West Side Market's first regularly scheduled Sunday hours begin April 3. You can now go directly from church - or wherever you spend the mornings - to pick up the makings of Sunday dinner.

The day was added, in part, to stimulate business and accommodate customers who can't make it to the venerable public market during the regular daytime hours (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). Those who go on Saturday get frustrated by the crowded parking lot, since the neighborhood is now a hot entertainment district.

Will Sunday hours be successful? They have been in other cities, but after a century of not having them, we're looking at a sea change for both customers and vendors.

If it's your first time at the market - or you just haven't visited in a long time - there are a few things you should know.

1. Where to find it, and where to find a parking space. Find the market at 1979 W. 25th St., Cleveland, at the intersection with Lorain Avenue near the west end of the Lorain Carnegie (Hope Memorial) Bridge. Use the street routes you know or, from the east, take I-90 to the West 14th Street exit, a left on Abbey Avenue to Gehring Street, and a right across Lorain Road into the market. Traffic from the west can take I-90 to the West 41st St. exit and go north to Lorain and take a right. From the south, I-490 west to I-90 east to Ontario Street exit and left (west) on Lorain over the bridge. If the lot behind the market is full and you have to walk a few blocks, there's usually some fun window shopping (ahem, Mitchell's biggest ice cream store) along the way. Don't forget the Red Line of RTA stops across the street from the market.

2. Who will be open. According to an informal survey by the city, more than 60 of the 70 vendors are interested in opening on Sunday. Those who want the expanded hours are glad for the potential of new business. Those who don't want the hours are small businesses that value their one day off with family, or time in church. Many say it's not a four-day week. Tuesday and Thursdays are often used to catch up with orders, inventory and paperwork, and that Sunday is their only day off. "Would you want to work on Sunday," asked one vendor. Also, hiring extra workers does not always work for all stand owners. Vendors say the market is a place for personal contact between specialist and the consumer, and that contact makes the market special compared to the more detached experience of supermarkets. In either case, it's time to be grateful.

3. What you can buy that you can't get elsewhere. (Changes with the season.) Chicken that's not sold in plastic, locally made flour and corn tortillas made without preservatives, distinctive cured meats (smoked sausage, jerky, apple-cured hams), plastic-bag-free organic vegetables and local vegetables, fresh organic pizza dough, specialty bean and rice varieties, widest variety of locally made pasta and tamales, candied salmon, handmade shepherd's pie, etc.

4. What you can eat there. Soba noodles with smoked tofu, pizza bagels, crepes, fabulous falafel, Food Network-famous gyros, fudge, strudel with hand-pulled dough, locally made bratwurst (on hard rolls with sauerkraut and brown mustard), and a full selection of cooked meals at the West Side Market Cafe.

5. How to buy it. Bring a shopping bag, rolling cart (stada baba in Polish), or your carry-on luggage. Take extra care at the produce stands, which vary greatly. Some take pride in selling the best product possible. Others are there to offer the bargain prices that come with fruit and vegetables that are leftover from distributors to supermarkets. Ask to select your own produce, and if you meet resistance, go somewhere else. The good ones will say yes. Any conflicts, take down the stand number and notify the market office at 216-664-3387. Either way, take a peek in the bag before you leave the market. The art of shopping, as well as the art of vending, is the thing here.