The real gem of this store is all the Indian food. Everything from snack food like large bags of Navrattan and Chana Daal to frozen curries. This little neighborhood convenience store is great. One of the workers helped me find a savory snack blend for a picnic near the Museum of Science & Industry. The prices are lower for a lot of the Indian foods, but their regular chips and dips are convenience store pricing. read more

Harper Foods: MY FAV HYDE PARK STORE. They have a real gourmet selection of ingredients and prepared foods; an international selection with an emphasis on Indian ingredients. They also upgraded their ice cream section. I go there especially when I want to cook something which needs a lot of spices--their spice selection is great. My partner and I love taking a walk there and getting one of those kulfi ice cream snacks and continuing our long meandering walks with kulfi in hand. read more

Harper Foods - Unusual yummy treats! - Grocery Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I've been going here regularly for the past five years specifically to purchase Frito Lay sunflower seeds. Today the cashier would not sell me two bags that are normally $1.10 because I was paying with change. This has historically never been a problem. I often have loose change that I want to use. First he tried ringing me up for $1.46 and then I replied it's usually $1.10. He said my change is no good and told me he has no time to count it and to go to Walmart. If you're wondering, I had four dimes, twenty pennies, and two quarters. read more

Seems to be under new management--again--and when I just popped in I discovered there are no price tags or shelf price labels on ANYTHING. When I asked the apparent proprietors about this, they confirmed, indeed, one could learn the price of any item in the store only by bringing it up to the counter and having it rung up. This is risible. I wished them good luck in their endeavor and left without buying anything. read more

Wow! Harper Foods appears to be under new management. I have shopped at this store on occasion and always found the staff to be very kind and friendly. The inventory was lacking and so I went there only to purchase certain certain foods(milk, I cream, eggs, etc.) today I stopped by and was very happy to find the store is now stocked with lots of different foods and fresh produce. The staff is lovely and they were nice enough to order a few specialty items for me. Wonderful to have nice store nearby for specialty items and delighted to see they were not overcharging for these items. Thanks Harper Foods! read more

For months, I'd stopped in at the Medici Bakery for coffee (and an incidental chocolate croissant) on my way from the 6 to class. My pants were a little tighter, my wallet a little lighter, and I complained about it one morning before class. My friend Alex said, "Dude. Go to Harper Foods. They have Intelligentsia coffee for, like, a dollar." It's true, they did ... a small of Intelligentsia for 99 cents, 1.10 with tax. They've since bumped the price up by about 10 cents, but it's still fresh, good coffee for a very good price, without the temptation of the chocolate croissant. I've also bought foodies in here on the days that I've forgotten to eat breakfast. A lot less intimidating and much cheaper than trying to get something at University Market down the street. The owners are very friendly, and it has a lot of stuff that you wouldn't imagine a corner store would have, plus the staples like Air Heads, cigarettes and gum. read more

I'm really impressed with this place! Came here craving a soda at 9 pm at night and their selection is really excellent--- they had cherry Coke Zero by the can which I never see anywhere and they also had La Croix by the can as well which I've only seen at Target. It's clean inside and the checkout man was friendly and quick. Has international food and quite a few staples for such a small store. It's a minimum $5 charge for credit cards. read more

Once, when I lived in Hyde Park, I drove all the way up to Devon for a certain Middle Eastern spice, only to find later that they had it at Harper. Check here for your obscure ethnic ingredients before you make a road trip of it. Also, lots of the staples here like jam and tea come from off brands with Eastern European names. Buy these. They're the cheapest and best. read more

Used to be a terrific little spot in the neighborhood but I think it might be under new ownership now or something. Now it is a shit hole with rude staff, overpriced junk that appears to have been purchased at Sam's Club and marked up or something. They no longer carry a bunch of the stuff they used to and when I asked why I was told it's not worth it because it's not expensive enough and we don't make enough profit on it. Right, fuck the customers that actually want these things. Just worry about your profit. read more

Most times I've been here have been fine. Definitely on the expensive side, and they have a $5.00 minimum for debit cards, which is annoying. A few days ago, though, I spent an exorbitant $5 for a pint of Ben and Jerry's (okay, I know Ben and Jerry's is expensive everywhere). I took it home and found that instead of creamy, it was icy, as in crunchy with ice crystals throughout. It was as if it had melted and refrozen. The texture was completely wrong. The next day I took it back and asked to exchange it. The clerk let me open the new one in the store. It appeared to have the same ice-crystal texture on top as the first pint. The clerk shrugged at me and said "that's how we get them." When I took the pint home and tried it out with a spoon, I found the same disgusting ruined ice cream as the first time. I won't be going back. read more

Yo, Harper Foods is NOT closed. I checked Yelp last night to check what time they closed, then freaked out when I saw this erroneous notification that they were permanently closed. I ran over there to discover them open until 10pm as usual. The place is better than ever, with some fresh produce even. Please take remove the false alarm! read more

This is an unusual little store, but I love it. They always have the best selection of bananas of any store around. And they have many of the other basics that fuel my life. I'm shopping here during the pandemic because there are no crowds and no lines. And the folks behind the counter are always friendly. read more

Expensive... unless you're getting something with a manufacturer's price tag on it, in which case the convenience of the place is a big plus. Has a kind of strange atmosphere. Good place to pick up a pint of ice cream without having to worry about it melting on the way home, or a cup of mediocre coffee without having to worry about it getting cold on the way home. Would be more useful and get more stars if the prices for everyday items were more reasonable. read more

This is a surprisingly great little market. Good bread, good cheese, and good coffee, at decent prices.

Harper Foods is like the former University Market on 57th--a bewildering array of items INCLUDING the one you were looking for....for about $2 more than you wanted to pay for it. It's not cheap, but they have what you need. Seriously, I couldn't find mint extract (random, I know) anywhere, including Treasure Island. Looked in Harper on a whim...and they had it. Three different brands of coconut milk. They even have fresh(ish) fruits and vegetables. So go, but know going it's a convenience store and that comes at a price. read more

Nice people, good stock of stuff expect they do t sell alcohol and everything is over priced! Great spot to pick something up quick but don't over extend when you can go to the Walgreens. I love the ma and pop feel and like chatting with the nice counter people. They really need to accept SNAP benefits and it would be smart for them to carry booze with college crowd around. Best selections: candy, icecream, yogurt, tobacco, pantry read more

Can be pricy, but it's clean and organized, and they are very gracious about giving me free shopping bags when I stagger in to buy a can of something or other bearing 20 pounds of books from the Powell's free bin across Harper Avenue. This place has tended to be relatively expensive forever, regardless of who owns it, because of its location. I appreciate the suggestion from Tamara G. about exotic spices and Eastern European staples, since I never penetrated that far into the groceries. read more

If you're looking for an ingredient that you think might be hard to find, go to Harpers frist. Chances are good they'll have it and probably a couple varieties, too. They have all the staples for a reasonable price and although the produce is limited it's great if you need some veggies or salad fixins in between the weekend farmers markets. Just be sure to have cash for the small things as they have a five dollar minimum for card transactions. And yes, they still sell Lucky Strikes. So....win. read more

This place is expensive. But when I lived at 58th and Blackstone and needed something (anything) and didn't have the time/energy to walk more than a block, they had it. They also sell Lucky Strikes, or did when I used to smoke, which Walgreens doesn't. The guys behind the counter always recognized me and were really nice, and the muffins they had at the counter were surprisingly good. They also have coffee, and would always let me have it for free when it was late in the day and they knew they were just gonna throw it out anyway. read more

I'm delighted with the new organization & fresh products that our local store now provides. Fresh cilantro, perfectly ripened avocados, along with a wonderful new range of cookies: including Tates! Keep up the good work! Happy you're in the neighborhood!! read more