Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

My Trip to Hash Kitchen North Scottsdale AZ – Bloody Mary Buffet, DJ Brunch, Fluffy Waffles & MORE!

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The Hash Kitchen is an Arizona based group of brunch restaurants currently with five locations in the valley but are soon to spread nation-wide. The Hash Kitchen offers a long menu with lots of variety and over the top drinks………..They offer all kinds of HASH breakfast plates such as green chili pork, braised beef, chicken, birria, huevos ranchero, carnitas, and corned beef hash. A very unique offering is called the Ferris WheeI it’s 3 tie dyed cupcakes served with a trio of cereal milk pudding shooters. They also offer French toast, pancakes, salad, burgers, sandwiches, beef burritos, a loco moco, kids meals, and many interesting sounding cocktails such as mega glitter bomb mimosas and something called giggle milk. Hash Kitchen is well known for the make it yourself Bloody Mary bar………You pick the rim salt, heat level, vodka flavor, and mixer flavor and then you have a whole buffet of toppings for your drink…..(you almost or don’t need food after the Bloody Mary Buffet.

Bloody Mary with all kinds of treats pickled egg, spicy melon, Calabrian Chilies, Italian Pickles, cheese, blue cheese stuffed olives, a fancy onion, pickled Brussels sprout

I tried to dine at the Peoria location but wasn’t expecting an hour and a half wait (that is too long to wait for lunch for me). The next week I hit the Gainey Ranch location and it was on a similar wait. Since then I have learned that the Hash kitchen doesn’t take reservations but at the North Scottsdale location and the Arcadia location you can join a wait list threw Yelp and the wait was very short that way.

I got in and it was packed with an extra LOUD atmosphere and a disk jockey playing loud music.

People like to make an entrance here.

I tried the Louisiana hot fried chicken and waffle.

The waffle is amazing. I never had a waffle so light and fluffy before. The waffle is topped with lots of crispy fried leeks and warm maple syrup and creamy soft butter are on the side. The chicken is a little tough and hard to cut. It’s tangy like hot sauce but is only mildly spicy. It’s also a bit greasy and the coating is soggy…but did I tell you how fabulous the waffle was? I saved a Calabrian Pepper from my Bloody Mary and chopped it up and sprinkled it on the waffle and it was so tasty and delicious with the creamy butter and maple syrup.

My husband tried the Braised Green Chili Pork and Grits Hash.

He said that the green chili pork was very good. This technically isn’t truly hash . To be hash the meat needs to be cooked with the potatoes…The potatoes look like just deep fried cubes……but it’s tasty and we are not food police anyway.

This was a little taste of Hash Kitchen in North Scottsdale

www.HashKitchen.com

14838 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd Scottsdale AZ

480-361-5228

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek AZ

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Phat Turtle BBQ is a casual Kanas City Style Barbecue restaurant located in Cave Creek Arizona. Kanas City type BBQ is suppose to be dry rubbed and slow smoked over wood and is served with a tomato based sauce. It is typical of Kanas City BBQ places to offer something called burnt ends. The burnt ends are the crusty fatty pieces from the point of the brIsket.

You know that you have walked into a barbecue when you have walked in. You smell the smokey delicious smell of barbecue when you walk in.

The atmosphere has an Old West and antique shop sort of decor to it with lots of mismatched older furniture, a collection of saddles, all kinds of nick nacks, compasses on every table, and lots of other things.

We ordered.

They run their sauces to our table.

They have sweet, hickory, and spicy.

Our server returns and said that they are out of the bbq chicken from my 2 meat plate that I ordered. So I change my order.

She leaves and didn’t say anything to my husband who ordered the Phat Sampler that also includes chicken. We figure that maybe they had a little bit of leftover chicken for him??

Soon my side salad comes out.

It’s a nice big (almost meal sized) salad. I share it with my husband while we are waiting for the rest.

Around 30 minutes latter my 2 meat plate comes out.

I got brisket, burnt ends, and potato salad. The brisket is a bit on the dry side but ok. The burnt ends are extremely fatty and succulent. … but they all succulent with a succulent bark. (I’ll save them for my husband) The potato salad is eggy and seasoned with dill.

My husband got his plate and a few surprises.

Well lets start with the good.

The onion rings are very good and the pork is ok.

The surprises are that the plate is missing two of the meats (the chicken and the sausage) and the other surprise is that the chopped brisket is all little hard crumbs (at about 2:00 on the plate (like the type of meat crumbs that get cleaned off of the cutting board and get tossed into the beans……….). He also got burnt ends but on his plate they are very chewy and kind of dry. The Phat sampler was suppose to be 1/8lb. bunt ends, 1/8lb. pulled pork, 1/8lb. brisket, 2 baby back ribs, chopped chicken, 1/4 lb sausage filled onion rings with one side.

(I do note that all BBQ restaurants are never consistent due to the nature of hours of food preparation ((smoking) and then keeping the meat fresh for you…)

For the side was macaroni and cheese.

It was pasta shells in a thin white sauce that was very light with cheese (almost not cheesy).

We had a service issue here. – My husband informed our server that if he knew that he wasn’t getting two of the meats from the sampler platter that he would have ordered the 2 meat plate instead that came with two sides.

When she brought the check she gave us a slice of peach cobbler to go to make up for our troubles.

The cobbler is dry and dense and comes with one peach slice.

I heard back already from the owner.

He apologized and said that he wish I brought all this to his attention and he would have taken care of us. He also said that this is unusual and isn’t the way they normally serve.

I should note that you shouldn’t judge any barbecue restaurant from one visit because none of them are always consistent. They spend hours smoking the meats and then the tricky part is timing the meat for you.

That was my trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek.

www.PhatTurtleBBQ.com

30845 N Cave Creek Rd Cave Creek AZ

602-527-3257

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

The Forking Truth

First Taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar in Peoria AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar is a Mexican Southwest street food style restaurant and bar. They have two locations in metro Phoenix. One is in Phoenix and the one I visited is in Peoria Arizona by the Peoria Sports complex by P83. The majority of the menu offerings are shareable plates and over a dozen types of street tacos. They also offer cheese crisps, bowls, fajitas, and more.

We came around a holiday weekend when most places were closed today.

They have bar seating.

They also have traditional seating and a large patio with high top tables.

We started out by ordering the chips and trio of salsas. (this I forgot to photo)

The seemed freshly made and were served warm. The three salsas that we received were a roasted salsa, a tomatillo salsa, and pineapple habanero salsa. Everything was tasty. The pineapple habanero had very strong pineapple flavor with a nice not too hot heat from the habanero.

I tried three street tacos. They come with rice and beans or you can upgrade the sides to elote.

I tried the potato head, Del Mar (beer battered mild white fish), and the Nashville hot chicken street tacos. All the tacos are over stuffed and some are extra saucy. I wouldn’t recommend them on a first date with someone unless you are very comfortable with any situation……(You will look very messy). The first one I tried was the one called potato head “queso style” with a crispy hard cheese shell around the taco (I thought the cheese shell would taste best on the potato taco and I think that I was right) This potato head taco is really scrumptious queso style. It’s full of all kinds of flavors. The Del Mar (beer battered fish taco) is tasty with the chipotle aioli. The Nashville Hot Chicken taco doesn’t remind me of Hattie “B”s but it sure is tasty so it’s a win. I was pretty full by now. but I did manage to taste the rice and beans. Both. were very good and better than from most places. I’d say the beans might have been the best vegetarian beans that I have tasted anywhere.

My husband tried the chorizo, carne asada, shrimp diablo, and carnitas. All of them were good. The carne asada was tender. The shrimp diablo was extra spicy.

I have to say that our first taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar was Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.RevoluTaqueria.com

15703 N 83rd AVE Peoria AZ

623-878-0215

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of The Mexicano in Phoenix AZ

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The Mexicano is a Mexican Style full service Unique Restaurant in the Paradise Valley area of Phoenix Arizona. This restaurant is unique.

There is something about it that is festive. People of a certain age might remember a Mexican restaurant called Chi-Chi’s. The Mexicano is kind of like that Chi-Chi’s festive atmosphere and style but on steroids with better food.

This place is already a hit. I knew it would be packed so we came extra EXTRA EARLY at 4pm and they were ALREADY on a 45 minute wait. By 5pm they were on a hour and a half wait.

The wait estimate was accurate and we made it to our table in 48 minutes.

Lots of people waiting for seating.

On my way to a table I notice the build your own Michelada area.

I also notice that they have someone with a cart selling shots.

We start of with margaritas and complimentary tasty chips and salsas.

Then we share the Mexican flaming cheese called saganaki.

The manchego cheese was ignited with tequila and topped with roasted poblano peppers and onion bulbs.

For dinners we tried the lava rock fajita salmon and the birria enchiladas.

(sour cream and smashed avocado also arrived)

The winner here was the fajita salmon. It was fresh tasting and very moist. It never got overcooked despite sitting on a hot lava rock. It was also delicious. They gave small hand made purple tortilla with it.

The beef enchiladas didn’t come out perfect but had a nice flavor. My husband enjoyed both of the cannellini refried beans. (They made things right)

Our service was attentive and very good.

That was a little taste of The Mexicano in Phoenix.

www.TheMexicano.com

4801 E. Cactus RD PHX AZ Ph#602-812-2100

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Charley’s Sports Bar in Glendale AZ

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Charley’s Sports Bar is a neighborhood type pub located in the Arrowhead section in North Glendale Arizona. Besides offering breakfast and an all day menu of various dishes (soup, salads, sandwiches, entrees, and more) they also offer off track betting, and events such as cornball, trivia night, karaoke, and Friday, Saturday night live music. They have also been awarded The AZCENTRAL official community award for 2021 Best Desert West Valley.

It’s not a fancy place and looks similar to other pub restaurants. They do offer patio dining. Inside are traditional tables, high tops and bar seating.

The atmosphere is energetic and loud.

My husband tried a red Irish beer called Smithwicks that he liked and I had a Patron margarita that seemed pretty good.

They had a lot of appetizers on the menu. I saw a lot of the usual things like wings, sliders, fried foods. I thought the corned beef hash street sized tacos sounded the most interesting so we started with that.

These I wouldn’t get again or recommend only because ours were served completely cold. But everything afterwards was very good!

I didn’t try the chili but my husband said it was very flavorful and also spicy.

The salmon salad is a little different but good. It’s nicely grilled and glazed with a mild chipotle orange glaze that isn’t overpowering to the fish and salad. The Atlantic salmon. is grilled to a perfect medium rare in the center. The greens are adorned with candied pecans and chunks of blue cheese.

My husband tried the 13 hour pulled pork sandwich with fries (slaw on the side at his request)

The flavorful tender pulled pork is on a rich brioche bun with some pickles. The fries are hot and fresh.

That was a little taste of Charley’s Sports Grill in Glendale AZ.

www.CharleysSportsGrill.com

8110 W Union Hills Dr Glendale AZ

623-322-3593

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

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

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

FANTABULOUS Donuts in Phoenix from Daily Donuts & Wings Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Fantabulous means – Top of the line, marvelously good, peachy keen and dynamite.

Daily Donuts & Wings recently opened in a strip mall on Bell Road in North Phoenix Arizona and the donuts on every visit have been FANTABULOUS! I read that they also have other locations in Mesa, Tempe and in Glendale (*****UPDATE haven’t been able to find the other locations…..maybe they plan to expand?). Besides FANTABULOUS Donuts they also offer breakfast, wings, chicken tenders, fries, smoothies and a few snacks.

They have some indoor seating across the front and a table to the side.

OOOOOOOOH! It’s that sweet doughnut aroma………….Doughnuts!

Oh my what will we try?

Today I tried a blueberry filled donut and my husband tried a chocolate iced. I was so excited that I forgot to photo them. But WOW!!!! were they FANTABULOUS! The blueberry filled donut was one of the best donuts that I have ever had in my life. The donut really just melted in my mouth. It had the perfect sweetness and was so tender and seemed light as air. I didn’t get to try any of the chocolate iced doughnut but my husband said that it was better than other chocolate doughnuts that he has tried.

Then we went back the next week and tried two more donuts.

Today I got a lemon filled doughnut. (the blueberry looked identical) It’s this just right lightly iced doughnut that seems light are air and it just melts in my mouth. I don’t get lemon in the first few bites because the filling is squeezed into the center. BUT WOW! It’s the best lemon filling that I ever had in a doughnut. It’s very lemony and tart but not too tart….It’s just right.

My husband picked one of the cinnamon doughnuts (they make a few different kinds).

Went back the following week and tried a Boston Cream.

I think this is the best Boston Cream doughnut that I ever had. The cream is so smooth and delicious. The doughnut is so fresh and so light as air. The chocolate icing is has the right amount of chocolate and sweetness. (my husband had the same cinnamon doughnut again)

On my most recent trip back I got a doughnut with sprinkles and my husband got the cinnamon doughnut again.

This is the FORKING BEST doughnut with sprinkles that I have ever had. Even the frosting is better than from other places. It’s not too sweet and actually taste good. The doughnut is so light and so fresh….It’s FANTABULOUS!

FANTABULOUS Doughnuts from Daily Donuts and Wings. So light and so fresh….these doughnuts are easy to inhale.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

You can find Daily Donuts & Wings on Facebook and the North Phoenix location has a website and lists the other locations.

www.DailyDonutsandWings.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