Homewood’s ethnic markets: Nabeel's Cafe & Market

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Photos by Intisar Seraaj-Sabree

Nabeel's Cafe & Market

Food can lift one’s spirits, take your taste buds to an unexplored place and make you feel at home. As an ethnically diverse city, Homewood offers several alternatives to chain grocery stores, giving customers a chance to internationally enhance their taste buds.

Nabeel’s has been around for several decades, but when owner John Krontiras family took over in 1992, they transformed it to have the capability to serving a more diverse customer spectrum.

“We wanted to own our own business,” Krontira’s said. “We were already familiar with it, and our church Our Lady of Sorrows is next door.”

Since the Krontiras family moved to Homewood in 1972 from Patterson, N.J., they were regular customers of Nabeel’s. With Italian and Greek heritages, the family looked for a place where they could buy ethnic staples like olives and various cheeses.

John took over the family business in 1995, and the market has expanded to include a Southern flare among food from the eastern hemisphere.

What it offers: Greek, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Middle Eastern

In their own words: “unique, Old World feel”

Best-selling item: chicken salad

Unique items: raw vanilla beans, za’atar, incense coal and red henna

What’s to come: to-go/ready-made items, including Greek casseroles, spinach pies, baked Kibbe and Italian classics