When Forty Acres Fresh Market opened its doors in September 2025, the idea had already been brewing for a while. The full-service grocery store fills a gap in the Austin neighborhood with fresh produce, a butcher counter and more.
Customer KL Daly made her first visit to the store to get fixins for her annual Thanksgiving Turducken. (For the uninitiated: that’s a turkey, with duck and chicken stuffed inside of it.)
“In making my turducken, I have a whole system to that. And it requires ground duck,” Daly said. “I stumbled on an article about Forty Acres’ meat counter, so just for the heck of it, I called and said, ‘Would you possibly be able to get me ground duck?’ And they said we actually have it in stock.”
The butcher had ordered ground duck for another customer and had some left. The grocery store is three blocks east of the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Chicago Avenue, so it was a short trek for Oak Parker Daly. While in the store, she decided to get lunch from the hot bar.
“That’s the first time that I tried their fried chicken, which is to die for,” she said.
Store owner Liz Abunaw first debuted Forty Acres in 2018 as a pop-up store and then added a produce box delivery service. The ideas came to fruition after a corporate reorganization left her with some breathing space to explore her next chapter in life.
“At first, it was about learning the business, learning the industry,” Abunaw said. A brick-and-mortar store was on her mind from the start. “I had the idea [for] a neighborhood fresh market on the west side in my head. It just kind of kept percolating.”
Austin’s lack of grocery stores was an opportunity to meet a demand.
“I saw a neighborhood and a community that was not adequately served by the options that were available nearby,” she said. “I saw a neighborhood that spent a large portion of its disposable income in other neighborhoods. Making sure that people don’t have to travel far for good food is the first thing.”
Along with all the usual grocery store items (fresh produce, meat, dairy, frozen foods, pet foods, dry goods, etc.) hot food was a key part of the formula from the get-go.
“Because I recognized that when I go to grocery stores, I’m also able to get hot food,” Abunaw said. “I wanted to be comparable in that way. Getting foot traffic is so hard. It’s hard to break people’s habits.”
From when the doors open at 8 a.m. to when they close at 8 p.m. there are hot and ready options. In the morning, breakfast sandwiches lead the offerings. Later in the day rice bowls take center stage with vegetarian and vegan options.
For Daly shopping at Forty Acres Fresh Market has become part of her weekly rounds. The rice bowl offerings are a good fit with her shift to healthier eating.
“It’s filling, but it’s got vegetables in it and some protein,” Daly said. “The one that I get is custom made with broccoli. They’re good about substituting if you can’t eat something or you don’t like this or that.”
Her broccoli is a swap in the Best-Side Bowl for the collard greens that usually come with it. Those are served with carrots over yellow rice, with sautéed chicken and a creamy mushroom sauce.
On this outing Daly’s husband, Lyle, also got lunch: jerk chicken with collard greens and a side of mac and cheese. He especially liked the greens.
“They were fantastic,” Lyle Daly said. “You have to enjoy heat, but they’ve got a nice flavor as they go down your throat. I love them.”
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Get in on the Flavor:
Website: fortyacresfreshmarket.com
Address: 5713 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Hours: Daily 8 a. m. – 8 p.m.
