Uni-Mart One Stop Shopping

Based solely on the Ube Sans Rival dessert that they sell here. I WANT THIS EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE.
Aside from this, the place is dingy, but has everything and anything you need to satisfy your Filipino food needs.

Went here for tamarind seasoning mix and ended up with that and a load of sweets. The flan hadn’t set yet, a little soupy. Cassava cake was excellent, should’ve gotten 2. They had every kind of Skyflakes, except the original which is what I prefer. I didn’t get anything in the café, but I will next time. The cashier was friendly.

A delightful spot in Edgewater. They have a full Filipino butcher meat and fish counter. They also do catering on this site. Home style kitchen for takeout and eat in. Also feature frozen Filipino imports. A lot it import beverages. Assorted bakery and candy items. Nice staff. A cut above in the Asian market game.

They have the full assortment of Filipino groceries and bakery items, as well as an excellent take-​out counter (many choices of freshly-​prepared dishes). Yes, the store looks old, and yes, you will likely wait in line for a little bit, but so what? The place has character, the workers are friendly, the prices are reasonable, and the food is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and try an order of their pork adobo.

I tried really hard to love unimart, but there’s so many things about it that annoy me. Food is great, taste is great, but service is sooooo incredibly sloooooow. It takes any of the ladies fifteen minutes to help one person with one order, unless you get a person ahead of the line that also happens to order the whole menu, the you’re there at least half an hour. Price wise, food is over priced compared to other restaurants in the area like isla or Ruby’s. I say if your desperate, go here, but if you want faster service and better food, look someplace else.

Uni-​Mart is located in my neighborhood and it’s greatly convenient. I’m fan of the place. I love their home cooked food to take out. I don’t know much about Filipino food but I see many similarity in Okinawan food, the ingredient, and cooked way. Especially vegetable dishes. It’s Interesting.

Definitely have a wide variety of choices and tastes! The workers are kind and prices are very affordable. I took my family here when they came to visit me from New Jersey. They liked the food.
They need to bring some CEBUANO — STYLE Lechon here ! ;)

Lumpia, pancit, lechon, etc. Uni-​Mart is one stop shopping for all your Filipino foodie desires. I’ve always had an easy time ordering for parties and other events, and the food is always delicious.

This place definitely fix my Filipino food cravings that I can’t cook such as Laing, Chicharon Bulaklak, Okoy, Liempo, and Palabok!!!
I think their Palabok is to die for… There’s really not a good place to get it unless you’re at your Titas or Lola’s house.
The chicharon bulaklak & Okoy are soooooooooo good. Reminds me of my childhood. Definitely go get some! If they don’t have it they will cook it for you!
The things they sell are aighttt. It’s pricey so I normally get my longaniza, malungay, and wrappers at Viet hoa on argyle. Overall this place I worth going to! Do the box instead of the to go containers. So much better!

a few days after returning from the philippines, all i could think was, «i should have stuffed more pastries in my suitcase!» girl, i was craving ensaymada like nobody’s business.
enter uni-​mart. i think i bought every kind of baked good they had. now a week later i have had a chance to consume most of it. quality & flavor ranged from A (amazing) to D (dry) and some in between.
pandan cake– A+++
ube cake– A+
ube bread– A
cheese roll– B (pretty good but miles away from what i had in the flips)
ensaymada– C (i’ve had way better. and will keep searching for better.)
pan de coco– D– (skip it!)
also got some toron which i would totally get again. and they carry lots of the snacks i’m sure i’ll need to stock up on again in the near future. i’m glad they’re here, but i’m still kinda left wanting. i’ll be checkin’ out some other filipino joints before coming back here.

I have not tried the ready-​to-​eat food at their «restaurant» in back, but will review that when I do. I’ve gone in a few times for some small items that are keeping me from making a good curry or something at home. This is very close to me, so it’s good for a quick stop for some rice vinegar, coconut milk, soy sauce… that kind of stuff. I was looking for arugula once and the three store employees I spoke to didn’t know what it was and kind of followed me around looking to be explained what I was talking about. I’ll chalk it up to their attention to pleasing the customer, but yeah… don’t go there thinking you’ll get some good, fresh produce. Their frozen selection is also pretty good for wonton/​pot sticker wraps and other goodies. If you have time to go to Golden Pacific market down on Broadway, I’d go there. If you don’t, then this is your spot. I’m sure their hot food is a great incentive for some to go in, and I’m excited to try some!

The best time to visit Uni-​Mart is a Saturday morning. The place bustles with activity and laughter of friends gathering and shopping, and the hot food bar is packed with every Filipino dish you could ever want. The food sells by the pound and is usually grabbed up by 2pm. Get here later than that and all you will find is a greasy mess of leftovers, so consider yourself warned!

You can make the half filipina girl move away from her filipina mom, but you can’t make the half filipina girl stop missing mom’s food.
On the northside for something completely different. Tired after trekking from Hyde Park and have to go to Rockwell/​Peterson. Passing Clark I suddenly remembered there was a filipino grocery store. I immediately jumped off the bus (ok, not quite but you get the picture) because I started to miss my mama’s cooking.
SInce I am not the best cook I usually rely on those seasoning packets– Mama Sita’s, Mccormick’s etc. to make adobo, calderata, etc. But since moving to the south side I haven’t been able to pick up those packets. I guess I could get them online. but I keep forgetting.
Sometimes I wish I was half Chinese instead of half filipina so that going to a nearby asian market would be more convenient! Could just hop on the red line and get off at Chinatown.
Alas, my mom is one cool Filipina and I wouldnt’ have it any other way. BUT it’s really inconvenient for grocery shopping.
I also picked up two packages of Longaniza which I am currently chomping on as I type. I seriously do not know why filipino food hasn’t caught on with the American public. Longaniza would convert the masses.
And darn those yummy bakery goods and the food to go. I am carb cycling and I happened to go to UNIMART on my low carb day. GRR… Although I could have picked up one of the meaty dishes which would be low carb compliant. I just knew I’d be tempted with rice. (yeah, I’m a half asian person who eats rice maybe once a month even on my high carb days!) I almost bought me some Pan De Sal. Right now I can imagine dipping that yummy bread into my coffee, just like mommy. Of course she dipped the bread in Nescafe (ugh), I would dip it in Intelligentsia, Metropolis or Alterra.
I am low carbing and trying to do Paleo because that’s what my ancestors did… uh…but coming to Unimart it seems like my recent ancestors have been eating yummy breads.
I did avoid the breads and picked up longaniza and upon eating it realize it might not be low carb… lol. It’s sweet sausage (I highly recommend Victor’s Longaniza in the frozen foods case!). But it’s my high carb day, so oh well.
They also have duck eggs. hee hee. Totally in line with low carb! May have to pick them up.
I did get my seasoning packets and can’t wait to try them on my all meat day tomorrow.
I will be back Unimart. On my high carb rice day.

Came here per recommendation of my coworker Nett B. cos I asked her where to buy Balikbayan boxes.
Giving only 3 stars just because the boxes are $ 3.99 versus RC in Skokie’s $ 3.29.
Note: I tried going at 7:20pm on a Thursday and they looked like they were closed for some time and busy cleaning up, so the hours posted on Unilocal might be outdated.

There are a few other area Filipino food marts, but this is the one i remember being dragged to as a little girl. The funny thing is that even after 15 years, this place still smells exactly the same.
My husband and I come here now a least once a month to stock up on jasmine rice, seasonings, sauces, longaniza and lumpia rolls. He loves coming here.
This is pretty much the only place i will ever buy my rice from. Just keep in mind that the parking lot can be hard to maneuver on busy days.

After stuffing myself silly during a recent trip to see family in the Philippines, one would think I’d be tired of Filipino food, right? Yeah I thought so too. I was kind of craving some treats and «close enough» home-​cooked meals.
I was a little disappointed to not find my favorite brand of hopia, and the ready-​made meals were looking kind of blah, esp. the chicken adobo. I blame myself for getting there near closing time, which most likely counts for that. I got an order of pancit bihon. The woman behind the counter was like almost every Filipino mom I know (incl. mine). She gave me a rather hearty helping of pancit to go. Um. I guess I’ll be eating that for a week? Best part of this story? I also ended up cooking a batch of adobo once I got home… as if I wouldn’t have enough to eat.

Yet another place in Chicago that I have managed to negate until recently… and I’m mad at myself for it. I stopped by this afternoon, as some friends of mine kept talking about Filipino food and the cravings slowly surfaced.
There is a parking lot which is convenient. The ‘market’ area looks like it would be larger from the outside but it’s just a couple aisles of Asian necessities — you know: halo halo mix, shrimp chips, and macapuno ice cream! lol. Definitely reminiscent of the Filipino markets back home in L.A., and it was a bit comforting for a homesick soul.
I lurked around the food selection in the back for a few minutes before deciding on getting menudo (beefy dish) which was really good, but a bit pricey for a small serving (which could be split by two). I liked the fact that the menudo had bongongong (sp?! lol) as I’ve never had it like that; just wish there was olives in it like the recipes back home. I think there was also a hotdog in there LOL so I’m not sure if that was intentional or not. I also ordered a small side of the bisteak (beef & onions) which again was a little expensive for a small, but definitely enough to feed two. Small side of rice was marginally priced.

Philippine treat good
banana lumpias yum
Pockey for sale

Need to bring lumpias (aka FIlipino mini-​eggrolls) to bring to your next family event? I’d suggest going to Uni-​Mart — basically, the staple grocery store of most Filipino families living on the north side of the city. They sell lumpias in the ready-​made food section ($ 7.50/lb for about 25 – 30) as well as a variety of other Filipino dishes (turon, adobo, caldereta, lechon, bbq chicken, etc.). If you want to place a larger order, you can always place the order a couple days ahead of time, so they can have it ready for pick-​up right before your event.
Plus, the grocery section basically has every FIlipino food items you could ever look for (shrimp chips, shrimp paste, pancit noodles, salted egg, pan de sal, calamansi juice, etc.). You can also buy frozen lumpias and then fry them yourself, if you’re up to dealing with that daunting task. I picked up $ 80 worth of food here for Thanksgiving and it was enjoyed by all!
Note: They don’t take Amex, but they do take personal checks. The parking lot may have the tendency to fill up on weekends and it’s pretty difficult to maneuver around in because it’s a little small. Oh, and they apparently give you a free bottle of sweet and sour sauce with purchases over $ 50…Cute!

I was craving macapuno (baby coconut) ice cream and was pleasantly surprised to find it (in HUGE tin containers) at Uni-​Mart. Wow wow wow. This stuff might be better than the fresh stuff I used to get at Mitchell’s in San Francisco (that’s saying a LOT). The chunks of coconut are sort of sugary grated globs of coconut. Can you spell cavities? But it’s SO worth it.
One thing to note: There is a place that sells the same thing for $ 2 cheaper on Argyle St… though it’s farther for me, so worth it to shop here.