The Forking Truth is that It seems like my local Costco (a paid membership grocery/warehouse) in Phoenix Arizona doesn’t care about the pandemic anymore. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am NOT talking about shopping at Fry’s or Safeway or any of the other local supermarkets. Shopping at regular places is different because they don’t pay people to stand at the entrance to check for masks. I am only taking about my visit to Costco because they are different. They are a paid membership grocery/warehouse that PAYS people to check for membership and for entering the store wearing masks. Last week many people entered my local Costco and didn’t wear masks and some people wore masks improperly. Costco used to have the highest standards. They’ve installed plexiglass walls between the cashiers and customers.
They used to sanitize the shopping carts. They used to only let in a certain amount of people at a time.
They used to have 6 foot spaces marked on the floors. Costco pays employees to check people entering for membership cards and also for wearing masks.
It seem like things have changed. I saw all this on my last shopping visit last week. I tried to block out part of the customers faces for privacy.
The Forking Truth is that It seems like my local Costco stopped caring about the coronavirus pandemic. They pay people out of our membership dues for people at the door to screen for mask. They can’t control the people who don’t care about using their mask correctly but they should control the amount of people they let in that don’t wear masks. They can and help stop the spread and should. I also note that I don’t know if all Costco locations are similar. I am only talking about my local Costco in North Phoenix AZ.
Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.
Here are the most delicious $5. or less foods from restaurants around north Phoenix that I have tasted in no particular order.
Pictured above is the $3.00 delicious Beetroot Salad from a little casual restaurant called Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide . Next is their fresh herby delicious $3.00 tabouli.
My next favorite is the $3.00 Eggplant salad pictured below on the right. But everything is tasty. They also offer hummus and eggplant dip at similar prices.
All these reasonably priced goodies come from the small casual Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide.
Also in Glendale is Taco Fusion. They offer very good tacos on hand made tortillas. The tacos are smaller sized but are bigger than street tacos and are stuffed generously. They make a variety of house made sauces. If you can do spicy ask for the interesting flavorful but very (FORKING) hot black salsa. Get the regular salsa, the pico and the pineapple salsa if they have them. Our favorite tacos here are the mild chicken habanero (with pineapple salsa), carne asada, jaas, Lorenzo, fish (ask for corn tortilla here) and my husband likes the shrimp and barbacoa. We also like both beans they offer. Depending on what tacos you pick you might be able to get two tacos for around $5.00.
Below are 7 mostly different tacos and a container of black beans.
Wraps ‘N’ Curry is located in North Phoenix. They offer a $2.99 Naan Menu.
I’ve had their naan on a wrap sandwich but more recently I did try the stuffed chicken naan ($2.99 on the appetizer part of the menu). It was stuffed with boneless chicken breast, cilantro and Indian spices. It was different and also very tasty.
On my last visit we tried the Onion Kulcha $2.99.
This was very tasty!
I’ll try another one next time.
Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix really kills it with the $5.00 or less food and offers 9 tasty options. My favorite $5 meal is the chicken and cabbage salad.
It’s a good size for me and has a good amount of deliciously seasoned chicken in it. I also like the tasty $4 chicken potstickers.
Here is a better picture of the potstickers.
My other favorite salad is the $5. lotus root salad. (lower right)
I love the refreshing flavors in it. It comes with shrimp but I gave up shrimp a long time back and I don’t eat shrimp. I already gave the shrimp to either my husband or dogs. Their papaya salad is also good. I added that picture because I didn’t remove the shrimp yet.
This is a collection of the most delicious $5. or less food that I have tasted in North Phoenix AZ.
Experts say that take out is a safer health option during the pandemic than dining in so we do take out. This week we did take out from Tarbell’s The Tavern in Phoenix. This restaurant is by chef Mark Tarbell. He is a highly decorated multi award winning chef and wine expert. The tavern offers elevated bar foods in a rock n roll man cave atmosphere. They offer the safest option curbside pick up. We took out the seared salmon, Scotch beef, a salad and coconut cream pie.
WOW! This salmon is really great! It’s so silky. Very few restaurants prepare salmon this well. This one is very different with sides of tomato broth and AZ honey mustard. It’s delicious! The curry potato cake is a really nice treat. It taste like it came from an Indian restaurant. I did taste the Scotch beef. WOW great flavors there and it was made with good wine too! The coconut cream pie was also very good. I think they accidentally gave me extra. It’s a large portion and we are getting 4 servings out of it but it very rich and delicious with this chocolate surprise coated crust. Treated the dogs so some salmon from Tarbell’s.
We also did take out from CHZBURGR in Glendale. They also are still offering the safest option that is curbside pick up. They serve the greatest cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches in town. We ordered the crispy chicken thigh sandwich with pickled jalapeños. We also ordered a triple cheeseburger with tater tots.
I thought my sandwich was a little different today but everything still was delicious. My dogs were happy to help me with the chicken sandwich.
We love Taco Fusion in Glendale. They serve the best tacos closest to me. They serve Sonoran Mesquite Style Tacos that are slightly bigger than street size tacos on hand made tortillas that really taste good.
My favorite taco is the chicken mild habanero taco. I think I like it best on a flour tortilla with pineapple salsa (if they have it). I also like the fish taco and the carne asada. (I don’t like carne asada at most places but it’s always tender and flavorful here) My husband likes all the beef tacos and especially likes the shrimp taco here. They opened just before the pandemic and used to offer a salsa bar packed with many delicious salsas…Now they cut it down to a few salsas a day and you have to ask for them. My dogs are always excited to try some.
Last take out of the week was from Fabio On Fire in Peoria/#UpperWestSide. This is a place for Italian Food, Neapolitan Pizzas, fresh baked goods and the best gelato maybe on earth. They offer curbside pick up here.
We got the ravioli ai funghi porcini, strawberry gorgonzola salad, and gnocchi sorrentina. Everything was delicious. Have different dog friendly leftovers for my dogs.
“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food!”
Week 26 restaurants we did take out from –
Tarbell’s The Tavern – Phoenix
CHZBURGR – Glendale
Taco Fusion – Glendale
Fabio On Fire – Peoria/#UpperWestSide
Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.
It’s kind of fun to try different flavors of potato chips. A few are really great. Some are beyond terrible and most fall in-between. I really enjoyed the regular Lay’s Seaweed Chips from Taiwan so I thought the Spicy Roasted Seaweed Chips could be another winner.
The bag is small and only weighs around one and a half ounces.
Here’s the back of the bag.
Here are the ingredients.
There are many ingredients and these chips also are made with milk and fish.
I open the bag and take a whiff.
These chips smell strange. Kind of like something fried like pastry and tea…..
Now I am afraid to taste them……
I go and do the duty not expecting much.
PHEW!
They don’t taste as bad as they smell.
I eat a chip the way I’d normally eat a chip.
They are small chips with a powdery surface. They have a pleasant crunch to them. A slight sweetness, but more salty than sweet and more than anything they have a medium heat to them that builds a little. You do taste seaweed but it isn’t the dominate flavors.
I try to eat a chip very slow to taste it differently.
YUK…..can taste the fish this way and something that taste like burnt tea….
WOW they aren’t horrible if you just eat them but they aren’t great either.
They aren’t even as close to as good as the regular Lay’s Seaweed flavor is.
Not the best….but not the worst either
Don’t eat slow. You need to munch them down to skip over some of the flavors.
This is a collection of most of the sweet memories (desserts) I took out from Metro Phoenix Restaurants during the pandemic. The desserts are not in any particular order. Some were better than others but all of them were yummy!
Above is the macerated strawberries from Confluence Carefree. it was so light and not too sweet. it even had these macadamia nuts that taste so good. When I buy macadamia nuts from the store they don’t taste as good..
A chocolate brownie with fresh raspberries and fruit sauce also from Confluence in Carefree.
Next is the complimentary snickerdoodle cookie from –
Chino Bandido in North Phoenix. What’s not to like?
Beignets with delicious sauces from Twist Bistro and Galley in North Scottsdale.
Also from Twist Bistro and Gallery was this amazing Mascarpone Cheese Cake with Pistachio Praline, Salted caramel whipped cream and strawberries.
This was really great. It’s like when you go to a fancy resort restaurant and they have a pastry chef that makes the desserts. This one was just as great. (better than some from resorts)
Next one is….
Chocolate Mousse Tort from Aliello’s East Coast Italian in Phoenix. Also from another visit to Aliello’s East Coast Italian was the Cannoli. Both very good.
From La Piazza Al Forno is the cheesecake.
Ii’m very picky about cheese cake and most I don’t like because they are very rich and too sour for me. This one is lighter with the right amount oof sweetness.
From Vincent Market Bistro in Phoenix was the Lemon Pomelo Tart. To the left was complimentary sponge cake they generously gave us. VMB always makes great desserts. They are among the best.
The next one I took out but can’t find the photo so I added my photo from previously dining in.
Here’s the Mascarpone Chocolate Cake from Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate cake but this really is very good.
From Twist Bistro & Gallery in North Scottsdale is a strawberry rhubarb cobbler.
Next-
Strawberry cobbler from Confluence in Carefree.
Great pies are served at all the Collins Restaurants.
From Wally’s American Gastropub in Scottsdale-
The coconut custard pie. My husband hates coconut and even he said it was a delicious pie.
From The Collins in Phoenix –
This Chocolate Mousse Tort
From The Collins –
The Key Lime Pie made with 40 hand squeezed key limes in every pie. It’s an amazing key lime pie. It might be the best key lime pie in metro Phoenix.
From Stratta Kitchen in Scottsdale –
Came this amazing rich Triple Chocolate Cake….yes it’s worth the calories. It really was REALLY GREAT!
I couldn’t find the picture of the strawberry tub of Gelato I took out from Fabio On Fire in Peoria/#UpperWestSide. I did find my photo of the tub of peach Gelato I took out but that picture didn’t come out so good so I’m showing a picture of some of his FABULOUS Gelato from visiting his restaurant.
This gelato is to die for. I haven’t tried all the flavors yet but everything I tried so far was FORKING AMAZING! Fabio should sell his gelato across the country. His gelato really is FABULOUS!
From Alzohour Market in Glendale we got this AMAZING Kunafa noodle pastry stuffed with cheese and topped with sweet syrup and pistachios.
OMG! This was prepared fresh for us and came out piping hot. This was so freaking epic!
Here is another astonishing dessert from Confluence in Carefree.
it was Sake Poached Pears with Angel Cake, Candied Almonds and Yuzu Curd.
This was 19 delicious desserts we took out from restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic.
Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.
According to the experts take out is a less risky option than dining in and we aren’t risk takers so we do take out during the pandemic. Our first take out of the week was from a little casual place in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide called Skewers Mediterranean Grill.
They make really great $7.50 salads. I got the one with pickled turnips and chicken kabob. My husband got the chicken shawarma with chickpeas and pickles. I just love the fresh herby tabouli it’s only $3. so why not? My dogs enjoyed some of the tasty chicken kabob.
Next take out was from Twist Bistro & Galley in North Scottsdale. They are a small modern restaurant that swings towards Mediterranean.
We started out by sharing the falafels. They were crisp and herby inside. They came with tahini aioli and garlic yogurt sauce. For my main I had the Mediterranean Salad. WOW! it was packed with all kinds of goodies. The salad came with marinated olives, almond golden raisin couscous, crispy chickpeas, minted cucumbers, good ripe tomatoes, really good creamy feta, hummus and really delicious sauces..and I added the salmon as my protein (the salmon here is very good). WOW! It’s like a special occasion Birthday salad. My husband got the steak sandwich pallard. It’s a really good beef (tenderloin) on a really great baguette (garlic toasted Noble Bread) with mozzarella cheese, horseradish and demi sauces. The cheesecake here is very good so we shared that too. It’s not heavy and sour like most cheesecakes I’ve tasted. It’s light creamy and delicious and detailed with pistachio praline, salted caramel, strawberries, whipped cream and a tasty crumb crust. Dogs helped with the generous portion of salmon.
Our last take out of the week was from a brand new restaurant that just opened this week called Gabriella’s Contemporary American Cuisine in Scottsdale. They were just on TV and the food looked so good from TV we wanted to try some.
On the left is the short rib grilled cheese and on the right is the fish and chips. I live 35 minutes away so the food didn’t travel as well as from some of the closer places that I go to but all was tasty. As per usual I always share some with my dogs.
“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all that delicious food”
That was week 25 oof take out during the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurants that we did take out from –
I thought this flavor (Kettle Cooked New York Pizza) Potato Chips sounds tasty. After all I really like pizza. I really love east coast style pizza. Most east coast pizza is made with a rich tomato sauce and a really delicious cheese blend. Usually it’s made with a sprinkle of seasonings that many pizza places around Phoenix don’t use. New York style taste different because of the water and usually is made thin with lots of oil. It says on bag that these chips are suppose to be in the style of Grimaldi’s pizza. I haven’t had a Grimaldi’s pizza in years so I can’t tell if it is like Grimaldi’s. Anyway so here we go. I bought a small 2 1/2 ounce bag.
I open it up and take a whiff.
To me it smells just like mozzarella sticks.
I open the bag and read the back.
It seems safe to eat.
I spill some out.
The chips are smaller sized and very crisp. They have a very powdery finish.
I taste one. It’s not bad but it doesn’t taste like pizza to me.
I think it’s too oregano heavy to taste like pizza.
This doesn’t usually happen but I am actually tasting the potato here. Usually these chips lack potato flavor but the potato shines threw.
I guess it taste like a crispy Italian potato croquette.
Could pass for a mozzarella stick though.
It’s not bad but it doesn’t taste like pizza to me.
My bag of chips seems to lack the rich tomato flavor.
Maybe your bag might come with more tomato flavor?
Worth a try!
Those were my Forking Thoughts on Lay’s Kettle Cooked New York Pizza Flavored Grimaldi’s Flavor Icon Potato Chips.
Your experience may indeed differ from mine and everything is subject to change.
I recently purchased The Phoenix Cooks Cook Book by Cristina Barrueta. It is a cook book that features recipes from many of of the best chefs from Phoenix. The first recipe I tried was the Chiles Rellenos with Duxelles, Goat Cheese Cream, and Chimayo Salsa. This recipe is by chef Rene Andrade and chef Roberto Centeno from Ghost Ranch Modern Southwest Cuisine in Tempe Arizona. The recipe is very unusual for a home cook. This recipe calls for 2 cups of garlic plus TEN cloves. I also thought three cups of heavy cream is a lot of heavy cream for 7 peppers….. Even though I changed up the recipe a bit I do not have permission to publish it. I will just mention my experience with the recipe. For some people this recipe might make way more filling and sauce than you might need for 7 peppers but it is delicious.
Roasted Anaheim peppers
Chimayo salsa..This came out very thick for me. I added some water like they suggest to if the sauce is too thick. I also added 1/2 a cup of apple cider vinegar. I thought it brightens it up some. This makes way more than needed. It also gets thicker and needs to be thinned down more.
Goat Cheese Cream – three cups of heavy cream plus the goat cheese is too much for me so I only used one cup of cream that I didn’t reduce. I added a secret small dab of French Dijon mustard for a little depth. Still had plenty of goat cheese cream.
Duxelles….I made the duxelles but maybe my garlic was too strong and not as fresh as what a chef gets. The 2 cups of garlic was too much garlic for my mushrooms….to remedy this I added 3 Tablespoons of Mushroom Powder and one cup of huitiloche (Mexican Truffle also called corn smut) salt and pepper. (P.S. the mushroom powder is very good to add to things and is locally made by a woman known as the mushroom lady.
She supplies very fine mushrooms to the finest restaurants around Phoenix. My peppers for stuffing were far smaller than what the chefs have used because I had enough leftover to fill around a dozen roasted yellow Mexican chili peppers. The leftovers were also really great in omelettes too. (down below are the Mexican Yellow Peppers filled with the leftovers after filling 7 Anaheim peppers)
Garnish with chives….I fried leeks instead.
It came out Delicious and AMAZING…My changes I feel were only minor……. I never would have made this delicious dish without the Phoenix Cooks Cookbook.
Chiles Rellenos with Duxelles, Huitilloche, Goat Cheese Cream. and Chimayo Salsa
A Special THANKS! To chef Rene Andrade, chef Roberto Canteno and Christina Barrueta for this amazing recipe.
We got many places around North Phoenix where you can take out DELICIOUS food for $10.00 or less around North Phoenix. One restaurant that is on my local rotation is Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a pho free Vietnamese Eatery that offers around a dozen different Banh Mi Sandwiches and many other Vietnamese Favorites except for pho. Pictured up above is the noodle bowl. It’s a lot of different flavors in one (or two) meals. Minty salad, fried shallots, tasty protein that taste even better with fish sauce, lots of rice noodles and a tasty egg roll for me.
Here’s the shaken beef Banh Mi my husband recently got.
shaken beef from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery
Below is a $5. Chicken and cabbage salad and on right are the potstickers $4. They are delicious and tasty. The $5.00 is the right size for many people. The papaya salad and the lotus root salad both come with shrimp and are the same size as the chicken and cabbage salad.
Below is a rice plate. It a large amount of tasty meat with a double scoop of rice, a fragrant pickled salad and a pork egg roll.
Rice Plate
Another restaurant that we enjoy is Taco Fusion in Glendale.
They sell the BEST tacos in the area!
It sure doesn’t cost much to eat from Taco Fusion. Most tacos are less than $3.00 each and are made on hand made tortillas that just TASTE BETTER than from most taco places. It isn’t just the tortillas….The FILLINGS ARE DELICIOUS TOO!
I usually don’t even like carne asada from not all but most places. It has to have a really good flavor and be tender for me to eat it. I do really like the carne asada tacos here. My personal favorite taco at Taco Fusion is their mild chicken habanero taco on flour with pineapple salsa and a little pico. That taco is stuffed with flavorful moist dark chicken meat. It’s even better than chicken tacos I ate in Mexico. I also like their fish taco but I prefer that one is better on a corn tortilla. My husband eats the different styles of asada tacos here and he always tells me that they do shrimp tacos very well here. The salsas differ everyday. Sometimes they have.a real interesting black salsa that’s next to too hot but really delicious. I really enjoy their pineapple salsa because it usually has so many flavors in it. All the salsas I tried are good but you have to ask for the salsas. They also offer cilantro rice and two kinds of beans here and MORE.
Also in Glendale is Skewers Mediterranean Grill.
I get big beautiful salads here for only around $7.50.
On the left is my chicken kabob salad and on the right is the salad with shawarma. Look at the GREAT LOW pricing below. You get your meal as a pita, rice bowl, fry bowl, wrap or salad like I always get.
Almost across the street from Skewers MG is Phila-Deli in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.
My husband enjoys the cheese steaks from Phila-Deli but they cost over ten so we will talk about the really great $7.50 salads that Phila-Deli offers. (My salad was 75cents extra because I added avocado.)
You can get a very good salad for only around $7.50 at Phila-Deli to FILL YOUR BELLY!
We also like Rocket Burger in North Phoenix for burgers, Mexican Fish sandwiches maybe the largest collection of bottled sodas anywhere and MORE!
It doesn’t cost much to eat from Rocket Burger. Not all but more than half of the menu is priced under $10.
On the left is a cheese burger with a big fried chili pepper on it. At the right is the Mexican Fish Sandwich. The slaw and rocket sauce are so tasty that you can slap it on a hamster and the hamster will be delicious.
In Glendale we love going to CHZBURGR. They offer great cheese burgers, FORKING delicious crispy chicken thigh sandwiches, hot dogs, milk shakes, SPECIALS and more!
Most of the time I get the Crispy Chicken Thigh Sandwich with added Calabrian Peppers because IT’S FORKING AMAZING!
It’s crisp! It’s delicious, It’s Juicy! It sort of POPS from the house made pickles! The bun is delicious and not too big. It’s just perfection. My bigger dog is usually well behaved when I eat but when I have this sandwich she slaps me for some.
My husband gets the Triple cheese burger.
He said it’s just so perfect he can’t get anything else.
CHZBURGR is a GREAT Place for $10. or less. During the pandemic CHZBURGR offers the safer Curbside Pickup.
In North Phoenix on Bell Rd inn an older strip mall is Wraps ‘N’ Curry. They offer aromatic delicious Indian Food in fresh made naan wraps and many Indian Dishes and MORE! Below is one of their delicious wraps that you can order for take out that is only around $9.00.
Wraps ‘N’ Curry expanded their menu since opening and now offers at least 20 different Indian dishes priced at $9.99.
In North Phoenix is the home of Chino Bandido A sort of Chinese and sort of Mexican and Other foods type of restaurant. According to Food Network Chino Bandido offers (starting at $9.35) NINTY THOUSAND different combination plates. You get a BIG Pan of food that is BETTER than fast food and cost LESS than fast food if you figure that amount of food you get for your money. During the pandemic they even offer curbside pick up. Once I got the veggie salad combo with the Chili Relleno.
Our most recent take out is more typical of what to take out. I got a chili Relleno again because it is good! They use a real pepper that doesn’t taste canned (like from certain more costly restaurants) The cracker coating is unique and all that cheese is darn tasty. I like the emerald chicken with scallion ginger sauce. I get lots of rice and lots of black beans. It’s more food than I can eat and could be two meals for some people. They also give you a BIG complimentary snickerdoodle for dessert.
That was EIGHT $10. or less food from Restaurants for Take Out in North Phoenix AZ
