Barbur World Foods

by Mike W.

I discovered this treasure last week after passing it over 100 times. It's outside appearance had no attraction to me and this is one place that proves the book is much richer than the cover. The store made sausages looked great, all the meats look as fresh as you can get, and the produce was clean, fresh, and fairly priced. I stopped in today for salami, a gallon of olive oil, some vegetables, milk, and of course a pop up Popsicle for Dylan. The isles are lined with foreign sauces, jellies, mixes, dried seeds, beans, fruits, and a huge amount of spices. There was at least ten different olive oils in the gallon cans and twenty others that look very rare and yummy. If I wanted to impress a beautiful Italian hottie I would have bought the Italian import in the clay bottle wrapped in olive leaves. They have a 50 foot long wall of almost all imported wine. In the back there was two pallets of pita bread at $1.60 a 5 pack, cheap to me. And they have Armenian Handkerchief Flat bread, yummy, I am craving dinner now.

by Don B.

I lived near this place for 6 years and for some reason, I never made it inside (although I went to the companion liquor store next door PLENTY of times).  Now that I live in BFE (8nd and Division) I finally decided to drop in last week looking for some quick worktime lunch.  JEEZ, I'm a freakin' IDIOT! Why oh why haven't I ever stopped in before?!?This place is great. It's about the size of a smaller local grocery, and carries an eclectic mix of middle-eastern groceries and regular 'ol local groceries. They have a nice sized produce section (something usually lacking in an "ethnic" grocery), and a fairly large food and beverage selection. They have all sorts of interesting drinks like Looza, Vimto, and some with no English on them whatsoever. They carry a wide variety of all things Mediterranean and middle-eastern, including extra cobra heads for your hookah needs. They have a nice selection of hard-to-find items. One of the best things about this place, though, is the deli counter. It looks like a deli counter at, say, Market of Choice or a similar gourmet grocery, but most all the options are Lebanese or similar. They have kibbeh, fatoush, baba ghanouj, hummus, lebanese potato salad, those (can't remember the name) ground-beef-wrapped-in-cabbage-and-cooked-in-tomat o-sauce things, grape leaves, bean dishes, etc, etc, etc. So many options! AHHHH!! What do I eat?!?!? My head is spinning!!! Uh, can I have one of EVERYTHING? Or, maybe just a taste of everything?!!!Their hummus is 10x better than any of those nasty pre-made store-bought types (the ones you find next to the spinach artichoke dip in your regular grocer's cooler) and a similar-sized container was only $2.50!  Everything I tried was fantastic, and I was able to get a whole array of food (way way too much) for the price of a normal, run-of-the-mill lunch anywhere else.  They also do wood-fired-bbq every Thurs/Fri.This place rules. It's close-in enough to be considered close to downtown, but is at the crux of Capital Hwy and Barbur - so it is easily accessed from Tigard, Capitol Hill, LO, and various other places.  This   makes World Foods an oasis (pun intended) in what is otherwise a wasteland of bad suburban corporate food and bad corporate groceries. I am stoked to have found this place (even so late in the game) and will be visiting very very often, even if only for the almost-restaurant-quality hummus!!

by Landon K.

Awesome deli. Great for an inexpensive take-out dinner. They make the pita breads to order.

by Lana G.

We can only agree with the other reviews. The emphasis is on middle eastern food within a neighborhood supermarket. The deli is outstanding, clearly superior to those at the major chains. The selection of medium-priced wines is substantial and excellent, with a strong emphasis on Oregon wines, especially Oregon Pinots. In addition, this is the place to look for those super bargain wines you sometimes read about in the paper but can never find at the major chains.

by Ted H.

The produce at this market is reasonably priced which I absolutely am a returning fan of.  When things are in season, like peaches or citrus or plums you can bet they will taste great besides being of fair price.  I have made many a peach cobbler with their peaches: delicious!This store is like a modern museum of what's for sale world wide. Sure, Trader Joe's is special, however this store has the exotic with a middle eastern twist.  You can find Ju Ju Bees from Saudi Arabia even!!!  The prices aren't cheap; you must go their for the fun of it alone!  I had to go and get my winter groceries for $90.00 (which normally would have cost me $55.00 at Fred Myer) since I only had flimsy cables on my tires and was only able to travel at a speed of 35!  But hey, I was glad to return home with food during a scary new snow season!

by Andrea S.

This is the coolest little market ever.  It's been there for about 1000 years, it's kind of crowded, and a little spendy, but they have a tremendous selection of hard-to-find items and oddities alongside the standard grocery store stuff.  If you have a recipe requiring some sort of exotic ingredient, you might just find it here.  They have a large selection of organics, and a deli section where you can get hot pita from their little brick oven.

by Ted H.Rachel S.Mike W.Stanley T.Eddie W.

The produce at this market is reasonably priced which I absolutely am a returning fan of.  When things are in season, like peaches or citrus or plums you can bet they will taste great besides being of fair price.  I have made many a peach cobbler with their peaches: delicious!This store is like a modern museum of what's for sale world wide. Sure, Trader Joe's is special, however this store has the exotic with a middle eastern twist.  You can find Ju Ju Bees from Saudi Arabia even!!!  The prices aren't cheap; you must go their for the fun of it alone!  I had to go and get my winter groceries for $90.00 (which normally would have cost me $55.00 at Fred Myer) since I only had flimsy cables on my tires and was only able to travel at a speed of 35!  But hey, I was glad to return home with food during a scary new snow season!Best Family Owned Grocery!  The absolute best hummus in thetown! Great Produce, excellent wine selection, and the coldestfreezer full of specialty beers.  I make a trip once a month from Northeast Portland to do my grocery shopping here.I discovered this treasure last week after passing it over 100 times. It's outside appearance had no attraction to me and this is one place that proves the book is much richer than the cover. The store made sausages looked great, all the meats look as fresh as you can get, and the produce was clean, fresh, and fairly priced. I stopped in today for salami, a gallon of olive oil, some vegetables, milk, and of course a pop up Popsicle for Dylan. The isles are lined with foreign sauces, jellies, mixes, dried seeds, beans, fruits, and a huge amount of spices. There was at least ten different olive oils in the gallon cans and twenty others that look very rare and yummy. If I wanted to impress a beautiful Italian hottie I would have bought the Italian import in the clay bottle wrapped in olive leaves. They have a 50 foot long wall of almost all imported wine. In the back there was two pallets of pita bread at $1.60 a 5 pack, cheap to me. And they have Armenian Handkerchief Flat bread, yummy, I am craving dinner now.Originally went here looking for fava beans. Boy, did we find fava beans! Fresh ones. Three or four varieties of dried ones. At least a dozen varieties in cans. The primary thrust of the place is Middle Eastern, but they have a pretty good selection of Latin American items and other international items as well. The only produce department where I've found fresh garbanzos. Great wine selection. The deli is to die for. The hummus and tabouli are as good as at my favorite Lebanese restaurant (in fact, I have a sneaking suspicion they may get theirs from BWF!).The only thing that keeps me from awarding 5 stars is QC on some of their fresh items. Once it was apricots that were less than palatable (luckily we tried one [with permission] and didn't buy). Another time there was some good looking red snapper that we rejected on a Ronda sniff test. Don't let this keep you away - it's really one of my favorite places.For lunch, my friend and I decided to come to Barbur World Foods because she claimed that they serve the best chicken shwarma plate I will ever have. It was certainly a bold statement,  one that I hoped would be true. As we walk up to the deli counter I saw a large array of delicacies inside the glass casing. With such a large assortment I found it quite difficult to pick just a few. As we waited for our shwarma plate, I finally chose a few morsels to accompany our main meal. I cant recall what I ordered but the only one that stood out to me was a triangle shaped pastry filled with potato beef. Everything else was a-ok, I think its a matter of personal cultural taste more so than it being bad or good.As for the shwarma plate, it was both plentiful and delicious. I think my biggest issue was with the hummus. While I do like hummus, I felt that it overpowered the delicate flavors in the chicken. I much prefer my hummus on the side with some pita bread rather than as part of the whole meal. Anyways, thats more of a personal preference than a criticism of their food. Overall, I am glad to say that my friend didnt disappoint me

by bobby d.

This time i went back for the deli food (lunch). I ordered one of each of about 6 or 7 different deli items. They were all really good and the cost for some items was about $1.25 each. The service was very good and the counter people were very happy to explain the ingredients etc.I will definitely be going back. There is a larger parking lot on the south side of the building i didn't see before. Parking was no problem at all. This is an international type food store specializing in middle eastern style foods. This store has…

by Kenneth H.

This is a fine neighborhood supermarket.  I really like the deli section as it rocks the bomb middle eastern fare.  Make sure you pick up some fresh pita for 50 cents cause it's warm, fresh, and really goes great with everything.  Although the butchers aren't as talkative as those at New Seasons they have great skewers of meat ready to go for your BBQ.  Most first time visitors miss the pretty awesome walk in cooler FULL of beer.  I purchase produce here, but only because it is walking distance to my house, not because it is very good.  Overall I dig the middle eastern vibe of this place, minus one star for kinda weak produce and minus one star for sometimes steep prices.  Although they do get props for being open pretty late.

by Rachel S.

Best Family Owned Grocery!  The absolute best hummus in thetown! Great Produce, excellent wine selection, and the coldestfreezer full of specialty beers.  I make a trip once a month from Northeast Portland to do my grocery shopping here.