Azadi International Food Market

Shwarma chicken and lamb! Wow! Amazing amazing bread makers and such friendly service.Yelp did a an article on Kurdish establishments so we went on a quest for the best Shawarmas and breads and grocery stores. This was one of our first stops. What a fun unassuming place. Walking in on a Saturday about 11 am there was a line in front, a line at the butcher and a line at the bakery. We oogled the aisles at the assortment of offerings and their very good prices. My son then started complaining about being hungry so we decided to return later. As I was leaving we said goodbye to the cashier. He asked if anything was wrong. I replied, no just have to feed my son. He nodded and we were off. 1/2 hour later we were back. This time no line. I asked about the lines. He stated it is normal but it does go fast. I can witness to that. I bought some bread and some sambusas (sp). 1 chicken, had a nice spice but the vegetable blew me away!!! So incredibly tasting I did not feel guilty it being a deep fried pie. We talked to the cashier about the bread. He asked if I went back to the bakery to see what was the freshest. I said I will be right back. I was and bought a few more packages. AMAZING and OMGosh, what a treat watching the bakers make the bread. Makes one wonder how far we have come to want to go back and see how much better authentic bread should and is still made.Should add, but I don't want to, they have a breakfast pizza with sausage in the am and it is limited. Oy...If you see me, get out of my way, I am not above cutting in line and paying you for it. Prices are very good, no dust, no questions on prices, everything clearly marked, (my pet peeve). How do you buy something not knowing the price? Chatted again with cashier about the store and our purchases. Really enjoyed our quick 2 trips in same day within 30 minutes of each other. Will be back for the amazing bread AND Vegetable Sambusas and sweet cashier. See pics of bread. HUGE bread - good for almost anything also made quick pizza for the kids who loved it. Soft yet had a nice chew to it a few days later. Stayed Fresh!I am in Carb heaven with the bakery and the cashier made the experience great too!

This was some of the most delicious bread ever. I got a delicious lamb and cheese flatbread for $2 and a six pack of pita breads for another $2.I saw some of the comments about the area and didn't understand. I guess there's some sheltered folks in town. I'm not from Nashville but I was totally comfortable here. Really, you should expand your borders more if this area worries you. The bakery was in the back. You really have to walk into the kitchen. Naan is sold by itself and pita bread is 6 for $2. The lady before me bought a box of 12 packs. That's 72 loaves. Take some home and your kitchen will be better than The Pita Pit for for a few days. I talked to one of the ladies. Eventually we figured out an order for me. You take your order to the cashier in front and pay.

Maybe going there during the "Off the beaten path" food crawl was not the best idea. It would appear the regular Cashier was off and had a frazzled replacement working instead. The woman in front of me asked to buy some Feta cheese and he looked at her and said "What is Feta?". He clearly did not want to be there.However, they do have a great selection of items you won't find anywhere else. The Kinder Bueno for example, which I am now obsessed with, is a "Kit-Kat" like Hazelnut Candy. I'd never seen it anywhere else BUT here and now it's all I want to eat. Well okay maybe not quite, but they are very good.If you are looking for uncommon or hard to find Middle Eastern products, Azadi probably has you covered.

My go to place for buying green olives! I do buy fresh meat from here sometimes better then the Walmart packaged ones. Price is reasonable as well!

When I went there I asked them if they had fresh pita bread. They showed me the pita bread on the shelf and I said that I was looking for a pita bread that was made that day. The gentleman told me that they were made that day however I did not believe him. He took me around back to the bakery and asked me if I wanted a pita that had been made that day or if I wanted the pita bread that had been made in the last five seconds. I need of getting what looked like a big pita bread. The gentleman told me that it was actually a Lebanese flatbread. It looks like a big pizza crust. The gentleman told me that some people ask for the Lebanese flatbread to be cooked halfway and then they take them home and make their own pizza. I purchased some produce and other items to make homemade hummus. The staff could not have been nicer. I have since been back three times for the pita bread. This place is clean and the merchant is very fair and goes out of his way to help you. I highly recommend this establishment.

Don't be shy - go in here! There are super nice people running the market. Directions: Head to the back right corner of the market (might want to stop and peruse the halal meats counter though). You will see a hanging sign that says "BAKERY OPEN" with an arrow pointing the way.Following the sign you'll find a bakery area, complete with woodfired oven. If you want the lahmacun, you can ask for "meat bread" and they'll know what you want.I got 6 hot, fresh naan and the lahmacun for $4. Amazing!

Azadi is like any other world market, I know very little about the products on the shelves and that's what thrills me. I'm an insatiably curious person and I need ANSWERS. I am fascinated with all the cheeses, nuts, fruits, dried fruits, types of bread and grocery items. They are all potential delicacies just waiting to be discovered.I was sent by a friend in the know, (thanks Cathy,) to Azadi for their fresh, made in-house labneh, which I can now vouch for. Labneh, labnah or lebni is Greek yogurt strained of all its whey or liquid. It's often referred to as a cheese. A smooth spreadable cheese with the tartness of yogurt.The first labneh I had was a pre-packaged ubiquitous brand called Lebni. It's nice but it's not as thick and rich as Azadi's. There are many styles and brands to try.Azadi has an olive bar with very reasonable prices although little or no explanation as to what kind they are. I got a butter tub nearly full for less than four dollars. I suppose which olive is which is common knowledge to a middle easterner. I'm the bug eye'd goober asking too many questions. "Hey, what are these? What are those?"They also have a bakery, but their fresh bread sells out quickly in the mornings. Go early and watch the ladies roll out the dough and the fellow shifting bread in and out of the oven with a big paddle.Take some naan home, brush it with good olive oil, toast it in the oven then spread a piece with some fresh labneh.Never leave a middle eastern market without at least one pound of Turkish pistachios. Never.

Did you know Nashville has over 7000 Kurdish Iraqi immigrants?Do you know where they get their fresh / out of the oven / true to their roots / AMAZING bread?This is the place.From our observations, Azadi market is the most popular market in the neighborhood. Although most of the markets seem to have the same selection and are probably equally stocked, we liked Azadi for the friendly people and fresh bread. We bought two different kinds.. a large round flatbread, and small round loaves. Both were VERY cheap. Oh, and made by old Kurdish women. That does not hurt.So, give this place a shot. The people are friendly, the bread is amazing and served warm out of the oven, and it is really inexpensive. Wish it was closer, but then it wouldn't be such a find!

My husband was on a quest. He insisted that we needed flatbread. I'm not one to question edible necessities so I played along. We had watched an episode of "Bizarre Foods America" hosted by Andrew Zimmern. The show spotlighted a Kurdish market and that was the very place my German had in mind for us to journey to. Boy am I glad we did!I was captivated by the selections of teas, spices, grains, nuts and dried fruits. We arrived about fifteen minutes before closing time so I didn't really get the opportunity I would have liked to really peruse all the items available.What we did get while we were there was amazing flatbread. My husband was well pleased. The owner, who also was the cashier for us as we left, told us to come in the morning when it is freshly baked. I cannot imagine how it could get any better than what we bought, but I'll definitely find out soon. We also came home with fresh pita (which I have practically stuffed with everything imaginable including more pita), feta and goat meat. The Halal butcher, the owner and my husband all laughed because I squealed with delight at being able to buy fresh goat with which to make cabrito tacos the next day.We are headed back soon and hope to be there when the bread is piping hot. I am sure not a single bit of it will make it home.

I spent an entire day looking for quince before waltzing in here and having the owner nonchalantly wave me to the back where we found boxes of the ancient fruit. The only other store I found them at was WF where one cost about the same as a pound here.Obviously this store sells more than quince. I look around and found a variety of products. They had a variety of dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt drinks, butter, etc. There was also a butcher who sold different types of meat: goat, chicken, beef. They sold bulk nuts, flours, and snacks. In the back they had a bakery where women were making a flat bread. Before we left we picked up some samosas, which were very good.All in all, I thought this was a great market. They has a variety of regional products and I found the employees to be very helpful.