Italian grocery stores in the Pacific Northwest
A hub of Italian food, atmosphere, and news in the early settlements
UPDATED January 8th with link to Portland’s Produce Row video
Newly arrived Italians needed shelter, a job, and food, and they often found recommendations for the first two where they bought their food: a grocery store. Italian markets were a gathering place of familiar aromas, foodstuffs, and, more likely than not, a cacophony of various dialects, all clamoring to be heard and served. The neighborhood store was a nonnegotiable stop on an Italian’s list of places to go once they’d arrived in a new town. After an initial period of adjustment, they would pick one or two to patronize regularly, and they maintained their loyalty to these stores for decades, often from one generation to the next.
The stores featured here are just a handful of the dozens and dozens that operated around the Pacific Northwest.
Adelmo Colaianni owned and operated the Star Grocery, a favorite of Idahoans in Pocatello, for years. It was located on South 2nd in the former Castellini store and later on North 7th.
Longtime Spokane favorite Cassano’s Grocery opened in the 1920s on East Sprague Street but moved in 2009 to East Mission Avenue. The local grocery store has been a staple in Spokane and served as a center of Italian food and atmosphere for many in the area. While exchanging gossip or blowing off steam after a day’s work, men and women alike would stock their carts with necessary pantry items like a variety of olives, olive oil, canned tomatoes, sardines, coffee, and packaged pasta.
Another well-trod shop in Spokane with Italian delectables was Mauro’s Grocery on the corner of Thor Street and Euclid Avenue. Located in the Minnehaha neighborhood, the store has faithfully served the area for over five decades. The founder, Charles, had his start, as many unskilled laborers did in the valley—on the railroads— from which he left and opened his store. Children and adults alike gathered here to keep warm during many cold winter or spring days, swap stories, and eat treats. They rarely left without carrying home some of the famous sausages.
Before we leave Spokane, we must mention Domini Sandwiches on Wall & Sprague. It's less of a grocery store but definitely a contender if you’re looking for a swarm of Italians (and non-Italians) enjoying some good eats. They’ve been around since 1947, and their monster-sized sandwiches haven’t changed. Tom Domini, the current owner, is a pillar of the community and knows over 1000 customer names who flock to his store for a lunch they love.
Many of the first wave of Italian immigrants lived in boarding houses in the Marquam Gulch area around Duniway Park, which was once Portland's first Italian settlement colony. In the 1890s, Italian-Americans bought homes, started truck farms, and opened businesses here, including Vito Vitti's Garibaldi Grocery. The store was a one-stop shop, offering foods imported from Italy, and Vitti acted as a free labor agency. He found his countrymen jobs working on the railroad and in the lumber and construction industries. They, in turn, would repay him by always buying their groceries from him.
As Italians prospered, they moved east across the Willamette River and built up stores and warehouses in addition to their truck farms. The main area they settled in was Ladd’s Addition, and the group of businesses they created was and still is known as Produce Row.
Watch this terrific documentary short produced by Tonya Russo and OPB:
How Italian immigrant grocers helped make Portland a foodie paradise
Also in Portland, a local favorite was Pieri’s Italian Delicatessen on 12th & Clay (later at 39th & Powell). They were a sensory delight because they had the best aromas when you walked in, but you could smell them from the parking lot. Known for their pastrami sandwiches and calzones, families loved to shop there for Italian specialty items like pasta, parmesan cheese, olives, prosciutto, and cookies. They sold grated cheese to make your own pizza at home.
In Seattle, the Croce family ran Atlantic Street Grocery in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and later, after a stint running two Thriftway stores, their son John opened Pacific Food Importers. PFI carries Mediterranean specialties, selling their goods at both a wholesale and retail level.
For over 60 years, BOSA FOODS has been a leading importer and distributor of specialty Italian and Mediterranean food products to the food service and retail markets in Western Canada. When my family moved from eastern to western Canada in British Columbia, we patronized Bosa Foods from day one. First at their Victoria Drive store in Vancouver and, more recently, at their flagship store off Boundary Road in Burnaby. It was THE place to stock up on all our favorite Italian staples and a great place for an Italian soda and panino to shore up your energy for shopping each aisle of their store.
Find additional information about Italian grocery stores in my book, ITALIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Arcadia Publishing, published September 25th).
Be sure to pick one up at your local independent bookseller—Elliott Bay or Third Place Books in Seattle; Brick & Mortar Books in Redmond; Powell’s in Portland; Auntie’s Books in Spokane). You can also order online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.
