Today we ended up at a new Italian restaurant called Pisa Pizza located in Mesa. Upon entering there is a seating area lined with a wall that separates it from the main dining section. As you proceed to your table you are surrounded by what looks like a small Italian town with murals and fake windows. The restaurant was very clean and the service was fast.

Being a group of 8 we ordered three 18″ pizzas. One was a three cheese with peperoni, another was their “special pizza” which was composed of meats and vegetables, and the last one was pizza Ala vodka. We also ordered three bruschetta portions to start. The appetizers were amazing. The bruschetta tasted very fresh and had a unique tomato/cheese mix. The pizza was great as well. I only tried the three cheese and the Ala Vodka. Both had different seasonings and awesome thin crust.(they offer pizza in both thin and thick crust)

Overall the service was extremely friendly and even gave us complimentary garlic knots to start. Our waitress asked us on a scale of 1-5 what we thought. I would have to give them a 4. All ingredients were tasty and not overly greasy or stuffed with too much garlic. I would recommend Pisa Pizza for take out or to eat at the restaurant.

For one of our co-workers birthdays, we decided to go to Pastis. Their menu offers a euro grill cuisine. They have a decent menu consisting of salads, entrees, and specialty sandwiches. Mostly everyone ordered one of their unique creations. I had the Madrid. This sandwich consisted of turkey, prosciutto, mozzarella cheese, basil, tomatoes, and a pesto spread served on toasted whole wheat bread.  It was the same thing I ordered my previous time eating lunch there. The sandwiches come with your choice of fruit, coleslaw or fries. The waitress was pleasant to deal with and kept our drinks full.  With 12 people seated at our table, the food came out at the same time and didn’t take too long. Although their desserts looked very appetizing , we decided to skip it and collect the bill.

The food at Pastis is different from any in the valley. It’s quality and freshness is evident in their dishes. I would recommend trying them out for lunch or going there during happy hour, which offers discounted drinks as well as appetizers. Happy Birthday Tyson!

This weekend I was really in the mood for Italian food. After driving around Chandler, I found a great Italian place located right off highway 10 called Buca’s. Upon entering, the hostess takes you through the kitchen and shows you around the restaurant. There is even a booth you can eat at right in the kitchen itself. All throughout the restaurant is a ton of Italian flair. Tons of pictures and Italian memorabilia from all over Italy. Besides the lunch menu everything else is ordered to feed at least 2-6 people or al a carte. They push for group lunches, parties, birthdays, and offer unique discounts like getting a free cake on you birthday or treating your grandparents on their grandparents day. To keep track of all their deals they encourage you to take the paper place mat that has all the specials listed.

My friend and I just decided to order some things off the lunch menu. We started with the bruschetta, and a couple waters. The waiter was prompt and very friendly. For lunch I ordered the Spaghetti with meatballs in a marinara sauce, and my friend ordered stuffed shells over a Alfredo, marinara sauce mix. Both were good proportions and left me full. My friend said the stuffed shells were filled with a tasty ricotta, pesto, mozzarella stuffing and were baked to perfection.

Besides a loud party going on in the other eating area, the atmosphere was really cool and definitely accented the great Italian food. I would recommend this place if you not looking to spend a lot of money on some gourmet Italian place like Tomaso’s across the street. I plan on taking my parents there when they visit in October.

UPDATE: After paying Buca Di Beppo, I did have a few debit card issues with overcharging and various other charges to my card. I highly suggest that you pay in cash, I have heard that other people have also had issues with payment.

The day before Thanksgiving everyone was buzzing around the office trying to finish up a big project before the long weekend. Not surprisingly we all decided to run out for a quick lunch, some place where we could run in, eat, and head out in a hurry. We went right down the street to the new Cafe Mix, a Greek restaurant on the corner of Greenfield and McKellips. (more…)

The new Pita Jungle is located right across the street from Mesa Community College on Southern between Dobson and Alma School. I am a big fan of meat so I didn’t think I was going to be a big fan of the place. As I opened the menu I surprisingly found that there was actually quite a variety of courses along with a lot of meat options. I decided to go with the Tuna Sandwich Special with a cup of tomato soup. We started out with an appetizer plate of hummus and pita bread. The hummus came with three different flavors (Red, Green, and White). Well the hummus was excellent. Shortly after my soup came out which was also excellent. The tuna sandwich was cooked just right and was served on really good bread.

In conclusion I would recommend The Pita Jungle to anyone interested in a good healthy meal. It is sometimes hard to find a healthy meal that actually tastes good and Pita Jungle has many great healthy dishes to choose from. I have since been back to this pita jungle and both times we are seated immediately.

Despite my initial prejudgment, Pita Jungle did have some dang good food. The were as many hippies there as I expected to see, but I did manage to find some meat on the menu. (more…)

First Impressions

Pita Jungle’s latest location is right across from Mesa Community College, in a large-looking building that formerly held a series of unpromising-looking Chinese buffets.

The inside is painted a light lime-green, with random artistic objects on the walls.  Closer inspection shows price-tags on them; either the place just opened, or local artists peddle their wares to customers.  The kitchen is open for viewing, and seemed hectic yet reasonably tidy.

(more…)

Today the crew at web-op all went to Pita Jungle to belatedly celebrate Allie’s (sic) birthday. I have a few Syrian friends so I’ve eaten my share of tabouleh in the past and I’ve been to the location near Rural and Apache Trail. When I first walked in my first thought was the Mesa location is much cleaner and brighter than I remember near ASU. As you have almost certainly read here, Ali is a vegan so we are probably going to run out of ideas for places to eat where she can actually order something pretty quickly but Pita Jungle was the obvious choice. Pita Jungle had a fairly small menu and I wasn’t feeling very adventurous so I ordered a Falafel Pita that was modestly priced at $4.50.  The falafel wasn’t bad and I’d say the food is pretty similar to the ASU location.  The waitstaff were EXCELLENT and I rarely feel that way about restaurant service.  The place has a very casual atmosphere which made it all the more surprising.  After my last lunch out with web-op at California Pizza Kitchen on Val Vista and Baseline I was starting to wonder if any restaurant in the valley realized they were part of the hospitality industry.  The servers at Pita Jungle, however, are very competent.

Pita Jungle is a vegetarian and health food restaurant that has multiple locations across the valley. If you’re a health food nut or just a lover of organic food, this place may be the place for you. The menu consists of a variety of hot and cold pitas, hummus, salads and wood-fried baked pizzas. It’s very hard to eat healthy in todays society. McDonalds, KFC and Applebee’s seem to take every corner of every intersection. But I think that Pita Jungle offers a unique taste and has such a variety of foods, that everyone should eat here……or at least check it out.

(more…)

ohh pita jungle, dare I say you are amazonian…like canopy leaves froth with chickpea butter… in droves, the fauna, they fill your airplane hangar like structure and slurp away…the noise is unbearable, but your food is not…your service is mediocre, yes even the ones you thought not. Play some music, and put some sound proofing up on your walls… I felt like a disillusioned schizo listening to all that grassroots hippie chatter.

To start, a piece of pita bread and hummus…yummmm….

2 hours later…

a lunch special item- $7.95 yellowfin tuna sandwich, cooked medium, fairly raw in the middle, perfect!…served on a wheat bun with country potatoes and a few greens, spicy pickle, tomato and onion. Late came the horseradish mustard, delivered so very promptly by our very 80’s stewardess, i mean waitress…. I had already eaten 3/4 of my sandwich, thanks doll…I really appreciate it.

Had a coke and some water…good company, good food, poor ambience, fair service….B….holler!