Tag Archives: #PhoenixEats

My Trip to Eric’s Family Barbecue in Avondale AZ

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Eric’s Family Barbecue is a Texas Style casual Barbecue Restaurant that cooks with mesquite instead of the usual hickory and oak Texas barbecue is most famous for. This restaurant is located on the west side of Phoenix in Avondale Arizona. It’s not a fancy place but it seems clean. They offer some patio seating.

They also have some seating indoors.

You wait in line to order and look at the menu on the wall to decide.

Today they are out of sausage and burgers today.

Ordering is a little different.You make up your own plate by ordering The amount of meat(s) that you want. You can order all the pounds that you want or a fraction of the amount of meat or meats that you desire. The meats that were offered today were brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, pulled pork, turkey, and rib tips. They offered a few specials, some sandwiches, sides, desserts, soft beverages……Not sure if I saw beer bottles but I thought I did..?

We went threw the line and our platter was made up for us. We ordered not all but a good amount of the menu. They might have been a little generous with the servings. We have enough for over four meals.

Going clockwise starting in the lower left corner are the complimentary pickles, onions & jalapeño. We also have potato salad, pulled pork, brisket, turkey, beans, and macaroni and cheese.

We thought some things were much better than other things. I do note that any barbecue can’t really be judged in only one visit because none of them are completely consistent. They take hours smoking the meat. Then the hard part is timing the meat to stay ready for you.

Our mutual favorite today was the turkey. It was extremely flavorful and so moist it really did melt in your mouth. The turkey today was AMAZING!

The pulled pork was also amazing because it also was flavorful, moist, and tender.

We thought the house sauces that we tried were very good.

We tried the house bbq sauce, the spicy bbq sauce, and the mustard. All the sauces were very flavorful and delicious. Also none of them were too sweet.

We thought both sides were average for barbecue places. The macaroni and cheese was soggy and sticky. It tasted more like children’s macaroni and cheese. The potato salad was laced with dill but seemed like it was missing the usual onions and celery. We thought that it did taste better when I added a little bit of mustard sauce to it.

The brisket had perfect textures to it. The burnt ends were crusty. The meat was succulent but not too succulent. The only thing missing on the brisket today was flavor.

It wasn’t the day to try rib tips. They were dried out and lacked flavor.

That was my trip to Eric’s Family Barbecue in Avondale AZ.

www.EricsFamilyBBQ.com

12345 W Indian School Rd Avondale AZ

623-248-0148

Everything is. subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Bar Food at Arrowhead Grill in Glendale AZ is Worth a Fork!

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The Arrowhead Grill is a steakhouse located in the Arrowhead section of North Glendale Arizona. I generally don’t dine at steakhouses but a good bar menu from a steakhouse can lure me in.

Here is the indoor bar seating. I only saw high top tables for the bar seating.

They also offer outdoor bar seating at high top tables.

They offer glasses of luxury wines.

And on the other end of the spectrum they also have reduced prices for Happy Hour 3pm-6pm everyday where well drinks and house wine only runs $5,99 each.

They ask if you would like a bread basket even at the bar tables.

The bread basket contained four different kinds of bread.

As far as bar menu goes one of the best bets might be the A.G. burger ($22.99 or $12.99 Happy Hour)

All the burgers are made of prime beef trimmings ground in house. The A.G. Burger is considered their best burger and is made from ground tenderloin (8oz.). That is topped with a 6oz. prime rib and crispy fried onions, cheese, mayonnaise, and a horseradish cream sauce on a toasted eggy bun.

Some of the other bar offerings are crab and cheeseburger sliders, crispy green beans, lamb chop fondue, bone in prime rib, a cheese plate, salads with steak or salmon, lamb chop, a mixed grill plate, 1/2 chicken, petite prime rib, and a surf and turf.

A.G. salad with salmon

The A.G. salad with salmon is among the best salads that you can find in the immediate area. Everything is very fresh tasting. The salad is lightly dressed and the salmon is prepared medium/medium rare. The creamy goat cheese pecans, cranberries, and super sweet slices of pear make this salad more of a treat.

This was a little taste of bar food at Arrowhead Grill in Glendale AZ.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ArrowheadGrill.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The FANTABULOUS Dish! The Miang Kham from Chada Thai AZ Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Chada Thai AZ is a Thai Restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. They were well known for many years as Cha Da Thai at their original location about ten minutes away in Scottsdale. They advertise that they serve authentic Thai Food. You can find dishes here that aren’t on many menus in Thai restaurants like boat noodle soups and the miang kham (tasty leaf wrap salad bites).

The FANTABULOUS Dish means – top of the line, marvelously good, peachy keen and DYNAMITE!

The miang kham from Chada Thai AZ is a FANTABULOUS Dish!

one of six miang kham

I read on the menu that the miang kham is the original snack in Thailand. It starts with a leaf that is either a green butter leaf or a wild pepper leaf depending on the time of year. The leaf is stuffed with roasted shredded coconut, peanuts, unpeeled lime cubes, fresh ginger cubes, onions, oranges and a sauce made with tamarind and bird’s eye chilies. It’s a combination of sweet, spicy, savory, tart and tangy. This sets off all kinds of delicious sensations in your mouth. It’s just delicious and is a must get dish.

The Miang Kham from Chada Thai AZ in Scottsdale is a FANTABULOUS Dish!

Worth A Fork!
Miang Kham from Chada Thai AZ

www.ChadaThaiAZ.com

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Ground Control in Litchfield Park AZ

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Ground Control is a casual neighborhood bar, restaurant, coffee bar, and event center located in Litchfield Park Arizona. For breakfast hey offer breakfast burritos and breakfast plates. For lunch and dinner they offer an all day menu with appetizers like Dakota style beef. chislic (marinated fried cube steak), fried cheese curds, and wings. You can find burgers, sandwiches such as a Cubano, a pastrami, a Nashville hot chicken, a few salads and entrees that include three street pork tacos, Nashville chicken tenders, a protein bowl and more. For beverages they offer locally roasted coffee, wines, craft beers, mead and soft beverages.

It’s casual here. On our visit there was a sign that read seat yourself. They have seating indoors and offer patio dining.

I tried the Nashville hot chicken sandwich (xtra hot…it comes in regular hot, extra hot, and cozy hot) with a side salad.

The salad is fresh and adorned with sweet delicious sweet tomatoes.

The chicken and the bun were cooked more than what people like.

The bun was charred to black.

The best part of the chicken was the crunchy breading that stayed on. The chicken wasn’t served hot from the fryer and came out luke warm. It was edible but very dry today. We both thought they forgot the heat element of the sandwich at first bite because all we tasted at first was paprika. Heat did kick in at the second bite but it was mild heat and mostly just a paprika taste. I left most of the bun on my plate and some of the chicken so my server could see…….

My husband tried the Cubano dip sandwich (shredded pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, pickles, pressed hoagie bun)

He said that it would have been good but the meat was very dry.

I thought maybe the house made gelato might be good so we asked for some. (I saw it on their website and also read about it on the black board pictured below.

When we asked about the gelato the server said that they haven’t had any in months….

That was my trip to Ground Control in Litchfield Park AZ.

Slight update****The owner contacted me and was apologetic. He said that he had trouble lately getting help. He also said that he would have refunded me if I brought all this to someone’s attention. Also the gelato machine is fixed now so they are serving gelato again.

www.GroundControl.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Shaanxi Garden in Mesa AZ – Shaanxi Style Chinese Food – Worth a Fork!

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Shaanxi Garden is a Chinese Restaurant located in Mesa Arizona. They specialize in serving Chinese Dishes from the desert Shaanxi region of China. Most dishes are large and are meant to be shared. Some of the dishes do run spicy and some dishes might contain mouth numbing Sichuan peppercorns but the dishes are not fiery hot like Szechuan dishes. They serve hand made noodles here so you might want to give them a try.

It’s casual.

The word biang is the sound of making noodles……(hint hint…get the handmade noodles)

During the day they tell us to seat ourselves.

There is a small bar in the restaurant indicating that some alcohol is available.

The current menu is broken down into cold dishes like coming called mixing cucumber, spicy beef tripe, and pork in garlic sauce. You can find appetizers such as egg rolls, potstickers, and dumplings. Soups like seaweed and egg, congee with pork and century eggs. They offer various chicken, beef, pork, lamb, seafood, and vegetable dishes. Some of the dishes offer are American Chinese style like orange chicken and beef and broccoli. However you can also find the seldom found at other restaurants like toothpick lamb, twice cooked pork with Shaanxi buns, and Talchi squirrel shaped fish.

We always order way more food than we need and always bring home the leftovers.

Our last food critic raved about the crispy chicken Shaanxi Style so we tried it.

It’s fried chicken breast with a crispy coating with the seasoning on the side. The seasoning has all kinds of flavors and sesame seeds and heat in it. It is tasty. Most people would like the taste of it. Today this dish ran a bit dry.

I’m not entirely sure what they served us as our main this time. I asked for the water boiled fish filet because I’ve had this dish at several other places and knew what to expect. I think the waiter repeated back water boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili? On my receipt it reads, pickled fish. Whatever it was……. it was REALLY GREAT!

It doesn’t look like water boiled fish because it doesn’t have all the oil, chilies, and mouth numbing peppercorns on the top. This is actually better than water boiled fish. It has more flavors and more textures than other water boiled fish dishes that I have tried.

This dish also has rice noodles in it.

It has heat in it but not a crazy amount of heat. The fish is mild and melt in your mouth soft. The broth is well made. The pickled peppers in this dish make it interesting. There is a lot of fish in this dish. I think that this dish can feed 3-4 people.

Last time we had a plate called the house special braised chicken with noodle.

This plate is very special. It is more well known in Shaanxi Cuisine as Big Plate Chicken.

It’s like Chinese Thanksgiving in a bowl. It’s full of chunks of marinated chicken, peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic, chestnuts, chili peppers, and maybe cumin, star anise, soy sauce, and chewy long noodles. Actually I thought this dish was even better the next day when I had it again.

We also tried a few vegetable dishes that were very good!

Below is a- choy in garlic sauce. (I don’t recall seeing it on the current menu?)

On my last visit we tried the sautéed potato, pepper, and eggplant dish.

It was delicious anyone would like it.

That was a little taste of Shaanxi Garden in Mesa.

Shaanxi Garden is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ShaanxiBiangBiang.com

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Outta Bronx Sandwich Restaurant Peoria AZ – Newly Opened

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Outta Bronx in Peoria Arizona is a small casual sandwich shop with limited seating. The original location is in Phoenix. On the Peoria menu you won’t find some New York classics like a spiedie or beef on weck, club sandwiches, or New York Bagels and lox. However you will find are a variety of hot sandwiches. Many of the sandwiches are some sort of beef like a New York inspired chopped cheese (with beef), there’s also pastrami, hot dogs, corned beef, beef brisket, and beef meatballs. Besides beef sandwiches they also offer a fish sandwich, a bacon, egg, cheese and hash brown baguette sandwich, a shrimp sandwich, a gyro, a grilled cheese, a veggie sandwich and two chicken sandwiches. Outta Bronx also serves burgers a few salads, wings, fish & chips, a shrimp basket, lots of sides, and a children’s menu.

The Peoria location is located in an outdoor shopping center between a vape shop and a UPS store and anchored by a Fry’s Supermarket.

It’s only postage sized inside.

You order, pay, and pick up at the counter.

In the next picture you are looking at all of the indoor seating and the bottle of hand sanitizer is the only place to clean you hands (no public restroom available).

A few patio tables are outside.

I tried a sandwich called the East Coast (thick cut pastrami, pickles, mustard, on a baguette)

It taste good but…..my thick pastrami is sliced very thin.

They might have sliced it thin because the pastrami is under done. (the fat is still hard and if it was thick you wouldn’t be able to eat it). It taste good but it is a bit chewy.

My husband tried the chopped cheese. (grilled Angus beef, American & provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles on a baguette)

Mayonnaise wasn’t in the description…..and. mayonnaise is maybe the one thing that my husband hates. the most. The sandwich is slathered with mayonnaise. (I worried about him becoming unhinged over mayonnaise but he remained cool…)

My husband goes inside to ask why mayonnaise is on his chopped cheese sandwich. The girl at the counter insist that the white spread on the sandwich isn’t mayonnaise and is the melted cheese. (it truly was mayonnaise…I should have taken another photo)

Anyways…..

The cheese is slightly over cooked and hard. My husband wouldn’t eat the bread because it was polluted with mayonnaise so he ate around the mayonnaise and all the beef and cheese was like a solid block all glued together because the cheese was hard and chewy.

We also shared what they called a 50/50 (fries and onion rings.

The 50/50 isn’t actually 50% fries and 50% onion rings I guess it’s more like 80% skinny thin fries and 20% onion rings. The fries and onion rings remind me of a certain fast food restaurant.

That was my trip to Outta Bronx in Peoria AZ – Newly Opened

www.OuttaBronx.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Aftermath in Phoenix AZ – Newly Opened

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Aftermath is a small swanky restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. They offer elevated modern detailed cuisine. Some of the plates are globally inspired. They also offer craft cocktails and more. You need to know that you park and enter behind the restaurant. At the time of my visit the door was unmarked.

Most of the seating is indoors at a booth or a traditional table.

They also have a few bar seats and a very small patio of only four tables.

We started out with the grilled broccolini.

grilled broccolini

It was adorned with mushrooms, cashew cream, fish sauce caramel, and smoked parmesan.

We also shared a grilled hamachi collar.

grilled hamachi collar

It was a very detailed plate of two very small collars, kelap mann (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), miso pickled vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, and peanuts.

For our main we shared the picanha steak a la plancha.

picanha steak a la plancha

The came with long beans, pee wee potatoes, smoked onion jam, and gorgonzola butter. The flavors were amazing on this one but the beef was a little chewy.

A perfect sweet ending was the key lime bar of praline graham crust, crystallized ginger Chantilly and topped with a candied lime.

key lime bar

That was a little taste of Aftermath in Phoenix.

www.AftermathPhoenix,com

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With DOGS in Metro Phoenix AZ – November 2021 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Cucina Tagliani, Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Oscar’s Pier 83

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Dining out with dogs. is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started with my dog Louie….he was elderly and was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. He couldn’t do a lot but he always enjoyed eating so I took him out to eat as often as I could. Instead of the 3-6 month diagnosis Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat.

There is a lot to know about dining out with dogs. First of all not all restaurant patios are dog friendly. Even if a patio is dog friendly it is always best to call because you never know if the patio is. reserved for a party. It’s also always better to dine at off times. It’s always best to avoid as many people and other dogs as possible. Some people don’t share your love for dogs and other people are allergic. It’s best to avoid other dogs because dogs like to bark at each other and that can be a disturbance and you might be asked to leave. Dine at off times to avoid potential trouble.

Here in Phoenix it is often to hot to dine out with dogs. Your dog is not as heat tolerant as you. Dogs wear fur coats, they can’t sweat, and they absorb heat up their paws. Just like people all dogs have individual heat tolerances. Hopefully you know your dog well enough to determine if you should dine out together. In general 90 degrees and higher is too hot for dogs to dine out. But maybe up to 90 degrees for younger healthier dogs in shade. Shade makes a difference here. When there is any doubt be smart and leave your furry friend at home.

Most food and drink that you consume can be harmful or toxic to your dog. It’s best to get the facts from your veterinarian on what is safe and what to avoid. Usually a small lean un-sauced piece of meat is a best bet.You should bring a water dish so your dog can lap up some water.

When you dine out with your dog(s) you should keep them close to you. You should never let them sit on restaurant furniture. You should also never let them eat off of restaurant plates.

We went out to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a Vietnamese restaurant that offers around a dozen different Banh Mi Baguette sandwiches and most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I had a chicken cabbage salad and chicken pot stickers. (this big and delicious salad with fresh herbs is only $7. and the tasty hand made potstickers are only $5.)

Someone is eyeing up the food.

My husband had a shaken beef Banh Mi today.

Someone is hoping extra beef shakes out.

We all enjoyed our meals at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix.

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

Next we went to Cucina Tagliani in the Arrowhead part of Glendale. Cucina Tagliani is a neighborhood type restaurant that offers American Italian style favorites, build your own pastas, soups, sandwiches, salads, a few entrees and more!

Cucina Tagliani happens to also have a nice large officially licensed dog friendly patio and it’s usually very quiet on Sundays so we like to take advantage of that and we get treated like kings and queens.

My dogs were served their own water pans right away.

We ordered and my husband started with some minestrone soup.

Each dog got a piece of bacon from the soup.

Soon the meals came out.

I had the strawberry chicken salad and dogs got lots of the chicken.

My husband had the chicken parmesan.

All the chicken was moist today so we did ok at Cucina Tagliani.

www.CucinaTagliani.com

This next trip out with the dogs went into plan “B.”

Our destination was Phila-Deli in Glendale. When we got there we saw a note they posted on the door and it read that they are temporarily closing on Sundays. Plan “B” was to go down the street to Skewers Mediterranean Grill ( fast/casual fresh Mediterranean foods). The …Skewers doesn’t have a patio but just across the street is a small park with tables for us to dine at.

I got a chicken kabob salad with turnips and chick peas.

It’s a pretty nice and tasty salad with lots of tasty moist delicious chicken to share with the dogs.

The dogs are waiting for their chicken.

My husband got a gyro salad.

The dogs are enjoying the food from Skewers.

Nice tasty large salads from Skewers Mediterranean Grill in North Glendale that don’t cost much more than fast food and is much better.

www.SkewersAZ.com

Since we couldn’t do Phila-Deli last week we thought we’d try again this week. We tried to call in our order 6 times and nobody answered the phone. We were afraid that they went out of business. When we got there we were relieved that they were open. We found out that they no longer make salads….(my first choice)…..Then I found out that they discontinued wraps too…..(my second choice). I like the people there and my husband likes the sandwiches but I am pickier…..and only liked the wraps and salads here…………We decided that we’d go down the street to Oscar’s Pier 83. Unfortunately the patio was already packed with lots of babies and other dogs. So we did take out and the dogs had to eat on our patio.

I got a salmon salad. It’s nothing fancy but the fish is fresh here.

My husband got a three piece fried fish (cod) dinner.

www.OP83.com

Well that was dining out with dogs in metro Phoenix for November 2021. We hope that you’ve enjoyed and we hope to see you next month.

“YUM!” “We LOVE eating!”
The Forking Truth
In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

Mac Shack – Casual Fresh Pasta Restaurant Glendale AZ – Newly Opened

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Mac Shack is a casual fresh pasta restaurant recently opened in north Glendale Arizona. The pasta is fresh made daily. They offer a variety of pastas with meat, vegetarian, vegan, and also offer build your own pasta pans. Other offerings are a few salads, bread, kid’s meals, marshmallow cereal bars, and soft beverages.

It’s small and casual inside.

There’s an artwork of Anthony Bourdain on the wall.

You order and pay at the counter. There is only a few tables and a couple seats at the counter.

the pasta machine is on the counter. There is a fresh tray of pasta that was just made.

Your order is fresh made for you and takes around twenty five minutes to prepare.

They bring our salad and pastas at the same time.

Cesar salad

The Caesar salad isn’t fancy but it is very large and is fresh and crisp.

I tried the pasta pan called Happy Valley (orecchiette, roasted garlic oil, olives, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, capers, fresh basil, artichokes, and spinach)

My husband suggested getting the large size…..Nobody can eat a large…..I was able to do like almost a third of this pan. It’s good but they were overly generous with the olives….and too light with the basil. Mine stayed piping hot the whole time we were here.

My husband tried the cheesy mac’s bbq (elbows, cheese sauce, pulled pork, onion, pickle, cheddar blend, scallions, Ritz crumbs, bbq drizzle.

This one was gooey and cheesy. It’s not as piping hot as mine.. He likes it. My husband is a big eater…..and loves to eat pasta. Even he could only eat half.

Went back to just to try the plain mac-n- cheese called the Mac Shack and took out the small size.

It’s cheesy with melted cheddar and crumbs on the top. Could use a little seasoning for adults but it just right for kids.

Doesn’t cost much to dine here and it’s better than fast food. (most large pans are around $15. and they can certainly feed at least two people)

Mac Shack – Newly Opened in north Glendale AZ #UpperWestSide

www.MacShackAZ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The SKINNY on Thinnest Dough Pizzas and Such in Metro Phoenix AZ – Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, Pane Bianco, Pomo Pizzeria, Mora Italian, PA’LA Downtown

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Here is the SKINNY on the thinnest dough pizzas and such in Metro Phoenix Arizona. If you are a fan of the extra thin doughs and are around Phoenix this might be of interest to you.

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in north Glendale offers all of their pizzas (around 16 varieties Milano Style……….. that means EXTRA thin…much thinner than their normal thin Neapolitan pizzas. Thin pizzas never weigh you down. You can enjoy more pizza when you go for the extra thin. Up above is the vegetariana pizza made of D.O.P. tomato sauce, flor di latte, red bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

Next is a spinach calzone from Pane Bianco in Phoenix.

It looks like a normal doughy calzone.

But look!

This dough is paper thin…This is super thin calzone dough….gives you more belly room for that rich creamy cheesus filling. BTW- The cheeses are incredible here. For my taste it is a little light on the spinach but it does taste great.

Pomo Pizzeria offers quite a few extra thins. One is the Pizza Rimini in 4 varieties.

It gets baked for a very short time at around 900 degrees in a certified Italian wood oven.

Pomo also offers the Focaccia di Recco in three varieties. (below is the formaggio)

This focaccia gets rolled even thinner than the Rimini pizza because it gets stuffed with stracchino cheese and you can add on local honey to enjoy it even more.

Focaccia di Recco from Pomo Pizzeria

Here is the focaccia di recco in the pesto variety from Pomo.

focaccia di recco pesto

LOOK how paper thin it really is.

I loved the Focaccia di Recco so much from Pomo Pizzeria that I had to try it when I saw it on the menu at Mora Italian in Phoenix.

The Mora Italian Focaccia di Recco was very different from the Pomo Pizzeria. Mora’s wasn’t as crisp and the cheese didn’t come out all melty.

I was told by the manager that Mora Italian uses a different oven so the results do differ.

The thinnest non-extra thin pizza that we have received was the mushroom with mozzarella and salamette picante from PA’LA Downtown.

It was a very chewy very thin pizza.

This was the SKINNY on the thinnest dough pizzas and such in Metro Phoenix AZ.

Every FORKING thing is subject to change.

The Forking Truth