Gourmet & Healthy in Midlothian

Across four Chicagoland locations, Capitol Nutrition's capsule experts aid customers in selecting the ideal supplements to improve workout experience and bolster personal health. They steer clients towards body-building products sold at wholesale prices, as well as aisles brimming with the latest vitamins and supplements designed to bolster memory, energy, stamina, and overall well-being. Many goods on the shelf have enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame on the Dr. Oz Show, including raspberry ketones and saffron extract, both of which have memoirs coming out early next year. Before entering Capitol Nutrition's health-fostering confines, patrons can peruse a collection of diet tips to learn how to construct a dietary plan, pick supplements for weight loss, and pretend donuts are nothing more than miniature tires.

Providing Chicago’s South Side with fine meats and produce since 1958, Dunning’s Gourmet Market is stocked to the brim with fresh eats. Shoppers can peruse a wide range of daily-made salads, artisan cheeses, and butcher shop meats that can be hand-trimmed into a custom cut. Like tennis shoes, Dunning’s catering menu items are cooked to order using fresh ingredients and can be tailored to fit dietary restrictions. From the lunch menu, sample a delectable jerk-chicken burger ($5.50), a grilled-steak sandwich ($8), or smoked-salmon pasta salad ($9 per pound). Additionally, shoppers will enjoy helpful service from a knowledgeable staff while soaking in the rustic and charming atmosphere.

Eata Pita’s cooks stuff pillowy pitas and wraps with a wide variety of roasted meats, crisp veggies, and creamy sauces. Seated in a casual, cheerful dining room with yellow walls, diners can savor the traditional Mediterranean flavors of gyro pitas with tzatziki sauce or opt for fusion snacks such as the teriyaki-chicken pita with provolone cheese. The expansive build-your-own-pita ingredient list offers everything from black-bean patties to bacon, and a kids' menu includes cheese quesadillas, hot dogs, and other favorites sure to win favorable newspaper write-ups from pintsize food critics.

This bi-flavored Groupon busts out of a kernel and puffs up happy-heated. For $11, you get a two-pack popcorn canister (normally $19.95) from Wells Street Popcorn, the snacky specialist with four flavors of old-fashioned popped corn. Choose caramel, cheese, traditional, or Chicago mix popcorn to fill each 2/3 gallon canister, which weigh about 1.5 pounds when filled with caramel popcorn and has about as much popcorn as would fit inside 5.8 grapefruits, 1.8 cantaloupes, or 2.7 cantafruits.

With four locations speckled across Chicagoland, The Goddess and Grocer pairs the menu of a gourmet deli with the packed shelves of a specialty grocery store. Muffins, scones, and croissants are baked in-house, wafting the scents of melting butter and sugar over a sandwich counter reminiscent of a giant artist’s palette. There, custom sandwiches take shape from 11 breads and wraps, 7 deli meats, 9 cheeses, 12 vegetables, and an assortment of condiments that covers everything from cranberry-tinged mayonnaise to horseradish sauce. A few fixed staples are on hand to simplify decisions, however, including an egg-salad sandwich that Chicago magazine placed on its list of the 50 Best Sandwiches in Chicago, praising it as "a testament to the sheer power of simplicity."

The Goddess and Grocer also assembles bag lunches as well as picnic hampers for patrons looking to enjoy a bite by the lake or to bait a Yogi Bear. To round out these meals, the staff can include high-end, specialty items from the grocery section, including handmade chocolates, artisanal cheeses, mustards and dressings, and wine and beer. Alternatively, they can cater gourmet breakfast, lunch, or dinner for large gatherings and celebrations.

Nestled in Little Italy, Conte Di Savoia has dispensed a curated selection of imported Italian foods since 1948. Crisp checkerboard floors lead to wooden racks that proudly cradle vintage Italian wines, and an aisle devoted to olive-oil varietals, fresh pastas, and canned tomatoes inspires last-minute decisions about dinner and sending lippy cans of Chef Boyardee to boarding school. Fresh Italian sausage and house-made mozzarella peers over a cozy deli counter, which slings sandwiches and salads for patrons to consume at a small cluster of tables situated by the shop's front window. Summertime's amiable weather ushers in the arrival of sidewalk tables and seating, freshly potted herbs, and solar-powered cashiers.