Imagine walking into a grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread and emerging three hours later with Japanese candy, German mustard, a bottle of hot sauce capable of destroying your dignity, an exotic fruit you cannot pronounce and absolutely no memory of where you parked.
Welcome to Jungle Jim’s International Market, the enormous Ohio supermarket that has turned grocery shopping into a tourist attraction.
Located in Fairfield, just outside Cincinnati, the original Jungle Jim's International Market is frequently described as one of the largest grocery stores in the United States. But calling Jungle Jim’s simply a "grocery store" is a little like calling Disney World a collection of amusement rides. Technically correct, perhaps, but it misses most of the fun.
With international foods, elaborate themed displays, animatronic characters, unusual attractions and seemingly endless aisles, Jungle Jim’s feels like a supermarket designed by someone who decided grocery shopping simply wasn't entertaining enough.
From a Roadside Produce Stand to a Food Wonderland
The story begins with founder Jim Bonaminio, better known as "Jungle Jim."
Bonaminio began selling produce in the Cincinnati area in the early 1970s. In 1971, he established a semi-permanent produce stand in a parking lot in Hamilton, Ohio. His early years were hardly glamorous. According to the company's history, Jim worked extraordinarily long days, sometimes slept at the stand and even showered with a hose behind the building.
One particularly colorful episode involved 45,000 pounds of potatoes that had been rejected by a potato chip factory. Jim purchased the enormous batch for only $150 and sold the potatoes at bargain prices, helping establish himself as a recognizable local produce merchant.
In 1975, Jungle Jim’s International Market officially took root in Fairfield.
The original permanent store was only about 4,200 square feet.
It didn't stay that way for long.
As customers arrived and Jim continued adding new products, departments and attractions, the market expanded again and again. Eventually, that little produce market became a sprawling food destination encompassing hundreds of thousands of square feet.
A second Jungle Jim’s opened in the Eastgate area of Cincinnati in 2012, giving the company two enormous locations.
So How Big Is Jungle Jim’s?
Big enough that you may want comfortable shoes.
Jungle Jim’s says its two locations contain more than 500,000 square feet combined, with each offering more than 200,000 square feet of shopping space.
The company currently advertises approximately 180,000 products, while its massive International Department alone contains more than 70,000 international items.
Food & Wine reported the Fairfield location at roughly 285,000 square feet with around 220,000 SKUs, illustrating just how staggering the selection can be depending on how products and spaces are counted.
For comparison, this isn't merely a large neighborhood supermarket. Jungle Jim’s is a place where exploring the store can legitimately become the afternoon's entertainment.
You Can Basically Grocery Shop Around the World
The international selection is the real star.
Foods representing more than 70 countries can be found throughout Jungle Jim’s, with sections devoted to regions including Europe, Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Instead of offering a tiny shelf labeled "International Foods," Jungle Jim’s essentially creates miniature supermarkets within the supermarket.
You might find British biscuits, Japanese noodles, Mexican sauces, Indian spices, German chocolates, Middle Eastern ingredients, unusual sodas, imported candies, teas, coffees and pantry staples that can be extremely difficult to find at conventional American grocery stores.
For immigrants and international families, that selection can provide familiar tastes of home. For adventurous shoppers, it's an opportunity to fill a cart with foods they've never encountered before.
It's the culinary equivalent of traveling the world without having to explain your suitcase to customs.
The Produce Department Is Bigger Than Some Stores
Considering Jungle Jim’s began with produce, it seems appropriate that fruits and vegetables remain a major attraction.
The Produce Department occupies approximately 1.5 acres and carries more than 800 different kinds of produce, including nearly 100 varieties of organic produce.
Alongside everyday apples, bananas and tomatoes, shoppers may encounter cactus leaves, unusual tropical fruits, specialty vegetables and some seriously fiery chili peppers.
And produce is only the beginning. Jungle Jim’s includes enormous meat, seafood, deli, bakery, cheese, candy, wine, beer and specialty-food departments.
More Than 1,400 Hot Sauces
If your philosophy is that food should occasionally fight back, Jungle Jim’s has you covered.
The market advertises more than 1,400 hot sauces, ranging from relatively civilized varieties to bottles seemingly created as practical jokes against the human digestive system.
The selection has become one of the store's signature attractions, alongside huge collections of candy, cheese, beverages, spices and other specialty foods.
There are products here that you didn't know existed, products you didn't know you needed and products you'll probably buy simply because you can't believe someone actually made them.
Wait...Is This a Grocery Store or an Amusement Park?
This is where Jungle Jim’s becomes truly strange—in the best possible way.
Throughout the market are elaborate decorations, themed areas and animatronic displays. Depending on where you're wandering, you might encounter singing characters, giant food displays, suspended vehicles or other unexpected attractions.
The Fairfield store even has a small theater devoted to the history of Jungle Jim’s.
There is also a monorail.
Because apparently once your grocery store reaches a certain size, a train becomes reasonable.
Some of the animatronics and attractions have come from amusement parks and other entertainment venues, contributing to the wonderfully chaotic atmosphere.
One minute you're comparing pasta sauces. The next minute something nearby starts singing.
That's Jungle Jim’s.
Even the Bathrooms Became Famous
Perhaps the funniest Jungle Jim’s attraction is something most supermarkets would never dream of turning into a tourist attraction:
the restroom.
At the Fairfield location, the entrance famously resembles a portable toilet. Open the door, however, and instead of stepping into a tiny portable restroom, visitors discover an entrance leading to a much larger conventional bathroom.
The visual gag became so famous that the restrooms themselves became one of the market's frequently photographed attractions.
When people are taking vacation pictures outside your supermarket bathroom, you've officially created something unusual.
There's a Portrait Made From Jelly Beans
Because ordinary portraits would apparently be far too sensible, Jungle Jim himself has been immortalized in candy.
A portrait of the founder was created using more than 12,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans.
It is precisely the kind of detail that summarizes Jungle Jim’s philosophy: if something can be made bigger, stranger, funnier or more colorful, why wouldn't you?
Jungle Jim’s Is Also a Foodie Playground
The market has gradually become much more than somewhere to purchase groceries.
Visitors can explore tasting bars, attend cooking classes, participate in tours and attend special food festivals and events.
The Fairfield location operates its own cooking school, while wine lovers can explore an extensive wine selection and rare finds. The stores have also hosted celebrations devoted to particular foods and flavors, including hot sauce.
You could theoretically arrive intending to buy milk and spend half the day learning about cheese.
Frankly, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday.
Interesting Jungle Jim’s Facts
Here are a few numbers that help put the madness into perspective:
- Jungle Jim Bonaminio began selling produce in the Cincinnati area in the early 1970s.
- The permanent Fairfield market opened in 1975 at only about 4,200 square feet.
- Today, Jungle Jim’s operates two enormous Ohio locations, Fairfield and Eastgate.
- Together, the stores encompass more than 500,000 square feet.
- Each location offers more than 200,000 square feet of shopping space.
- The company advertises approximately 180,000 products and counting.
- More than 70 countries are represented.
- The International Department contains more than 70,000 products.
- The Produce Department covers approximately 1.5 acres.
- Shoppers can find more than 800 kinds of produce.
- Jungle Jim’s advertises more than 1,400 hot sauces.
- The Fairfield store features quirky attractions including animatronics, a monorail, a miniature theater and its famous trick restroom entrance.
- A portrait of Jungle Jim was created using more than 12,000 jelly beans.
A Grocery Store Worth Traveling For
Perhaps the strangest thing about Jungle Jim’s is that people don't necessarily visit because they need groceries.
They travel there because they want to experience the grocery store itself.
Food lovers arrive from outside Ohio to wander the international aisles, hunt for unusual ingredients and discover products they may never have encountered anywhere else. Some visitors spend hours exploring before reaching the checkout.
Yet beneath all the spectacle, Jungle Jim’s remains what Jim Bonaminio originally created more than half a century ago: a place devoted to selling food.
It just happens to sell an almost ridiculous amount of it.
What began as one man's roadside produce business grew into a gigantic celebration of global food culture—part supermarket, part international marketplace, part roadside attraction and part amusement park.
So yes, you can go to Jungle Jim’s for groceries.
Just don't expect to leave with only what's on your shopping list.
