Kalamata Grocery Store

This place carries the best olives in town. Moreover, despite being a relatively small store, it does have an excellent selection of specialty products from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Serbia, Romania, and other countries in the Balkans/​Mediterranean. I am a big fan of Mediterranean food (gotta love real Cypriot haloumi cheese!). Their selection is definitely unique in Calgary.
Best of all, beside the excellent selection of Mediterranean products, is that it’s not pricey! All items I have ever purchased here (anything from Greek yogurt to rose jam) have been cheap, especially considering that this is a specialty store. The only catch to this is that they do not take credit cards, only cash and debit, but I am fine with that.

This is basically a specialty grocery store for anything that has to do with Mediterranean food! From quality pickled olives to different kinds of cheese, you can discover lots of new tasty stuff if you’re willing to explore or if you grew up back in that area of the world then you’re in for some nostalgic treats that will bring back lots of memories! The store isn’t anything fancy when it comes to looks but your taste buds will thank you for paying that place a visit for sure! I’d give it five stars but I feel some stuff is a bit pricier than it should be, still I strongly recommend that place!

Small and dark inside. The guy at the (veggie) deli and the guy at the counter were surly and unfriendly. The only staff member who was remotely friendly was a skinny older lady who was stocking shelves or something.
Floors were kind of gross, I stepped in someone’s chewing gum somewhere along the line.
There was little selection by my standards, but I wasn’t in there to buy olives. If you’re a vegetarian I bet you’d disagree with me. The cheese I bought was incredibly pricey for something processed and name-​brand.
Considering there are three other small grocery stores nearby as well as a full-​size COOP I see no reason to come back in here.

I’m honestly surprised at the high rating of this store. Truly, this store reminds me of a run-​down convenience store where the owners take no pride in its upkeeping. I also was shocked to discover expired items on the shelves. Would not visit this store again.

My favorite convenience store in downtown Calgary!
COMPETITIVE prices (and possibly the cheapest cigarettes in town)
FRIENDLY staff
VARIETY — too many items in stock to mention
PRICES are LOW to moderate
Try their Macedonian feta cheese!

Such a wonderful place! I wish I lived closer, but it’s probably a good idea I don’t because I would eat way way too many olives. After having spent a good amount of time living on the Mediterranean, I have a love of olives, olive oil, tea, coffee, and spices that is hard to satisfy. Therefore, I spend a lot of time cooking at home. Kalamata is exactly the kind of place I needed. You can find great Mediterranean and Middle Eastern foods and spices for great prices. Plus, there is a wonderful selection of olive oil (with a few brands that at actually mad in Greece, a rare find.)
They also have a wonderful selection of olives and Greek cheese. Although I am dairy free, my Greek husband was very excited when we came to the cheese section. I will have to take his word for it, but he tells me the price/​selection was great.
Note, it’s a small little store. You’re not going to be able to do all of your shopping here buy you will be able to find those niche items if you want some Mediterranean flare in your kitchen. Also please note there was almost no meat, but up the road is another little middle eastern store with some halal meat and spices.

Kalamata… I lived down the street from you for nearly three years, and now that we’re not neighbours, I miss you terribly. More importantly, I miss your feta cheese, olives and grape leaf thingies that I can never remember the name for.
You are packed to the brim with imported goodness, and I always feel like I’m going to knock something over if I go through one of your aisles too quickly, but in that wait, you make me pause in my busy day-​to-​day and actually stop to figure out what it is I’m looking at.
Be well, Kalamata, I’ll be by to visit again soon. I promise!
April Underdog Challenge ²⁄₃₀

Great little grocery store that brings me back home every time. As a pure product of the Mediterranee myself (part Italian, Catalan, Algerian…), I love finding everything I need in this store, from staples like couscous and middle-​eastern bread to a wide variety of olives, greek and macedonian feta cheeses from sheep or cow, to candies and chocolate I used to get from the Turkish grocery shop down my house. Lots of hard to find jams and canned preserves that may not always be to the taste of North American palates but they are worth the trip. Their labneh or greek pressed yogurt is perfect and creamy and I use it for a variety of mediterranean snacks instead of cream cheese or sour cream. Kalamata is the foodie version of Ali-Baba’s cave.

I discovered this place years ago when I was skateboarding with my buddy. We had maybe $ 20 between us but soon discovered that we had more then enough. We knew little about feta cheese or olives at the time but knew we loved it. Simply asking the man what he thought was the best we both left with enough feta and olives to kill a small village. We were in heaven!
That was 14 years ago and to this day I still find myself going there with a few bills in hand asking him what he would recommend. I have learned a lot about feta, olives, and all the other goodies they serve here but the one lesson I learned that has really stuck with me is this: When you are in need of a tasty goat milk feta and some garlic stuffed olives, there is no better place to go then Kalamata Grocery.

If I lived closer to Kalamata, I’d probably weigh 300 lbs. I’d be a perfect sphere, full of delicious Greek olive oil and nothing would hurt. The family that run this place, are probably the nicest family ever; giving me extra Dolmades when I pronounced it properly, suggesting olives to sample and man… when you taste some of the Pita bread they carry here, all other Pita bread tastes like a foul pocket of sadness.
Even better; they carry a wide assortment of imported goods that don’t carry a steep imported price. Feeling like you want to impress someone with a winter picnic in your living room? You can get some handmade desserts, greek chocolates, tea, Injera bread and other assorted baked goods; all without breaking the bank, but still looking classy.
Oh, and they carry Kalamata olives too (along with almost 30 other varieties). In case you were wondering.

As far as grocery stores go, this one is one of the best if you are looking for a few unique Greek import items.
Don’t expect to find too much run-​of-​the-​mill groceries here; expect instead an excellent selection if Greek and Canadian feta cheeses, teas and chocolates imported from Greece, warm, fresh pita breads and baklava, and a host of other strange and wonderful imports.
So if you are looking for great feta cheese or excellent kalamata olives head to the family owned Kalamata Grocery!
T.

A — LIST. 4.5 STARS. There is nothing like Kalamata anywhere in the city. It is like going back in time when the corner store was the place to be. Diverse foods, great prices, wonderful service and just plain interesting to take a walk through the very cramped and jam packed store. If you are in the neighborhood, give it a go.

Great little market specializing Mediterranean/​Middle Eastern groceries. It’s rare places with this much character exist in Calgary and the selection they manage to cram into that store is amazing. The staff are pretty friendly too.
Just shopping for the different kinds of bread alone stimulates the palate: Afghani, Ethiopean, Naan — take your pick. Naturally, as a Greek-​family-​owned store, there is a whole corner of the store dedicated to cheeses and olives. The baklava is also quite deadly. I think it’s 75 cents a piece, making for a small, naturally sweet and cheap snack.
The prices are a little high, but such is expected with small, specialty grocery stores. They accept cash and debt, no credit cards. Open 8am to 11 pm.

This store has been around forever and it truly is a gem in downtown Calgary.
It carries things from all corners of the globe and one visit will have that gypsy in you feeling more than satisfied.
They carry everything from Turkish Delight to Injera bread; Italian delicacies to imported biscuits and chocolates from all over the world. And let’s not forget to mention their olives, cheeses, Mediterranean stock items, international phone cards, cheap cigarettes and meat selections. Anything you can think of, they have somewhere on their shelves.
Plus the service is EXCELLENT. With such a friendly, honest and helpful staff, it’s hard not to make frequent visits to Kalamata.
One of the most unique stores in town. It’s cramped, but what else would you expect while taking a virtual tour of the world?
Exceptional selection and exceptional service. You’d best be heading over now.