One visit to Jungle Jim’s International Market in Cincinnati was all it took for it to become my new favorite grocery store.
There’s a slight problem though – we were only in Cincinnati temporarily on our 50 state road trip, so it can’t become my regular store. Despite that, here’s why I loved the store so much.
When we arrived at Jungle Jim’s, we got an idea of its personality before stepping foot inside. Although its initial entrance is fairly nondescript…
…it’s flanked on both sides by jungle animals. It looked like it might sometimes have some kind of water feature, but it had been cold and snowing in Cincinnati during our visit, so it wasn’t turned on that day.
Going through that initial set of doors takes you to the main entrance of the store. Jungle Jim’s doesn’t do subtlety, so you enter beneath a race car and lights that cycle from red to green.
Having started our carts and gone on green, we were greeted by what appeared to be a regular grocery store. Your initial view when entering Jungle Jim’s doesn’t do justice though to how enormous it is inside. Nor how much quirkiness you’ll experience.
Walk a little further though and the fun begins. I think a lot of the store’s features are meant to help entertain little kids, so I’m not sure what it says about me that I loved them so much.
First up, we saw Corn and Butter; if you press the button they’ll talk to you. Despite his facial features, Corn wasn’t as grumpus as he looks – instead, he and Butter welcome you to the store.
Walking a little further, there was a sign that you don’t see every day. Apparently Jungle Jim’s has award winning restrooms:
We didn’t end up going in their restrooms, so I’ve no idea what they won an award for. I’m assuming cleanliness, but who knows – maybe the restroom came first in a figure skating contest.
I did pause to take a (straining) photo in their Infamous Privy. Now that you’ve seen a photo of it on the internet, you’re now privy to their Privy.
That’s probably the least appetizing photo you’ll see this year, so how about one that you might find the most appetizing. Jungle Jim’s has an 822 lb block of cheese. It apparently took three months to make and, once it’s been aged, will be cut up and sold in the store.
If you need something for your crackers sooner than that though, Jungle Jim’s can hook you up. There’s a huuuuuge cheese section – I took a couple of photos of it, but there was even more than what’s pictured below.
You need something to go with all that cheese though, so there’s an equally large wine selection.
Jungle Jim’s has a big liquor department; I got sidetracked while looking for a bottle of whiskey though and forgot to take a photo of that area. However, here’s a photo of the equally large – and extensive – beer selection.
Ultimately, Jungle Jim’s is a grocery store, so I won’t share photos of the entire place as I’m sure you’ve shopped for food before. There are several noteworthy areas though, such as the candy section.
Why would a candy department be noteworthy though? First of all, it’s pretty big. In addition to your usual candy options, there’s a long wall with probably 100 different types of Pez dispensers, as well as another long wall with more than 80 different Jelly Belly flavors.
The pièce de résistance though was the ultimate gummi snake. At almost 8 feet long and weighing more than 25 lbs, he’d make the best pet ever. I think they were a little optimistic with the sign saying it’s 450 servings – I’m pretty sure Shae and I could finish him off in about 7 servings.
The snake’s not the only unusual creature though, as you can listen to Elvis Bear sing Hound Dog every five minutes.
If the candy department doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth, their craft ice cream freezer might. Before that day, I didn’t even know craft ice cream was a thing.
Only eating sweet stuff isn’t good for your body though, so you need to get some protein. Can I interest you in some dried crickets?
Or perhaps some scorpions?
If you’d prefer to be nipped rather than stung, you could pick out a live lobster instead.
As its name suggests, Jungle Jim’s International Market has lots of international food for sale. Their produce department has all kinds of uncommon fruits and vegetables, including red bananas, Korean melons, mamey sapote, Thai chilies, Chinese long beans and more.
It’s not only the produce department that has a good international selection though. There are grocery aisles dedicated to cuisines from around the world, including Asian food. Within the Asian food aisle, there were separate sections for Thai food, Malaysian, Indian, etc.
It’s not just generic stuff either. A lot of it seems to be imported as we recognized certain products from when we used to live in Thailand, such as Tom Yum paste.
One of the main reasons we wanted to visit Jungle Jim’s though was for the British food section. I’m originally from the UK and Shae lived there for five years when we first got married. We therefore like having the opportunity to stock up on some of our favorite food.
I’d recently run out of the best kind of teabags (PG Tips), so I stocked up on a box of 240 of those. Shae’s favorite UK candy bar is the Curly Wurly, so we picked up several of those, along with cookies (aka biscuits in the UK), chips (aka crisps in the UK) and more.
I could’ve happily shopped in Jungle Jim’s all day, but a) it was time for lunch and b) I could’ve easily spent our monthly budget there, so we made our way to the checkout.
Along the way, there was the biggest selection of honey I’ve ever seen. Winnie The Pooh would have a field day here.
Final Thoughts
Just as an experience, Jungle Jim’s International Market was a lot of fun. There’s a lot of weird and quirky stuff around the store to keep you entertained, but the best part is how huge the store is. Its size means they have room for pretty much anything and everything you could want or need.
The stuff we bought was somewhat expensive, but that’s because it’s all been imported. For regular grocery shopping though, the prices seemed pretty good. They sell quite a few items in bulk (pasta, rice, etc.), so that could save you money. Other standard items weren’t too bad either – pineapples were $2.50 each which, while not necessarily the cheapest price, also isn’t too expensive either.
I do have one regret though. Apparently they offer store tours that only cost $5, but I didn’t realize until writing this blog post. For your $5, you get a $2 gift certificate, an hour long tour and food samples along the way. Next time Jungle Jim’s, next time.
Address
There are two Jungle Jim’s International Market locations in Cincinnati. The one we went to in Fairfield is apparently the original location.
Its address is Jungle Jim’s International Market, 5440 Dixie Hwy, Fairfield, OH 45014.
Rachel says
I’m in the Cleveland area and I try to get to JJ’s once a year or so (four hour trip to Cincinnati). It’s absolutely one of my favorite places to go. I’m always impressed that they selll dragon fruit by the pound rather than the $10 or more per piece I usually see. The bakery is the stuff of dreams. I recommend JJ’s to everyone. If you’re in the Cleveland area, Brook Park is home to Sweetie’s, which, if I’m not mistaken, is the largest candy store in the US. It’s also home to the West Side Market. I’m sure you’ve heard about it or visited it.
stephen says
I don’t think I had heard about it, so thanks for the suggestion – we’ll be up in Cleveland next week, so we’ll check it out 🙂
Jo Pepper says
What an amazing place!