Alright, to be fair…I’ll start by saying this is a new restaurant. Every business goes through some hard times getting all the kinks worked out. Let’s just say, when we went to EJ’s…we experienced ALL the kinks. Let me start from the beginning…

First off, we walked into the restaurant and our eyes had to adjust slightly to the dimly lit ambiance. Ordinarily, I am quite a fan of romantically lit, quaint little places, but oddly, this place missed the mark. It seemed to just be depressing. That was probably glorified by the fact that it was silent. I think rule #1 of restaurant-ing, is to put some appropriate music on. When all you hear is the swinging of the kitchen door and the clanking of silverware on plates, your experience tends to suffer.

Next, we were greeted and the waitress rattled off the specials while we waited for our table to get ready. Seems standard. When we were seated however, we were jammed into 2 booths that were connected and it took us only a short time to split up into a third table that was way too far from the original group.

The menu, was standard for a steakhouse lunch place. Hot meat sandwiches, salads, and simple steak and chicken entrees. I was amazed to see a veggie wrap on the menu, so I made up my mind quickly.

This is where the fun began. I have to preface this with a little background. I used to be a waitress. I know the drill. I give servers a lot of room for error because I know how stressful the job can be. But one thing I never tolerate is rudeness. Our service can be summed up in one example: when we were asked for our order, the waiter asked someone to start that wasn’t ready yet. He said “oh, I need a minute, I’ll go last.” In most cases, the server would then proceed to take the remaining orders and return to the customer that needed the extra time to decide. That, however, was not the case at EJ’s. The waiter replied with “No. We go in an order, and you’re first.” I had to laugh a little from the ridiculousness of the statement. No? Isn’t this the service industry, sir?

Anyway, we made it eventually through the order and got our food, which came out in twos… and the orderer had to be reestablished…even though our waiter was very thorough to take the order in a certain way so as to avoid this problem. Maybe we threw a wrench in his system when we made him skip a line on his tablet and then go back to fill it in later.

The food was fine, average I guess. I rarely get excited about wraps, but that was all there was other than a salad for a veggo like me. The fries were pretty good actually, it’s been a while since I’ve received hot, fresh fries. I’m usually the lucky one that gets the bottom of the bin, where the fries are somehow colder on the inside then on the chewy outside. So that was a plus.

Other than that, I really have nothing to say. The place was…a little off. I wouldn’t go back, but there seemed to be a lot of regulars there, so maybe our service was sub-par because we were a group of 13, most of which were “Damned Youngins.” They probably expected us to stiff them…but I’m sure they never expected us to write terrible online reviews.

If your thinking about going to E.J.’s Steakhouse in Mesa, AZ stop! You will have better luck going across the street from E.J.’s to the Iowa Cafe where the food is, well, less than satisfactory however half the price of E.J’s. From the moment I walked in the door I knew this was going to get ugly. The restaurant looks like a funeral home to begin with. Now I know I said before that the Landmark restaurant (see earlier post) in Mesa, AZ looked like a funeral home as well but E.J.’s took it a step further. The entire restaurant was filled with awkward decor and the lighting was very low. (See photo below.) I was almost expecting Dracula to come out and serve us and the truth be told our waiter wasn’t too far off from Dracula. I’ll get to that in a minute.. (more…)

First Impressions

EJ’s restaurant recently opened in a new strip mall along McKellips drive, opposite the famous Iowa Cafe and a dismal-looking Chase branch. Inside is a surprisingly extensive decor effort– they’ve done the entire place with dark woods, dim magenta paint, and leather and velvet touches designed to make it look like an up-market steakhouse. The effect is dampened both by the neighbourhood and the fact it’s right next to their butcher-store department.

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As we head into the dimly lit crypt that they call EJ’s steakhouse the nervous waitress chatters on about the soup of the day and then panics when she hears the words: “party of 13″. (more…)

An outfit that is content with mediocrity. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy the rueben sandwich(pssstttt…….not that good anyway, I’m just a ravenous animal), but I wanted the damn thing with dark rye, that, ohhhhhhh byyyyyy theee wwwwaaaaayyyyy (always a chuckle when Thom Brennaman says that….when he “peter gammons” statistical anomalies….)was plainly written on the menu…that, “ohh yeah…we don’t serve rye, or sourdough anymore” …well then, take them off of the menu.

Our waiter quite frankly, was being a dick. Like ,(in an early american/stillhaven’tlostmyaccentBrit accent to go along with our attempt at a NeoClassic Roaring 20’s villa ambience) ” The patron to my right..MUST order first…I would rather have pack rats knaw at my gipper, while a half legged sailor ridden with scurvy, mistakes me for an hungarian whore, than to let the second patron to my right order beforrrrreeeeeeee…….

WWWWWWWW…….EEEEEEEEEEE……..AAAAAAAAAA…………..KKKKKKKKKKKKK….!!!!!!!!!….EJ, try again……….

also, they force you to sit in booths, which were undoubtedly designed to torture heretics back in the day…

C-

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…)

So last week was my birthday, and the guys gave me the privilege of choosing the restaurant for lunch. Hmmm…privilege. Why is it that when you recommend a restaurant you feel like you’re introducing your boyfriend to your parents for the first time? “Oh please don’t screw up…” you think to yourself as you arrive, “I’m counting on you to make me look good!” Add to the pressure the fact that I’m the only vegetarian…that they’ve ever seen up close. Granted, most of these guys are up for anything…but I knew a few of them needed some convincing.

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……tasted like parts of my meal came from the jungle…..no fertilizer….natural, the breads were ground on a rock and cooked over a fire. If you like that kind of stuff, great, swing in from your tree house and enjoy.

I ordered a Tuna sandwich. It came with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I asked for mayo, they said “no mayo”, and served up some honey mustard. I do not like honey mustard, I like mayo, especially on my tuna sandwiches.

I was left with an empty feeling, in my stomach! It amazes me that when I go to these places there is never a person in them over twenty, nor is there a person that could beat me in a foot race, arm wrestling, standing long jump, ping pong or anything else of a physical nature and I’m fifty. Healthy?

But, to each his own, so I guess if this healthy food thing, is your thing, this is probably about as good as you will do clean, friendly, quiet, and the prices are not too bad.

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.

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