Brasil Legal

Brasil Legal is a small Brazilian grocery store located at 2153 N. Western Ave in the Bucktown neighborhood. I have never tried Brazilian food so when the opportunity came to check out this small market full of tasty necessities for your everyday cooking, I jumped at the chance. And so should you! The front windows of the store have bright colored yellow jerseys that say Brazil in bold dark letters. Walking in, my attention was given to the many stacks of sweet smelling cookies on the shelves. I picked up a pack of Nestle Passa Tempo cookies for only $1.39. They had cute faces of cats and dinosaurs on the fronts and back of the cookie. I’m sure they were made for kids, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying them! My only regret is that I didn’t buy more packs because I finished them all on the way home.

From a huge can of Hearts of Palm, which I also purchased, to a drink called Guarana Brazilia, which is now sitting in my fridge getting cold, you can find just about all you need there. A friendly woman working there kept laughing at me as I satisfied my curiosity by asking questions: “What can you do with this?” “How do you make this?” “What does this go with?” As I got schooled, I noticed something hanging from the celling called Serenada de Amor (serenade of love). Could it be huge bon-bons? I’m not entirely sure, but it said “nut-filled center with crunch wafer and chocolate on the outside.” Before I bought out the whole store, I thought it was best that I leave. There is so much to this little market. You can literally taste Brazil when you walk inside. Friendly, colorful, and absolutely tasty!

2153 N. Western Ave
(between Palmer St & Shakespeare Ave)
Chicago, IL 60647
Neighborhoods: Bucktown, Logan Square