Foodstuffs Gourmet Foods & Catering — Restaurant in Evanston Township

REVIEW UPDATE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kudos to Jay Liberman, President of Foodstuffs, Inc (Evanston location) for his thoughtful and immediate response to my post. Jay and I spoke by phone about my experience. He heard me and authenticity cares and values customer satisfaction. He generously made right what was an unsatisfactory situation. I returned yesterday for my weekly shopping and all went quite well. Every food item was superb⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I asked for you, Jay, but you were off sight. ———————————————— Usually, over the years my experience at Foodstuffs in Evanston is a positive one. However, yesterday was a great disappointment for a number of reasons. The edamame, feta, cranberry and chickpea salad was awful. The chickpeas tasted like the aluminum can that it came in. And, there was no edamame in the dish as advertised. I could not eat it. Next time, soak dried chickpeas overnight, then, cook them in a pressure cooker. It ‘s quick and will taste a lot better. followed the recipe so you don’t leave out an ingredient. The zucchini lasagna was tasteless. It lacked salt and other flavors you would expect in a lasagna. I could not eat it. The Panini sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, and brie cheese Is my favorite sandwich that I frequently purchase. However, at the checkout register, I noticed the sandwich bread— a croissant, (because they were out of the regular bread used to make the sandwich) was burned. I mentioned to the lady behind the register that I will not pay for a burned sandwich. She commented the panini press was probably too hot.” Duh…She did not offer to have the sandwich remade. Before I left, I asked for a croissant so I can remake the sandwich at home. It wasn’t the same because I did not have a Panini press. It just didn’t taste the same. I spent a lot of money on poorly prepared and inedible food. Foodstuffs you didn’t deliver this time. I’ll order from a...

I really don't understand the point of this place. It's trying to be a neighborhood deli, but only accomplishes it's task by being a building on a somewhat busy street. I went in for lunch and the place was somewhat empty, and there was no one at the sandwhich counter. I walked up to order and the guy working there couldn't be bothered with my presence. He seemed annoyed that he had to take my order. I got the mozzarella sandwhich, and for a sandwhich that only has three ingredients, he took about 10 minutes to make it. That's complete lunacy to me, especially considering this sandwhich is not grilled or toasted in any way. Bread, tomato, cheese, pesto, thats it. The sandwhich itself is mediocre. Very stale bread, somewhat fresh ingredients, in need of salt and pepper and oh the biggest thing....flavor. Everything at this place is like common level grocery store deli stuff at crazy high prices. There isn't a single thing in there that catches your attention to make you think: "hey I've never seen this anywhere else." Another thing that is funny to me is their store hours. They close at 5pm and it's like they are trying to maintain this image of "oooooh we close at 5pm because we get this place cleaned out of all our inventory within minutes of opening." Yea give me a break. For the people living near this place that need a store within walking distance to quickly grab something off of work, yea good luck. If it's not closed, you'll find yourself walking around the store looking for anything useful. That's when it will dawn on you that you just wasted your time stepping foot in this place when you could've stopped at a Jewel and gotten all your groceries and a sandwhich 10x better for a fraction...

I ran in after not being there for quite a few years and was shocked at the lack of food options now. The Lack of Appeal of the food there. And the unfriendly sterile look of the Evanston store which I went in. And the Lake Forest store which I walked by this summer. There used to be such variety. Loads of interesting foods that compelled you to just try them. The warmth of baskets, kitchenware, towels and design. That inspired you to cook. Every section of the stores used to be a wonder of exploration. You used to be able to look in the window and be pulled in by the inviting warmth that came from the stores. They are quite different now, and they look more like a hospital setting. I just couldn't believe it. I have been tempted to go see Dave at the seafood counter in Glencoe. Because I trust him. But won't step into that place, because of owner management in that...