All I gotta say is thank god for Olivias! Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I am making dinner and I run out of something. I couldn't imagine having to get in the car and fight our way to Dominicks especially for one thing. So needless to say, there have been many times we have needed something and good ol' olivia's is there. They are stocked with all your typical standards and some of your not so standard items and even though their fruit and veggy section is small, it is always high quality. I especiallly love their grapes! Besides being a little pricey, which one can understand, it is the perfect one stop shop for all your last min 'oh god i forgot that at the store' items :) I guess you can tell, I really heart olivia's!

After trudging through a blizzard to get to Olivia's and trudge back, I had time carefully think about how truly grateful I am that this local market once again saved my butt by carrying what other local stores would consider "exotic" foods (is slab bacon and a small selection of other cured hams really all that exotic? Apparently so because NONE of the chain grocers in the area carry them... or creme fraiche for that matter... or ANY boutique wines or cheeses... or cara cara oranges but I'm digressing - sort of).
Is Olivia's as cheap as the mass chains? Product for product, pretty much, but when you compare their quality and SELECTION of produce, well, you get what you pay for, and it's up to par or exceeds whatever you are paying 5 to 10 times more for in restaurants.
Quite simply, they are an 800 square foot market packed full of RELEVANT, diverse, highest quality food that one could prepare a seven course dinner with (minus fresh seafood).
But where they truly shine in my opinion, are the wines. Three shelves and a small cooler space is the only real estate alotted to wines and beer, but they are all PERFECTLY picked to work with ANY food/occasion. We're talking an exquisite merlot by Robert Sinskey to the super-fun Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc.
If you live in Wicker/Bucktown/Humble/Ukranian and you're looking for the essentials like ketchup and mayo, or gamey, small farm fresh mozzerella, there's no reason to cross the river for Sam's Liquors or Whole Foods (Stanley's Produce? O.K.), Olivia's Market has pretty much everything you need of the highest quality.
You saved me again Olivia's - this time it was Sunday breakfast consisting of free-range eggs with chives, thick cut SLAB bacon, whole grain REAL bakery bread, pancakes with REAL cherry preserves and fresh squeezed juice from grapefruits AND cara cara oranges. Is that too much to ask for Jewel or Dominicks?