Take a tour of Union Sq. markets! Each tour visits three markets. To read about a recent market tour, check out this Swellr article. Upcoming market tours are on the following dates; for more information and to sign up, send an email to: artsuniontour@gmail.com

Thur, June 28th, 6pm-7:30pm
Sat, July 14th, 2pm-3:30pm
Thur, July 19th, 6pm-7:30pm
Thur, August 2nd, 6pm-7:30pm
Sat, September 1st, 2pm-3:30pm
Thur, September 13th, 6pm-7:30pm

Union Square’s numerous markets offer a wealth of culinary delights. These small markets are not only ethnically diverse – ranging from Brazilian to Bengali – they serve a surprisingly broad clientele, as well. Visit the shops highlighted here and discover the delicious diversity of Union Square!

+ Capone’s Foods
+ Casa de Carnes Solução
+ Well Foods Plus
+ La Internacional Foods
+ Little India
+ Bombay Market
+ Pao de Acucar and Brazilian Buffet
+ Reliable Market

Capone’s
14 Bow Street | 617.629.2296 | www.caponefoods.com
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm; Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, closed
Owners: Al Capone & Jennifer Hegarty
From: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Open since: 1985
Most customers are: Local & restaurant buyers
What you’ll find: Fresh pasta, home made sauces, prepared meals, dessert, cheese.
Don’t miss: make-your-own cannoli kits, great selection of olive oils and vinegars

In the back kitchen of Capone’s, a machine dubbed “the Extruder” is hard at work pumping out anywhere between 200 – 300 pounds of fresh pasta per day. Over twenty specialty pastas are available, including such enticing flavors as saffron, wild mushroom, squid ink and Jennifer’s favorite: rosemary and garlic. Pair any one of these pastas with Capone’s homemade sauces (ask for the pairing chart, which recommends delicious combos). Most of the recipes at Capone’s were handed down from Al Capone’s mother, Nina, or developed by Al himself.
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Casa de Carnes Solução
38 Bow Street | 617.625.1787
Hours: Mon.-Thur: 8am-8pm; Fri. & Sat: 8am-9pm; Sun: 8am-7pm
Owner: Edson Nascimento
From: Goiana, Brazil
Open since: 1999
Most customers hail from: Brazil, Africa, Latin America & U.S.A.
What you’ll find: Great cuts of meat and everything you need for a Brazilian BBQ, including including top-quality sirloin, charcoal and seasoning
Don’t miss: Linguica and chicken sausage

At this Brazilian-style butcher, you’ll find not only meat, but Brazilian staples and sweets, such as Garoto chocolates and a Brazilian candy called Passoquinha, made of peanuts. Casa de Carnes also sells juices and juice concentrates of superfruits Açai and Acerola (also known as Barbados Cherry, a tropical fruit-bearing shrub or small tree, native to the West Indies and northern South America). Edson is investing in a specific fruit concentrate called Polpa de Pequi. Pequi is native fruit from the Brazilian Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna eco-region in central Brazil.
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WellFoods Plus (Halal Market)
380 Somerville Avenue | 617.666.7700
Hours: Daily, 10am-10pm
Owners: Rokeya and Jahangir Kabir
From: Chittagong, Bangladesh
Open since: 2006
Most customers hail from: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, India and from the Middle East
What you’ll find: Halal meat (which undergoes special butchering process according to Islamic law), goat, fish, tahini, couscous, spices, rice, teas and sweets
Don’t miss: The broad assortment of spices and the giant Lakka fish in the freezer section

On average, Rokeya and Jahingir sell three whole goats per day (that’s 100 pounds!); this is where many Bengalis, Pakistanis, Haitians and Nepalese buy goat meat. In the back of the store, freezers are stocked with 60 different fish, shipped from Bangladesh and Thailand. Ask Rokeya or Jahangir to pull out the four-foot long, 30-pound fish called Lakka, which requires many hours to cook. Bangladesh is predominatly Muslim, so the food at Halal Market varies quite a bit from Indian markets. For instance, Muslims eat beef, whereas Hindus do not. Hence, you’ll find beef at Halal Market – along with Middle Eastern items with Arabic packaging, including rose water and tahini.
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La Internacional Foods
318 Somerville Avenue | 617.776.1880
Hours: Mon – Sat, 8am-9pm; Sun, 9am-7pm
Owner: Nora & Byron Cabrera
From: Guatemala
Open Since: 1989
Most customers hail from: Haiti and Central and South America
What you’ll find: Plantains, rice, spices, fish and produce from Costa Rica and Columbia
Don’t miss: Assortment of dried chiles including pasilla, ancho and guajillo, and the small plastic bags of djon djon mushrooms from Haiti

Customers come from as far away as Waltham, Mattapan and Malden for the store’s broad selection of Latin American and Haitian goods – and great prices. The store has so many Haitian customers Nora’s son Byron has learned Haitian Kreyol just by talking with the clientele! Nora estimates that they sell 1,000 ten pound bags of rice each week. Check out their selection of spices, which includes numerous varieties of chili powder, including chile mulato and chile poblano. This is also the place to go for authentic tortillas, queso fresco and crema. As for Haitian items, you’ll find rare djon-djon mushrooms, yams, yucca and drinks like the cornmeal-based Akasan.
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Little India
438 Somerville Ave. (by Market Basket) | 617.623.1786
Hours: Daily, 10am – 9pm
Owners: Dipti and Umesh Mistri
From: Mumbai, India
Open since: 1983
Most customers hail from: Bangladesh, Pakistan and India primarily the Punjab region
What you’ll find: Spices, rice, fresh produce including bitter melon and daikon radishes
Don’t miss: Ladu (round sweet balls made of wheat, lentils, ghee and sugar)

Here you’ll find a wide assortment of rice, including basmati (white and brown) and the aromatic sona masuri variety. The Mistris also sell spices galore, including mustard seed, pomegranate powder, amchoor powder (powdered green mango) and black and green cardamom. Ask Dipti about the medicinal value of spices and produce and she will offer you a wealth of information. For example, Bitter Melon is good for diabetes and tumeric is excellent for colds and putting on cuts.  Each October and November, Little India shoppers will also find sweet delicacies and decorations for Diwali, the Hindu New Year.
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Bombay Market
359 Somerville Avenue | 617.623.6614
Hours: Daily, 9:30am-9:30pm
Owners: Hari Prasad Lamichhane
From: Katmandu, Nepal
Open since: 2002; run by Hari since summer 2010
Most customers hail from: Nepal
What you’ll find: Spices, lentils, dal
Don’t miss: Sweet laps1 (dry hog plum), which grows all over Nepal

Hailing from Katmandu, Nepal,  Hari Prasad Lamichhane stocks his store with specialties of his homeland, including different forms of sweet lapsi (dry hog plum), which is used in achars (pickles) and sweet spicy candy. While you’re there, take a whiff of the gorgeously fragrant timur, which looks like peppercorns and is used in achars. Better yet, buy some and experiment!  The store also carries products like papadam, dal (udad, chana and moong), gram flour (made from dal) and dried peas. The extensive spice collection includes star anise, amchoor powder and methi seed. Hari explains that although over 80% of Nepal’s population is engaged in agriculture, it’s often much cheaper to import products from India, which, unlike Nepal, is not landlocked. Go here for a great recipe using timur: Tomato Timur Pickle.
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Pão de Açúcar & Brazilian Buffet
57 Union Square | 617.625.0022
Hours: Daily, 7am-10pm; Sunday: 8am-5pm
Owner: Francisco Silva
From: Minas Gerais
Open since: 2006
Most customers hail from: mostly Brazil yet Eduardo makes point of saying all are welcome!
What you’ll find: Cured meats for feijoada, various forms of Açai (superfruit from Brazil’s rain forests), perfume and soccer shirts.
Don’t miss: pao de queso (cheese bread) and coxinha (chicken dumplings)

In addition to fresh pao de queso, the store also sells a frozen variety and a mix; these addictive cheese puffs use yucca flour rather than wheat flour. Shoppers will also find meat “kits” to make feijoada, a dish from Bahia, in eastern Brazil, which is the undisputed national dish of Brazil. It uses various pork products (sometimes beef products, too) and black beans. The market sells prepared feijoada at its buffet every Saturday; be sure to have some farofa (which has a consistency of farina cereal and is made from manioc/cassava flour) on the side. Also consider sampling  Guarana, Brazil’s highly caffeinated and most popular soda.
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Reliable Market
45 Union Square | 617.623.9620
Hours: Mon, 10am-8pm; Tue-Sat, 9:30am-8pm; Sun, 10am-7pm
Owner: Young Sook Park
From: Seoul, South KoreaOpen since: 1982
Most customers hail from: Korea, Japan, China, and United States
What you’ll find: Bulgoki (thinly-sliced beef or pork marinated in salty/sweet sauce),  prepared kimchee pancakes (made with spicy cabbage), seaweed laver for sushi, frozen gyoza
Don’t miss: The huge selection of saki, shochu (similar to saki but distilled) and soju (Korean version of of saki)

Shopping at the Reliable Market is like a vicarious trip to Asia. The shelves here are laden with exotic products with labels in many Asian languages. Their produce is inexpensive and fresh. They always supply fresh Asian staples such as daikon radish, scallions, ginger, tofu, and Asian pears. Aisle two has rice toppings like bonito flakes (salty fish flavor), wasabi and rice crackers galore. Reliable also has an entire aisle dedicated to kimchee, a mind-boggling array of noodles and rice, shashimi-grade fish (for sushi), a great pocky stick selection and elegant and utilitarian crockery. For certified sake expert Richard Auffey’s sake recommendations, go here: Sake 101 at Reliable.
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Sherman Market
22 Union Square | 617.776.4944
Hours: Mon-Fri, 10am – 8 pm; Sat, 10am – 6pm; Sun, 12pm – 6 pm.
Owners: Karyn Coughlin and Ben Dryer
From: United States
Open since: 2009
Most customers hail from: Union Square
What you’ll find: local and fresh produce, eggs, cheese, milk, and meats
Recommended product: Somerville’s Fiore di Nonno’s Burrata—aged mozzarella stuffed with either fig, or lavender, honey, and chili, or roasted garlic and onion

Inspired by the popularity of Union Square’s farmers markets, Sherman Cafe (also owned by Karyn and Ben) and Sherman Market sell locally grown and produced goods. At the cafe, you’ll find baked goods, sandwiches and seasonal surprises like Lavender Blueberry soda—a summer fave.  In the market you’ll find an array of various meats—from ground beef, pork, and whole chickens to more hard-to-get protein like rabbit, quail, tongue and chicken hearts. The market also features a wide variety of in-house made products like cream cheeses, home-made English muffins, pickles, salad dressings, hummus and various stocks for soups. As most locavore shoppers know, produce is seasonal and items on the shelves change accordingly. Karyn and Ben are always trying to get new and interesting items to carry in their store to satiate Union Square’s cravings. If you cannot find what you want, Karyn and Ben usually are happy to special order for you—as long as its local!
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