Ali Zaidi is a little bit Willy Wonka and a little bit, well, kid in a candy store.
“This is phenomenal — you should try them!” Zaidi said, snatching from a shelf a bag of strawberry-ice-cream-flavored gummies made in South Korea.
But I, too, know “phenomenal.” I grew up in England — home to jellied eels, pork pies and potato chips (crisps) that stimulate the taste buds with the flavors of prawn cocktail, pickled onion and a sludgy black spread allegedly made with cow’s blood.
More on that later.
Back in Chicago, Zaidi was excited to share some of his store’s fare.
“Look at this right here! You can’t go wrong with chocolate Belgian dates stuffed with orange peels!” Zaidi said.
Zaidi’s effervescence never fizzled during my 90-minute visit to his Lincoln Park shop, Epic Snack Shack: Snacks of the World, which he opened at 2558 N. Clark with a friend about a month ago.
Unsurprising perhaps, given that he’s constantly poking sugary and spicy snacks into his mouth before he puts them on his shelves. “Snacks of the World” isn’t overselling it. He has goodies from Egypt, Morocco, Lithuania, China, Poland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, India, the Philippines, Japan, Turkey — to name just a few countries. The store also sells collectible anime figures.
His 10-year-old daughter, Rayan, is often in the store — sandwiched between a nail salon and a French bakery on North Clark — to organize stock and hand out free samples.
Her dad quit work as a window and door installer to open the shop. Rayan took the news well.
“I love it. Ever since my dad made a snack shop with anime in it, I’m like, Oh, I want to work there,” she said.
Zaidi also owns a nearby gym, Falcon Training Facility, and says he doesn’t have a single cavity.
Zaidi, who is of Pakistani ancestry but grew up in Chicago, said he’s always been a foodie, but got tired of the traditional candies offered in American stores.
“I want something with more oomph,” he said.
So that’s why he offers “hot and sour lemon braised chicken feet flavor” potato chips and matcha and fig-flavored Oreo cookies. Squid- and truffle-flavored chips, too. And Toxic Waste Slime Licker Squeeze Sour Candy, which contains corn syrup and artificial flavor — but no actual toxic waste — according to the label.
Some of his products are ordered through wholesalers; if he can’t find what he wants that way, he may order directly from the overseas manufacturer. Prices in the store range from about $3 to $8 per item, although a box of handmade Turkish baklava will set you back about $32.
The snacks are often a blend of the novel and the familiar — on purpose.
“Most Americans won’t eat seaweed, but they might eat a Lay’s seaweed chip,” he said.
And he wants more. But some countries, he said, aren’t known for packaged snacks. It’s been hard, he said, to find African or Pakistani snacks.
“I’m definitely reaching out to Africa. We have South Africa coming soon,” he said.
But what about the United Kingdom? Yes, he has treats from my homeland. Melt-in-your-mouth Flake bars — not to mention protein drinks in Twix, Mars and Snickers flavors. (A steady diet of such things in my youth may explain why I topped out at 5-foot-6 inches without ever experiencing a growth spurt.)
People say English people favor drab, overly boiled fare. Lies!
To prove it, I sampled some of Zaidi’s wares, urging him to give me the freakiest food. The chicken feet chips? Tolerable, but would have benefitted from a drizzle of English “Daddies Brown Sauce.”
The matcha green tea Kit Kat? Like eating sugary grass clippings. The cherry blossom Oreos? Pink, really pink and a work of art!
But frankly, who cares what I think! The store saw a steady stream of customers on a recent weekday afternoon — several curious after reading about the place on TikTok.
“On TikTok, it’s really popular to try obscure candies. And so a lot of these were seen on TikTok. When they put the store in, we came,” said Lily Zehfuss, 16, a student at DePaul College Prep. “The selection is crazy and there are so many of the big brands that are here that we just haven’t had the flavors of (previously).”
