Polish Americans in Monroe County and weekend visitors to the Pocono Mountains can shop for Polish food at Krakus Deli Polish Specialties, 22 Sterling Road in Mount Pocono. The store is open seven days a week, Sundays included, so it is easy to stop by before heading home.
For many Polish American families from New York and New Jersey, the Pocono Mountains are the place for a free weekend, a summer vacation or a school break. There are trails, lakes and cabins in the woods, and for some families, a permanent home.
Spend a few days in the mountains and sooner or later you start missing a Polish breakfast. Mount Pocono has a Polish grocery store that has served locals and visitors for more than ten years. It is run by Andrzej Czuma.
The Poconos: the mountains Polish Americans keep coming back to
Monroe County is close enough to New York and New Jersey that a weekend trip takes little planning. A Friday afternoon is enough to get from the city to the mountains. In summer, the lakes draw visitors; in winter, the nearby ski slopes.
There is also a Polish American community that chose life in the mountains for good. For them, a Polish store nearby is not a tourist stop but everyday shopping: bread, cold cuts for work sandwiches, kabanosy for the kids’ school lunches.
Both groups end up in the same place on Sterling Road. Some stock up for the week, others pick up something for the drive or for an evening at a rented cabin.
What to bring from a Polish store for a weekend in the mountains?
For the trail, pack kabanosy (thin dry-smoked pork sausages), which hold up well for a few hours in a backpack. For breakfast, fresh bread, rolls and cold cuts from the deli counter; for the grill, kielbasa; and with coffee, paczki (filled Polish doughnuts) or a slice of babka, a sweet yeast cake.
The bread and baked goods come to the store from bakeries in New Jersey and New York, and the deli counter carries ham, kielbasa, kabanosy and boczek (smoked pork belly). We cover the selection in more detail in two Polish Pages guides: on Polish kielbasa and cold cuts in the Poconos and on Polish bread and paczki in Mount Pocono.
The shelves also carry groceries from Poland. For a longer stay, they are a good way to stock the kitchen of a rental house.
If you are planning a cookout by the lake, it is best to buy the kielbasa and rolls the same day, right before you head to the water.
Sunday before the drive home: when is the store open?
Sound familiar? Packing the car, one last walk and the drive back to the city. Krakus Deli is also open on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. according to the store’s website, so you can shop before you leave.
During the week, the store is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is worth confirming current hours, especially on long weekends, at 570-839-3605.
Not just food
The store sells phone cards for calling family in Poland, Polish newspapers and the free Polish Pages directory, a guide to Polish American businesses and services in the region. It comes in handy when you need to find a Polish-speaking doctor, lawyer or mechanic.
While you are there on a weekend visit, you can also ship a package to Poland through Polamer. We explain how to plan a holiday package from the Poconos in our article on holiday packages from Mount Pocono.
Before your next trip to the mountains
If you are planning a stay in the Poconos in December, see also our article on shopping before Christmas Eve in Mount Pocono. The store gets busier during the holiday season, and hours may change.
Full contact details are in the Krakus Deli Polish Specialties listing in the Polish Pages directory.
About Krakus Deli Polish Specialties — a Polish grocery store at 22 Sterling Road in Mount Pocono (PA 18344), run by Andrzej Czuma. It has served Monroe County for more than ten years and is open seven days a week. Phone: 570-839-3605.
This article is for informational purposes only. Store hours and product availability may change; for current information, call Krakus Deli Polish Specialties at 570-839-3605.
Polamer is a trademark of its owner. Polish Pages and Poland.us are not affiliated with or endorsed by this company.
