City Provisions

Delicious! They made us a platter of seven things and a knish on the side. Plus two drinks for only $ 32. Teresa was so incredibly helpful and kind. Love this place :)

Just stumbled into City Provisions for the first time today… and I will DEFINITELY be back! I had a half Corned Beef /​Cream of Mushroom soup that was to die for. Since City is a sort of deli/​restaurant/​catering combo, I also took some time to explore their VAST selection of craft beers and ciders (YUM!) as well as grass-​fed ice cream and dairy section. They also stock plenty of other goodies like vintage honey and every kind of sauce you can think of.
I also met the owner, who was awesome! Get this — He makes everything from the mayonnaise, to the catsup, in-​house! He also processes his hand-​selected cattle from whole animal to fine deli-​slices. Wow! Highly recommended.

Haven’t left a review in awhile, wanted to again. I’ve recently begun getting soup here. GREAT selections, wonderfully fresh ingredients. 5 stars alone just for last week’s selection: potato, leek, and bacon. And yes, it IS pricey. However, you get the absolute freshest, highest quality produce, meats, cheeses, etc., literally fresh off the farm. I’ve witnessed them slicing my pork chops OFF OF the pig itself! Getting SOOOO tired of these, «I heard it was expensive, went anyway, ordered something, and holy shit — it was expensive?!» or, «I saw the expensive prices — and I ordered anyway! Shitty review, be my wrath!» It’s a gourmet food shop, people! Cletus & the staff ROCK!!!

Have been here a couple of times and each time the food has been wonderful and unique.
So many things to love: local, sustainable, organic. The best part is that they don’t use these words as buzz words solely because they are trendy, you can truly see them carry this theme throughout the deli. From the reclaimed wood furniture, minimal use of disposable plates/​cutlery, even the old t-​shirts as towels in the bathroom, to the meats and cheeses from local farms, they are the real deal.
On the menu you’ll find a great variety of sandwiches, salads, and wraps. I recently had the braised pork sandwich special and it was amazing!
Great take-​out options as well as a large selection of unique and local items such as honey, condiments, and local beer and spirits. Plenty of seasonally prepared salads make this a great place to stop by and grab some to complete your dinner or take to a party. The pastries are delicious as well — try the home-​made donuts — they will not disappoint!
They also have pre-​made Ravinia baskets to go — will definitely need to stop by here next summer. For those looking for alcohol to wash down their meal, they have plenty of wine, craft beer and seasonal cocktails available. Be sure to check out their supper club and farm dinner outings as well.
Plenty of seating options for groups or individuals inside and a decent-​sized patio out on a quiet part of Wilson.
With so many of their items being seasonal, you can stop into City Provisions and it is never the same menu and always a pleasant surprise — can’t wait to go back.

I’m torn about my rating for CP, because I would give the atmosphere, concept, and service, 5 stars.
The recycled wood trimmings, the local farming/​suppliers, the extremely cozy grocery shopping, the very high quality crackers and candies… these all deserve 5 stars. Oh, they even have this cute map that shows where they buy a lot of their ingredients. I love maps! Because of these things, I would be here often if it were closer.
But then I got a sandwich, you know that’s their thing at lunch time, specialty sandwiches. It was a good sandwich, no question. But it was forgettable and lacking in flavor, and cost me almost 11 dollars.
Maybe I just don’t make enough money, but I’d rather spend $ 4.75 on a skinny potbelly’s sandwich.
So come here for their groceries and gifty foodie items. I’d love a ton of stuff here as a gift for myself. But you can’t make this a regular lunch spot unless you’re okay with 10 – 11 dollar normal-​sized sandwiches.

Have visited a couple of times and have enjoyed a few things and not been crazy about others, but what makes me give a 3-​star review are the prices. Some people have already alluded to the high prices and I concur. The house cured ham is awesome, but at $ 6 per half pound, it better be. We tried a polenta with curry that my wife did not enjoy and the price was also in the $ 12 per pound range. This is a cool place to visit and get a few things, but be prepared to spend a lot of money. Great for them if they have an audience that is willing to pay up for locally sourced products and specialty items. Unfortunately, given the state of the economy (and my personal economic situation), I think I might have visited for the last time in a while.
For anyone who ever complained about Gene’s being expensive, do yourself a favor and stay clear of City Provisions :)

I’m moving the following review to the other CP page, as I think this one is designed for the catering.
City Provisions is the bomb. I’m not sure if it was just the day — one of the last nice ones before the dreaded Chicago winter — but there was something truly great about sitting outside with the sun on my face, sipping the delicious and potent dunkel doppel rye bock. We had the Sriracha (greatest condiment ever) egg salad sandwich, the turkey sandwich, and also a cappuccino. Everything was delicious and we left with some awesome bread and apple spread.
The shop is very cool and has a lot of great goodies. Cleetus is a real mensch and his staff are very friendly and laid back. Other Unilocalers have mentioned the price, but he uses the freshest and highest-​quality ingredients. Quality costs. Considerate it a treat and not the norm, relax, and enjoy.
Chicago can use a lot more places like City Provisions. We cannot wait to try a Farm Dinner! Keep it coming, Cleetus!

I came for brunch right at 10am on Sunday morning, thinking it would be packed. It was a dreary day and the store was pretty quiet.
Our waiter started by bringing us small bites from the kitchen: a polenta cake topped with apricot chutney, which was very good. The brunch menu looked really appetizing. I had the smoked ham on brioche, fried egg and maple & pumpkin purée. It was delicious. It’s served as two open face sandwiches, so be prepared for a lot of food. The eggs were fried but not super runny, which is exactly how I like them. The ham was thickly sliced and rather fatty, but once I cut the fat off, it was really tasty. In his day, I’m sure this was one happy pig. It was a nice mix of sweet and savory. The sweetness from the purée and the brioche got to be a little too much so for my second piece, I just left the brioche out, but I didn’t want to miss any of the ham, egg and purée combo. The dish is served with duck fat potatoes (which I loved, but are on the ducky side if you don’t like that kind of thing) and a beet and pear vinaigrette salad which was refreshing.
The chef came out twice to see how everything was. He’s a hard core, tatted up individual who is clearly passionate about what he does and wants to make sure everyone likes what is coming out of his kitchen. I admired his passion.
I noted they have an extensive, really reasonably priced micro brew list so I’d like to come back, maybe try lunch next time. There’s also a small patio; I wish I had come when the weather was still nice, but there’s always next year. I see there are some complaints about pricing. I thought for the quality and portions, the pricing was just right.

Since its opening, I’ve frequently stopped in to City Provisions Deli for coffee and baked goods, lunches and various other food items (they have a nice range of offerings including a nice array of wines, beers and spirits). The service is friendly and the employees are knowledgeable. I have many food restrictions and yet can always find something delicious to eat.
This past weekend I used City Provisions Catering for a gathering at my house. I placed a small order of three different finger food trays and my guests were VERY impressed. The flavor combinations were unique and yet appropriate for a diverse set of palates. The order was on time and ready to serve when I picked it up.
My experience as a customer was positive and customized to my needs, and included a friendly phone call from the owner, Cleetus. Thank you City Provisions.

Has the whole world gone crazy? When did it become acceptable for 1lb of egg salad to cost $ 15 and 1lb of chicken salad to cost $ 20??? Seriously? Are you making the egg salad with emu eggs? I’m sorry, I just can’t get behind any deli that charges those kind of prices, no matter how local or organic the products may be. Fail.
To their credit, the food is good. Thus, the two stars.

This review is about the shop, as I’ve never experienced the catering. It’s also not about any smells of pot in the alley or bad chefs who don’t know what they’ve requested. (Those are references to odd reviews below.)
I went in the other day and had a sandwich and explored a bit. First, the sandwich. It was solid, but not spectacular. The sriracha egg salad was a solid egg salad, but lacked any asian chili sauce. I was confused, as this seemed like a GREAT idea. Their house made chips are terrific.
Secondly, the coffee. It was great, a brand I hadn’t heard of that I can no longer recall, but the service was odd. The young man behind the counter looked at us like we were crazy when we asked for coffee. Somehow, no matter the request, he seemed bewildered. It was odd, but not a problem really.
The real star of the show for me was the grocery. I’m a sucker for pickled mushrooms, good beers and fine cheeses. City Provisions had a great selection. Certainly, nothing is cheap, but the vast majority was reasonable and local. There’s a bloody mary mix calling my name that looked amazing. They even had spirits from the local distilleries (which are sometimes hard to find).
I’m sure this doesn’t happen regularly, but a woman was pan-​frying up some interesting pierogis and handing out samples. I’ll be back to buy these. They were excellent.
Basically, everything looks amazing and if you’re not concerned with spending a few extra dollars for some giardinera, I highly suggest you visit.

Ring ring: Hello?
Me: Hi, I was just wondering if you’d gotten any more pimento cheese in.
CP Staffer: Oh, it’s you! (and not in a bad way). Yep, it’s here. I’ll get some ready for you now.
I’d be embarrassed that she knew me if I weren’t so damned happy that the cheese was there. Between the cheese, the salmon cakes (make more, Cleetus) and the Seedling Cider and the latkes … I’m just happy my gym is only four blocks away from CP.

I stopped into CP yesterday after work. They are located just West of the Ravenswood, and it’s a nice area. I of course liked the fact that I didn’t have to pay for street parking since that’s become increasingly rare in Chicago these days.
Okay, onto the food. So the place is pretty cool, they have a deli section, along with sections for cheeses, wines, pre-​made sandwiches and other foods. Everything is locally grown, organic, pesticide-​free, and sustainability-​minded.
I got deli meat, haven’t used it yet. But I did get some grass-​fed hamburger for tonight.
Got two pre-​made sammy’s, smoked turkey/​gouda/​rosemary mayo/​tomato focaccia was one. This sandwich was terrific. I split it with the wife and we both loved it, and I’m not a regular eater of turkey. But the flavors were great.
I just scarfed down the other sandwich, roast beef, horseradish mayo on a pretzel roll. I thought a co-​worker was going to snatch the sandwich out of my hand once they saw the pretzel roll. This sammy was very good, I wanted the mayo to «pop» a bit more but it was a great sandwich regardless.
Oh and the homemade potato chips were a hit with the adults and our kids. I have to say the included pickle was great, and I’m wondering why it had such great flavor, it was a little zingy.
I wanted to try some other stuff but since I’m going out of town this weekend for work I’ll just stop in some other time to try the latke’s, knishes, and other sandwich offerings.
It’s not easy to shop for organic/​local/​non-​big food processor foods, and I like what these guys are doing.

Great coffee/​deli shop! I don’t mind walking the half-​mile to this place (from the office). If I lived in the neighborhood, I’d probably be there more often.
The people there have been very friendly so far, and it’s nice to feel welcome when jones’ing for a cuppa afternoon coffee.

I won’t spend ten or twelve bucks on lunch every day, but the sandwiches here are damn good and made with the most impeccable care and with fresh, organic ingredients. I had the roast beef-​horseradish-​tomato sandwich on a pretzel roll and a side of the sriracha egg salad. Both top notch, fresh, and tasty.
I wish I had unlimited funds, because I wanted to buy one pound of everything in the store.
The service was fantastic: friendly, helpful, and pleasant. Just a generally nice, warm, welcoming
What a welcome addition to the area.

This is a review for the walk-​in deli part of City Provisions – not their catering.
I will say first that the retail space is clean, bright, and nice, filled with local goodies that would be fun for a hostess gift or a treat for oneself. I was especially surprised at the local liquors – clear (!) rye whiskey from Michigan (being a KY girl, I’m skeptical, but interested nevertheless), grappa, etc. They also had nice looking (and pricey) pre-​prepared food like couscous salads, green salads, cookies, grilled chicken, etc.
My husband and I had a sandwich. The prices ($ 7.50−10) are a bit tough to swallow because we have so much cheap local ethnic food on our hands, but we wanted to try it and support a local (and locally sourced) business. The service was friendly but a bit unorganized – it was difficult to tell where to order and we had to ask someone in order to get served.
I had the portabello sandwich on a potato roll. It was fine, but nothing exciting: potato roll, grilled portabello, basil, and goat cheese. The potato roll was soft (as would be expected) – I think it would have been better on a rustic, hearty bread. The mushrooms were fine, but cold and very plain – they needed some salt, herbs, balsamic, or olive oil to jazz them up. The goat cheese was nice, but overall I thought the sandwich was kind of meh, missing salt, seasoning, a nice mustard or drizzle of pesto. The deli counter was sweet to give me some grain mustard to add for pizazz.
My husband had the special – sage roasted turkey on rye with caramelized onions and blue cheese. He said it was awesome. I didn’t try since I’m a pescatarian.
I’d go back to try the smoked trout or shrimp salad – if you’re going to spend the money on a sandwich, may as well get some luxe ingredients. Hopefully the second visit will impress me more!

I have had the opportunity to work several times with City Provisions. I do a lot of events, both big and small, so I am used to the ins and outs of catering and event planning. The biggest issue is always the food. Personally and professionally, I expect the best food from caterers and restaurants-it’s what I judge them most on, to be honest!
The customer service with City Provisions is excellent, and their turnaround time is awesome. I can always call them and set something up within 2 minutes, no joke. I have also met Cleetus, the owner – and he rocks.
I def. dig their usage of local foods and their side salads and homemade potato chips are just the best! When in season, make sure to try the quinoa salad with goat cheese I believe.

City Provisions was one of the caterers at the Mindful Metropolis Green Festival Gala 2010 and the food they provided was phenomenal. This was last week and I am still talking about their food. I just can’t get over how good it was. I even snapped a photo for you to see their amazing food.
City Provisions is like the food angel in the city. They do so many good things locally. For instance, all food is locally grown, any unused food goes to the Greater Food Depository and they teach you how to become more sustainable and green.
Another plus they offer ready to go Ravinia baskets. Great idea since they are right by the Metra you pick up your basket and take the Wilson Metra stop to Ravinia.
At the event, the chef and kitchen staff looked so sharp in their white chef gear I couldn’t be anything but highly impressed.
All in all, I think they are my favorite restaurant/​caterers in Chicago.

I was really torn on how to write this review of City Provisions Farm Dinner. On the one hand, the experience was very fun — we all met at the storefront at 1pm, hopped on the biodiesel bus and enjoyed some sandwiches and beers on the way to the farm, which took about 2 hours.
Once at the farm, we had a thorough (about 2 hours) tour of the Heritage Prairie Market farm which, while not organic, uses very green sustainable practices and engages in four-​season farming, which is pretty cool. We also had the chance to meet some of their cute animals and shop in their little market (we bought some fresh basil and used it to make a great pasta). Then, about 5pm, we all sat down at a table in the field. We learned all about the amazing green/​zero-​waste methods used at Great Lakes Brewing (seriously, the stuff they do is amazing and the beer is great!) and started the meal.
Here’s where I get conflicted. I LOVED the beer. I LOVED the experience. The food was… pretty good.
1) baby eggplant baba ganoush with pita — yummy
2) micro green salad with vinaigrette made with GLB beer — okay… but by microgreens they really meant teeny tiny greens with like 2 tomatoes. It was good, obviously fresh, but just didn’t wow me
3) swiss chard and kale with rice and pancetta — the pancetta was great but there were only about two pieces
4) zucchini cake with basil crème freche and roasted carrots — uneven. The cake was great, as was the tiny dollop of crème fresh (but I wanted more) and I had one great carrot, the other two were still hard and undercooked
5) pork sausage with stone ground mustard sauce and potato salad, more microgreens. — tasty. The sausage was really good but the mustard really made the dish. Not sure how flavorful wit would have been without it.
6) Dessert pavlova with cream and peaches — really good. I don’t eat peaches but the rest of the dessert was sweet and tasty but still light.
Service was good, and the beer was… mostly flowing. There were a few times I got a really skimpy pour and had to ask for more beer.
After the dinner, there was more beer and a nice bonfire where they served smores, and we all hung out for another hour os so. Then it was back on the bus (with the last of the beer for those who still wanted some) and then back to the city by about 11.
I feel like I am being really negative about the experiences and I don’t want to be. I really did enjoy the day and I so appreciated the passion that everyone — City Provisions, Heritage Prairie and Great Lakes — has for what they are doing. But the food just didn’t meet my expectations. The vast majority of the food was really good, but I just felt like… for $ 125 person (which of course includes the bus ride, the tour, the beer and the food) I should have left feeling more satisfied. I could have used some meat in one more course, and the addition of some cheese would have gone a long way. The farm we were at produced its own honey — why not serve some cheese and honey before dessert?
I’d still definitely recommend it. The menu changes — some meals seem to have more meat and ingredients I like than others — so if veggies don’t get you really excited, you might just want to pick which dinner you go to more carefully.

My fiancé and I met with Cleetus at City Provisions a few months ago to discuss our upcoming wedding. We were looking for a venue that would be a one stop shop — ceremony location, reception venue, and caterer. Unfortunately, for us, City Provisions seemed like they would be a FABULOUS caterer but not so much a fabulous ceremony or reception location.
I want to be very careful with my words here, because I really enjoyed our meeting with Cleetus and his passion for food is clear. But his location just wasn’t the right location for our wedding. One factor in this is that he told us that he would be making a lot of changes to the room – opening a deli and other design changes – and he really couldn’t promise us what the room would look like in a year. I didn’t want to book a certain location without knowing what I was getting. Plus, the location isn’t that wonderful. The train is right next to the building and you can hear it as it goes by and the block itself is just a bit blah. Also, because of the small size we didn’t feel like the space could function as a ceremony and reception venue. Personally, I feel he was asking way more for the location fee than the location was worth.
That being said, if we had ended up going with a venue where we needed to bring in our own caterer, City Provisions would have been my top choice. Meeting with Cleetus was actually INSPIRING. His passion and foodie knowledge shine through and my fiancé and I left the meeting excited about his food. We actually considered changing our plans just so we could have him as a caterer! I can’t rave enough about his creativity and. .. pazzaz.
So, while the venue he has for events isn’t the nicest around, I would whole-​heartedly recommend City Provisions to anyone who is looking for a caterer to provide interesting, creative food. And, you never know — with all the changes he has in store I have a feeling some pretty exciting, major things will be happening at City Provisions.