Chicago has several pockets of Italian culture: the original Little Italy on Taylor Street, plus the area of West 24^th Street and Oakley Avenue as well as a portion of North Harlem Avenue. NBC 5’s Food Guy Steve Dolinsky says there was also a vibrant corridor along Grand Avenue in West Town at one point. More recently, that area has been making a slow comeback.

For decades, the area around Grand Avenue, just a mile or so west of downtown, had Italian groceries, bakeries and restaurants. There are still a few holdouts, as well as some new blood, pumping energy into an area that had seemingly lost a lot of its pioneers. At Tempesta Market, a fantastic Italian deli owned by the family behind the best ‘nduja in town, the deli case is the focal point, according to Dolinsky.