Davis Pantry

This is a great store everyone should shop here

Nice person

Not jewel, but has Tabasco needs and such covered, plus a few basics…it’s like 7/11 but family owned. There is a bag fee if you want one, but that’s just Evanston as a whole. No plastic and a bag is more than $.25 a bag.
Same at jewel.

Close by, convenient, usually has a few things I need, without having to walk 3/4 mile to the Jewel supermarket.

A poor selection of almost expired food. Shelves half empty. Smells like homeless people in there. Overpriced. Don’t use credit/debit because you’ll likely get double charged and they’ll treat you like a criminal when you ask for a refund even after providing bank statements. A straight up eyesore in Evanston. Needs to be closed down and the building needs updating. The last ugly building in downtown Evanston. 7-11 is less than a block away. Just go there and save some money and frustration.

You walk in, and the almost-empty freezer case augurs poorly. They only have Jack's frozen pizzas, and they charge almost double what they're worth ($5.49!). They don't have almond milk, soy milk, not even half and half. They don't have alcohol--it would be pointless with the excellent Evanston 1st Liquors 150 feet away and Target two blocks away. They have a tiny amount of pet food, canned goods, cereal, pasta, ramen, the basics, although you're just better off walking another 3-4 minutes and going to Target or even CostPlus World Market for that. It even closes at just 9 pm. The Target is open until 10, and has better prices on literally everything.

It's just a dismal little store. In a pricey neighborhood where one bedroom apartments on the low end are $1200 a month, and with better options for...well, everything, I have no idea how this place even survives. None of my neighbors spoke highly of it, it never seems busy despite being 100 feet from a busy Metra station, and now I know why.

I used to frequent this little convenience store, but that all changed one day when the guy who works there tried to rip me off (and I think he owns the shop, too...he's the only person I've ever seen working in the place).

This is what happened: I was buying a drink marked for 99 cents + tax (actually, those 99 cent drinks were the only reason I went there, as I couldn't find them anywhere else in town back then). So I went and took my drink up to the counter to pay for it (remember, it was marked for 99 cents + tax, which came to a total at the time of $1.08). I took a dollar bill out of my wallet, handed the guy who works there the bill, and reached into my pocket for the other 8 cents I owed to cover tax. I looked down at the change to count out the 8 cents, which took all of about 3 seconds, then I handed the guy the 8 cents, grabbed my drink and turned to leave.

At this point, the guy behind the counter said "Hey - you still owe me a dollar. give me a dollar." Thinking that the guy had somehow forgotten that I had already handed him the dollar bill, I said to him, "I did give you a dollar. I handed you a dollar bill before I got out the change I needed to finish paying you, remember?" He started to sound a bit frustrated at this point, saying "No you didn't! Give me a dollar now, or you can't leave with that drink!" This set off a "red flag" to me, as I knew that I had handed him my only dollar bill...indeed, it was the only paper money I had had on me at the time, so I responded "I know I gave you that dollar bill. I don't owe you anything else right now." Now he was getting pretty upset, and he angrily demanded that I owed him a dollar still. It was at this point in the argument that I said to him in an angry, but normal-volume voice "Look, I know I gave you a dollar, and then I gave you the eight cents to cover tax too. If you don't believe me, then go ahead and check the security camera footage!" This made him go quiet for a moment, after which he waved his hand dismissively and said "Get out of here!"

I then left with my legally purchased drink in hand, calling over my shoulder "You tried to cheat me, so you just lost a customer for life! I hope you're happy with that!" Needless to say, I've never gone back into that store since then.

A lot of other people I know still shop there without any issues, but I'm in no rush to trust the guy who works there again. Let this be a cautionary message to anyone who might think to shop there: chances are that you will be able to buy stuff there without any problems, but there is still a chance that the guy might try to pull the same kind of stunt on you that he tried on me. My advice? Hold onto your cash until you have gotten out enough to pay for your stuff, and then give it all to the guy at once. Keep an eye on whether or not he gives correct change, and make sure that you don't end up getting played for the fool by this guy. Or you could just walk the one block east (toward and then past the train tracks) to 7-11, and shop there instead.

It's your money, and your choice.

No working phone number. Website needs updating.

Wrong phone number listed for this business. It's a fax number. Most of the drinks in this store are not marked & you don't know what the true price is!