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For a REAL taste (literally as well as figuratively) of Cleveland’s local color, do check out this European-style market on the corner of West 25th and Lorain Avenue—one of the world’s largest indoor/outdoor food and produce markets, founded in 1912. Here you will find a melting pot of people and food, with more than 70 vendors busily displaying and selling their products in individual booths which line the aisles inside and outside of the huge neo-classical/Byzantine style building. Meats, fish, cheeses, pastries, spices, deli items… you name it, it’s all right here. And trust me, you won’t find better meat. Most of the better restaurants in the area buy theirs here (I’ve asked); it’s that good. A place I always check out is the bagel man, with the freshest and most unique selection of bagels anywhere.
For produce, walk out one of the back doors and enter the second section, a long, more narrow structure which houses seemingly every possible fruit or vegetable known to man. Big, fresh, luscious melons, grapes, tomatoes, herbs… whatever is in season at the time, and at such affordable prices, you don’t need to haggle! Before you purchase what you need, walk up and down the entire length of vendors; that way, you can compare quality as well as price so you get the best possible deal. Saturday is the most crowded time, yet you get good deals near the end of the day, as the vendors want to sell all of their food if possible.
What could be more fun than planning your meal, then coming here to shop for the ingredients to take back home and cook? Or on a hot summer day, choose your picnic items here to take to a shady park for lunch.
There's plenty of free parking in the adjacent lot. The market is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; the doors open at 7am.
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