Lithuanian Plaza — Attraction in Palos Township

While I am no authority, I imagine this must be one of the best Lithuanian speciality stores in the US. And what a fantastic little shop it is -- to my eye, much more of a grocery store than a restaurant (as billed on Google).

Chicago, of course, has a long and storied connection to Lithuania. It is wonderful to stumble into a destination establishment such as this, discovering countless authentic foods, some locally produced and others imported, and listening to friends and family discuss the events of their lives in their mother tongue.

We were pleased to find many vegetarian items, more so than other Central European markets we've explored. Obviously, meat and fish appear to be a huge part of the cuisine, but this didn't keep us from filing up two small baskets with pickled tomatoes, house-made bread-bean salad, kukulaičiai, a fantastic "korean" carrot salad, Lithuanian cheese, and fresh baked goods. I would be embarrassed to list everything we found...

The shopkeeper was really nice, he and my brother had some great conversations in Lithuanian. Great low prices and a wide selection. Again, the shopkeeper was very nice and friendly to people who had no idea what they were doing ;). They even serve great hot food options, but unfortunately our visit was too late in the evening for that. They have everything from wafers and crackers to canned and jarred products, up to fresh deli options for meat...

Yeah I bought some products from this store. They have the best Lithuanian products under the sea and over the moon! I got Rūta brand chocolate here which is often times not easy or impossible to find. I also got speciality drinks that are not easy or impossible to source. The employees are quite standup people and are very nice if you need any help. This is one of few stores where I go for my...