Caspian Supermarket

I had the pleasure of bumping into this market one day right when they opened. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the store was spotless and well stocked. Give them a try!
Janice F.

We stopped by the Caspian today to pick up a few essentials for recipes in my new Persian & Meditteranean cookbooks.

We were given a friendly greeting the moment we entered the store. We also noted right away that the store was extremely clean, which one expects from a grocery store, but since I've been in a market or two that were filthy messes, I think it bears reporting that this store appeared to be exceptionally clean, including the meat case.

I had a couple of questions (being new to this type of cooking), which were answered beyond my expectations. The owners are very nice, very helpful, and I am already looking forward to my next trip!

On a side note, the lady in front of us asked if we were American, introduced herself as an Armenian, and we struck up a friendly conversation about what she buys there (her simple answer: "everything!"). At the height of our visit, I had 3 people telling me how to achieve the best tadig, and this sweet Armenian lady chiming in with them. I couldn't keep track of who was saying what! It was a FUN trip!

I was tickled pink to discover that a Persian market had opened in our area. I'm a fan of ethic markets anyway -- they have items you can't generally find at American supermarkets, sometimes at bargain prices -- but this was particularly good fortune, as we had been looking to replace (refill?) a Persian food item that had been bought on a trip out-of-state. We never dreamed we would have the opportunity to do that in our own backyard.

Getting there was a bit of a challenge. Their ad wisely referenced a neighboring fast-food joint, but we still had trouble finding the right driveway to turn into. Unfortunately the entrance we needed is right in front of a turn-around on a BUSY thoroughfare, and we had to pass by the driveway to avoid getting HIT! Rather than having to risk a similar turn-around ourselves, we pulled into the next parking lot and walked back. (We were obviously not the first ones to try this, as there were paths beaten at both ends of the building.)

We finally found the store at the last entrance on the bottom level. 3 of the 4 employees greeted us enthusiastically as we entered; most also apologized for the "mess" (they had just received a delivery and there were a few empty boxes around... no big deal in my eyes, but I'm glad they care about cleanliness).

We quickly found what we had come for (in more varieties than we knew existed!), then set about exploring their other offerings.

The entire back of the store is one long refrigerator/freezer case, full of goodies like Persian saffron ice cream, and various yogurts and cheeses. One side wall is devoted entirely to spices -- these are usually the real bargains in ethnic stores, and this was no exception. Other aisles sported a wide selection of dry goods (rices, beans, etc.), coffees and teas, candies, condiments, and other things. They had some yummy-looking fresh flatbread that I'm heartbroken that I can't try (restricted diet). Around the cash register, they had a wide selection

PROS: clean, neat, well-lit, helpful employees
CONS: hidden from road; smallish store (hopefully they will expand)