Desserts at Mariano's

I live in the south suburbs and it really is a desert when it comes to good grocery options. Luckily, I have an Aldi in town, which is one of my favorite places to shop. I love their imported products, their produce, their cheeses, their prices on staples, their organic options, etc.

But if I want to shop someplace else, I have to drive a bit. There's a Strack and Van 'Til one town over, which I shop at occasionally. There's a Walmart that is the closest store to me - and which I almost never go in to, but have enjoyed the convenience of grocery pick-up or delivery from Walmart on occassion when I'm in a pinch or if I don't want to venture out.

Other than that, my grocery options are slim. I have to drive another 15 minutes to get to Jewel-Osco, which is not my favorite store. It's a minimum of 35 minutes to get to two other grocery chains I love - Trader Joe's and Mariano's. 

Each of them has different things I love about them. When I visit my sister in Woodridge, it's a short drive to go into Naperville to visit either one. When visiting my sister this past week for lunch, I took time to go do some grocery shopping afterwards at Mariano's. There's so much to love about this place - all the hot prepared foods, the cheese counter, the fresh spice counter, the wine bar -- and the bakery. From fresh baked breads to cookies to scrumptious cakes and chocolate covered strawberries, they have anything your sweet tooth could desire.

Prices are reasonable and a lot of times you can grab goodies that are marked down in price. Scroll down for a little bit of dessert porn. And if you are fortunate enough to live close to a Mariano's, do yourself a favor and get in there for some goodies!