Arzi’s is not the only place in town that offers a taste ofGreek culture.
Suleman Badat, a businessman from Pakistan, opened A.Z.International Foods, Inc. 20 years ago, and still works as a salesclerk today.
The store offers a wide assortment of foods from countries allaround the world.
Upon entering the store on Florida Boulevard, customers aregreeted with an array of nuts and cheeses from many differentplaces. Shelves are stocked with multiple kinds of pasta fromItaly, olives from Greece and soup from Turkey.
All of the food’s labels are written in the country’s nativelanguage, but most also have the English equivalent.
Badat said the store has a variety of halal foods for the Muslimcommunity. He said halal food is like kosher foods members of theJewish community eat.
Badat said one of the store’s best selling items is pure honeyfrom Uruguay.
He said the store does not sell any alcohol or cigarettes.
Ahmed Badat, co-owner of the business and Suleman Badat’s son,said mostly international customers shop at the store, but thereare a few Americans who come in every once in a while.
Suleman said a few University students from South America andEurope shop at his store, but most of his customers are older.
He said most customers purchase foods from their nativecountries, but people occasionally will venture out and try newfoods.
Badat said most people who buy spices from their countries donot use them for cooking, but for medicinal purposes. Many peoplefrom South American and Arab countries use the spices for old homeremedies instead of buying medicine from the drugstore, Sulemansaid.
Suat Namli, a math graduate student from Turkey, shops at A.Z.frequently.
“I like the store because it is the only place in Baton Rougewhere you can find the food you are looking for,” Namli said.
Namli said the prices are reasonable. The owners are businessmenand are not trying to kill the customers with their prices, hesaid.
Badat said A.Z. is not a chain store, but a family-run business,and they will be opening a larger store in Tigerland in the nearfuture.
“This will allow us to sell more foreign foods, as well asAmerican foods,” Badat said.
He said the new store probably will bring more customers becausea large number of the international population lives nearTigerland.
Suleman said he is very excited about their new store opening inTigerland.
“This store is very popular, but most people who come here arefrom this side of town,” Suleman said. “With our new location inTigerland, we will hopefully get more American customers and moreLSU students.”
Namli said he is looking forward to the new store opening soon,especially since the location is closer to his house.
“The one now is good, but the new one will probably be bigger,better and offer a wider variety of foods,” Namli said.
Badat said A.Z. is a place where people can reminisce abouttheir home or countries they have visited in the past throughfood.