Olindo's Cash & Carry

Olindo's Cash & Carry is a family-run Italian import store at 1510 Lyell Avenue in Rochester, NY. Founded in 1977 as Olindo Import Foods, the business grew from its founder's entrepreneurial roots — Olindo began in Italy's transportation industry before his grandparents brought him to the United States in 1966. Over the decades, the store has become a fixture of Rochester's Lyell Avenue corridor, which the City Council recognized in 2019 as part of the Little Italy Historic District.

The store stocks a wide selection of imported and domestic goods geared toward both home cooks and commercial buyers. Product categories include:

• Imported Italian pasta, olive oils, sauces, and canned goods
• Cheeses, deli meats, and seafood
• Coffee, flour, and spices
• Fresh produce and frozen items
• Cannoli and buccola
• Serving platters, paper products, pots, and pans

Olindo's operates as a cash-and-carry wholesaler, making it a practical stop for restaurant owners or anyone shopping in bulk for large gatherings. The store also offers catering services. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM, with Sunday closed.

Olindo's Cash & Carry has built its reputation on nearly five decades of sourcing hard-to-find Italian cooking ingredients at wholesale-style prices. The store serves a dual role — functioning as both a retail specialty market and a bulk supplier — which sets it apart from typical grocery stores in the Rochester area. Its long presence on Lyell Avenue ties it directly to the neighborhood's Italian-American heritage, which stretches back more than a century.

The store sits on Lyell Avenue in Rochester's Lyell-Otis neighborhood, a corridor with deep Italian-American roots that is now one of the city's most culturally diverse areas. Lyell Avenue has historically served as the heart of Rochester's Italian community, and the surrounding blocks still host several Italian businesses and cultural landmarks. Olindo's has a private parking lot on-site and is wheelchair accessible, making it easy to reach whether driving along Lyell Avenue or biking through the neighborhood.