Cermak Produce

Nice and cheap… but costumer service sucks!
Cashiers are always unavailable and they don’t pay attention to the costumer

We used to shop here a lot for produce and meat but we’ve transitioned to mostly organics and they don’t have any organic stuff here. The deli counter is still a pretty good deal. The guac is good too. The banda music that plays in there is too loud and is offensive to the ears.

One of the worst things about this place is the customer service. The cashiers are usually ok, but if you ask any of the other employees anything, they usually give you a mumbled answer. We shop mostly for produce and certain things like granola. They pack their own granola, seeds and nuts which are usually a lot more inexpensive than other stores.
Recent bonus: They just placed an Amazon locker in the exit area. This is a great alternative for us, at times we have problems receiving packages in our building, so having them sent to the locker is great.

The service at this store has decreased once the new manager took over. The cashiers are extremely rude and ignorant. They look at you with an attitude when they are packing your groceries. Ivonne and Rebeca are the worst.
I have already complaint about them but the manager does not do anything about it. I hope one day I come across the owner because I will express my feelings.

DO NOT BUY CHICKEN HERE!!!
I used to shop fruit and vegetable at this store a lot. Yesterday I grab one pack of raw chicken and big surprise when I opened it…
Chicken still in shape but smell so bad bad very discussing!!! So gloss…,
I went back to store right way and return to cashier. She ask me when did I buy???
Hello Girl! you not even look on receipt!!!
I have to wait till one guy came out to look the package… No one say sorry or feel guilty about sell spoil chicken to customer at all.
Shame on you!!!

It’s a little Mexican grocery store with lower prices but kind of limited selection. Customer service is not something they have heard about. Pretty ignorant staff and I always hear comments behind my back.

I’ve been here a few times as it is the closest grocery store to my house, but this morning was the last time for me. I went for 2 things: a drink and something to take to work for lunch. First I went to the freezer for something frozen to take to lunch. There’s barely any selection, but I settled on a frozen lasagna meal. I go to take it, and it’s stuck to the box below it. I look a little closer and see that the pile of frozen lasagna had obviously been left out to melt because all the boxes were stuck together. I decide to try the chicken fettuccine, but got the same thing. Gross. Won’t this make people sick? Keep frozen items in the freezer. Instead I had to settle on Hot Pockets. Meh. Then I went to grab a drink. I took a can of Starbucks Refreshers and checked out. Once on the bus, I took the can out of the bag and went to open it. There was a thick layer of dust and dirt on the top of the can. I’m not gonna put my mouth on that! I waiting until I got to work to wash the can, then poured it into a cup. Disgusting. They obviously do not adhere to whatever safety rules grocery stores are supposed to abide by.
Nearby alternatives: Jewel a few blocks south on Archer or Dominick’s at 32^nd and Ashland. There’s also a really nice and clean Cermak Produce on Halsted, around 29^th Street.

Nice little grocery store. They have some pretty good deals and its appearance is well kept. They have a good selection of fruits and veggies as well as poultry. I did notice they had some meat called «Aracherita» Baby skirt steak. I’ve never heard of this. I don’t know if they dubbed the steak themselves and it’s actually outer skirt steak but now I will have to try it to see if they make great tacos.
Some of the employees that work there are not that knowledgeable as to what they stock. I asked a stocker (of all people) where I could find some squash blossoms and he responded with «you’re actually the second person to ask me, we don’t stock any». 2 aisles over I found the canned squash blossoms with the vegetables. Had this stocker known what they stock, I would have given them 5 stars.
Other that, it’s a nice place to shop for a quick few things.

This is a very large store for being considered a «fruit market». There are rows and rows of fruit and veggies. The fruit always looks (and tastes) great. I have not purchased veggies yet; they do not look as fresh as the fruit does.
I come here for their 10 cent produce sales. It’s also a great place to go when looking for the hard-​to-​find ingredients needed for making authentic Mexican dishes.

This Cermak Produce doesn’t pass the smell test, literally. It stinks!
When I walked in the door, the smell was noticeable. As I moved through the produce section, the smell only got stronger until I got to the meat department. Yikes! I passed on all the meat and deli items, and wound up only buying some lettuce and cilantro, neither of which were particularly fresh or good. I came here years ago, and had a similar reaction. I gave it a second chance recently, but I won’t be going back because I wouldn’t trust a thing from their stinky meat department or their produce section.
I’ll make this real simple: do NOT shop at this Cermak Produce.

This is my one stop shop for most of my grocery needs. Produce is great here and the deli has a huge selection for everyone. They have great sales and specials and always have a great stock of other items. You can get yer milk and eggs or some carnitas and fried fish also. what more could you ask for.

Depends on the day or the week there are sometimes good deals here, however, parking is always crazy.

I drove 4 Asian friends to this place to shop here. They each wanted to buy a total of 5 bags of rice, which were on sale. Since, they were elderly, I helped them load the bags of rice onto a cart and pushed it around.
Then the Mexican manager appeared out of nowhere and put his hand on our cart and said, «No, I won’t let you buy so much rice. I will only let you buy 2 bags. Its limit two bags. Look at the sign. Limit 2 per family.»
1^st, I pointed out just cause my 4 friends were Asian, it doesn’t mean all Asians are related. 2^nd, I can read and your since does not say anything about a «limit.» 3^rd, your sign says nothing about a «family limit»
The racist fat piece of crap kept arguing with us and refused to let us by the rice. I informed my elderly friends to leave the cart and to take our business elsewhere.
After informing other friends of what happened, we heard multiple reports of similar things happening to other Asians at that store.
This store likes to pick on Asians and refuse them service. They are blatantly racist.
Unless you’re Mexican, don’t bother shopping here.
Boycott these Racist Assholes and Don’t Shop here. It’s 2010 and racism is well alive at Cermak Produce.

Some people enjoy getting all their shopping done at one store. I don’t. I enjoy a variety and seeing what the city has to offer. If you are one of those people this Cermak Produce probably isn’t for you. It’s a relatively small store but definitely has an upside. I did, however; learn one thing while at this store — I will never set foot in a Whole Foods again. Well not never… they do carry some items on sale but I think you get the point. Let me explain…
12.5 oz jar of hot sauce made in Mexico $ 1.19
9 oz of Queso Fresco cheese $ 1.99
5 heads of garlic $ 1
2.36 lb of bananas $ 1.16
1 lb bag of carrots $ 0.43
1 bunch of celery $ 0.69
3 lbs onions $ 0.99
Total, including the 17 cents in tax (yes, that’s a 2.25% tax rate and no, I have no idea how they get away with that), was $ 7.62. I think I’ve made my point. This store does have a meat counter and a variety of other items in their aisles. But I feel this store really shines in the large vegetable department and the spice/​chile area. For these items alone I will be back. Saving money isn’t a bad thing either.

I am really torn about this place. You can find some damn good deals on produce here, probably some of the best in the city that i have seen.
It is a tiny little place and they set a very festive atmosphere with the music cranking. I found myself several times wanting to shake my booty in the aisles but I resisted the urge and just kept it to tapping my feet.
I do have a possible HUGE matter of concern with this place. When we got back to the meat section, there was an AWFUL yet somewhat unrecognizeable odor. Lara thought it smelled like urine and i thought it smelled like something rotting. I am hoping that this odor was just emanating from an unsanitary, unwashed customer and NOT the meat case!

The good news is, it’s cheap. The bad news is, it’s small. Well, you can get Mexican produce here (cactus leaves, green onions with the bulb, peppers…) and sometimes even harder to find stuff like persimmons, but it’s still not as big as Pete’s. And you sometimes get what you pay for in terms of quality. I only go here if I’m going to Target and realize I need some fruit too, so I stop in. I don’t make any special trips.
Sometimes the fruit and veggies are fresh. But last time I went, oranges were 10 for $ 1.70 (yay) but I only picked out 4 (boo). The rest didn’t loook edible. Again, hit or miss. Fresh or nasty. Like other fruit and veggie markets, unless you catch a sale, the other groceries are pricey.
Go to Pete’s if you can.

What a crazy deal! Maybe it’s just that I’m used to downtown grocery store prices, but I was truly impressed by the prices. Let me enumerate the deals:
2 lbs of steak $ 4
1 pack of queso fresco $ 1.50
1 pack of chorizo (2 links) $ 1.50
Fuji applies .99/​lb
onions .99/​lb
limes 10 for $ 1.50
small avocados .39
2 lbs of short ribs $ 4
tomatoes .39/​lb
cilantro 3/​$ 1
I got a bunch of stuff all for $ 23!!! It would have at least twice as much at a regular grocery store. AWESOME!!!

This is the place to go to if you need cheap produce, but that’s about it. Their produce section is where you’ll find the bargains. The jicamas here are large and of better quality than you’ll find at most other supermarkets. The chiles and peppers are a better selection here. Deals on things like onions make this place great, and some fruits I just don’t really see that often.
As for the meat counter, I could take it or leave it. Most of the stuff you can identify without speaking a word of Spanish, but there are some products there which require a little bit of «la lengua» to ensure that you don’t wind up with cow’s tongue (lengua) when you wanted a steak. Also, come here if you’d like a place to purchase parts of animals that most Americans wouldn’t fathom ever allowing to touch their plates, let alone their mouths.
The bakery is a good choice, for the range of tortillas and authentic chips and salsas. Their sweetbreads smell delicious, though I’ve never bought one, but I can attest to delicious homemade flan found in their refrigerated section. Oh, and they have a good selection of authentic Mexican cheeses.
Lastly, the churros. If you’ve been to this store and haven’t found them, you have to pick your checkout aisle carefully — the box with fresh churros is hiding near the middle lane, right behind the conveyor belt. $ 1.50 for a fresh strawberry churro is worth coming here, even if I haven’t bought anything else.
A trip to this Cermak Produce isn’t complete without gorging on said strawberry churro in the parking lot and on the way to the #35 bus back home.

They have good prices on produce and meats.
I usually get the pica de gallo and guacamole sometimes.
The meat selection and prices are great.

I’m giving them 4 stars because they got rid of the cantaloupe soy milk that they used to carry…
Good selection for a small grocery store, focus on fresh foods and for people who cook at home. not much in the way or prepared foods, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.