Caputo's

For those of you who live in the Chicagoland area you may have heard of a grocery store chain called Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets.  If you have or if you have not heard of it I am here to do some free advertising for them...and I am more than happy to do it because I absolutely love this place!  First of all their produce is terrific.  They have every different kind of fresh vegetable and fruit that you could possibly ever want.  I was making a recipe that called for small Japanese Eggplants...I went to Caputo's and they had three different kinds of baby eggplants for me to choose from.  Any recipe that you are making,even if it calls for the weirdest ingregredient, Caputo's will more than likely carry that ingredient.  They have aisles dedicated to different ethnic regions; Indian, Asian, Meditteranean, Mexican, Polish, etc.... and a huge section of the store is dedicated to the Italian Ethnic region.  They have imported pastas, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, olive oils...and others that maybe your Italian grandma has only heard of!  They have a deli that makes your mouth water!  Not only do they have all the traditional deli meats and cheeses, but they also have many imported varities as well!  Also, in their deli area they have home-made packaged items that are made by their catering company, La Bella Romana.  They have lasagna, meatballs, capanata, soups, lemon chicken, eggplant parm, italian beef, etc....  My family has tried them all....and they are all wonderful!


This brings me to talking about their catering service from La Bella Romana.  We have hosted two parties at our home that were catered by Caputo's / La Bella Romana.  The first was our twin daughters baptism back in 2007.  We were having about 50 people in our home...in the winter.  Now, I have never catered an event in my life ever (besides my wedding reception).  I always do all my own cooking...but their food is amazing!  We had them cater pastas, italian beef , sausage and meatballs and they we made some salads and other sides on our own.  It is real italian food.  Both my husbands family and I are very picky when it comes to italian food....and on my word...this is real italian food, coming from the mouth of an italian!!!  The second event we had catered was our daughters first birthday.  This was in 2008 in the fall.  It was held in our backyard and we had about 100 people.  We had a company set up big white tents...did the whole shebang!  Caputo's came through again.  This time we ordered lasagna, italian beef and salads.  Everything again was to die for!  We also order fresh calamari and smelt for our Italian Christmas Eve (Feast of the Seven Fishes)!

Long story short....please go to Caputo's for their prices, their great selection of produce and ethnic food and also check out their catering!  You cannot go wrong with Caputo's!