Going out to eat can be deadly these days during the coronavirus pandemic. Take out is a safer option. Curbside pickup involves even less risk. All restaurants are struggling these days so we are trying to give as much support to restaurants as much as we can……. Besides there is little else to do that can be done safely.

Our first take out of the week was from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a Vietnamese Restaurant that serves most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho. Instead they specialize in serving banh mi baguette sandwiches and do offer close to a dozen different varieties of them.

I got the noodle bowl combo on the left with tasty marinated chicken and a vegetarian egg roll. The chicken is developed with good flavors and is topped with some fried shallots. They give you fish sauce to dip the chicken and sriracha for the egg roll. This plate also comes with a refreshing minty salad and vegetables with lots of rice noodles. It’s a very large portion and for some people can be two meals. My husband got the grilled pork rice plate. His meal comes with a pork egg roll, a seasoned salad, rice, fish sauce and lots of tasty grilled pork. You get delicious generous plates of food at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese eatery and at the moment I believe that all the dishes there are $10. or less. My dogs always enjoy helping to finish up the food from BMBVE.

Next take out was from Barrio Cafe in Phoenix. We were there two weeks back and the food was delicious. Incase you live under a rock you should know that the Barrio Cafe is an amazing award winning restaurant for Mexican Food. The chef is James Beard Nominated Sillvana Salcido Esparza.

This time we got a huitllacoche las tlayudas (left corner), a vegan chiles en nogada vegano (right corner), and their famous cochinta pibil. All was delicious and we had plenty to share with the dogs.

Confluence in Carefree is another AMAZING restaurant. They also have an amazing chef that also prepares food on a level that very few achieve. They serve upscale modern farm to table type cuisine. My take out is more casual than what I typically get here but is detailed and is very good!

My husband got a cheese burger. It’s not average and is made of the highest quality. The roll is baked in house. The pickle is made in house and the chips are made in house. Sauces are made in house.

I went with a chopped chicken salad and we shared a herb roasted maitake mushroom that was garnished with Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes. Everything was delicious. My dogs eagerly were awaiting for their portion.

We also did TAKE OUT from Twist Bistro and Gallery in North Scottsdale (just down the road from Confluence) TB&G is a sort of modern Mediterranean Restaurant that offers an interesting and creative menu.

This time I tried the grilled Hawaiian opah special. WOW! was it delicious! I also tried a small piece of my husband’s steak sandwich pallard. WOW AGAIN! That was CRAZY GOOD beef. It was so flavorful and so tender. It was really great! We also shared the Moroccan Festival soup. It was deep earthy and fabulous! WOW! What a great takeout. My lucky dogs were thrilled to try some of the opah and tender delicious beef.

The last take out of the week was from Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. They are an American-Italian Restaurant that also offers some healthy options and around a dozen different vegetable choices. They have been here in business for close to thirty years.

Today I got the baked spaghetti squash with a side of asparagus. My husband got the chicken parmesan. and they packed us some garlic toasts. The spaghetti squash doesn’t look light but is very light and delicate. It sits in a rich tomato sauce that is topped with alfredo sauce. Of course we saved some for the dogs.

The restaurants we did take out from on week 20 during the coronavirus pandemic-

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Barrio Cafe – Phoenix

Confluence – Carefree

Twist Bistro & Gallery – North Scottsdale

Cucina Tagliani – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.