Baza Gourmet Food
Opened: 2007
Several of these suburbs west of Boston have large Eastern European populations, and Newton is among them. In Brookline, we saw the Bazaar on Beacon Street, and today we're checking out a larger supermarket owned by the same group.
The Baza Gourmet Food & Spirits here in Newton opened in 2007 in a building that, as far as I can tell, didn't previously house a supermarket. It's 15,000 square feet and tucked away a bit from the main road, but there's quite a bit of retail in this area of Newton. In fact, we're just a block or two over from the recently-closed Stop & Shop at the Newton Nexus, which is now said to be under construction for Trader Joe's.
The produce department is at the front of the store, and as we'll see this is a very well-appointed independent grocery store. Its focus is on imported Eastern European items, but there's also a small selection of basics -- plus, of course, lots of items like produce that are somewhat universal.
But the biggest selection is imported and specialty items -- such as the many varieties of pickled and canned fish visible in the picture above.
My memory is a little fuzzy on the exact layout of the store -- I feel like waiting six years to post pictures is probably a bad idea -- but I believe produce is at the front with dairy and the liquor store on the left side. Deli, prepared foods, and meat/seafood are on the back wall. Bakery is on the right side with frozen foods in the middle.
The service and specialty departments here are also clearly important, since they're probably the least likely to have their selections duplicated by a nearby chain supermarket. The seafood department, for instance, has all manner of fresh fish but also a selection of smoked fish, and the deli has a variety of Eastern European sausages and the like.
I don't believe these Bazaar stores are a member of any cooperative, and I don't remember seeing storebrand items here.
Between the service counters and the grocery aisles are several large buffet tables with prepared foods, a staple in many Eastern European markets. If you've ever been to a NetCost Market, you know what I'm talking about.
Both hot and cold food are here in these prepared foods bars.
And the gorgeous bakery is on the right side of the store, I think. There's plenty of beautiful pastries to choose from here!
A look across the middle of the store through the grocery aisles...
...and the front-end is small, given that this is definitely equal parts full supermarket and smaller specialty market. I do wonder if it's picked up more of the general shopping business now that the Stop & Shop nearby has closed.
Opened: 2007
Owner: Sabina Roytman
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 30 Tower Rd, Newton, MA
Photographed: July 20, 2019
Either way, it seems like a great store with a lot of hard-to-find items that aren't available in the other nearby stores. Except perhaps for one other store that we'll tour soon. But tomorrow, we're headed up to route 9 again, where most recently I posted the Star Market and Wegmans in Chestnut Hill!
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