Uni-Mart One Stop Shop

Warning: I might be quite dizzy as I am writing this review so please excuse any typo or if you notice anything odd. Why? … Because I just had Filipino food… What’s the connection? … Filipino food=oil, salt, oil, soy sauce, oil, fish sauce, oil, or sugar, lots of sugar, liquid or solid form of sugar, oh and did I mention oil? Yes. I LOVE our food, I’m proud of the ways, flavors, the meat (and non-​meat parts) that we could possibly make food out of, the culture and passion behind every dish, and simply the love for what I’ve known growing up. BUT… I cannot have Filipino food nor cook them for my kids all the time.
Having said that, I had the Filipino food craving this morning. So instead of working out early, I went to Uni Mart, with a huge smile and an excited like opening-​Christmas-​presents-​happiness in me:)
It is a small grocery store with everything I could want/​need to make or simply to enjoy Filipino food. They have cooked dishes that you can order to go, whether for individual orders or large party orders (you’ll have to place an order ahead of time for this). They also have bakery goods, fruits smoothies, noodles, frozen meats, various cold drinks, canned goods, chips, seasonings, sacks of rice, fresh fish that they could clean for you, and a small dining area for those who could not wait to get home to eat their orders (that would be me). Whew!
Why the four stars? It’s because I’ve noticed that their meat servings got smaller compared to the ones I’ve had before. Other than that, the high blood/​high cholesterol dish I’ve had (Longsilog) and the Lumpiang Shanghai I took home for my kids are so worth it!

The people are rude here, unless you’re of Asian decent. Never in my life as a paying customer I should be ignored.

Halo-​halo is expensive and doesn’t have enough variety of ingredients such as beans, ube, nata de coco, etc. There’s too much ice but not enough halo halo and the ice cream is very small portion not even a full scoop.

Got the tocilog. It’s not that great… Didn’t really taste like Tocino that I’m used to. And when you order sago’t gulaman, tell them to be easy on the ice. They over flowed mine with ice. Service was also bad. They forgot two orders of the tocilog for my brother and sister, which they waited about half an hour for.

This is my go-​to place when the family wants Pinoy food. The lumpia, lechon, and fried tilapia is always consistently good. The quality of the premade foods is a hit or miss. Don’t go too late for the hot food or you’ll be left with dried pancit noodles, soggy fried things, or food that no one wanted.
Try the breakfast choices. And for the «dim sum» choices? Go to Chinatown.

Poor customer service. Caters to Asians only since staff is, otherwise you get ripped off and made to wait even if there before. Rude! Overpriced too the prepared food area is what I am referring to. Few scoops of noodles mostly for $ 6.50. Forget that, can boil my own for less than $ 1. Tried to rip me off, then I caught him to recheck and said yah right and only took off .50 cents after I waited 20 minutes after all Asian people were waited on and their phone call orders too! Watched as they served them huge helpings of same dish at same price, just wrong!
I am not racist but they a appeared to sadly be.

Love getting the halo-​halo from this place. Get it from the prepared food area– if you’re a fan of coconut and Asian dessert, you will not be disappointed! Super friendly staff, and a great assortment of ethnic foods!
Would highly recommend picking up some bakery items as well. Everything is freshly made in the store, a rare sight these days! I love picking up breads to gift to family and friends. They are always a hit.

I love coming to uni mart with my mom. The workers are all very kind and helpful. In addition it is one of the very few places I can’t get filipino snacks and groceries. On occasion if I have time I will sit down and eat there food here. The pancit and adobo are very good and they come at cheap prices as well. It’s very convenient that this place is only 10 minutes away, but it can get very crowded sometimes and the parking lot is small. I come here with my mom to buy fresh fish and other vegetables that are typically used in filipino dishes. If you’re a fan of filipino food I recommend coming here.

Bought halo-​halo and it is disgusting. Who f***ing puts avocado ice cream on a halo-​halo? It also has NO pinipig, nata de coco, lanka, and most of all UBE.
I’m pissed! I bought two and each cost 4.99. Just wasted $ 10.00 damn dollars!
Not going back ever.

This place was a nice surprise. I had no idea they have a «restaurant» in this «grocery» store.
I am also very confused by this «grocery» store. They really do not have enough on the shelves to earn profits from the grocery store, it is also a lot smaller inside. The store looks much bigger from the exterior. Maybe they are more into wholesale.
To be honest, I really do not care for this grocery store, however, I think I am falling in love with the «restaurant». It really is more like a catering business that does retail.
Their lunch special is decent and affordable. for $ 7.49 you get a HUGE portion of rice, two sides (many sides to choose from) and a small soft drink.
I will visit again.
Took 2 stars away due to the strange «grocery» section.

It’s a good place for cheap Filipino comfort food. Just don’t expect anything fancy, as you are basically eating in a Filipino grocery store. You can get decent tasting two sides (pork, or beef, or chicken, or fish, or whatever) with rice for $ 7.49. Noodles are a $ 0.50 premium over rice. There’s a casual dining area for eating in if you like. It’s nice to have the quick meal option around for the right time.

When in the Niles area we will occasionally stop at UniMart.
A wide selection of prepared foods.
Pancit, pinacbet, adobos, fried talapia, kare kare, longanissa, crispy pata… on & on & on.
Deserts also.
Canned goods, frozen items, veggies etc.
There is a money wire transfer office here.
We used to pick up movie DVD’s here… but now that we have a Filipino channel we no longer do.
Every Filipino would know about UniMart.
I highly suggest that if you have never tried Filipino cuisine… you can start here. Try some pancit (with a squeeze of lime) or some adobo chicken.
It All Good!

Finally had the chance to try the Uni-​Mart in Morton Grove. We were there mainly to order takeout for lunch. They had a wider selection of food than the one in Chicago on Clark St. We ordered a couple breakfast combos, two Bangus combos, and one Tocilog combo, which all came with garlic rice and a fried egg. All were okay… nothing really great, but okay. Price was definitely inexpensive, about $ 5.99 for the combo and a drink… can’t beat that. Also ordered Lechon Kawali to go… since it was just cooked, it was nice and crispy! Can’t really mess that up IMO.
In summary, wide selection of food, okay service, okay prices. Will definitely go back to try their other offerings and maybe buy something from their small grocery section.

A wide variety of HOT Filipino dishes as well as Thai food. They have the best Pinakbet there but i just wish sometimes they would add a little more sauce. The Filipino food selection is at its best. One of the lady who cooks there is from Ilocos, hence, Ilocano style of cooking.
Fresh seafoods on one corner, also has a small dining area where people can eat and socialize.
A mini-​bank where you can send some money to your family in the Philippines, can also be seen inside the store.
Merchandise-​wise can be pricey and expensive. There are other major store in the area which carries Filipino stuff.
Nice and spacey parking lot but during the holidays it gets filled easily.
It’s a One Stop Store for Pinoys basically but be prepared to pay a lot!!!

This is a small asian grocery store… I believe the majority grocery here is Filipino food and groceries. First thing I noticed as I walked into the store was some lil table and chairs in the middle of the store… then to the right there is a food counter with lots of cooked food in this window display. You can buy by the lb… I got an order of Lumpia — which was not bad at all. The price is definitely alot less than what I would pay if i went to a sit down restaurant… and I got more bang for my buck. Which is always a plus. Only bad thing about this was… it appeared quite busy… and there was actually a line at this food counter. However it did move quickly.
I also noticed an area with lots of bread and desserts. Which I cant resist… I bought a few slices of cakes and bread… which all turned out to taste pretty good. The store is not really big, so I was able to walk around it quite fast… Paid for my groceries and left.
The staff there seemed pretty quick… and adequate. No complaints from me.
Definitely go here and take a peek… you wont be disappointed.

Cute place. I was having a craving for Lumpia Shanghai when my aunt told us about this place at a family party. Evidently, she always gets party pans of it for our family events. So one day on the way home, I happened to pass by and so I stopped in.
Upon entering, you will make your way through an eating area, food area, where they have all sorts of items ready to order. Right away, I checked out the menu, ordered a pound of Lumpia, a pound of kabobs and made my way through the rest of the store. Decent Asian grocery store.
I now know a place I can hit if I have a Lumpia craving. They have a lot of other tastey dishes if you are in a rush and want Filipino food.

Hoy pare! My family loves the «Oooney”-mart as they like to call it. I guess it’s their one-​stop shop to wire money, send balikbayan boxes, order outside catering, shop for imported foods, and you can even rent the latest Tagalog «bidjos.»
My mom likes to order food from this place and if you know the kind of foods that Filipinos like to cook, you’ll know that it can get pretty, uh, odorous you can say. I’d rather have Uni-​Mart do the cooking while my parents’ place stays scent free. As I am writing this, I am craving some cutchinta, mamon and puto… mmmmm.

I say, if you are going to try to keep up with the Big dogs such as H-​Mart and Assi… then step up your game. I believe Unimart hasn’t stepped up enough to be in such close proximity to them. Dont get it twisted, I still like the place and for you readers, take the trip to see this place and try something new. Anyway, I went there and the Sans Rival was not available. They had everything else except for Sans Rival They had ready to carry out foods. We had the caldereta and it was great. Though, it could have been more flavorful. They are known for their mocha and ube cakes. They sell imported goods en lata (canned) soup bases, snacks, etc. They are a bit too costly for me and the service is spotty. The place is small and moderately clean. I just hope that they realize that Filipino specialties and snacks should not be that expensive.

Let me set the stage for you. After a lovely week-​long vacation with my family in the Chicago suburbs, I am stranded after two flights back to Houston are cancelled due to Hurricane Ike. News reports on the Weather Channel and CNN report massive power outage, more than 2 million customers without power. When I finally get a confirmed plane ticket back home, do I pack my suitcase full of emergency necessities like batteries and canned goods? Do I try to bring back flashlights and battey-​operated radios? Handheld fans to combat the heat?
No. As soon as I get that confirmed ticket, I drive to Unimart and buy 10 packages of kalihim ube bread to bring back home; five for my mom’s suitcase, five for mine, in the unlikely event that we get separated, or that someone mugs us for our ube bread.
This stuff is like crack cocaine. Rich, buttery, sweet, and purple, you cannot find it anywhere in Houston, and every member of my family (four siblings in Texas) has to have their own bag. My husband can eat one package in a week. (There are four sizable loaves of this bread in each package.) My son isn’t even three years old, and every day of vacation he woke up asking whether he could have ube bread.
For those not in the know — ube is the Filipino term for a purple yam often used in desserts. It’s cooked in sugar and is known for its bright, almost iridescent, purple hue. The kalihim bread is a sweet bread, similar but more rich than a cinnamon roll, and the ube peeks purple out of each end of the bread, swirled slightly in the pillowy folds of dough.
Unimart has plenty of other things you would expect at a Filipino grocery — longaniza, siopao, ensaymada, and just about any canned, jarred, frozen or packaged Filipino delicacy you might need. Avoid the tamarind candies. Buy the Philippine brand Mango or Mango and Tamarind candies. But above all else, buy the kalihim ube bread.

If I could be the Anthony Bourdain of Chicago, I would bring you this — the best kept eggroll secret in Chicago…
BUILDING — What this place lacks in ambiance and marketing, it makes up for big food and big taste. Okay, a non-​descript building, not much parking, and you gotta wonder what they sell because this place does not look like it has much, and it vaguely smells like someone has been frying something in there. Well this is what I grew up with in some of the Filipino homes I have visited, and it is a precursor to something delicious.
TAKEOUT FOOD — When you walk in the turnstyle, you are greeted by a takeout counter and a long glass case only a non-​muslim southeast asian could appreciate. A large takeout counter makes up about 30% of the store, yet may make up a huge percentage of their business.
Filipino food consists of 5 different food groups — starches (bread or rice variations), fried meat (mostly pork related), barbecue (chicken and pork), stews (vegetable and meat and combinations), and soups.
If you go to this place for anything at all, you should go for, and you should write this down, the LUMPIA SHANGHAI. Lumpia Shanghai is a mini meat eggroll unlike any other eggroll adulterated with heavy cabbage. The thin crackling filo type shell stuffed with garlic, carrot and onion-​seasoned pork is appetizer perfection for meatlovers. It comes with a sweet sour dipping sauce that is unnecessary, but adds variety. At $ 6.00/lb, one pound fills a half a styrofoam takeout clamshell. The light crunchiness of the shell, along with the garlic spicyness of the meat makes this the perfect accompaniment with beer. Even the next day, these lumpia shanghai heat up nicely in the oven and will hold for at least 3 days, if they last 3 hours.
LUMPIA SHANGHAI WARNING: Do not go hungry when you buy these. The smell of the cooked lumpia will torture you until you careen the car into a parking spot just to stop your incessant drooling.
The pork barbecue sticks and the chicken barbecue sticks are next best (in that order). Generously skewered pieces of meat coated in a sweet barbecue sauce, ready for another sneaky snack in the car.
Other items in the glass case? Lechon (roast pork), other stuffed meats, a variety of traditional fried fish, and stews.
STEWS — Most of these are traditional and you should as a Filipino friend what they are. Nothing will be too hot or spicy, just different.
Try the Adobo — adobo is combination of chicken and pork (there they go again, trying to marry the meats together) cooked in soy sauce, garlic, black pepper, bay leaves and vinegar. The richness of the pork and the lightness of the chicken make for a nice tasty dish.
Try the pancit — pancit noodles are an egg noodle frenzy of chinese pork sausage, pork and chicken (see dat again?), carrots, celery and mushrooms in a rich oyster sauce flavor. Excellent carb that is also served with white rice (you will find that almost everything in a Filipino diet is served with white rice).
BREADS — If you like soft, roll type bread, try the pan de leche or the pan de sal. Both are great.
The other products within the store are catered toward the Filipino community. Everything is in english and you should find no problem with any of the selections.
PARKING — Tough, but worth it.
The food is very good, and not only is it near and dear to my heart, it is probably in my arteries as well.