Lincoln Square has a pretty decent selection of meat, believe it or not. There are options galore, between the Lincoln Quality Meat Market, the butchers at HarvestTime Foods, and now this little place gets added to the list now as well.

Nestled into a tiny strip mall next to the Bosnian-menu Gurman Inc. Restaurant, a hair salon and a Greek coffee shop, Azur is actually more of a tiny pantry and grocery store for the population of eastern Europeans that continue to call the Lincoln Square neighborhood home. The shelves are stocked with packages of puff pastry, jars of vegetable paste and other canned veggies, various kinds of tea, and other staples outside of the normal American palate.

How about the meat? One lonely cooler and counter holds a small selection of beef and veal products. The choices are limited, but what is there is priced fairly, with beef liver at just over a dollar per pound, which is comparable with the HarvesTime counter just a block away. The lone owner is happy to help, if he’s not busy conversing with friends from the old country.

Centerstage Reviewer: Karl Klockars