The west side of the Salt Lake Valley has long been home to a variety of small markets that cater to many ethnicities and nationalities. Drive through portions of West Valley City, Kearns, Glendale and Rose Park and you can find a store with goods from just about any nation on Earth.
In the past year, two stores focusing on foods from other countries have opened along 900 East between 3300 and 4500 South. Rancho Markets and Black Cherry Mediterranean Market sell products from different sections of the globe in two different ways.
Rancho started in 2006, specializing in foods from Mexico and Latin America, and has seen growth to the point where the 900 East store is the chain’s seventh. The market sits in a full-size grocery store that used to be an Albertsons. You can get great prices on Cache Valley cheese, but also pick up cactus leaves. Western Family canned corn sits in the same aisle as La Costeña whole jalapeño peppers. The location also has a tortilleria, a Mexican bakery and a deli with sit-down dining.
On the other hand, Black Cherry is your typical small mom & pop store, notable for its particular products from Persia, Turkey, India and Eastern Europe. It’s a place that has fresh Persian melons, but also has good deals on the basics you might need when making dishes from other portions of the world.
What’s perhaps most interesting about both stores is that any time you go in to either, you’ll find people from a variety of races and ethnicities shopping next to one other, indicating that these types of stores are breaking out of their narrow traditional appeal and into Salt Lake City’s mainstream.
RANCHO MARKETS
898 E. 3300 South
801-990-8400
RanchoMarkets.com
BLACK CHERRY MEDITERRANEAN MARKET
4346 S. 900 East
801-904-3989
BlackCherryMarket.com
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