Savory Spice

I might have an addiction when it comes to spices. Not using them – I mean, I use them, yes, but I don’t go crazy with them. No, I have a problem with buying them. If there’s a little spice shop in a market somewhere, or a shelf of specialty spice blends at some fancy-​schmancy grocery store, or, God help me, a mail-​order catalogue… well, the wallet’s going to be lighter, is all I’m saying. And the cabinet of spices becomes even more ridiculously stocked.
I stopped in on a Friday a couple of weeks ago to pick up a gift card for a friend’s birthday. The guy working there that day – and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember his name – greeted me, but was in the middle of helping someone else, so I wandered for a minute or two. Bad idea. I spent some time smelling the different seasonings, poking around, checking things out… and I walked out with three seasonings in addition to the gift card. Sigh.
Overall, loved the shop. Savory Spice is both a franchise and an online store, with about two dozen locations around the US. We lived near one in Libertyville, Illinois, so I had been to one before. However, as they are franchises, they are all set up a bit differently. This location seemed to specialize more in blends and seasonings than in just single herbs and spices, such as marjoram or cloves or, well, you get the idea. They did have herbs and spices, but the majority of their stock appeared to me to be their seasoning blends. However, they have a lot of fantastic seasoning blends, so this is in no way a negative. They are also helpfully divided into uses – baking, general-​purpose, that sort of thing. I picked up their Peruvian Chili Lime, Black River Creole, and, er… okay, I can’t remember the third I picked up off the top of my head. The Creole seasoning was fantastic in the shrimp and grits I made, and the Chili Lime goes well on a lot of things. The various other seasonings I sampled were excellent, too, but I managed to limit myself to three.
Prices overall were decent. It’s a boutique store, so they weren’t as cheap as the Sam’s Always Best jars at the local grocery store, but they were comparable in prices to other specialty shops or even the higher-​quality spice brands you can get at the aforementioned local grocery store. You can also smell them and know that they aren’t ten-​year-​old sweepings from some big spice manufacturer that have been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long, so that’s a bonus. It’s a smaller store, but there is a lot in there, so you can certainly manage to browse for awhile. It might not be the place I will stop at if I need, say, thyme for a recipe I’m making, but it’s definitely a place I will go back to.

A nice little niche spice shop right in the heart of Brookside.
Now I gotta say, Season + Square is a locally owned shop that is only a few blocks east, so I would personally recommend checking them out first, and then seeing what Savory Spice is all about.
I had great service at Savory when I popped in to find some chili spice on a brisk fall day. I was using this as an excuse to get out of the house to spark a Royals playoff rally (WHICH WORKED!), so I took my time perusing their different spices. It’s an impressive collection worthy of the Niña, Pinta and the Santa Maria.
They sell them in basically any quantity you’re looking for, whether it’s a little jar, by the ounce, etc. Nice to have the options.
I went with a «medium chili spice» that I was pretty excited about, but I have to say I was a bit let down. There really wasn’t any spice to it and it required some major doctoring up to make it have some kick and flavor. I’d probably stick with Penzey’s or another option instead of using this one again.
All in all a nice little spot and one I’ll try out again, but I hope the spice has some more pop in my future purchases.

Savory Spice makes buying spices a botique experience. All of the spices can be sniff/​taste sampled, so you can pick out the perfect one… or five. They have themed prepackaged variety packs if you don’t feel like making decisions. My husband I enjoyed smelling all the different spices and blends. The little jars are priced the same as grocery stores. The benefit is you can refill them (or use your own) at bulk prices — a big cost savings. The manager was very helpful.
They even have ghost peppers, if your into that. We stuck to the seasonsings and dip mixes, and have enjoyed their high quality taste.

My husband and I went to Savory Spice for the first time yesterday. It is a wonderful little shop. The employees, especially Sally, were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I thought that everything we looked at seemed very fresh and smelled wonderful. I really like that they let you select the amount of spice that you want to purchase, too. I would highly recommend going to Savory!