West Side Market

My first visit to Cleveland was last March, I was here to interview at OCPM, and as well I got to see some pretty cool stuff. I was unfortunately not able to bring my wife on the trip. I knew that somehow I would have to return home with some explanation of what the city is like. I had one day following my interview to get out and see the city. I wanted to know what I should see before I left. Upon google-ing the city of Cleveland the first website mentioned a place called the West Side Market. 

From the website The West Side Market looked intriguing so I looked into it a little more, and review after review raved of the market and just how awesome it was. I made a note, got the address in my GPS, and headed to Cleveland's west side to see what it was all about. 

http://www.westsidemarket.org/ 

Now that I have been back on many occasions I decided it was time to share the wealth to all my friends and readers. This place is a must see here in Cleveland and is a great place to go when I need a break from studying. 

The market is divided into two buildings one smallish and the other ginormous. The smaller of the two is the produce section. The produce building is basically a long hall that is packed wall to wall with fruits and vegetables. You can find almost any fruit or vegetable item you could imagine, from wild variations on the most common, purple coli-flower, to exotic fruits from around the globe. All the produce is fresh and tasted delicious. We made fresh tacos the next day with the produce we got...fantastic. 

The larger of the two buildings is the main hall. It looks like an old mill, but according to the website it is the original building designed for the market as an upgrade from a tract of land. Within the main hall are vendors of every food you could imagine, meats, cheese, coffee, popcorn, desserts, and I could go on for a long time. Suffice it to say, it is absolutely packed and you could spend all day just looking at everything.

The West Side Market has also had some press within the last couple years. First, a small Gyro kiosk named Steve's Gyros (gyros being consumed in the above picture) was featured on Man vs Food. Adam Corolla stopped by to eat some of their kebabs, and I will say from personal experience there is a reason they were on TV. 

The most recent exposure was a meat kiosk by the name of Czuchraj Meats. Don't ask me how to say the  name, I have no idea. But I do know that Iron Chef Micheal Symon says that they have the best beef jerky he's ever had. They were featured on the Food Network's episode "Salty Goodness" of "Best Thing I Ever Ate" 

This last time I went I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life, creme brulee or pistachio cannoli. First of all, I have a huge sweet tooth, so I have to say it's a good thing I'm going to become a podiatrist and not a dentist. Second, the dessert kiosks at the West Side Market are something else, you cannot even imagine the selection. I wish I had a picture of the desserts, I felt a little bit like Charley and the Chocolate Factory, so many amazing things to eat and my wife said I could only choose one. While she was looking away I bought both. :-)  

I guess there's nothing like eating your feelings when the stress of school gets a little hard to handle. To all my classmates and future classmates, you have to visit the West Side Market. School or not, this is right now my favorite place in Cleveland.