Ever fresh on the West Side Story and Photos by Nancy J. Parisi There are always several Guercios on hand at Guercio & Sons. Six siblings and their children run their namesake, small-scale food market opened by Vincent and Nancy Guercio in 1961. Open Monday–Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the shop (250 Grant, near Lafayette, 882-7935) can always be recognized from its streetside produce displays—weather permitting. This formerly all-Italian West Side neighborhood is now multinational with Burmese, Sudanese, Ethiopian, and Somalian refugees among the recent settlers. The store, mainly stocked with Italian staples and delicacies, now carries other provisions reflecting the neighborhood’s increasing diversity, so in addition to Luigi’s, Cohen’s, and Le Metro breads, expect to find tortillas, flatbreads, Goya products, bulk snacks, and assorted international condiments. Guercio’s sibling owners are Salvatore, Charles, John, Louis, Tom, and Santina–the last two regularly seen manning the cash registers and chatting with shoppers. Over the PA the store plays a mix of opera, Sinatra, and Elvis. Guercio’s stocks their own brand of restaurant-sized containers of herbs and spices. According to Tom, they supply produce to many local restaurants and country clubs, and business is thriving. Local writer Pete Carroll, an Allentown resident seen at Guercio’s recently, says he shops Guercio’s weekly. What brings him in, he says, is “the produce, and the lasagne in the deli section–it’s excellent.” Another must-have: $2 small pizzas (various red and white versions) baked by Dolce Amore in North Buffalo, displayed in front of the left cash register while they last. Guercio’s has no website and relies on word-of-mouth advertising, but they do have a fax machine and a few customers (commercial as well as individuals) fax their grocery orders for pick-up or delivery. Occasionally a hand-Guercio-written note points out that a certain item is far more reasonably priced than at some area grocery chains. This grocery store may be small but its status as a WNY shopping tradition has been mighty for decades. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top