Restaurant Depot

If you work in the restaurant industry in the Chicago area, then it’s likely that you’ll have hit up Restaurant Depot AKA Jetro. This is a true warehouse that offers fresh, frozen, meats, fruits, veggies, beverages, containers, etc. — all in bulk.
This is not Costco, so don’t come looking for a TV or a mattress. If you’re a serious restauranteur, then this is where anybody that works the kitchen goes. Need a 100 lb bag of rice? Check. How about a box of 9,000 napkins? Good. How about an entire box of chicken breast? OK, let’s roll.
If you’re still on board with all this, some words of advice… pull the cart. Don’t push it.

I walk by the front of this place twice a day in the amount of garbage in front of their parking lot disgusts me. Take care of your property. The inside is also messy and unorganized

I don’t own a restaurant, but my friend does and so I jumped at the chance to run an errand for him to see what goes down on the inside. Well, imagine a food-​only Costco with massive steel dollies and about anything your little culinary heart could desire. It’s like a wonderland of what you need to get your restaurant up and running for the day.
You do have to pay for the stuff, but it’s wholesale pricing since you buy in extreme bulk.
I haven’t been to any other stores like this, but I will say it’s laid out in an idiot proof fashion and although the lines get extremely long at check out, they work magic to keep ‘em moving in an orderly fashion.
Not sure what the membership dues are, but if you can grab a friends card and need to purchase a jar of pickles the size the Bean Restaurant Depot is where it’s at.

The pacific romaine lettuce (pink package) is disgusting. The packages are full with flies, and I mean not small fruit flies. Large disgusting flies! Does someone have to get seriously sick before they discontinue selling it? These flies cary parasites and some of them were still alive when I opened the package. Its unbelievable! Do NOT ever buy lettuce from there is my advice!

I love it here, I love it here, oh yes I do, I love it here. Not really anything else much to say at the moment. It’s heaven for me. I also appreciate how NICE they are to me all the time. Because they are.

love this place for the selection and prices!

I hate this place. The management is horrible and treat their staff poorly. It is it organized very well and ownership does not really invest into the store. Indiana there isn’t one thing I hate about my job more than the requirement that I come here twice per week

Is it possible to fall madly in love with a store? It has to be, I’m in love with Restaurant Depot. My main squeeze WAS Costco, but sadly, Costco and I may have to cool it because I can feel that I will be spending more and more time with my new main squeeze Restaurant Depot.
I was literally dizzy when I went in here, so much to see, so much I wanted — all in one location. Baking supplies, baking ingredients, tons of cheeses, frozen products section to die for, candy in bulk (not just typical stuff, but some candy I didn’t even know they sold in bulk — anywhere)! Great selection of containers (which come in handy during the holidays — family can take leftovers home in «to-​go» containers, not my Tupperware.
I loved that although most stuff is sold in large bulk — there were many items that could be purchased individually… like the loaf of Gonnella bread, and the bottle of Chili Lime Cholula. But for other stuff that is sold in large quantities — it’s a great opportunity to pitch in with family an share the bounty.
I am lucky that I know someone with a membership — so I can tag along while they get their stuff… this place is the BOMB!

When I was 3, my cousin Jutta came to visit from East Germany. She applied for a tourist visa with her husband but they refused to let him travel with her because they feared they wouldn’t return.
The Berlin Wall was still up in 1988 and times were tough. If you complained about meat being overcooked, my grandpa, who fought in WWII would say, «It’s tougher where there isn’t any!» Well, as a satellite state of the Soviet Union, there really wasn’t jack shit in the GDR. They were supposedly a Demokratische Republik but communism had them in an iron curtain chokehold.
It was abundantly apparent how cut off they were from the rest of the civilized world if you took a tour of their grocery stores. Shortages of what we’d consider easily accessible goods were the norm and there was little to no variety because of the government’s refusal to import. After standing in long lines, you pretty much had to take what you could get, and that was assuming there was anything left to be given.
While my cousin was in town, my aunt showed her around. A regular grocery store wasn’t on the list of American attractions to familiarize her with, but it’s one place they happened to stop and she wept when she saw all the choices. My mom joked it was a good thing she hadn’t taken her to Byerly’s because she probably would have completely lost it in an upscale supermarket that boasts live lobsters and carpeted floors.
I’m here to say that it’s a far better thing we didn’t have an «in» with Restaurant Depot /​Jetro Cash & Carry at the time because Jutta most definitely would have had a «Moscow on the Hudson» style breakdown of epic proportions (
).
Granted, there might not be as many brands as you’d find in conventional shops, but just about everything is sold in bulk and the place is packed with row after row of top to bottom shelving stocked with candies, canned goods, whole animals, jugs of cooking oils and spices, giant containers of condiments, and perhaps the epitome of capitalism, Coca-​Cola by the case. This is pretty much where savvy restaurateurs in the Chicagoland area come to get almost all of their cooking needs met.
This is a giant wholesale warehouse and you can only get in if you’re associated with the restaurant/​catering/​foodservice industry and have their membership card. It’s meant to be a place away from the public eye where owners and employees can come to purchase items they use in their places of business. It puts Sam’s Club and Costco to shame in the food department. Tell me where else you can get a dressed lamb for $ 80 or a laundry hamper sized bag of green peppers for a couple bucks. My most memorable purchase was a 10lb slab of beef Ribeye for about $ 40.
By no stretch of the imagination is this store pretty, but it is practical. Items are relatively easy to locate, but the checkout line can be a hassle. The cashiers ring everything up and often times there’s some type of pricing error that needs to be fixed and/​or they make you wait for a security person to count out the items individually. The time it takes is annoying mostly because many of the products are perishable and waiting around in line doesn’t do them any good. Luckily they have pretty good business hours of operation, so you can sometimes plan to do your shopping during quieter times.

This place is great for business owners. An amazing selection of everything. When we went here, they had a bunch of samples right when you walked in.
Give yourself a lot of time your first time here… you’ll need it! Also, grab some ice packs for your cold goods on the way out, a lifesaver when it hits 100 degrees!

If you own a restaurant or nightclub, Restaurant Depot has the same euphoria as that Costco has to their members.
Upon entering, you will need to swipe your membership card, then you can proceed to shop. This warehouse has it all… liquor, meats, canned foods, fresh vegetables, flowers, and any type of cooking wares you may need or want.
The warehouse is very well thought out and planned. The aisles are wide. The prices seem to be very reasonable for the quantity that you may be required to purchase. The carts are a little hard to maneuver but manageable.
It’s a cool place to go to if you have a chance.

Might be a great place for cheap pricing, but if you are a current customer I suggest you check you bank account. the company data records were hacked last month and RD is now just sending out letters informing customers that their personal bank accounts may have been compromised.

Thank the Lord for RD. It’s not often in life (at least, it’s not for me) that one has need of 50 000 gallons of lemonade, 34 956 078 plates, 338 lbs of popcorn, numerous assorted other items, and more napkins than you can shake a stick (or a forest; oh, the irony) at. But, I found myself there. And, I was near to lose my mind. Seriously.
Since I had not yet met Panda to represent for me (I am in love;
), I had the next best thing: a friend with a membership, room in his car and time to spare. If you come here, come ready. Come ready to work out (the carts are big, the produce is big and the bulk is heavy), come ready to deal with temps (large amount of cold and frozen goods = wear covered shoes and long sleeves), come with a purpose (this place is too big and too packed with people to dawdle; stay focused and committed to your mission), and come with good credit (even though everything is priced at cost, when you’re buying q959w34rt number of items, you need a lot of cash or, in the alternative, a freakum dress and hooker heels).
All in a days work, people. Let’s keep it moving.

Two lies I have told myself: A) I loathe exclusivity. Actually, I like it when it includes me. B) I dislike mega-​stores-​they raise my blood pressure. Restaurant Depot makes me a liar on both counts. It is restricted to those in the food business, but every visit is for me a trip to Disneyland. This place is SO huge, it’s Costco on steroids. And of course, it has BIG portions of just about everything (but you can still buy a small can of beans, too.) You have to take a large trailer type thing if you are going to buy more than you can carry. There are no mini-​carts because many customers are buying for hundreds and shopping for a restaurant week. There are wheels of cheese so large I could use them as spare tires for my Scion. And the biggest jars of pickles and olives you have ever seen. The inner square of the place is surrounded with 30′ sheets of thick plastic curtain, because it is one humungous refrigerator room that you can walk around in. Like you’re an ant and you wandered into your own fridge. Very freaky!
Needless to say, the prices are great. Some items are 25% of what you might pay in a grocery store. Some are not, But it almost makes it worth jumping through all the hoops you need to to become a caterer or a small food biz, so you can take little day trips to this culinary Disneyland. They allow you to bring friends and family, and they are friendlier and more helpful than Mickey and Goofy and Snow White combined.
I take back everything negative thing I’ve said about big box stores. I LOVE this place!!! And having that special card which lets me in.

Until I got my membership to this place, I thought Costco was the King of the super size. not even close.
Want a 25 lb. solid block of chocolate? Sure… milk or dark? Want a box of assorted plastic flatware…1500 pieces? Sure… white or black? Medium or heavy weight?
The list goes on. It’s membership for people in the industry only, but tag along with a friend. That 25 lb block of chocolate is gonna be my gag gift for a few this coming holiday season. :-)

I have a love/​hate relationship with Depot. I love it when I want to go there and look for lots of awesome stuff to make my life easier or to help a friend or to assist a client in all their event planning needs. I hate it when I have to go there because someone forgot to order one or two of the things that are essential to operating a kitchen or executing an event.
Open to the trade only, it is the Mecca of the small business owner/​restauranteur/​caterer. Prices often less than the big bully on the playground Sysco and frequent sales that make me wish I had a freezer the size of a football field. Need disposable tongs? A chafing dish? 5 to 1 Vienna beef hot dogs? A goat? BSBs (that’s boneless, skinless breasts of chicken to you folks) Yeah this is the place. 50 pounds of onions, carrots or Japanese Panko? Yep, its here.
In a hurry? Don’t bother, as it can be a time consuming process.
One should always remember to wear appropriate jacket if you plan on spending any amount of time in the refrigerated section and you have breasts. Just saying, although for some reason, the guys are extremely helpful when I forget. Bring cash, and make sure everything has a bar code otherwise you will be shocked by the cashier screaming «I NEED A NUMBER!»

Beware of people in a hurry with big carts.
I could spend hours in here just wandering around and thinking about things to do with a 50 lb bag of chili peppers and a vat of mustard. Now so will you.
I found a big box of Andouille that was cheap-​o and not half bad.
Other words of advice:
–don’t go on a holiday weekend
–keep your food geekery in check and don’t gawk (yes, that is a WHOLE goat)
–don’t block the aisles
Get yourself an industry hook-​up and go!

Dude. It’s like the Disneyland of all things wholesale food and booze… A complete redefining of the happiest place on Earth.
Fabulously expansive, ridiculously cheap, amazingly stocked. Love, Love, Love.
I could spend hours here… and I have! Where else can you seek out a 70lb wheel of Grana Padano calling your name (loudly) at a mere $ 4.00 p/​lb, an actual block of Plugra European butter for just a buck, a whole box of Andouille sausage for $ 7… the list goes on. They have fresh produce up the ying yang, an array of proteins, utensils, breads, pastries, catering mumbo jumbo, beer, liquor, condiments, canned goods, super high end frozen seafood, Eli’s cheesecakes, drums of hot sauce, chocolate sauce, weak sauce — kidding — and all of the above at an absolute fraction of the price of it’s closest competitor, Costco.
So why just 4 stars? Because it’s a private wholesale establishment accessible to restaurant owners and caterers ONLY. If you don’t have the special ‘get into the depot’ provided card, then you ain’t gettin’ in Sucka! I’m not lucky enough to have said card, but fortunately, I have a great friend that does and hooks me up on occasion generously. Do yourself a favor and find a friend like this STAT!!!
If you do get in, take note: people here will literally run you over and not think twice — they’re looking to get in, get out, and get back to their restaurant with their newly acquired awesome goods. While you may be all wide-​eyed and bushy-​tailed at the splendor that is the depot, the regulars don’t take kindly to rubberneckers. Look the part… Walk fast, stay to your side of an aisle and stock up on the Boucheron Goat Cheese sitting behind you for pennies on the dollar.

this place is AMAZING! Went here for the first time yesterday. Luckily, we were with a regular shopper who was able to show us around. I could have spent all day in here, really. Where else can you buy a 150lb wheel of cheese or an ENTIRE frozen lamb? yeah
Wish they had a little more variety in the bulk molasses and liquid smoke. The liquid smoke I picked out, «Castella Hickory Smoke,» around $ 5 for a gallon, turned out to be absolutely DISGUSTING!
Anything you’ll ever need for your restaurant/​bar is here. Went at 5pm on a Wednesday, the place was pretty empty and NO LINES!

Looking to snag yourself a sexy Chicago chef?
Then come here on a weekday around noon-​ish, when this place is full of local chefs buying everything from #5 containers of mascarpone, whole fish, live lobsters, and ginormous rolls of plastic wrap.
Their prices are very good. $ 2.50 for a quart of cream! A pint at the grocery store costs more than that. The store is huge and you will get lost. So ask the nearest hunky chef to help you out and be sure to get the name of the restaurant he works at.