Tag Archives: #PhxEats

Some of the FORKING BEST Pastrami that I’ve tasted in Metro Phoenix AZ so far

I’ve tried pastrami at many restaurants around metro Phoenix. Some of the places that I have been to are Chompie’s, Scott’s Generations NY Style Delicatessen, Miracle Mile, Goldman’s Deli, JJ’s Delicatessen and a few more that I forget the names of. Most of these places that I mentioned are at least ok and some are good. Some are inconsistent…….like on one trip the pastrami was very good and the next time is was very bland…. As far as I know none of these places brines their own pastrami…..There is a world of difference when a place brines their own pastrami….It’s like places that don’t brine their own pastrami are like watching television on a black and white TV. And places that so brine their own pastrami are like watching technicolor………That is the difference in taste.

My Top 3 all brine the pastrami in-house.

#3 Smasher’s Eats in North Phoenix

Smasher’s Eats is a newly opened restaurant around North Phoenix. The specialty of the restaurant are their smash style burgers. (that according to my husband are very good) but the special amazing dish that really surprised me was that they have a house cured pastrami melt on the menu….It’s full of delicious flavors. It taste like typical east coast pastrami…..I was shocked when I tasted it. It’s DAM GOOD!

#2 The Thursday pastrami special from Little Miss BBQ Sunny Slope Phoenix.

This is really REALLY to die for………! They use a higher quality meat than what the deli places use and it’s FORKING Delicious. This is a pastrami that eats like a dinner. It’s one of the BEST!

#1 I have to give it to Confluence in Carefree AZ because their pastrami sandwich is FANTABULOUS and is TOP OF THE LINE.

This pastrami sandwich is like no other because it’s made from wagyu beef that is so buttery and really just melts in the mouth. It’s an EXTRA special treat. The pastrami is spiced and smoked to perfection. It’s adorned with brussel’s sprout coleslaw, a thousand island with a little kick, gruyere cheese, grilled Jewish rye bread and a house made dill pickle. You also have a choice of house chips, salad or for a little extra their amazing fries with three dips. (The only bad news is that the menu is ever changing at Confluence so you might miss this on the lunch menu.)

Oh and my home made cured and smoked would fit into this bunch too!

Forking Amazing Smoked Pastrami with my Easy Rye Rolls and my Spicy Beer Mustard

Those were THE FORKING BEST Pastrami that I tasted in metro Phoenix AZ so far.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Pane Bianco in Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

Pane Bianco is a small casual urban gourmet sandwich and more restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. Pane Bianco is a sister restaurant of the famous Pizzeria Bianco by James Beard award winning chef Chris Bianco. Pane Bianco focuses on serving a limited but high quality menu of foods that lean towards Italian. The bread made here is from wood fired fermented heirloom grain dough. The most popular sandwich here might be the split focaccia bread stuffed with tomato basil mozzarella sandwich made with house made mozzarella cheese. Pane Bianco offers sandwiches, salads, focaccia slices, calzone, specials, desserts, wine, beer and some dry goods for sale.

Before the pandemic Pane Bianco looked like this.

Today it is pretty much the same but the community tables outside were removed and only one table was on the patio that is now partially enclosed.

It looks like this when you walk in. You can order from the counter or seat yourself in the dining room.

The inside is mix matched in a charming way with lots of character.

We started out by sharing the salad of the day. It was a refreshing but simple watermelon salad with fennel, parsley, salt, and pepper.

For my main I tried the spinach calzone.

It is made up of house made mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta cheese, a little bit of spinach and Bianco tomato sauce.

The dough is paper thin. This calzone is large with a lot of cream rich delicious melty cheese. For some people it might be two meals.

My husband got the Italian combo sandwich today.

It’s made of crusty bread, mortadella, spicy soppresatta, romaine, provolone cheese, and a little vegetable salad garnishes the plate.

Currently but SUBJECT TO CHANGE…Pane Bianco is only open for lunch..But that does change every now and then…….11-3 Monday-Saturday.

I’ve been here for dinner before and used to enjoy the pizza here.

Here are not all but some of the things we tried from Pane Bianco.

soppressata and aged provolone with wood roasted red bell pepper

Tuna Salad

Albacore tuna salad sandwich

Chicken Salad

soppressata with aged provolone and wood roasted onion

focaccia

nutmeg Italian ice

Available for purchase.

I have to say….

Pane Bianco in Phoenix is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.PizzeriaBianco.com

Everything is subject to change and everything usually does eventually change.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Bobby Q BBQ Restaurant in Phoenix AZ

Bobby Q Restaurant is la BBQ restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona and also does have a location in Mesa and a smaller location in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. The original Phoenix location is very unique with mature plantings and very large old trees seldom seen in Phoenix. The old building has character and rustic charm of yesteryear. According to Opentable Bobby Q is one of the best 30 BBQ restaurants in the country.

Patio
bar area
inside looking in by hostess desk

The above dining room isn’t always used and a wall rolls down to close it off.

This place is enormous.

Oh and they sell some souvenirs.

They start you off with complimentary Johnny cakes and soft creamy butter and the rest is up to you.

We shared some of the Q Rolls appetizer.

They are pastry wrapped around the signature 16 hour BBQ beef brisket served with a BBQ sauce and a chipotle ranch dressing.

Each Q roll is very large and is PACKED with lots of tender smoky brisket.

Today my husband got a two meat plate of BBQ sausage and BBQ pork with BBQ beans and macaroni and cheese.

I got the Bob’s salad.

It’s a humble rotisserie chicken salad adorned with some apples, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese tied together by dijon vinaigrette.

On a past visit I did try the salmon.

I remember that I thought that the salmon was better here from Bobby Q than the more expensive seafood chain restaurant nearby across the highway and it cost around $10. less at Bobby Q.

Once at lunch my husband had the three meat lunch plate.

I tried the BBQ chicken sandwich with peacan slaw as my side.

The apple pie here might be like something a neighbor or a relative might serve you.

They always send you off with bag of complimentary PIPING HOT thank Q doughnuts.

That was a little taste of Bobby Q in Phoenix AZ.

www.BobbyQ.net

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Superstition Downtown Meadery & Restaurant in Phoenix AZ is Worth a Fork!

Superstition Meadery is a award wining producer of ancient honey wine called mead. The original location is in Prescott Arizona and they have a location in downtown Phoenix Arizona. The Phoenix location also offers chef crafted food parings of sharing boards, small plates and large plates. Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot.

They have the fanciest bike racks that I have ever seen.

When the weather is nice you can bring your furry best friend or friends on the patio.

The patio is much larger than the view I got. It goes down the whole side of the building.

Inside it looks like this.

At the end of the bar are big bottles of mead and maybe some ciders.

I’m not sure if I ever had mead before…..

We decided to share the flight of 12 for $24. (subject to change)

My favorite was the one called lemonade in retrograde. It was bright, refreshing and had a nice lemon zing and wasn’t too sweet. My least favorite was the one called Tahitian Honeymoon made with Tahitian Vanilla bean mead aged in oak…..

There were many sharing boards, small plates and large plates to pick from.

We started out by sharing the piri piri chicken small plate and the warm cannellini bean salad.

The piri piri chicken is spicy chicken breast covered with crushed peanuts and served with some sliced grilled baguette bread.

The warm cannellini bean salad is made up of beans, farro, spinach, Thai basil, and wood roasted onion dressing.

Our main was the gorgonzola & herbed butter skirt steak. Today it came with wood roasted shitshito peppers, radicchio (Italian chicory), mushrooms and arugula.

I thought we were done but the desert of the day sounded too interesting to turn down.

It was blondies with chocolate nibs with Marion berry mead sauce, caramel and whipped cream.

I thought we were done.

But I was wrong again.

They gave us complimentary cookies with the bill.

Everything was delicious and detailed nicely. Service was very attentive and helpful.

Superstition Downtown Meadery & Restaurant is –

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.SuperstitionMeadery.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of The Miracle Mile Delicatessen in Phoenix AZ

The Miracle Mile Delicatessen is located in Phoenix Arizona. This is a cafeteria style deli that is family owned and ran since 1949. The well known dishes here are hot pastrami, corned beef, beef brisket, stuffed cabbage, and turkey dinners. Lesser known dishes are the baked cod with puffy cheese and the honey dijon veggie wrap of avocado. peppers, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, crispy onion strings with honey dijon dressing in a spinach tortilla. You order while walking threw the line, pay and seat yourself indoors or outdoors.

corned beef and pastrami

Here are the sides that you can pick for your sandwich. There’s fresh fruit, apple sauce, carrot and raisin salad, Cole slaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, Not sure but I think the one on the end looks like pasta salad.

They also offer desserts. The bread pudding is made in house.

main dining area
What would Bernie get here?

We shared a pastrami sandwich and a corned beef sandwich on marble rye bread.

pastrami sandwich
corned beef sandwich

The sandwiches come with very good pickles.

They both are Arizona style sandwiches. Well we are in Arizona so that is what I should expect……….The bread and taste of the meats does differ from East Coast Style. (east coast bread is crusty and usually thin and toasted while AZ rye bread is soft, thick and cold) (east coast pastrami taste smoked and has a peppery rub…we don’t taste much of that here) (east coast corned beef is seasoned more than AZ corned beef) Everything was fresh tasting and the restaurant seemed clean. Plates were cleared quickly.

Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot. Service is speedy because you go threw the line quickly, you pay and seat yourself.

That was a Little Taste of The Miracle Mile Delicatessen in Phoenix AZ.

www.MiracleMile deli.com

The Forking Truth

Pizzeria Bianco Town and Country Phoenix AZ – Is still Worth a Fork

Pizzeria Bianco is nationally well known for pizza. The owner is the James Beard Award winning chef Chris Bianco. Pizzeria Bianco has earned a positive recognition from various celebrities, Food Network TV, various magazines and by food critics.

I most often go to the Town and Country location in Phoenix.

The atmosphere looks like it’s been here forever. I’ve heard that many of the paintings inside where done by the chef’s father.

There is another dining room behind this one.

Today we will sit on the patio.

They start us up with shattering crisp bread and high quality olive oil.

We share the market salad.

It’s made of radicchio lettuce, sliced Asian pears, gorgonzola cheese and pecans. It’s very balanced. The bold cheese, the nuts and the sweet pears counter the bitter radicchio just so.

My husband had the pappardelle with bolognese sauce.

I had the chicken cacciatore with risotto.

Everything was flavored nicely and the chicken is cooked to perfection but The FORKING Truth is that the risotto is dry and not creamy. I know that it is very rare to get correctly made risotto out so we let this go.

Here are some of the previous dishes we had here.

chicken salad platter
meatball sandwich
nutmeg & chocolate Italian ice
Swiss Chard Lasagna
Market Salad
Arancini
Grilled Mortadella Sandwich
Pasta E Fagioli

I’ve had many of the pizzas but as of today I still haven’t had a pizza from this location. I want to include the famous pizza so here is a page I saved from a 2012 Food & Wine Magazine.

Food & Wine Magazine

Pizzeria Bianco is still Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.PizzeriaBianco.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ – Week 34 Take Out Food

Take out and delivery are less risky dining options during the pandemic. We do consider patio dining during off times.

For our first visit we decided to do take out from the newly opened Lure Fish House in Scottsdale. They are a family owned restaurant with four California locations and this brand new one in Gainey Village. They offer a seasonal menu of all kinds of fresh flown in seafood at reasonable prices.

It looks like they have at least a dozen outside umbrella topped tables.

Inside looks cozy with an oyster bar.

Looks like they have a lot of booth seating and many are closed for social distancing.

I tried the Sally’s Sand Dabs.

Oh WOW! This is really GREAT! I got a very good portion of DELICIOUS fresh sand dabs. They are so tender and fresh tasting in a perfect lightly buttered herb crust. The caper sauce is just right and accents everything in a delicious way. The sides I went with were a light and not too sweet pineapple slaw and a cilantro laced corn salad. The kernels were sweet with a nice fresh texture.

My husband really ENJOYED the Tequila Lime Shrimp Pasta.

This is also really great but is a very VERY spicy creamy tomato tequila lime sauce with spinach and Gulf shrimp, garlic toast and pasta. I tried a taste of the sauce. It has great flavors to it but is MIGHTY HOT that builds. We hope that the restaurant doesn’t neutralize this dish to please the masses because this dish will be too hot for about half the people out there. BUT WE LOVE IT THIS WAY!

We also tried a little bit of the rolls. They are very good with a developed taste. They will not go to waste here.

They offer a nice variety of desserts and today we went with the key lime pie.

It seems light and is flavored nicely. The graham crust is tasty. You can’t go wrong with this one.

My dogs got to enjoy some sand dabs.

“Lure Fish House was really great!”

www.LureFishHouse.com

That was a little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ

Everything is subject to change and your experience may differ.

The Forking Truth

Take out FOOD in Metro Phoenix AZ During the CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 32 – La Piazza Al Forno, Peoria Artisan Brewery, Taylor’s Chowder House

We hear on the news that delivery and take out have a lower risk of covid spread than dining in. So we have have been doing take out. We do plan to do some patio dining at off times.

Our first take out of the week was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They are a little different from most of the other pizza places. They offer certified Neapolitan pizzas and the mozzarella taste different because it’s made in house.

On the left is their Funghi Pizza. In the middle is the house salad and on the left is the Margherita. I’ve had the Margherita here a million times so I knew what to expect but I never had the Funghi (don’t call it mushroom here or else….you’ll be sorry…I did and I was….) It’s different than any other mushroom pizza I’ve tried anywhere. The cheeses are different because it’s their house made mozzarella, parmesan with fontina for a different taste but it’s the rosemary that is a really great touch. I think the rosemary is such a nice accent to mushroom or Funghi pizzas.

Our next take out was from Peoria Artisan Brewery in Peoria.

I got the strawberry salad with added salmon. My salad was mostly arugula and it was adorned with a little high quality blue cheese and some candied pecans. We shared some pickled fried vegetables that were interesting and my husband had the Italian beef sandwich with beef au jus. My dogs enjoyed some of the salmon and beef.

Last take out of the week was from Taylor’s Chowder House in Phoenix. They are a budget seafood restaurant where the portions are usually large and the prices are low.

We decided to try the house battered mozzarella sticks because they are only $6.95. WOW! Each piece is as big as a banana. They must have given us extra by accident. I tried the Idaho Brook Trout with almonds today. They gave me TWO fish filets topped with toasted almonds and bread crumbs. I picked the house vegetable that was zucchini marinara and a plain baked potato. My meal was only $14.95 and is two meals for me. My husband got the Two Plus Two (2 fried shrimp and 2 battered filets (cod)). It’s a lot of food….Even my husband couldn’t finish everything. There is also a roll we couldn’t get to yet. Taylor’s Chowder House is GREAT VALUE Seafood…When you consider the price and portion it is only fast food priced and is much better than fast food. My dogs enjoyed a little mozzarella stick and some fish.

That was week 32 of take out in metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Peoria Artisan Brewery – Peoria

Taylor’s Chowder House – Phoenix

Every THING is subject to change and we hope everything does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Just a Little Taste of The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen in North Scottsdale AZ

Here is just a little taste of the newly opened The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen in North Scottsdale. By the time you go there a permanent new sign might be on the building. They offer lots of patio dining that wraps around the building. There are also windows on garage type doors that open up to extend the patio.

The inside is bright, airy, rich and modern.

To the left of the entrance is an in-house distillery and also another dining area.

To the right is the main area of the restaurant.

The menu offers many interesting sounding things to try. The menu is mostly American. The chef is from the fine dining Italian restaurant that used to be located in North Scottsdale called Sassi.

For our first visit we did some take out.

We started out by sharing (top left) a small order of lollipop wings over blue cheese slaw. They were manicured very nicely and were tasty and tender. They were not too tangy or too hot so most people would like them. The slaw seemed fresh made and liked getting the big chunks of blue cheese every now and then.

For my main I tried the wagyu pastrami on pretzel bun with a side salad.

The pastrami is flavored very nicely. The pretzel bun is also very good and is toasted to perfection. I got some crunchy fresh slaw on the side. But the roll It’s just too large for my taste so I eat the sandwich on just the smaller bottom part of the bun and I still have a good amount of bread. They forgot to give me the caraway mustard that it is suppose to come with so I don’t know how that would be. I do have to say that the side salad was very above average for a side salad. All the vegetables tasted unusually fresh and flavorful. Even the carrots didn’t taste like supermarket carrots and I like the flavorful house dressing too.

My husband tried the hammer and anvil porchetta sandwich on ciabatta with house potato chips.

He got a sandwich packed with pork shoulder, Craftsman sausage, rapini, cheddar, and for him herb aioli on the side. Perhaps from the car ride home the porchetta got sort of dry……But need to mention that the sausage, rapini, herb aioli and cheese were exceptionally good. The potato chips were also very good. Nice and thin and seemed free of oil.

That was just a little taste of The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen in North Scottsdale.

www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Salads of The #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ – Phoenix Glendale Peoria

Maybe half the meals that I ate out or take out are salads. Lately I’m mostly but not entirely supporting restaurants that are near to home. I thought others might like a taste of the salads of the #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ. The Upper West Side are parts of the Way North Phoenix, North Glendale and North Peoria and are zip codes 85383, 85382, 85310, 85308 and 85083.

Up above is. really great salad from Sala Thai in Peoria. It’s the spicy lemon salad with chicken and is among my favorites.

Here is the select your own salad from Phila-Deli in Glendale. It starts at only around $7.50. It’s fast food priced but it’s a whole bunch better than fast food.

Basically across the street (or highway) is Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale and they also offer really nice $7.50 salads.

On the left is a gyro salad and on the right is chicken kabob salad.

I got a few salads from Fabio On Fire in Peoria.

Up above is the pear salad.

Here’s the strawberry spinach salad from Fabio On Fire.

My favorite meal from Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale is the Chicken Fajita Salad.

It is usually inconsistent. The amount of chicken is either a lot or small and either moist or dry. Seasonings differ. It might include the peppers, onions and avocado or not. The ingredients differ some on each visit. Instead of dressing I use their tasty salsa that is currently the best salsa in town.

Pita Kitchen in Glendale makes one of the most delicious Chicken kabobs in metro Phoenix so I get it on a Greek Salad.

They marinate it with delicious seasonings. It has a delicious char taste and 19 out of 20 times it is insanely juicy and is always delicious.

The meal I get most often at Cucina Tagliani is their Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Chicken.

Sometimes I get one of their Caesar salads.

Caesar with chicken….(and one of my dogs)

Caesar with salmon, artichokes and pine nuts……..(and one of my dogs)

The Black and White Cafe in Glendale offers a few salads.

This is the California Chicken Salad from The Black and White Cafe.

I got several nice salads from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.

Farro Salad with avocado, pesto, mozzarella and chicken. (this one was way more than one meal….I think they gave me extra by accident)

Salad with added Sicilian Tuna

Strawberry Chicken Salad

I did get a few nice salads from The Social on 83rd in Peoria but the ones I got are no longer on the menu but both salads were very good.

Those are most of the salads that you can find on The Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change….We hope things change for the better.

The Forking Truth