Finding a Little Bit of Italy

Without a doubt, one of our favourite places to go food shopping to find all kinds of specialty food items is an area called Burnaby Heights. Known as The Heights, this area is located along Hastings street in north Burnaby between Boundary and about Willingdon streets and has one of the best concentration of unique shops and cafe’s in the Lower Mainland. If you’re looking for something different, The Heights is definitely worth a trip. The ethnic flavour along the Burnaby Height area is definitely Italian you can find all kinds of great restaurants and specialty stores for anything in this category of Italian foods. Of this category, one of our very favourite store to buy Italian food is known as Cioffi’s Meat Market & Deli.

If you decide to visit Cioffi’s (especially on a weekend), first be prepared to find the store pretty crowded. It’s been like this every time that we have gone there and really says a lot about how popular this place really is. Second, if you want to buy anything from the deli counter, and believe me you will, take a number as soon as you walk in the door.

The sheer variety of the products that Cioffi’s carries is quite amazing considering that it is such a small store. From dozens of different kinds of cheeses to fresh meats and sausages of every variety to dry and canned goods – they’ve seemed to have a little of everything.

Behind the deli counter there is a small army of women in uniforms running back and forth running an array of slicing machines and putting together the particulars of everyone’s orders. At any one time there is at least 10 people lined up at the counter so the need for the numbers is an absolute necessity to avoid a riot.

When we were there last weekend, I picked up a bunch of their fantastic spicy Italian sausages which I will soon be making as the key ingredient in my spaghetti sauce. Deep red with chunks of meat visible through the casing, these kinds of made-fresh sausages are nothing like “name brand” sausages that you find in stores. If you’ve ever eaten these types of real sausages, you’ll never go back to anything else.

If you plan on going to Cioffi’s, I strongly recommend that you park your car for a few hours and stroll along Hastings street and enjoy the many different stores and even stay for lunch at one of the local cafes. After even just one visit to The Heights, you will be counting the days until you return again.

Cioffi’s Meat Market & Deli
4156 Hastings Street, Burnaby
(604) 291-9373

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