. . . . and I made our first visit to the new Abuela's Super Market located at the former Ansley's location at the corner or Sligh and Central. We were totally impressed!! The place is clean, brigh and comfortable. And the best part is that it is right here in Seminole Heights. We walked in and were immediately and graciously greeted by the owner Fernando (who is Cuban). He offered us a free espresso. Couldn't turn that down!! They have bilingual staff, so please don't fear not being able to communicate. The best things to buy at the latin-style markets are meats, and produce. It is also customary that if you spend $30 or more, then you receive a free gift. Usually, the gift is a huge bag of rice, gallon of milk, pack of coffee or oil. Not all of the products are on the cheap, though, so know your prices first.
I will try to follow up sometime next week my own review and photos.
But how are the Cuban sandwiches?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to report on the Cuban sandwiches, but alas I'm afraid I cannot, for I do not speak the appropriate language to order them at Abuela's. I went there today to try them. The lady in the sandwich area clearly had difficulty understanding our order, as she started to make something quite different than what we ordered. When it was apparent that she did not understand us initally we made a compassionate effort to clarify. Her response was "No Hablo Ingles." We then asked her if anyone could help us she just shrugged, No Hablo Ingles. I will not return as clearly the owner of Abuela's is not interested in persons of my demographic. Discrimination or poor business practice, either way it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth, when all I wanted was a tasty sandwich.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad about not getting a sandwich because of the language barrier!
ReplyDeleteI was there the other day and although I don't speak Spanish the man who works the deli and I used the universal language of "hand signs." It was pretty funny. We both had a good chuckle.
Needless to say, the meat is delicious! Better than House of Meats! I hope it does well. It's nice to have good cuts that are fairly cheap.
I hope you don't boycott Abuela's because of that. Try living in London - you have to know at least four languages there to get by!! (haha) I did and got an education in Chinese, Parsi and Italian!
I have also been there several times and the to go food is delicious and the portions are VERY generous. You can't get a cheaper gallon of milk anywhere else that I know of at this time. They do not all speak English but I can definitly over look that for the good food and cleanliness. Besides it can't be easy trying to make a living and not speak the language, so why not help them out and introduce a new word or two next time you are in there? ;-)
ReplyDeleteA little patience goes a long way. I am happy to have Abuela's in the neighborhood. The owner used to have a market at Hanley and Waters where we would do our shopping for my fire station. Our grocery bill was always 30-40 percent less than the grocery store and they were always very friendly to the firefighters. We were all upset when he sold it, but I was pleased to find that he had moved to my neighborhood. The cubans are good and translators are available, you just might have to ask around a little. Or learn a little Spanish.
ReplyDeleteI went to Abuela's today. Nice store. The Cuban sandwiches are $2.99. The dinners (lots of food)are $2.99. Whenever I eat the food I will provide the review
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