Champs Market is a fine little market tucked away in the streets and alleys just south of south campus. A little cramped and a little run down, this is a fine stop for a quick grab of all sorts of things. From single doses of headache medicine to prepared foods from India, Champs is a great resource to have in my neighborhood, but like any local grab-and-go there's little reason to travel any real distance to come here.
It's a casual place, with the owner or whoever is behind the counter lounging and watching television. If you're lucky, you'll catch a Bollywood movie while you shop. I usually stop in for something to drink. The selection isn't huge, but they have Vitamin Water- which is what I usually want, so I'm happy enough.
There's also an ATM inside with a $1 fee, which is probably the lowest I've seen in Columbus. Sometimes I just stop in to get money out- although I always feel just a bit like a jackass, standing there at the ATM two feet from the owner, knowing I'm not going to spend any of it at his store.
Some of the canned goods on the shelves seem a little suspiciously old, but maybe the sunlight just hits them and fades them quickly. Recently my girlfriend and I discovered a good selection of Tandoori Chef microwavable meals, including chicken curry which my girlfriend informs me can be hard to find at other stores, so there's that! read more