Food lovers (Foodies) from all over the world flock to West Side Market in the historic Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. West Side Market has been highlighted on both the Food Network and Travel Channel and has roots all the way back to 1840.
The market is open four days a week and my most recent trip there was this past Saturday. Saturday morning is the best time to go. There are more stands open and more people making it more vibrant inside and outside in the neighborhood. The market is not open on Sunday’s.
The main part of the market is in an enclosed old yellow brick market house with a 137-foot clock tower that stands out in the whole neighborhood. It’s home to the best and an amazing variety of:
Cheeses and dairy products.
High quality meats, including of course lot’s of varieties of bacon!
Fish, eels and lot’s of seafood.
Breads, desserts and other baked goods. Who can’t beat filled-to-order cannolis?
Every kind of ravioli and pasta you can imagine. Pumpkin ravioli? I guess it is the season. I always check out Ohio City Pasta.
Lot’s of oils, hot sauces, spices, candy and more can be found. Lot’s of people weren’t there to shop or sight-see, just to grab lunch or a snack. Some of them were upstairs eating gyros, sausage sandwiches, pastry treats or having a hot coffee. Great views of the market and people watching opportunities can be had upstairs.
The arcade portion of the market, recently enclosed and right next store is home to vendor after vendor selling a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
I always seem to gravitate towards the onions and garlic.
You’ll see lots of people throughout the market like myself with cameras out getting pictures of all the amazing products. No vendors have ever raised an issue about it. You’ll also see all the fruit and vegetable vendors reaching out to you trying to get you to buy from them, but you can’t really go wrong it terms of price with any of the stands. I always make sure to pick the specific tomatoes, onions, oranges, etc. that I want.
As this is the holiday season, outside the market we saw holiday trees for sale, Santa Claus for the kids to see, a small arts and crafts market and even a line to get some of the Christmas Ale being brewed. You’ll find breweries, restaurants, book stores and other shops and my favorite spot, Koffee Cafe. Grabbed a peppermint stick coffee with Bailey’s. I wasn’t be able to take it outside haha, but it was well worth relaxing inside and getting out of the cold.
West Side Market is my favorite market. I love driving a few hours each way just to go there to people watch, have a coffee, soak in the city neighborhood atmosphere and bring back goodies to make some amazing meals. This is one market I hope you’ll get to someday.
What do you like about West Side Market and the Ohio City neighborhood? What markets in the United States and around the world are must visits?
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