Alta Vista Foods

A great go-​to for the necessities. Always clean, always well stocked, good selection. Friendly and helpful staff. Try the Carlos V bars at the checkout counter.

Alta Vista foods is a classic example of «don’t judge a book by it’s cover». They are very conveniently located right outside the Red Line Sheridan L Train Station. The employees are more than willing to help you find whatever you need. I don’t do my grocery shopping here, but swing in when I am cooking and need single item fast. Their prices are more than fair, and I really like the vibe inside the place.

I’m not sure that I like Alta Vista Foods. I don’t hate it. If I need to pick something up on the way home, I’ll check Alta Vista.
My issue with Alta Vista is that it has some type of odor that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s not horrible, yet not pleasant. I’m not too keen to buy my food at a place with a strange odor, but that’s just me.
First world problems…

1– Great location, access from the red line
2– Fresh produce (and great too!)
3– Cheaper than Jewel. For a lot of things. Especially the produce. One mini watermelon here was 2.99 and at Jewel? 4.99. That is about the same with every produce item.
4-​Everything is always in code and fresh
5-​Staff is very friendly.
Watch out though because there is a credit card minimum of 5 dollars i think.
Overall, highly recommended.

I come here all the time since i live right by here. The guys who work here are great! We chat it up with them all the time. There is a $ 6 minimum for credit cards. Things here are kinda over priced but we go there for the convience. If i wanted to buy cheaper things, I would hop in my car and go to jewel. simple as that.

Good little convenience store to buy something last minute. Store is a little uncomfortable, only one person may go through the aisles… if not, you WILL knock over something. Some things are a little bit overpriced but not everything. They have a good selection of fruits and veggies. I only go here if it’s something I really really need and don’t want to walk over to the Jewel or Dominick’s.

It’s right near me, and it’s pretty cheap. So yea, I come here a lot. I sometimes grab some chicken every once in a while from here, but I am weary of buying read meat from this place for some reason. I just prefer to get it from a place that has a butcher in sight. I’ll gladly buy everything else, though.

They don’t have everything, but for me, they are the closest grocery store and usually the prices are cheaper than Whole Foods, the next closest grocery store.
It’s a little annoying when the place is packed, and it’s a little annoying to find that one thing sometimes because the place has things from floor to ceiling.
I like the cheap pears and Muenster cheese. Two bucks for a decent little hunk of cheese. Yum.

It’s super cool you can buy your apples at a popular search engine from the late 90s. Alta Vista.
Who knew that Alta Vista is now a little food store underneath the Sheridan red line stop in Chicago?
Fresh apples. And cheap. Even though apples aren’t in season right now and other produce stores are selling them for $ 1.99/lb, Alta Vista sells them for $ 1.39/lb.
Even though Google and Apple don’t get along very well right now, Alta Vista and apples are doing just great together. I’ll always buy my apples from Alta Vista.
One of these days I’m gonna get the courage to ask one of the attendants if they can look up

This place packs as much stuff into one tiny space that you get amazing variety! It really is like a mini grocery store. For almost any food they have, you can choose from many different brands. I love this place for that fact alone. Also, its pretty cheap for a small food store!
fun fact: their baby items in the back are from 1999!

Without Alta Vista, I’d have a potassium and V-​B6 deficiency. Practically every day I get off the Sheridan stop on my way to work, easily step through the beeping door of this «hole in the wall» grocery/​produce mart (since it’s directly connected to the Sheridan Red line station), and finger out the most perfect banana – not too bright yellow still with a hint of tye-​dye green and not too thick nor skimpy. The prices are average but I feel like I save even more with their flashy, star-​bursting sale signs. I usually drop an average of .34 cents there each morning. What can you still get for under a buck?! I gotta have my banana accompanying my instant oatmeal to get through my morning. Better yet, I’m always happy to see the lovely Mexican cashier who now knows me well by now: No black bag or receipt with the banana.
Alta Vista will surprise anyone who steps in their door for the first time. It’s deeper than it seems from the façade with a labyrinth of thing aisles. Moreover, behind the cash registers they have every little home trinket and necessity: lighters, cigs, shavers, travel OTC meds, super glue, scissors. The trick is to just close your eyes, concentrate for 3 seconds on the item you’re seeking out, open your eyes, it’ll be right there in front of your eye – once you’re done finding it, in addition to Waldo.
AV is the perfect place to grab a random snack, maybe even a nutritional one. In other words, they must unknowingly be at fault for people eating and leaving their trash on the el trains…

I used to live just north on Sheridan from this store, and used to take the red line to/​from work, so shopping here was a slam dunk for me.
The produce is cheap, abundant, and I could usually find most of what I needed (even plain yogurt.)
What I subtracted the star for is the meat. I used to get steak from Alta Vista Foods (cheap too!) to make tacos at home (when I was single, and continuing after I moved in with my wife at her apartment on Clarendon). What I found after a few trips was that some of the meat was frozen. I began to wonder if things were being re-​frozen, or just frozen once and then marked down. Re-​freezing ruins the quality of the meat and kills the flavor as well.
I’ve talked briefly with the owner and he’s checked out my purchases many times. The workers can be a bit strange (blocking aisles at 5:30pm to restock — hello? It’s rush hour?) but overall are very friendly and helpful if you need something.
If it’s on your way home, give it a try. Otherwise, for produce, try Stanley’s — it’s better and cheaper, and try Paulina Market or Whole Foods or Jewel for your meat.

I’m not quite as impressed as most of the other Unilocalers who have reviewed Alta Vista, but it gets its 3 because.
1 star for a lot of fresh looking produce.
1 star for being right by the el.
1 star for thriftiness.
For one or two items, and if you’re getting off at Sheridan, this is a good place to stop in.
But. even though I like to support small businesses, if I need more than three items, I’m going to Whole Foods (which is only a slightly longer walk for me). I just get really grossed out when I feel like stuff on the shelves is ancient and dusty. Also, consistently buying most of your groceries here can’t be good for you. Most of the packaged food is really processed and full of preservatives. For instance, I love the huuuge pack of tortillas for $ 1.69, but the ingredients list is way too long and full of words I can’t pronounce.
Finally, this is not affecting my rating at all, but it weird-​ed me out nonetheless. While I was checking out, I noticed one of my items was partially opened already, so I said this to the cashier and went to put it back (just a couple of feet away). When I got back I told her I decided not to replace the item and was ready to check out. She then yelled, «your Spanish is messing me up, can you talk in English PLEASE!» Since I wasn’t speaking in Spanish, I found this strange. I’ve come to the conclusion she must have had a bluetooth on. but still weird, especially since those were the only words I heard her say, and she was looking right at me.

Rapidly becoming my go-​to destination for cheap groceries. The selection is pretty amazing for the small size of this store. The produce is surprisingly good — I discovered that I love Brussels Sprouts at this place (well, also ‘cos of Ellen M’s cooking suggestion — sauté in garlic and lotsa butter).
Minus a star ‘cos it gets a leeeeetle claustrophobic at times, it’s a really tiny shop.

If you like coffee, and you are watching your coin because our economy sucks and inflation is rampant, you’ve noticed that coffee at the Jewels, Dominicks, Starbucks and elsewhere has been getting really expensive.
Alta Vista Foods peddles the best coffee deal I’ve seen anywhere:
if you like dark roast for espresso, cappuccino or just plain old strong coffee, try Café Bustelo. It’s 3.79 for a 10 oz. can or vacuum packed brick. That’s pennies over $ 6.00/lb., and this stuff is so strong it lasts a very long time.
And, if you love this Café Bustelo brand like I do, you can buy it for $ 4.95/lb online at
I love beating the big groceries and big brand coffee sellers at their own game.

The fresh fruits and vegetables here are great! They are usually cheaper than Jewel/Dominic’s as well.
The boxed food is expensive and the selection is lacking, but for a few simple things this place is great!

I have been going to this little store since I moved to lakeview 4 years ago. My ex gf and I always, and still do call it the «Sheridan Store». Neither of us actually knew the name of it till one day I finally noticed the sign above which I didn’t remember being there before.
I like this place because they have a nice fruit and vegetable selection as well as other things to prevent me from actually going to jewel when I am too lazy to go, which will tide me over till I actually need to do real grocery shopping.
Plus whenever I take the train to work I stop in and grab some apricots or some other fruit for a protein shake that I mix while at work.
Actually I really like their Macaroni salad, as random as that is.
It’s just a nice little store for odds and ends between major grocery shopping with friendly faces and anything else that you may need. pero no booze though. not that I wanted any, But I’m just saying…

Located under the red line, this very deep and diverse store has everything you need in an emergency, or when you don’t feel like trudging out of your way to the big grocery stores
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it actually reminds me of Mary Poppin’s carpet bag., deceivingly small, you pop in there and exactly what you need that day seems to appear. I’ve never gone in there and not come out with exactly what I needed to pull off the dish of the day, or make up for a bad day, or get me home faster.
The staff never fail to be friendly, and I think I will continue to go there as

Perfect little stop off for a thing or two on the way outta the Sheridan red line station.
I was in need of produce, and just couldn’t face the crazy Jewel. I didn’t want to fight anyone with a cart or be assaulted by wine vendors. I just wanted some veggies. Cheap.
Alta Vista for the win. Some seriously cheap (albiet short-​lived) produce. Best to use it up within a few days.
Great little locally-​owned shop with just about anything on earth you could possibly need in a pinch. Conveniently located and friendly family.

This place has EVERYTHING! Sure, the shelves are packed tightly with a variety of goods, but I can usually find what I’m looking for. The only exception is a limited meat selection. Also, the produce here is not very fresh. I have gotten some bad vegetables accidentally. The Alta Vista does carry a lot of Mexican products, so it’s convenient when I decide it’s Fajita night. Oh, and they have this macaroni salad that I’m addicted to.
They actually have a door that goes directly in the Sheridan red line station, so it’s very convenient. I’m so glad that this place is open– it beats walking to Jewel for sure! And I feel better about supporting local business. The staff is very friendly.