Sizars (Caezar) May Move This Month

(Update: Sizar's moved and changed its name to Caezar International Market in early 2009.)

Look for Sizar's Food Mart to move from Columbia to Elkridge in mid-February -- maybe as early as 10 days from now.

I went by Howard County's largest Middle Eastern market Monday, and I heard that they're looking to move in 10-11 days. In January, I posted that Sizars -- which will be called Caezar International Market when it moves -- hadn't made the original November/December 2008 deadline. Construction is never predictable enough to depend on a new deadline, but mid-February is the current working guess.

Sizar's/Caezar will remain a great place for Middle Eastern and Indian groceries, along with a restaurant in the new Dorsey Commons location. However, the Columbia location will close.

For more information about Sizar's, check out all the posts. The pistachio nougat is worth a trip all on its own.

Ceazar International Market and Restaurant (to open in February 2009)
6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100.

Sizar's Food Mart (to close when the Elkridge location opens)
6955A Oakland Mills Road
Columbia, MD 21045
410-381-4375
www.sizarfood.com

NEAR: Sizar's is in a shopping area off Snowden River Parkway just south of the Home Depot and movie theaters. The shopping center also has a Race Pace bike shop and a Let's Dish outlet. From Snowden River, turn north on Oakland Mills Road (right if you are coming from the Home Depot). Then turn immediately right into the shopping area. Look for Sizar's in the building to your right as you enter.

Sizars (Caezar) Has Not Moved

Howard County's best Middle Eastern grocery store has not yet moved to Elkridge.

Sizar's Food Mart -- a Columbia fixture for more than a dozen years -- is moving to Elkridge near the intersections of Rte 103 and Rte 1.  The original plan called for moving in November or December (and changing the name to Caezar International Market), but construction continues at the new place.  As of December 29, Sizar's was still open in Columbia.

After all the Fatburger false alarms, I won't estimate when the Elkridge location will open.  Freezers had been installed when I drove past last week, but there looked to be piles of steel shelves that still needed to be erected.  Obviously, there was no food to be seen at all.

The new location in the Dorsey Commons will be called Caezar International Market, and they'll have a restaurant as well.

Thanks to the anonymous commenter who visited Sizar's last week.  For more information about Sizar's, check out all the posts.

Ceazar International Market and Restaurant (opened in late February 2009)
6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100.

Sizar's Food Mart (now closed)
6955A Oakland Mills Road
Columbia, MD 21045
410-381-4375
www.sizarfood.com

Sizar's Food Mart is moving to Elkridge!

Sizar's Food Mart -- the Middle Eastern grocery in Howard County -- is moving from Columbia to Elkridge in early 2009 -- after missing the original dates of late November or early December 2008.  The business will re-open as Ceazar International Market and Restaurant and offer the current retail groceries plus a new halal restaurant.  

Definitely check out Sizar's for Greek and Middle Eastern items like yogurt, breads, spices, and olives.  Currently, there is a Ramadan special on dates -- $6 a pound for regular and $8 a pound for spectacular jumbo ones.  They're better than candy.  But if you have to buy candy (and I do), try the pistachio nougat at the high end ($9 for 12 ounces) or the Turkish Coco Star candy bar at the low (39 cents for a bite-sized bar at the check-out).

Click here for more about Sizar's.  Click here for a listing of all the organic and ethnic markets.  

Ceazar's Inc. (opening in 2009)

6801 Douglas Legum Drive

Elkridge, MD 21075

NEAR:  Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1.  This is just south of Rte 100.

Delicious: Jallab Syrup at Sizar's Food Mart

August is really the cruellest month, breeding swamp heat and mosquitos, and one of the few ways to fight back is a classic cool drink like iced tea or lemonade.

Or with an exotic one like jallab syrup, a sweet liquid that mixes with ice and water to create a refreshment best known in the Middle East. Jallab syrup is made from grape mollases or raisins, rose water and dates. The rose water flavor comes through, but it's a unique taste -- a cooler when you need one most.

I bought the syrup at Sizar's Middle Eastern grocery story in Columbia. I searched the Internet for a use and settled on pouring three tablespoons into a tall glass, filling the glass with crushed ice, then filling the glass with cold water. Stir and sip. (I actually pulverized the ice in a blender. It started like slush, but melted quickly.)

For the recipe that I used, check out the Kitchen Caravan blog. Sizar's sells the Cortas brand syrup shown in the picture. There was an array of Cortas syrups, including blueberry, and rose water. Click here for all my posts about Sizar's. Definitely check out the pistachio nougat if you visit. Click here for a full list of ethnic and organic markets in Howard County.

Fard Pistachio Nougat at Sizar's Food Mart

(Update: Sizar's moved to Elkridge in February 2009 and changed its name to Ceazar International Market.  But it closed in 2011.  You can buy Fard nougats at Caspian Market on Rte 40 in Ellicott City.  I don't recommend the Imperial Nougat Co. brand at Pars Market because it lacks the rose flavor, coming off more bitter.)

(Update II: By 2014, Pars sells terrific nougat.  I don't know the brand, but it's among the best that I have ever had -- very soft, great flavor.)

A real candy. The Fard brand pistachio nougat at Sizar's Food Mart is a light, slightly chewy rectangle. Sweet with the flavor of rose water and the real crunch of pistachio.

Real candy because it has nothing artificial. Just corn syrup, sugar, nuts, egg white and rose water. A few dozen individually-wrapped candies in an 8 oz clamshell. The rose and sweetness make these as delicious as any candy that I can remember -- a strong but light flavor that makes them unique.

The package isn't cheap -- like $7.49. But it would be a beautiful gift if you repackaged the nougat with some tissue paper and a nice box. It's also just a treat worth stopping any time that you are near Sizar's on Snowden River Parkway.

More about Caezar's at these posts.  Or more about ethic groceries in Howard County.

Sizar's Food Mart: Middle Eastern Groceries in Columbia

Talk about "Open O'Simsim." Sizar's Food Mart was a magical surprise for me.

I only passed by because I was taking two bikes to Race Pace, already muttering about how Columbia makes you drive a quarter mile to reach a store that faces Snowden River. That was why I was so aware that Sizar's -- which looks like a convenience store from the outside -- was faced away from Snowden River. No one can sell sodas and cigarettes this tucked away from the public, so there must be something inside that draws customers.

Behind Sizar's door is the best ethnic grocery store in Howard County. OK, maybe tied with Lily's Mexican Market. It is a small store, but stock tightly and smartly with everything you

could need for Middle Eastern food and more. Breads like pita, barbarry bread, a sweet Afghan rist loaf, and lavash the size of a small table. Teas. Spices. A dozen varieties of dried peas, beans and lentils. A dozen more varieties in cans. Farina. Bulgar. Forty-pound bags of rice.

This is a 13-year-old store with a staff that answered questions and joked about me taking pictures. The selection is breath-taking, and the place felt friendly from the moment that I walked inside. Check out the refrigerator with halal hot dogs, Greek yogurt, lebni cheese and more. Slide over to the freezers where you can get filo dough or already-made spinach-and-cheese filo appetizers. Or frozen falafel or halal chicken nuggets, or Deep brand samosas, or frozen lavash to take home.

The selections run from India to Greece with an array of Iranian items that I had never seen. Check out the raisins and dates in the fridge at the entrance. Consider the fun that you could have -- either as ice cream toppings or as cocktail mixers -- with the bottles of fruit syrups, including mint, mulberry, blueberry, and sour cherry. Sample the Iranian fruit roll-ups, expensive at $1.49 but adult flavors in sour cherry, plum and "sour curd."

Again, the world comes to Columbia. Then Columbia hides the world in the back of a shopping center. But once you discover it, you can return again and again.

(UPDATE:  Sizar's moved to Elkridge in early 2009 and changed its name to Ceazar's.  They opened a restaurant to go with the retail store.  The address below is for the Elkridge store, which is now open.)

A full list of markets in Howard County -- organic, Indian, Asian, seafood.

Ceazar International Market and Restaurant (formerly Sizar's)

6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075
443-755-9442

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100 and less than two miles from I-95. From Rte 100, you take U.S. 1 south, turn left at the first light onto Rte 103 and follow it as it curves twice. Ceazar is in a shopping center on the left.