Jungle Jim’s recognized as ‘one of the best grocery stores in America’

Shoppers pack the aisles at Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield. STAFF FILE PHOTO

Shoppers pack the aisles at Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield. STAFF FILE PHOTO

Last year, Food & Wine named a Butler County business “a total spectacle,” popular tourist attraction and “a terrific place to do your food shopping.”

In "One of the Best Grocery Stores in America Is Hiding Out Near Cincinnati," Food & Wine senior editor David Landsel sings the praises of Fairfield grocer Jungle Jim's International Market, marveling at the grocery store's exterior, including its retired monorail cars, giant fake giraffes and elephants, waterfalls, animatronic displays and restrooms hidden behind port-a-john doors.

"I thought I'd seen it all," Landsel tweeted. "And then I went to Jungle Jim's."

Posted on Jan. 24, 2018, and tweeted to the magazine's nearly 6.7 million followers Jan. 28, the article also notes that the store's massive selection means "any keen-eyed shopper will understand that they have actually set foot in one of the most impressive grocery stores in the country—and certainly between the two coasts."

“Whatever you’re looking for, Jungle Jim’s is one of those places that is likely to carry at least ten different kinds of it,” Landsel writes. “The produce section alone will leave you aghast.”

Food & Wine goes on to laud the store’s selection of cheese, wine, beer, hot sauces and obscure and regional soft drinks, then crow about its multiple markets within markets based on country or region.

“Everyone gets a space, and many of them are extremely well-curated,” Landsel writes. “It’s overwhelming, to say the least, and nobody visiting Cincinnati should miss it.”

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