s old lady and her 17 cats all named Ginger. Purple Steve is a weird dude.
This place is great, lots of hard to find items, organic, non-​GMO items and other things you would normally only find at Whole Foods, or Whole Paycheck as Tito calls it.

EDIT: I’m changing my rating from a 1 star to a 5. I had a horribly embarrassing encounter here with a rude security guard based on my need for a support animal and I never wanted to come back; however, the owner heard my concern and apologized profusely, promising to better train his staff and go above and beyond to make things right. That is what makes or breaks a business, and I am happy to say that I have been back many times since and have been treated very kindly. I thought that was the end of it, but when I was in the store last night, the manager saw me and asked if I was the one who wrote to them. He continued to apologize for the encounter, thanked me for my feedback, told me I was always welcome, and gave my support animal treats. I love this place and now I love the management.
As for the store, yes it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a local business, so you’re bound to pay a bit more. The selection is incredible, with tons of prepared food for people with dietary restrictions, lots of ethnic foods, plenty of healthy options or junk, and many staples I would otherwise have to get at Whole Foods. Also, they have a full liquor selection. ²⁴⁄₇. Fuck yeah.
My only complaint is that as someone who lives within walking distance, I’m there an embarrassing amount of time.

Staff is always super friendly, store is always clean, LOVE the post office. Only thing keeping me from 5 stars is that they don’t really carry skim milk by the gallon — only 2% and Vit. D. I am sure the owner would bring it in if asked. All in all, great little neighborhood grocery store w/​pretty good selection of organic and vegan foods.

By far, the absolute best thing about FoodSmart is the 24 hour post office. There is usually no line and it’s super convenient. I always avoid the craziness of the Fullerton/​California post office and handle all my snail mail business here.
Even without a post office this place has a great selection of beer as well as specialty/​health conscious/​organic items. A small produce section and assorted baked goods. This is on top of the regular items you would see at a normal convenience store.
Place is very clean and staff is helpful.

God bless Foodsmart! You have saved me a butt-​load in my late night hunt for snacks, fruit, beer, sometimes incense or whatever random item I might need!
Everyone here is SO nice. The store is clean, well lit and has basically anything you might need when you are in a bind.
Did I mention they have a post office and red box? Well, they sure do!

Small amount of fresh veg and not very good bread options, but you’ll be surprised to find basically everything you need in a pinch. Items in general are a little overpriced, but that’s what you get for the convenience.
Staff is super helpful, and if you’re having a hard time finding an item George will go out of his way to help you find it. On a recent quest to find some Pine Nuts, he went so far as to whip out his iphone, and «face time» the owner at home to see if he could give some input on where the missing item might be.
If you want to avoid the madness that is Mariano’s or Target, Food Smart is a great option for groceries. Yes, it’s a bit overpriced but sometimes it’s worth it! The fact that they are open 24 hours is unreal.
* Extra star for George’s amazing customer service.

This is a convenient grocery store with great quality products. They have a lot of organic options and really great fresh bread. Their beer selection is particularly great for such a small place and they change it up regularly. It’s also super convenient to be able to drop off packages that you need to mail at pretty much all hours of the day and they make sure it goes out when the post office opens.

I have lived within 2 blocks of the Armitage Food Smart for about 7 years and have in general had a great experience. In addition to their good beer selection, you can find food products that aren’t available elsewhere in the city (ex: Butler Foods).
Should also mention that i have had a good experience with everyone who works here.
Also, they never close. Ever. Except during that snow storm in 2011. But only after we all got our snow storm beer.
Cheers, Food Smart Armitage.

So, this place is right down the block from my house so it’s a quick easy walk if I need a last minute dinner ingredient or booze, they actually have a pretty extensive craft beer and wine selection, even better than most liquor stores, which is surprising. The rest of the «grocery area» is hit or miss. Mainly a hodgepodge of stale desserts and overpriced dairy products. For convenience and alcohol selection this place is great but if you have the time and transportation to get to an actual grocery store that would be your best bet for food products.

I often got out of work at 10pm or later. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to eat good food. It’s a little price but I don’t mind at all because it Open 24 hr!
Employees are always nice,
Post Office is also open 24 hours
It has a parking lot,
Lots of healthy high quality food and drink options

This time I visited FoodSmart to grab some things I needed to make some tacos. $ 25+tax for Provolone cheese, 2lbs of ground beef, taco sauce, a head of lettuce, and some flour tortillas. Ground beef was 6.49/lb which at other places like Aldi’s, Walmart or some local delis you can get 2−5lbs for 6.49 so who has the better deal?
Things got pretty busy, but when I got around to making the tacos and opened the cheese it was pretty moldy. Most of the packaging was covered up so it looked good from what I saw, but underneath you can tell it had been there for awhile or wasn’t properly stored which brought on the mold. I thought about going back to the store to get my money back, but why bother?
The tacos altogether came out alright, the cheese gave me a scare and made me wonder about the state of the meat (some of the ground beef displayed in the store was rather off-​color, but I grabbed two that looked fresh).
This place disappoints me more every time I visit. Not only does my wallet get gouged by the prices, the food they offer isn’t even of great quality. When I’m paying a certain amount of money for something I expect not to have to pull out my forensic tools to look for mold or rot.
Update 8÷30÷14 — I tried to give this place another chance and it disappoints. They seriously need to invest in some scanners for their registers as I’m tired of having to point out to the cashiers they’re overcharging me by $ 4+ every single time or dashing out quickly only to realize I got double charged for something resulting in an extra $ 4 bonus to the store.
At this point it seems like they’re doing it on purpose (especially when I buy 5 tv dinners, 5 pot pies, some bread and milk which is no more than $ 15 – 20 and the guy working the register rings me up for $ 45 and is serious about it? Of course I immediately point it out and he attempts to defend the total before realizing his mistake which is what happens every time I call them out. How does one not notice the outrageous total?)
Then, to add insult to injury some apparent vendor changes occurred with the deserts so now the items I pick up every now and again are twice the price, but nowhere near the quality or deliciousness of the previous vendor.