Samir’s Imported Foods

The wonderful odors as you entire will take you away. Helpful staff suggested the best olive oil, not expensive. There shelves chock full of everything you could want. Love this place

It is just amazing, very good products, fresh meat, olives! lovely women who work there, and very good prices.

There are a lot of great products packed in to a very small space at Samir’s. All in all, it’s exactly the kind of experience I want to have at a specialty grocery. As someone who did not grow up eating Middle Eastern food, every visit to this place is an education. I love to be in a grocery where 50% of the products are new to me. I am slowly working my way through them at Samir’s, and it has been great.
While the store is small, they have an excellent selection of many different ingredients. There are easily a half dozen different brands of pita, tahini, bulghur, pickles and other staples. There are probably dozens of varieties of olive oil (all I have tried have been delicious) and an impressive selection of cheeses and bulk olives in large barrels.
But, the very best part of Samir’s is their tiny take-​out restaurant next door. Do yourself a huge favor and try their falafel sandwich the next time you’re picking up your groceries. $ 3.50 buys you 5 – 6 falafel, scooped out and fried to order right in front of you, along with a generous helping of tahini, pickles, and peppers. The woman who runs the take-​out is delightful and always makes me smile.
I challenge anyone to find a better sandwich under $ 5.00 in Syracuse!

1 march. The Turkish FIGS are IN !! Fresh Fava beans (peel ‘em and eat them right out of the pod) !! Go. Like now…

I love this place… Let’s be honest, Syracuse NY isn’t exactly a hub of multiculturalism or ethnic food. But Samir’s gives the community a chance to taste some great Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Greek, and Indian specialty foods.
I love the Ajvar (hot and mild), tahini, hummus, and different varieties of pickles.
They have an amazing selection of legumes, and grains. Different varieties of rice, barley, cous cous, red lentils, bulgar, and fava beans. Teas from all over the world, sweets including baklava, kataifi, and a variety of different nuts and cakes by the pound. Over 20 different versions of olives. black, purple, green and everything in between.
BREADS!!! Lavash, naan, pita… all of them are so delicious. My favorite is the onion naan which is great warm and crispy.
CHEESE!!! They have a fantastic cheese section, all sold by the pound but not sliced. Varieties include provolone, mozzarella, locatelli, Parmesan, and about 5 – 10 others, as well as over 10 different kinds of feta cheese, halumi, and Armenian string cheese.
This place has a lot of great European foods and sweets that I grew up with in the Russian community. Great halva, pickled cabbages and veggies, and Churchkhela (nuts threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened fruit juice, and dried)
Basically, a foodie’s dream. They are small but have a fantastic variety. Samir’s is a fantastic place to explore on a Saturday morning.

The store is crowded and dirty, which I don’t exactly love. Hopefully, that will improve with time and their new location.
This is a very good place to get almond paste and Lebanese spice blends, but I don’t get much else here. Their Italian cheeses are nice, too.
Overall, it’s one of those places that you think is going to be amazing based on the reputation, then discover it’s just an ok place to go now and then. Meh.

Incredibly cramped little store (I’m not sure how their second, bigger location on Erie will differ from the original location). But I always buy my parmesan cheese here — fresh and a better price than Wegmans. The olive and nut selection is great. I like the flat breads they sell and Mediterranean sweets. Parking can sometimes be a little tricky.