When most of us think of grocery shopping, we likely picture heading to a massive chain store to pick up our essentials. But if you’re looking to switch up your grocery shopping routine and add some new products into your home cooking, Tucson more than delivers.
These 10 little neighborhood grocery markets stock a variety of colorful products hailing from Italy to Japan.
Roma Imports
627 S. Vine
Located in Tucson’s Old Pueblo neighborhood, Roma Imports promises its customers a taste of Old World Italy. Founded back in 1999 as a wholesale business that only sold products to restaurants, Roma Imports has quite the history in town. Today, the business operates an a restaurant, deli, Italian retail store, and catering business.
Expect to find a variety of Italian products here. On a recent Instagram post, the store posted a photo of red pepper chili pesto pasta sauce, a tin of amaretti cookies, lemoncella candy, and tagliatelle pasta. The eight refrigerators and freezers in the restaurant also stock a variety of premade frozen meals. In addition to traditional Italian fare, customers can find Indian curries, saag paneer, and Shepard’s pie that they can easily make at home.
Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market
11 S. 6th Ave.
Browse the shelves at Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market to find chocolates, drinks, bread, juices, chips, and a variety of other products. This space does feel somewhat like a warehouse with its high ceiling. This market also features a robust deli. Customers can order pastas salads, burgers, a variety of sandwiches, and donuts.
On its website, some of the local vendors listed on the site include butter, cream, and milk from Golden Rule Dairy and Popped Artisan Popcorn.
Nick’s Sari-Sari Store
2001 S. Craycroft Road
Nick’s Sari-Sari Store is a store and family-owned family Filipino restaurant. Diners can find classic Filipino dishes alongside products they can use to recreate those dishes at home. On the store’s Google page, we spotted Baba Milk Tea, sauces, packaged desserts, and rice on the shelves.
Nur Market & Restaurant
3565 E. Speedway Blvd.
Nur Market & Restaurant has been in business for over 17 years. It was started by three brothers who were refugees from Somalia, but according to its Facebook page, it changed owners in January of 2024.
Nur specializes in carrying foods from Somalia, East Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. On its Facebook page, Nur posted photos of drumsticks, a roasted chicken and lamb shank. As far as what you might find in stock, the website lists semolina flour, raw nuts, sesame candy, Moroccan sardines, plenty of colorful spices, and canned baba ghanoush.
Sandyi Oriental Market
4270 E. Pima Street
Since 1999, Sandyi Oriental Market has supplied Tucson shoppers with groceries imported from Asia. Find ramen, sake, kimchi, tofu, curry, noodles, wasabi, Yam Yam breadsticks that you dip into chocolate sauce, and noori/seaweed here.
India Dukaan
2754 N. Campbell Ave.
Discover plenty of Indian products on the white shelves at the light-filled India Dukaan. Just browsing through the store’s Google page, we saw paneer, red chili sauce, bags of rice, and packaged sweets.
Check the store’s Facebook page for a current list of what the store has just received. As of press time, Indian Dukaan lists guava, winter melon, yellow turmeric root, and bitter gourd, among a long list of other fresh items for sale.
New Empire Food Market
526 E. 9th St.
New Empire Food Market is one of Tucson’s oldest grocery stores. According to an article about this historic shop in the Arizona Daily Star, the market “has a history of different owners dating back to the 1930s.” Since the 1960s, the market has been owned by the Lee family.
It’s easy to recognize the New Empire Food Market by its retro neon sign that says “Empire” and seemingly glows at night. Other retro details? There are real wood floors and retro fridges inside.
At this market, you’ll find essentials like meat, produce, canned goods, chips, boxed cake mixes, and alcohol from Asia.
Babylon Market
3954 E. Speedway
Tucson’s Babylon Market stocks a variety of Middle Eastern and international food. Find staples like basmati rice, honey, couscous, meat, cheeses, and a plethora of spices. Babylon also has a small restaurant that serves up sandwiches and plates. The falafel is a popular order!
European Market & Deli
4500 E. Speedway Blvd., Ste. 36
The name of this place says it all. At Tucson’s European Market & Deli, you can find European beers, wines, liquors, candies, meats, pasta, jam, spreads, and other products here. At the deli part of this spot located in the Midway Business Park, you can enjoy soups, gyros, and other European delicacies.
Grantstone Supermarket
8 W. Grant Road
This sprawling Asian and American grocery store sells a large variety of Asian goods. Discover plenty of Asian products like Japanese curry, miso soups, tofu, sauces, noodles, and rice. The supermarket also sells meats, fresh produce, and fish, in addition to home goods like paper towels and toilet paper.
Be sure to budget some time if you plan to shop here. It will take a while if you plan on exploring each and every aisle!
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