The Greater Cincinnati area is home to dozens of international markets offering groceries from around the globe. From Eastern European shops to African and Asian markets, these small businesses offer plenty of must-haves you won’t find at your regular grocery store.

Many of these markets are historic and have been serving the neighborhoods around Cincinnati for decades. These are the kinds of places that when you stop in you are greeted with a smile and you get called by your first name. They remember your order and will gladly help guide you in the direction of other items you might enjoy.

Whether you want a taste of home or you want to try diving into the cuisine of a different culture, you wont regret adding these markets to your monthly shopping routine.

Little Asiana 9731 Montgomery Road, Montgomery Tucked in a small plaza behind a gas station, Little Asiana provides a curated selection of high-quality Korean ingredients in only three aisles. Some items found at this store include canned, frozen and fresh goods. This family-owned market is the definition of “small but mighty.” Photo: Adam Doty
ASAFO African Market 5150 Camelot Drive, Fairfield This small Fairfield market sits in a tiny plaza. From produce to beauty products, ASAFO is stacked to the brim with fruits, vegetables, kitchen utensils, snacks, fish and even a small selection of African-inspired clothing. Photo: Adam Doty
Al-Madina Market & Grill 6 W. Corry St., Corryville This gem, adjacent to UC’s campus, is staffed by smiling faces and sells Lebanese cuisine with fresh meat and Mediterranian groceries. Cheap but delicious, you can eat as much as your heart (or stomach) desires. They’re best known for their falafel and shawarma. Photo: Paige Deglow
Saigon Market 119 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine One of the first Asian grocery stores in Cincinnati was Saigon Market. Beyond the reddish orange exterior at the Findlay Market storefront are tall shelves holding products from Vietnam, Thailand, China and more. The parents of the store’s current owner, Nghiep Ho, immigrated from Vietnam in 1976 and started their business the same year. Photo: Lauren Moretto
Tokyo Foods 10738 Reading Road, Evendale Located next to Uncle Yip’s Chinese and dim sum restaurant, Tokyo Foods features all the items to make your favorite Asian dishes at home. There are frozen noodles (ramen, udon, etc.), gyoza wrappers, refrigerated sauces, tons of miso, tofu, packaged snacks, Japanese candy, frozen seafood and even a few household items. Also, Uncle Yip’s is a must-try if you’re in the area. Photo via Google Street View
Happy Asian Mart 355 W. McMillan St., Clifton Heights This little market may be small, but it’s stocked with the essentials including cheap produce and a wide array of imported goods. Photo via Facebook.com/Happy-Asian-Mart-Cincinnati
Gutierrez Deli 1131 Lee St., Covington This Hispanic grocery store/restaurant hybrid serves up real deal Latin flavor, offering made-to-order dishes ranging from tacos to Mexican entrees and everything in between. Check their Facebook page for daily specials like fresh tamale Fridays and items featuring mole poblano, a complex chili-chocolate sauce that typically includes about 20 ingredients. Photo via Facebook/GutierrezDeli Photo: facebook.com/GutierrezDeli
Mi Tierra Supermercado 11625 Chester Road, Glendale This Mexican supermarket includes a little taqueria. Their tacos include less-Americanized meats like tongue and beef head. Come back on Saturday or Sunday to try something from their weekend menu, like menudo (a traditional Mexican soup that features cow stomach in a red chili pepper broth) or caldo de mariscos, a seafood soup literally overflowing with crab. Photo via Facebook.com/Mi-Tierra-Supermercado-y-Taqueria
Darou Salam Store 4158 Hamilton Ave., Northside Next to Northside’s beloved Shake it Records sits Darou Salam, which carries a variety of African groceries like herbs and spices, tea, fresh produce and even beauty supplies, including perfume. Right across the street (in the courtyard of the Northside Tavern at 4163 Hamilton Ave.), there’s a Darou Salam restaurant. Although humble in appearance, this is Cincinnati’s best-kept secret for authentic African food. Darou Salam offers Senegalese cuisine ranging from lamb dibi, which is grilled lamb paired with an onion-mustard sauce, to firir, a fried whole tilapia (yes with the head — but don’t be scared, it’s tasty), and bissap sorrel, Hibiscus juice and Senegalese favorite. Photo: Adam Doty
La Mexicana Restaurante Cantina & Tienda 642 Monmouth St., Newport La Mexicana is a market and taqueria in one. And it is home to some of the city’s best tacos: tacos al pastor with deliciously marinated pork shoulder, barbacoa, carne asada, lengua (tongue) and sesos (brains; they wash down perfectly with a cerveza). For vegetarians, wide-ranging fillings include seasoned pumpkin flower, corn truffle, hongos, beans and queso fresco. This inexpensive menu has been known to incite cravings after as little as one visit. Over the past few years, the restaurant has stepped up its game, livening up its former no-frills ambiance while still staying true to its roots. Photo via La Mexicana/Facebook
Francis International Market 4414 Colerain Ave., Northside Francis International Market is family-owned and has been around for decades. They have a wide variety of fish and other seafood and a large selection of meats. Shop here for items like oxtail, blue crab, goat meat and lamb, as well as Vietnamese coffee. Photo: Adam Doty
Jagdeep’s Indian Grocery 270 Ludlow Ave., Clifton Jagdeep’s Indian Grocery in Clifton’s Gaslight District has a shout out in UC International’s Cultural Handbook for international employees, scholars and students. While the store does receive some business from Americans, they largely serve international students. They have popular spices like turmeric, garam masala and chili powder, along with rice, flour and organic foods. Kalvinder Kaur, whose husband’s family owns the store, says that Jagdeep’s caters to vegetarians. Photo: Lauren Moretto
Dean’s Mediterranean Imports 108 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine Dean’s Mediterranean Imports is packed so full of wonderful tastes, smells and textures that it’s hard to fit more than a few folks at a time inside the store’s narrow aisles. Maybe you’ve seen bags of their awesome roasted nuts at bars around town. Maybe you’re a regular patron drawn by the aromatic wall of hard-to-find spices behind the counter. Or heck, maybe you just like dropping by to chat with Dean and his daughters, the charming folks who run this one-of-a-kind gem. Whatever the reason, this Mediterranean shop is the perfect place to pick up Mediterranean spices and Dean’s own unique blends. There’s falafel spice; shawarma spice; a Syrian seven-spice blend; Jamaican, Indian and Pakistani curry; fenugreek; and the list goes on. Buy the spices in whatever amount you need, even itty bitty portions. Photo via Facebook.com/DeansMediterannean
Maranata Store 1215 Rulison Ave., Price Hill Price Hill’s burgeoning Guatemalan community offers a taste of Central America at this tienda, which stocks groceries and serves colorful cilantro-infused ceviche, pork pupusas, fried plantains and three-milk cake from its modest restaurant. The Guatemalan-style tamales alone are worth the trip. Photo: Google Street View
Jungle Jim’s International Market 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; 4450 Eastgate S., Eastgate We’d be remiss to not include Jungle Jim’s on this list. Jungle Jim’s is an amusement park for foodies, and not just because of its kitschy statues and animatronics. This huge store (more than six acres) contains equal parts weekly shoppers — scanning the aisles for super fresh seafood, exotic produce and one of more than 1,500 hot sauces — and visitors, wandering, mouths agape at the wacky décor, likely with a beer in hand from the in-house bar. The Elvis robot monkey is a favorite peculiarity; same goes for the elaborate restroom hidden behind a port-a-potty facade. It’s like the Hogwarts of grocery stores with a killer selection of international eats from more than 70 different countries. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
India Bazar 4870 Union Centre Pavilion, West Chester India Bazar has a wide selection of all your cooking basics — atta, rice, lentils, flour and poha — and favorite Indian brands, like Shan. Also shop here for snacks such as gazab dates, Maggi seasoning, Britannia milk rusk and Golden Punjabi cookies. Photo via Google Maps
CAM International Market 10400 Reading Road, Evendale The first CAM International Market opened in 1997. Today, there are three locations: a local Cincinnati shop in Evendale, one in Columbus and one in Cleveland. Arguably the largest Asian grocery store in the Tri-State, you could spend hours navigating the shelves. Along with snacks, canned goods, noodles and rice varieties, CAM stocks baked goods, produce and fresh meat and seafood. There’s even a section dedicated to beauty products. Photo: Lauren Moretto
Burmese Market 3155 Dixie Highway, Erlanger Burmese Market is a small hidden gem that sells a selection of Burmese, Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian food, including aisles filled with a variety of noodles, rice, sauces and pastas. Photo via Google Maps
La Canasta 7812 Colerain Ave., White Oak This store not only has a selection of dry goods, frozen food and fresh products, but they have a small dining area in the back where the employees will serve you authentic Mexican food. Their menu includes tacos, burritos, soups, appetizers and more. Photo via Google Street View
Halal Market 7755 Tylers Place Blvd., West Chester Cincinnati’s Muslim community is no stranger to the Halal Market in West Chester. With an international grocery and café in the same building, you can find ingredients from many regions in North Africa and the Middle East. Walk inside and take a left under the archway and you’ll enter the Laziz Café, which offers delicious shawarma. Cut fresh from a turning kebab, the chicken or beef is served hot on pita bread with your choice of toppings. The menu also offers a kofta sandwich (grilled sirloin with onions, parsley, tomatoes, pickles and hummus), and falafel. Photo via
Marina’s International Deli 11426 Montgomery Road, Montgomery Marina’s Russian deli and market is a gold mine for Russian goodies like chocolate, beer, wine, bread, cheese, meat and other Eastern European food that you can’t find in any regular grocery store. They’re well known for their delicious ice cream, Russian pharmacy products and selection of fresh food for carryout. Think pierogies, blintzes and potato pancakes; tinned caviar, pickled Kilka fish and dried Russian Moyva; spices and soup mixes from Vegeta; tons of kvass; Georgian wine, Baltika beer and really cool Eastern European soft drinks. Photo via Google Maps
Mt. Olive Market 2702 Short Vine St., Corryville This market sells a plethora of Middle Eastern and eastern Mediterranean foods including a large meat selection. Find proteins from goat and lamb to Amish chicken, beef and fish. Although tiny, this place with give you all the meat and Mediterranean ingredients you need. Photo via facebook.com/mt-olive-market
B&D Asian Nepali Market 9172 Winton Road, Finneytown; 3091 W. Galbraith Road, White Oak This market has a variety of groceries and even movies. They stock up with Bhutanese, Nepali and Indian groceries to save customers from driving around town to get all the ingredients for their favorite meals — here, it’s all in one place. You’ll find green mustard leaf, red shen choy, Japanese daikon, kabocha and lauka in the produce section. For over a decade, Nepali Market has maintained loyal customers and even supplies religious books and other items like mala beads, a peepal patta leaf Ganesh and Hindu icons, om kurta, Pooja Thali prayer plates, Lucky Lakshmi invocation kits, seashell jhumar chandeliers and more. Photo via facebook.com/nepalimarketFinneytown
Sakura Mart 8640 Haines Drive, Florence This authentic Japanese grocery store is stocked with produce, meat, Japanese vegetables, lots of sweet treats and even kitchen supplies, beauty products and other knick-knacks. They also have a small but yummy Korean-focused carryout menu including bibimbap, bulgogi and dukbokki. Photo: Adam Doty