They have samples for pretty much every item they have in store. You can spend a lot of time here sampling. Deciding what to take home can be tricky. I always feel like I want to take the entire store home. During this past time (Nov. 2011) I fell in love with their line of preserves that come in European glasses. My favorites in that line were the tangelo and fig preserves. My other favorite was their holiday jam. I took two of those home and ended up eating one by the spoon. The other I am saving for Thanksgiving dinner. Their line of ice cream toppings is great. I bought the black cherry chocolate butter and have been enjoying it over vanilla ice cream. The other section of the store has tons of sauces, salsas, and oil mixes. I couldn't decide on which salsa was better, but the Mediterranean olive oil is AMAZING. My husband and I have been coming to Galena on vacation once a year for the past 3 years and we've learned to stock up on our favorite items from this store. This is also where we buy gifts for our family. They sell small and big baskets that are already packed but they will let you choose your own items and make you a personalized basket if you want. read more

I have nothing but good things to say about Galena Canning. Everything in this store is worth a visit. Every salsa, dip, jelly and sauce can be sampled. Not only can they be sampled, but every one of them is delicious. I always find myself regretting that I stopped in here before going to lunch. They have become so popular that they have a second store opened across the street. I have stopped in Galena Canning twice, and each time I brought home a different sauce or two. I really could go on and on but I wont. Just go to Galena Canning. You will not regret it. I promise. read more

I always get necessary canned goods when I see Ivo at fairs and such. I was do excited to finally see his store and it did not disappoint. You can taste everything he makes With either tortilla chips or pretzels or bread. I found new things I had not had before and would have bought more but we only had 1 car with us. Do yourself a favor and get a jar of The preserves made with chocolate. read more

This place has the most amazing selection of hot sources. Some of them have insane labels, lol A large selection of the hot sources have adult orientated labels , so bear that in mind if you have kids... They are not kidding with some of the hot sources.... some of them are powerful enough, to launch the space shuttle. I purchased there "signature" source. called "The Hottest F***ing Source" I have not been the same since..... I highly recommend a visit to this store, its great fun. read more

Coolest. Store. Ever. They have split this store into two parts (across the street from one another): one side is completely dedicated to hot sauces and the other side covers everything else. I'm going to focus on the "everything else" side because that's the side that I visited. They seriously have everything and it's all fabulous. And even better (if you're not sure) you can sample ALL of it. Preserves, jellies, butters, pastas, salsas, oils, sauces... incredible. I'm so excited to go back and definitely will shop for Christmas gifts here as well. read more

This place is really awesome! The first time that I came in here was on some Galena festival weekend last spring. I have to say that I was a little disappointed when I came this fall and didn't see as many sauces out. Nonetheless, these sauces and dressing are amazing! I also discovered a SECOND shop across the street, which sells sweeter items, such as jellies and marmalade. read more

This place was a lot of fun. The energy was high, the staff was very informative, and the samples were awesome. Definitely READ the descriptions well before you taste, it is worth the time. The only downside was there were bees swarming some of the samples in the store front, and I'm allergic to them. Other than that we'll stop in again next time we're in the area. read more

My wife and I drove 2 1/2 hours to visit the Galena shops for our weekend "get away." We heard it was a great place to visit. It was, with the exception of the Galena Canning Co store. Upon entering the store I was taking a sip from my coffee, mask down obviously, and was immediately scolded in a very condescending manner by a young man working there. I raised my mask as asked to do and he proceeded to follow me around the store and in a loud voice, informing me I was not wearing my mask properly. He kept saying I need to leave if I don't know how to wear a mask. The store was busy and it was very embarrassing to say the least. My wife left the store, not buying what she had in her basket as the she was too embarrassed to stay any longer. I asked for a manager and he said he was the manager. I then asked for the company number and his bosses name. He grunted loudly and turned to get a pamphlet with the company info on it. He shoved in my face and said "here, now get out!" Pointing to the door. Mind you, the entire store was watching this horrific display of customer service. Needless to say they lost a customer for good. This guy needs to go before the company go before he does irreputible damage to their name. Good luck if you keep him. read more

Fun place to sample and buy many flavored dips and spreads. Beware that although it is a family atmosphere there are dirty novelties at the checkout counter in plain site of children. When we pointed this out to the manager, instead of a polite "thank you for your opinion" we were told "There's the door, make use of it!" I would think any business owner would value opinions and feedback from customers (whether they act on it or not). The rudeness we were shown just for expressing our opinion was uncalled for, and we will never return. read more

The Italian rosemary dipping olive oil. So many things that are good there, but that olive oil is all you need! WOW! We are needing to get back to get more soon! read more

I've been to an oil and hot sauce store before, but this is on a whole new level. They have SO MANY HOT SAUCES, salsas, honey mustards, and more. And TONS OF TASTERS! Will definitely be coming back next time I'm in the area. read more

I was stunned after walking into this small shop. Hundreds of kinds of sauce lined up on the shelves, tantalizing my tastebuds. They have an impressive sampling section with mini pretzels and so many styles of dipping sauce (many can be used for cooking as well). After sampling about 1/3 of them, I already got so many candidates to take home. In my opinion, their Asian ginger, cherry and berry preserves and espresso chocolate are definitely worth stocking up. Thanks to Yelp I found their website. Shipping charge is a little too high for me; otherwise I would purchase their goodies every month! read more

Very neat little place with tons of samples and friendly staff! I would imagine everyone could find something to take home from here, tons of good stuff. read more

Stopped in and the help there is just as good as via the Internet! Great products, great help, great company.

I love the Galena Canning Co. and on a three day vacation we hit this (and it's brother store across the street) more times than I care to admit. Yes we bought quite a few things, but we also went for the samples! Their barbecue sauces are amazing. The Garlic, Jalepeno Honey, and Thai Siracha wing sauce, are my favorite. The dips they carry are to die for. But all in all whether you're looking for jams and jellies, ice cream toppings, pie fillings, hot sauces, BBQ sauces, dips, or olive oils, this is a must! And if you're not, at least stop in and sample, you won't walk out empty handed!!! read more

This is a great group of stores! From the main store that sells hot sauces and BBQ sauces to the 2 storefronts nearby that sell dip starters, cooking sauces, dessert sauces and drink mixes, Chef Ivo has thought of all sorts of ways to help us cook creatively. The staff at both stores are knowledgeable and helpful about how to use the products (example- the Sour Cherry Sauce is great on chicken!), and there are plenty of samples available so you know what you're buying. The samples help me with buying new products, and the staff is helpful with new ways to use the products. Great places to visit and shop! read more

stop in frequently as part of my ongoing tour of the central states. my wife's faves are the bread and butter jalapenos and the zesty bread and butter pickles. plenty warm but not so hot you can't savor the yumminesses. I am partial to the subtle character of the raspberry habenero honey mustard -especially suited to chickens made any which way. have sampled other offerings (mostly in the pepper jellies) and find them quite delicious but I always come back to RHHM... read more

my friend almost bought the whole store but I just got a few salsas, dips, soups & jerked meat of different animals. people were really nice and helpful. I appreciate that u can taste pretty much everything before u buy it. cant go wrong with that! read more

My mouth is still wonderfully on fire from this place! You can pretty much taste everything they have in the store; Hot sauce, now sauce, dry rubs, salsa and more. Some were extremely sweat and tear inducing hot but surprisingly still had a great flavor. That is really hard to do. I'm pretty sure my husband spent at least double the amount of time in here than in any other store we went in to :-) read more

Go here even if you don't have a need for salsa, bbq sauce, spices, mixes, tabasco etc. The shop is chock-full with every brand of the above mentioned items that you could possibly dream of. Galena Canning makes their own concoctions, as well, and always has dozens of samples out. Browse, sample, chat with the friendly staff, and I bet you won't be able to leave without something. Oh, and they also carry those amazing apple cider donuts. read more

A buffet of samples! Their Baja Salsa contains a respectful balance of flavors. One of the two salsas I will now buy off the shelf. I also purchased Apple Hickory BBQ sauce, it looks very tasty with chunks of fruit. Beware of the caution labels - they are placed for a reason. Hubs didn't notice a caution label when sampling a hot sauce. His eyes became red and watered for many minutes, and I can't repeat what he said when he was finally able to talk, not lady-like. Hehehehe. read more

I loved EVERYTHING I tried here. A few girls and I were in town for a girls weekend and we just casually stopped in - AMAZING. We tried basically everything in the store, and then bought just about as much. Such a great gem, I completely bought up everything I needed for my dad for his birthday. Highly recommend this place if you're in the area...or even if not! read more

I love me some hot sauce so I was really excited to check this place out. It was a little overwhelming because they have so many different kinds to choose from, but the staff was so helpful with information and making recommendations! They offer tons of samples so you'll be sure to find something you can't leave without! For me it was the strawberry hot pepper jelly! It had a little bite but I liked how they offered it on cream cheese with pretzels it was very good. The pickled pepper and garlic pepper sauce were very good too. These are all items made by the Galena Canning Co with thier label. I admit I did not try the Ghost pepper sauce. As much as I can take the heat, I saw what it did to a few people in there and decided I would let that one be. Definately a great place to check out while in town. read more

If you are in Galena, visit this group of shoppes and you will not be disappointed. There are two stores across from each other...one for the canning and one for unique hot and spicy sauces. You can sample pretty much everything and if you are a culinary maven, your mind will quickly start to churn as to how to use some of these magnificent sauces/marinades. If you can't make Galena, find their website because there are some awesome gift ideas for all occasions as well as those out of the ordinary hot sauces that can make for some great conversation starters over a spicy bloody Mary. read more

Love the items here! Great things to sample as well. Yes they do have adult themed items at the front but eh.. nothing crazy. If they really said "theres the door" as a PP said I dont really see them saying that but if they did then there is the door. Not up to the business to watch your kids number 1 and number 2 is Galena really a place for small kids no not really. So who cares if they sell some items someone may not deem family friendly. Take the kids to the pool or 6 flags and the wife to galena.. Customer service has always been great. read more

I appreciated the opportunity to browse in the store and do so without much interruption. I purchased about $50 worth of canned goods, equal to five jars of varying sizes. The blueberry jam & butter were clearly a product of good berries, the recipes basic, good, but uneventful ( no lemon zest or spices, just straight up). The Dilled mustard was decent. It took me some time to chose from the handful of BBQ sauces because they all sounded good. Unfortunately, I must have chosen the wrong one. The roasted garlic and hickory smoked BBQ sauce was very sweet, oddly thick and chunky, but overpoweringly flooded with hickory smoke flavoring. It was so offensive, verging on emetic, that I had to pitch it. Bottom line: good variation of recipes, reasonably priced, but beware, you might get a bad batch. As bad as that BBQ sauce was, I would definitely shop there again and hope for something tasty. read more

This place is awesome!!!! THere are tons of samples for different sauces and nuts. Some of this stuff is very hot so beware!!! When they say this sacue is "VERY VERY VERY HOT", they do mean it. That one cleared my sinuses. There is a lot of different sauces to pick from and many of htem are hot. I bought myself an Apple Hickory BBQ bottle and it has a pretty sweet taste to it. Can't wait to put it on my ribs and use it as a dip for chips. This is definitely a store I suggest if you're into hot bbq sauce. read more

Love this place! Every time I visit my family in the Midwest we go to Galena and make a stop at the Canning Company. I like be trying all the different favors of everything. They have dips, salsa, spices, BBQs and so much more. Go on an empty stomach because you are gonna want to try everything. Always love buying new things to make food with. read more

This place is awesome. There are so many different sauces to sample so bring your appetite. We bought sauces and rubs for everyone back home because everything was so tasty. We were at the smaller store first and the male cashier was really friendly and helpful. read more

We went here on a super busy weekend (civil war re-enactment) right after lunchtime. I was surprised their sample areas were still super clean, fully stocked with pretzels and dips to try (every half a foot, it's awesome) and there were other booths with more food samples. We got a very nice gift for a family member and some amazing BBQ sauce for ourselves. If we get to go back to Galena, this is the top 3 stores that is a MUST visit. read more

A great place, you can sample just about every sauce and salsa they have with tortilla chips and pretzels. Famous for their hot salsas and sauces, when the ghost pepper sauce says "caution hot" they're not joking. Across the street is another store with lots of jellies, pasta sauces, pestos, sausages, all kinds of delicious stuff. read more

One of my favorite places I visited in galena this past weekend. They have fantastic jellys, sauces, butters, and so on... and the best part, you get to try it all for free. Don't go full, you'll be rolling out of there!! read more

Galena Canning is always a must stop location in Galena for me. When you visit Galena Canning, you'll find a huge assortment of products and many samples to try including pesto, jams, jellies, barbecue sauces, and even bloody Mary mixes. the store is always clean and the staff is always friendly. Checkout is usually quick, although there can be a line during busy days. I have purchased many products over the years from Galena Canning but I think the most underrated products are the spice mixes. Our family favorite is the Ribeye Steak seasoning. It's great on all kinds of red meat. You can find a lot of simple spice mixes here like taco seasoning, and even harder to find herbs like Herbs de Provence. I'll continue to be a loyal customer of Galena Canning for years to come. read more

Soooo many amazing samples to try! Everything's so delicious you'll want to buy it all

The Galena Canning Company actually has two different stores which are directly across the street from each other. The one sells their hot sauces and spicy products, while the other sells their regular jams, jellies, and various condiments. My husband and I first stopped into the store which sells the hot products. I personally cannot tolerate spicy food, so I didn't sample anything. However, my husband, who is absolutely obsessed with spicy food, loved it. Normally, food cannot be hot enough for him. However, when he tried the ghost pepper hot sauce, his eyes began tearing up so much that it looked like he was crying. There was a sign (which, of course he didn't read) next to the ghost pepper sauce warning to try only a drop at a time. Definitely heed that warning. Don't do as my husband did and coat an entire tortilla chip in it. That being said, my husband still thoroughly enjoyed the ghost pepper sauce. He was excited to find something he actually thought was really hot. Next, we walked across the street to the storefront with the not so spicy condiment varieties. There were SO many things to sample. My husband and I tried the vast majority of them, and we didn't find a single thing we didn't like. We particularly enjoyed the spiced apple preserves. There were so many amazing jams, jellies, preserves, salsas, sauces, oils, syrups, marinades, etc. that it was hard to choose what to actually purchase. The employees at both locations were very friendly and attentive, and the product was categorized and shelved in an orderly fashion. I very much appreciated that. The Galena Canning Company is a must stop if you are ever in the area. read more

My girlfriend and I visited here while visiting Galena. Although online reviews made this place seem great, it was even better in person! The shop is filled with a variety of salsas, spreads, oils, condiments, and much more. There are numerous items you are allowed to sample before you decide to purchase them and the products were definitely made with high quality. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable on the products sold within the shop. We plan on checking out the other location tomorrow that's across the street which specializes more in spicy items. Must visit while in Galena! read more

great canned food. reasonable prices. and you get to sample what they sell before you buy. a nice trip back in time to when Grandma made this kind of stuff. read more

Love this place! It's my favorite place in Galena! Delicious goodies and a taste test extravaganza. Awesome employees who are more than happy to help you, fair prices, and a huge array of products. My only complaint is there are a couple of areas in the store(s) that are not child friendly with use of expletives on the products, so if you have kids in tow, scoot them past that stuff. We'll be back in again and again, though, and highly recommend this place to everyone. read more

This is a staple stop during visits to Galena, IL. Love all the free tastes of so many items, so I know exactly what I want to buy and am always happy with my purchase when I get home--things like jams, jellies, preserves, bbq sauces, mustards, dips, olive oil, vinegars, peppers, and the list goes on and on. I take home items for myself and as gifts every time I visit. Staff are helpful in answering questions and very knowledgeable on all products. read more

The canning company is well known throughout the community to have renowned sauces, jams, butters, and seasonings, and I have commonly turned to their unique canned goods to gift to my family and friends, however, during my most recent visit, I was not impressed with the staffs hospitality. As my friend and I browsed through the different tasting stations, a member of the staff (an older woman) followed in our footsteps and peeked over our shoulder every chance she got, making us a bit uncomfortable. I completely understand keeping a closer eye on minors, however, this old woman watched us like a hawk. Alas, as we continued through the store giggling at our own inside jokes, the woman confronted us that we were just taking samples and weren't planning on buying anything. Although we tried to explain, she refused to believe us, and finally asked us to leave immediately. Instead of stooping to this poor old woman's level and getting rowdy, we chose to ride the high road and politely exit the store, just as we entered, however, this experience has left me feeling a bit betrayed by the local business I used to support and respect, all from one very unprofessional worker. I'm not upset, just disappointed... read more