Greek Palace is a full service Greek Restaurant located in Peoria Arizona. They opened around June 2019. Since my first visit they added two patios. The inside dining consist of a large bar, traditional tables and tables with benches. It’s bright and airy with some greek accents on the walls.
We ordered our dinners and two fresh Greek Salads come out shortly.
Then our appetizer comes out.
OPA! FLAMING CHEESE! Now THAT is an OPA!
It’s saganak flamed with brandy and lemon and it came with pita bread ($9.99). It’s really delicious!
For dinner I tried the chicken kefta because I never saw chicken kefta on a menu before ($15.99).
.It’s caramelized long logs of seasoned ground chicken that is tasty and a very large portion. It rest over yellow basmati rice and comes with charred zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots and tzatziki sauce.
My husband got the three meat platter called the supreme platter ($22.99).
He got a chicken kabob, a kefta (beef), gyro (beef & lamb), yellow basmati rice, mixed vegetable tzatziki and garlic sauce. All the meats are moist and seasoned. His favorite is the gyro. I like the garlic sauce but it is too much garlic for my husband’s taste.
Last time we had-
combo Appetizer plate $14.99
Lunch chicken kabob plate $10.99
The lunch firefighter plate $10.99
Greek Palace Peoria AZ – It’s Greek Food and they offer really delicious saganak (flaming cheese)
www.GreekPalace.net
Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
The Bamboo Cafe is located on the boarders of Glendale and is across the street from the Peoria boarder and Phoenix but actually is listed as Glendale on the Upper West Side. This is a small Asian Restaurant that serves a mix of Chinese Take Out Foods and OTHER foods. When you walk in you see a cluttered hostess desk that blocks the view of the restaurant and doubles as a storage and pick up area. A waiter just tells you to seat yourself.
We start with cucumber salad. ($3.00 subject to change)
We received a large portion of seed free cucumbers and carrot slices in a sweetened vinaigrette. The carrots were crisp but the cucumbers might have seen better days.
For my main I got the yellow curry chicken. ($9.50 subject to change)
I receive an extremely large plate of food. I got a lot of bamboo and onion slices, very tender sliced chicken breast, falling apart over cooked potatoes and soggy French fries. For what it’s worth the sauce is actually delicious and even has fresh Thai Basil and fresh lemongrass in it. There is even some heat here…….
My husband had the blackened shrimp and chicken. ($12.50 subject to change)
The chicken and shrimp are tender. There’s lots of nicely prepared green beans, carrots and onions. This one doesn’t taste Asian at all.
Both plates came with an enormous bowl of fresh steamy fluffy rice.
You are not going to drive across town to dine here but if you’re in the neighborhood you might want to give Bamboo Cafe a try.
If you are in the area then you might want to give them a try. Large portions, tender chicken, low prices and a little different.
I haven’t found a website for Bamboo Cafe
I also haven’t found a Facebook page.
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may indeed differ.
We have really Forking Awesome Pizzas in Glendale and Peoria. All the pizzas are Forking Great and delicious. These are the most delicious ones I’ve tasted so far. Pictured above is the Pizza Milano from Bottega Pizzaria Ristorante in Glendale. This particular one is special because it is ultra thin and is made with San Marzano Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a little spicy kick from Calabrian Chile Peppers. It’s crisp but does have a soft middle. it’s also the best ultra thin pizza that I know of on the west side. The regular pizzas are delicious as well and are very similar to Pomo Pizzas….(this restaurant used to be a Pomo). Delicious pizzas you can’t go wrong here.
From Fabio on Fire in Peoria is the Bufalina Pizza. This one has all kinds of flavors going on. Rich San Marzano tomatoes, peppery arugula, sweet reduced balsamic, creamy bufala cheese, nutty parmesan on a thin light chewy and crisp crust. The bufalina cheese was partially delicious…..It was creamier and more flavorful than other buffalo cheeses I’ve tasted from other places. This pizza was incredibly delicious! It’s one of the BEST ever!
The Pizzas from La Piazza Al Forno are all delicious but this Bianca Pizza was really extra special. This pizza was made with their insanely delicious house made mozzarella, a high quality ricotta (don’t know if house made but it tasted like house made), extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, Sicilian oregano, and Calabrian chiles. All this was on their very delicate textured certified crust. It was really awesome.
The Forking Truth is that I do really love their Margherita pizzas too but they differ depending on the visit……They both taste good (pictured below) but I prefer the one on the right. The one on the right might be my favorite Margherita anywhere. The house made mozzarella is the most flavorful mozzarella…Their crust is the most delicate and tender and when the sauce is just right is pretty darn amazing.
Also on the west side by the same owner of La Piazza Al Forno is Piazza Romana that is technically in Avondale but is so freaking close to Glendale it just has to be included. This place is basically around the corner from Westgate in Glendale.
Here are Piazza Romana in Avondale is the Metro Phoenix first Roman Style Pizza Shop. Pictured above is the Arrabiatta. It has a delicious chunky thick topping that’s seasoned well with a kick!
Pictured above are the Margherita and the picante (spicy salami ((sopresata))
These pizza slices have a bubbly textured dough that is crisp but also moist in the center and are generously topped with delicious toppings. They aren’t as heavy as they look….and they ARE DELICIOUS!
At The Rec in Peoria they serve Detroit Style Pizza. (pictured above and below)
This pizza has a bubbly thick crust that isn’t doughy with these scrumptious crisp CHEESY edges.
The bottom taste almost like a buttery grilled cheese and this pizza was topped with a rich chunky oregano laced sauce and a delicious melty cheese blend. This pizza is incredibly tasty.
I make pizza too…..One of my favorites that I make is the Heirloom Tomato slices with fresh basil, E.V.O.O. with my cheese blend of mozzarella, provolone, sharp provolone and parmesan.
Those were The FORKING Best Pizzas that I’ve Tasted on the west side …..(mostly) in Glendale and Peoria.
Every FORKING Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
*****UPDATE NOW CLOSED*******Matty G’s Steakburgers and Spirits Restaurant recently opened in the upper west side of Glendale Arizona. This is a casual family restaurant with a sports theme atmosphere. You get full service at the bar or pick a table and order and pay at the bar. The menu is mostly burgers. They use grass fed beef. They serve most but not all burgers as two 4oz patties on a bun. They have a full bar and also offer milk shakes made with frozen custard.
I went for one of the non-burger options and got a “Birdie” combo platter.
I had my choice of fried or grilled chicken and went for grilled. They caramelized the chicken breast and it went on a soft toasted bun with fry sauce, lettuce and tomato. I picked onion rings as my side. The sandwich is tasty. It’s ever so slightly over cooked but not bad. The onion rings are very hardy with a heavy breaded coating. They serve the onion rings with a ranch style dipping sauce.
My husband got the “All Star” platter as a combo.
He got two nicely caramelized beef patties that were sandwiched with a slice of American cheese and a slice of bacon. The patties were topped with good sized pile of grilled onions and all this was on a toasted soft bun. His platter came with a mountain of garlic parmesan skinny battered fries and sides of fry sauce.
Matty G’s is NOW OPEN in Glendale
******UPDATE NOW CLOSED*********
I haven’t found a website for Matty G’s but they are on Facebook.
Urban Margarita is an American Restaurant that swings slightly to New Mexico Fusion Cuisine. This restaurant is located in a strip mall in the Arrowhead Section of North Glendale and is also known as The Upper West Side. Recently Urban Margarita was listed in the Phoenix New Times as among the 10 Best Restaurants for New Mexico Cuisine in Metro Phoenix so I had to give them a try!
Urban Margarita offers a very comfortable patio with an indoor outdoor bar and a fireplace.
I decided to try the Stuffed Poblano Pepper. (but with the queso on the side)
I received not one but two roasted poblano peppers stuffed with shredded nicely seasoned, a little spicy, tender chicken enhanced with tomato and onion. The flavors are good I think most people would enjoy these peppers. The corn are fresh and crisp. Most of the seasoning is in one spot and when you mix it into the corn it turns south west flavors of warm and earthy and spiked with chili peppers. The rice taste like it just made…It taste buttery and and lets all the other flavors shine. Fresh made cheese sauce is a nice treat…I like that this dish isn’t swimming in rivers of cheese like most New Mexico Cuisine I’ve tried….This is approachable sensible New Mexico Style Plate.
My husband tries the Slow Braised Pork Short Rib in Hatch Chile Verde.
It was tender and delicious and came with rice, black beans and flour tortillas.
I thought I had room for dessert so we gave the Bananas Foster Ice Cream Tortas a try!
OMG! This was delicious!
It’s also twice are large as I thought it would be……
Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante is an Italian Restaurant located in Citadelle Plaza in North Glendale Arizona. Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante serves Neapolitan Pizzas, house made pastas, Sunday Brunch, monthly wine dinners, seasonal specials and more. They offer dining indoors at the bar or the modern dining room or outdoors with an indoor/outdoor bar or table seating.
Today we started with the Happy Hour Grilled Vegetables.
We received grilled eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers and a very tasty fresh herb seasoned oil. It was delicious with the vegetables and I also enjoyed the sauce on some fresh bread. I liked that the appetizer was delicious, seemed healthy and didn’t seem too heavy. For my main I received a very different Eggplant Parmesan.
The eggplant was not breaded. This eggplant parmesan was made of thin layers of eggplant with a texture like I never had before. The eggplant was very meat-like……It wasn’t mushy….It almost had a texture like a firm mushroom……..but thin like lasagna noodles. In-between the layers of thin meat-like eggplant was a little tomato sauce, Italian hard cheese some mozzarella. The dish also got topped with the biggest basil leaf I ever saw. This dish didn’t seem heavy at all…plus it had all the flavor. Eggplant Parmesan is much better this way.
My husband had the Tagliatelle Bolognese.
He said it was very good!
Went for dessert and tried the Torte Nutella. Delicious! Not too sweet, satisfying amount of chocolate….I would like more hazelnut but can’t complain because it’s delicious.
A sweet ending to a nice dinner!
Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
www.BottegaRistorante.com
Some of the previous dishes we enjoyed from Bottega are pictured below.
Zucchini manicotti
Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
On our arrival banchan (side dishes) were waiting for us already on the table.
The banchan were from top left mashed potatoes that might have been eggy, were sweet and also cold, bean sprouts, fish cakes, kimchi, Asian pickles and thin radish for wrapping around meat.
We started off with thinly sliced marinated beef called Beef Bulgogi, mushrooms, zuchinni, rice and glass noodles.
Just a few minutes later….
Gosh the beef was delicious! Tender like butter and nicely flavorful. Next we try a combo of chicken bulgogi and spicy chicken.
WOW! The chicken is also very tender and tasty. The spicy isn’t too spicy…but tasty. The Beef Bulgogi and both chicken dishes came out very good for us.
Next we tried brisket and beef belly.
Neither of these meats are marinated. I don’t know if we didn’t cook the brisket correctly but I really didn’t like the brisket (bottom meat in picture). I wasn’t too found of the beef belly either although it was slightly better than the brisket. Neither meat here had a whole lot of flavor. You had to use the dipping sauce for these meats to eat them.
My husband decided that he could eat a little more so he asked if he could have a small amount of pork belly to try.
He said the pork belly was very good. He forgot they offer a spicy version and would have went with spicy if he remembered.
Each table has a call button incase you need something but service was very good. I didn’t have to ask for a thing.
I’ve been to a few different Korean BBQ Restaurants in Metro Phoenix and they all have something different to offer…We only paid 21.99 for all you can eat. More upscale Korean BBQ will set you back at least $32.00- over $100.00 a person without being all you can eat.
For Mana BBQ’s friendly price point I’d have to say it’s a good value and Worth a Fork but be sure to try the Beef Bulgogi, Chicken dishes and Pork Belly.
Bulgogi is delicious, Chicken dishes, Pork Belly were all delicious……both of us weren’t crazy about the brisket and beef belly
I haven’t found a website for the Peoria location of Mana BBQ but they are on Facebook.
Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Slapfish is a fast food style sustainable seafood restaurant that recently opened in the Arrowhead Area in Glendale Arizona (late December 2018). This is a California based company that is in rapid growth expanding into many states across The United States and coming soon to The United Kingdom. On the day of my visit they offered a great variety of fish, shrimp, lobster that are served in a variety of ways. Again this place is very casual, order at the counter, pay, grab a beverage and number and then seat yourself kind of place.
I decided I’d try the The Grilled Fish Bowl with daily fish (salmon $2.00 extra), seasoned rice, herb sauce and hand picked salad ($13.00 + $2 for salmon).
It’s a nice big piece of salmon that was browned.
It’s slightly over cooked.
Here’s a close up. As soon as I saw the albumin (white protein) pushed out of muscle fibers I knew the fish was over cooked…….That wasn’t the biggest problem. I am undecided if this fish was spoiled or very close to being spoiled. (I wish it went to salmon else…….(excuse bad pun). I can tell you that it had a strong fish taste. Me and my husband couldn’t eat it. I wanted to tell someone about the fish…..But it’s a casual fast food type place here. During that time they had a line going to the counter and I thought if I brought up my bowl with smelly fish all the customers in line would leave and the people working at Slapfish might spit on the new plate of food that they would have to make me. Of course I don’t know if the cooks would get mad and act that way but I’ve worked in several restaurants and do know it takes next to nothing for a cook to flip out sometimes.
That said for the most part most things we tried faired well.
Except for the fish the rest of my bowl was delicious. I received a very nice fresh salad with fresh cut cucumber, carrots, radishes, a sweet tomato and honey lime dressing. The chewy short grain rice was seasoned nice and was topped with a yummy herb sauce. I would have loved this bowl if the fish was ok.
We also shared the Cold Pickles ($4.00).
Also the Natural Cut Fries ($4.00).
We both enjoyed the pickles. They seemed light and refreshing. My husband liked the fries but I was a little put off by the powdery texture. I thought the fries were slightly dry and not too potato-ee tasting like Burger King Fries.
My husband tried a Shrimp Burrito ($11.00).
He said his shrimp were fresh and were moist and not dried out. This burrito is different and is filled with rice, fries, salsa and pickled onion. He thought the burrito was seasoned nicely but also added he thought the tortilla was on the dry side. Neither of us were found of the chips and salsa.
Average pricing run around $12.00 a plate. Expect to pay extra for upgrading the fish, a side and a beverage. (About $20.00 per person or more)
Such a great idea for a restaurant but Cod be better……..(excuse bad pun)
www.SLAPFISHRESTAURANT.com
1/2 a Fork…
My first visit was Hit and Miss.
The Forking Truth is that EVERYTHING is Subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
The Social on 83rd Restaurant and Bar recently opened in P83 section of Peoria Arizona (former location of Slick’s Garage). This area is also known as part of the Upper West Side. The Social on 83rd offers a full bar and an intriguing Modern American Global Menu with reasonable pricing. The atmosphere is clean and modern and maybe sort of lounge-like with a mix of all sorts of tables and booths.
The bench was very comfortable
Seating is available indoors and also outdoors. They offer an indoor-outdoor bar and a two level patio for dining or libations.
We shared two appetizers and a salad. The appetizers were reasonably priced and were larger than we expected them to be. We shared the Bao Buns that were filled with 24 hour short rib. The Buns were topped with pickled vegetables and came with a side of mandu sauce. ($8.50 – subject to change)
The menu reads Bun so we only expected one bun and not two. Inside the fluffy steamed bun was a generous amount of short rib that was compacted into a meatball sized ball. The meat was tender and the fat was cooked out. All together with the pickled vegetables and mandu sauce it was delicious!
The Mac ‘N’ Cheese Balls had a thin crisp exterior and creamy cheesy pasta inside that was prepared to perfection. ($7.50 subject to change)
Mac ‘N’ Cheese Balls seemed free of oil and were flavorful. They rested on top of a little lemon herb aioli.
How often to you come across a Jerk Chicken Caesar Salad made with iceberg, peppered pecorino and mango caesar dressing? ($9.50 subject to change)
The first thing I tasted was a crouton. It was buttery with a tender crunch. The Jerk Chicken was not spicy hot but very flavorful with allspice and other flavors. All together it was a delicious interesting salad.
That was my First Taste at Social on 83rd.
Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Can’t wait for my second taste!
www.TheSocialAZ.com
Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Chilean Sea Bass $25.00 (price subject to change…and it should) I’ve written a few times about how impressed I’ve been at Haru Sushi and Grill in the Arrowhead Section of Glendale Arizona. This restaurant recently opened September 2018. I don’t recall the Arizona Republic or The Phoenix New Times announcing the opening of this restaurant (as of December 11th 2018.Â
The Upper West Side is a newer territory and most of this area wasn’t even on maps 15 years back. This area is changing with many new restaurants that are set to open in the area….Particularly with new 83rd Upscale Market Place that will open in a year or so. The Upper West Side are zip codes 85383, 85382, 85310, 85308, 853083. The Upper West Side is basically Arrowhead, Way North Phoenix and Part of Peoria. Only a handful of restaurants are in this area and most are extra casual restaurants. Even in North Phoenix there are very few restaurants that serve fresh fish. By fresh fish I don’t mean not spoiled…….I mean fresh just flown in fish. There is something very different about just flown in fish that is cooked perfect. I’ve only experienced this a handful of times. The fish is so clean tasting and actually melts in your mouth.Â
If you read my reviews you know that I usually (but not always) look forward to ordering fish when I go out to dinner because fresh fish can’t be purchased where I live or it’s like $40.00 a pound from AJ’s Fine Foods Store.  I’ve enjoyed the Sushi a number of times from Haru Sushi & Grill. I haven’t tasted sushi that was so fresh or melted in my mouth the way this sushi does at any of the nearby sushi restaurants. Tonight I decided to try a dinner and I’m Glad I did! Look Here! Chilean Sea Bass with a medley of fresh vegetables and Black Rice This was fresh Chilean Sea Bass that was cooked to perfection as well as any fine restaurant. Nicely grilled and caramelized with that melt in your mouth texture. I received a great deal of vegetables also nicely caramelized, tender crisp and seasoned with a little Asian flavors and a large mound of chewy black rice. This was an amazing dinner….and it was only $25.00. The portion was also larger than I can eat and I brought a good amount (half) home for my next dinner. I have paid much more for fish dinners that weren’t as good……..Perhaps the one restaurant in North Phoenix that serves the freshest fish might be the Pappadeaux Chain.  From Pappadeaux…. (not recently) I had a salmon dinner for $40 and it only came with just a little plain broccoli……It was a very good fish that was prepared well but not so special with plain broccoli. I was very surprised to get such a great dinner at such a low price at Haru Sushi and Grill.Â
My husband enjoyed a Nagasaki Seafood Noodle Bowl of Shrimp, Mussels, Fish Cakes, Vegetables and Calamari. (I didn’t write the price down but I think it was around $14.00.
The Chilean Sea Bass is the BEST Fresh Fish Dish I’ve tasted in or around The Upper West Side so far (as of 12-9-2018)
Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
I haven’t found a website for Haru Sushi and Grill but they are on Facebook.
Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
