Athens on Easy Street is a Greek Restaurant located in Carefree Arizona. At this time they are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have indoor dining.
They also offer a dog friendly patio.
We decided to try a few things and I noticed that they offer many different dips that you don’t come across very often at most Greek Restaurants. We wanted to try the lentil dip but they were out of that so we went with the eggplant dip.
Our eggplant dip was extremely delicate with the seasonings. It tasted like just eggplant to me. The pita bread was very average. It taste like they buy the bread.
We had to try the saganak (flaming kasseri cheese).
Opa!
I don’t know why but our cheese taste burnt.
Now our dinners arrive.
I got the Athenian pressed herbed chicken. WOW! The chicken is really great! It’s very moist and very flavorful. This plate also came with really nice spinach and nicely flavored orzo topped with some feta cheese. I thought that the orzo was a nice touch since most Greek Restaurants just serve rice with platters.
My husband got the pork kabob platter.
The pork had great flavors in it but was slightly dry today. It came with Greek salad, orzo and tzatziki.
That was a little taste of Athens On Easy Street in Carefree AZ
Barrio Queen is an Arizona Chain of around a half dozen Southern Mexican Restaurants. The website list only Gilbert, Scottsdale and Phoenix but I also noticed locations in Queen Creek, Tempe, Glendale and possibly one coming soon to Avondale? James Beard Nominated Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza is no longer working for this group of restaurants but she did work for them until some time in 2014 and added her famous guacamole, cohinita pibil, chile en nogada and possibly other items to the menu. She also started up Barrio Queen with some of her closest employees.
I went to the Glendale location that is located in Arrowhead Town Center around 75th Avenue and Bell Road. This location is very busy. I arrived around four o’clock and was hoping to beat the crowd but didn’t. The whole front patio at the moment is being used for a waiting area for waiting for your table. At 4 o’clock they were on a twenty five minute wait so we grabbed some margaritas to pass the time.
front bar (currently the seating here is closed due to covid)
I have to say that the El Don Margarita with Don Julio Anejo Tequila, lime, agave and Grand Mariner is really great and very strong….I tried my husbands house margarita and it seems very flat after the El Don I’m enjoying.
Twenty five minutes goes by and we walk threw the restaurant on the way to get seated on the patio.
We walk by a gift shop.
Here’s part of one of the dining rooms.
Here’s another dining room.
Here is a second bar that is also an indoor/outdoor bar.
Here is half of the patio.
I noticed someone nearby getting the table side guacamole.
The first thing they do is start you off with complimentary chips and salsa.
Our chips arrived fresh and hot. We also got fresh lime and a crock of extra mild but flavorful salsa.
I order the pescado del Barrio (Mexican sea bass)
One side of my fish is over cooked and dry but the other side is good. My fish was topped with chopped onions some garlic and cilantro….It all kind of dry and I squirt it with lemon. The grilled zucchini is good. The Mexican style rice is very plain.. I notice that I didn’t get my hand made corn tortillas that I was looking forward to trying. Someone walks by who might be a manager and ask how things are? My husband quickly tells him that I didn’t get my tortillas. I guess before the man can say anything I say that I have enough food and don’t need the tortillas and then he leaves. It isn’t until I start getting into the plate that the dryness of the fish bothers me. I’m half crocked from the strong margarita and I forgot that the fish is suppose to be in a garlic cilantro white wine butter sauce. That means my server didn’t know (or maybe care?) that she served me a plate missing the tortillas and my fish missing the sauce. I guess that it isn’t her fault if she wasn’t trained to learn the menu on the food that she serves.
My husband was much luckier than me and got the Sonoran Style Carne Asada Entree.
His plate was much better. He got medium rare, tender and tasty arrachera (marinated and grilled skirt steak) onions, Oaxaca cheese stuffed Anaheim chile, a chorizo quesadilla, chorizo refried beans, Mexican style rice and flour tortillas.
And I got a dry fish.
That was my trip to Barrio Queen at Glendale AZ.
As a slight update someone from Barrio Queen contacted me and said that this isn’t how Barrio Queen does things…They also apologized for…(their words) “Dropping the ball a few times on my visit and not taking my concerns seriously when I was there when my concerns could have been fixed immediately. The General Manager said that he would like to email me a gift card so I would come back. He said that he was emailing me the gift card March 8th 2021 and wanted me to let him know when I was coming. As of yet I haven’t received the gift card.
He sounded very sincere…? Did he forget? Or was this just talk?
Fabio On Fire is an Italian Restaurant located in North Peoria Arizona. Fabio On Fire is also part mobile caterer that you can hire or might see at festivals and farmers markets. Fabio On Fire Italian Restaurant also offers Neapolitan Pizzas, home made pastas, and seasonal specials. They are also a bakery that offers amazing ciabatta pugliese bread, Italian cookies, pastries and more.
Fabio at the pizza oven
inside
Specials
side patio
front patio (this is a new addition)
The tastings start now. Below is the amazing complimentary bread and olive oil.
Once in a while you get treated with a deluxe basket of bread.
The rest is up to you.
antipasto (small size)
bufalo ricotta and caponata special
mushroom ravioli special
lasagna
pappardelle al salmone special ( I need to note that the tomatoes taste farm fresh)
orecchiette
pear salad
strawberry and gorgonzola salad
gnocchi with pesto
veal tortellino special
spinach ravioli in walnut sauce special
eggplant parmesan special
short rib ravioli special
wood fired lamb special
sausage ravioli special
the buffalo cheese pizza (bufalina)
sausage and mushroom pizza (salciccia e fungi)
halibut special, meatballs and little ear pasta (orecchiette) (vegetables used are all fancy)
Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante is an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria located in North Glendale Arizona (Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide). This spot has been homes to Italian restaurants for over a decade. Over ten years back this spot was home to Tutti Santi. Around spring of 2015 this was Pomo Pizzeria and Toscana Osterio. Then around spring of 2017 it became the Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante that it is today. They offer Neapolitan Pizzas, Hand made pastas, Italian Foods, Brunch Foods, Seasonal Specials and MORE!
The patio is in a park-like setting and is equipped with shades, misters and heaters. Recently the patio has been extended.
Every now and then someone is going to serve you the “I already ate plate.” You might be wondering WTFork is an I already ate plate. It’s a plate of food that isn’t much and might not even be enough to nourish a hamster. Every now and then if you go various restaurants someone sometime is going to stick it to you with the “I already ate plate.”
Here is an “I already ate plate” previous to the one I just had (from a restaurant now closed for business).
It’s a small portion of food that looks more like an appetizer….or something that is a part of a tasting menu. Maybe someone at the restaurant was confused and thought I was doing a tasting menu?
Here is another “I already ate plate.” I do note that this also wasn’t a part of a tasting menu (this restaurant is also now closed for business).
This was my $16.00 lunch. I was still hungry after this. This isn’t enough food for a little pudgy tiny toy poodle dog that is dieting. WTFork was I suppose to do?………Am I suppose to hit a fast food place afterwards? AND I would LOVE to know what the heck did they do with the other half of the egg……They couldn’t re-use it.
Here is my first “I already ate plate of 2021. I do warn you that this plate appears to be large until you get a better look.
This is pla rad prik (fish in spicy chili sauce) from Tom Yum Thai Restaurant in Peoria.
I go and open up the fish to dig in.
Up above it appears that this fish was already consumed but it wasn’t. When they cleaned out the fish they also removed nearly all the fish flesh. I spent over $20. and all I got was some fish skin, rice, the sauce and a few over cooked soggy falling apart vegetables. What am I suppose to do? If I was dining in I would show this to someone. But I did take out……If I called them up they wouldn’t believe me….. I must note that normally this restaurant is better. I had no issues with my previous visit. I just don’t recommend fish dishes from Tom Yum Thai (salmon was very over cooked from a previous visit but chicken was good).
Every now and then someone sticks it to you with “The I Already Ate Plate.” And that’s The Forking Truth.
Every once in a while I taste a dish that is stupendously impressive. Something unexpected that is jaw droppingly astonishing. I’m not even a beef person it’s normally my least favorite protein that I still eat…….I actually partially gave it up (I gave up commercial ground beef). Anywho- I know that beef cheeks are usually very good on menus so I decided to try the confit wagyu beef cheek as a hot appetizer from the modern American Restaurant Confluence in Carefree Arizona.
This confit wagyu beef cheek wasn’t just good…or just great….It was EXCEPTIONAL.
I start by tasting a chunk of beef. It is infused with great flavors and really does melt in the mouth. It actually FORKING MELTS in your mouth…You don’t need teeth. But it turns MAGICAL when you get a piece of beef with some of the silkiest flavorful scrambled egg hiding underneath dripping with this amazingly developed sauce and a sweet nutty creamy bite of kabocha squash…..pops of celery….that taste more like celery than celery that I have at home. It was so unexpected and so surprisingly impressive. This truly taste more superb than I can possibly describe.
Just go and get it (FAST). *******(menus at Confluence are ever changing to the freshest of what’s out there so they change often)
The Confit Wagyu Beef Cheek – scrambled egg, celery, kabocha squash, black garlic, apple. It was listed as a hot appetizer on the dinner menu for $16.00 From Confluence in Carefree AZ.
Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
The menus at Confluence are ever changing.
www.RestaurantConfluence.com
Everything is subject to change….That confit wagyu beef cheek won’t stay on the menu too long.
Dining out with dogs in metro Phoenix is just a “FLUFF” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It sort of started when my dog Louie was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. We were told that he probably only had 3 months or up to 6 month to live. He already was elderly and couldn’t do a lot but he always enjoyed eating and also going out to eat. I took Louie out to eat as often as I could and Louie made it another SEVENTEEN months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when I can.
There are many things you need to know about taking dogs out to eat.
Not all restaurants with patios are dog friendly. They are either certified dog friendly or they are not. Regardless it is always best to call a restaurant and ask if it is ok to bring your furry friend. You never know if the patio is booked for a party.
It is always BEST to dine out with dogs at off times to avoid other people and other dogs. Not all people like dogs and some are allergic to dogs. Other dogs enjoy barking at each other and you could be asked to leave. Avoid problems and dine at off times.
Do you know that most food and drink that you consume could be harmful and even toxic to your dog? Educate yourself and get a list of foods to avoid from your veterinarian. Usually a small piece of lean sauce free meat can be a safe bet. Bring a water bowl for your furry friend.
Here in Arizona we have to be aware that our dogs are not as heat tolerant as us. They can’t sweat and are always wearing a fur coat. They also absorb heat up their paws…. Just like people all dogs do have different levels of tolerance for heat. Not always but usually 90 degrees F and up is too hot to dine out with dogs. Keep it 90 or below in shade. When there is any doubt leave your best friend home.
There are some rules for dining out with dogs. Dogs must be by your side at all times. Dogs are NOT to sit on restaurant furniture. Dog are not to eat off restaurant plates.
Our first stop was Phila-Deli in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. They are a casual sandwich shop that offers cheesesteaks, hoagies, salads and more. The nice people there offered my dogs water and some meat scraps. I said we didn’t need them today but they were extra nice and set a BIG bowl of water down for my dogs.
My husband got a large cheesesteak today with extra cheese and tomato sauce on the side.
I got a salad and already removed a lot of chicken for my dogs.
Chicken makes dogs happy. I think it’s a pretty nice salad for only $7.50 (+.75cents for avocado)
www.PhilaDeliAZ.com
We regularly go to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a Pho -Free Vietnamese Restaurant that offers most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho. They are called Banh Mi Bistro V. E. because they offer around a dozen different Banh Mi baguette sandwiches. All the food is always delicious. They also give out very large portions and everything is $10 and mostly LESS! They used to offer out door tables but were told to remove the tables because they are not zoned for outdoor dining. We use a folding table here.
Today my husband got the grilled pork rice plate.
You can also see how it taste.
I got the curry chicken with rice today.
We always enjoy going to Banh Mi Bistro in North Phoenix.
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
The Bourbon Cellar is located in North Scottsdale. They are a small steak and seafood house but also offer some of the most amazing ground in house burgers ever! They offer seating indoors but have a unique lush water feature lined dog friendly patio.
Our server was very nice to our dogs and brought each dog a bowl of water.
We decided to start out by sharing the macaroni and cheese appetizer.
It’s very cheesy with lots of sauce. It took a little while but it was worth waiting for. My dogs also enjoyed some.
We took most of it home so we’d have room for the amazing burgers.
Here’s my husband’s fresh ground filet mignon burger with bacon, cheese and onions and a side of onion rings.
I got mine with a side of fresh made to order crunchy cole slaw and my burger was topped with onion rings and bourbon pickles.
It’s a really delicious burger. I think it’s the best one that I have tasted anywhere. It’s also very large so I cut mine in half and my dogs ate the other half.
The Bourbon Cellar was a really great choice today.
www.TheBourbonCellar.com
Next we were off to Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.
Cucina Tagliani is an American-Italian Restaurant that is also offering some steak and rib specials lately.
Today I got my usual strawberry chicken salad. The strawberries are always extra good and the dressing is delicious.
My husband got a Stromboli.
My dogs always enjoy all the visits to Cucina Tagliani.
www.CucinaTagliani.com
That was dining out with dogs in metro Phoenix. We hope that you’ve enjoyed and we hope to see you next month.
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is located in Scottsdale Arizona. They have around one hundred and forty locations in around thirty seven states. Menus, some recipes and some prices do differ at the different locations.
The Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Scottsdale Arizona is located on a second level above other businesses. You enter by either walking up the stairs or taking the elevator. They offer indoor seating.
And outdoor seating.
They start you off with a loaf of warm ordinary bread and ordinary butter. (My FORKING Thoughts are can’t they serve a tastier bread? and at least clip some fresh chives for the butter….maybe serve a fresh herb pesto????? This is going to cost an arm and a leg….Why is this is soOoooooo ordinary?)
The bread is ok but not tasty enough to want a second taste. The butter is just plain butter.
When I go to similar price point restaurants going out to eat I usually get bread that is more like this (pictured bellow). (those were my FORKING thoughts)
Twist by Pierre Gagnaire at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas
or
L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon Las VegasRuth’s Chris Bread and Butter
Oh Well the bread and butter are ordinary …lets move on.
Next we share a chopped salad.
It’s presented very nice. The crisp onions are tasty. This salad contains raw button mushrooms. Maybe it’s just me but raw mushrooms don’t taste good in a salad. This salad is bland. It’s like made for blue hairs in Sun City. It’s suppose to have blue cheese in it. I think we shared one small crumb of blue cheese…………( I think it should have a few teaspoons of blue cheese not just a small crumb). (My husband insist that this same salad at other Ruth’s Chris locations are much tastier and do include more blue cheese???……I’ve noticed that other locations do have different ingredients listed on the menu )……Oh well………
We share some sides because we are at a steakhouse so you have to buy the sides.
We tried the three cheese sauce potatoes au gratin and the grilled asparagus with hollandaise sauce.
The potatoes are ok but very ordinary. Like something you’d get at a family cook out. They are a smaller amount than expected. I took two chunks so my husband could eat the rest. The asparagus was tasty and nicely grilled. The asparagus might have been the highlight of the meal. The hollandaise sauce seemed fresh made but was very thick, laced with lemon and very mild.
My husband got the eleven ounce prime filet mignon.
$53.00
It came out on a very hot plate. My husband gives me a bite to try. It’s tender but I can’t eat this. It’s oddly tasteless. The beef is not flavorful and is so ordinary tasting and very bland. It really needs salt and pepper too. I don’t know why this filet is tasteless….It’s of high quality……Maybe they didn’t sear it enough???????…….I just had a ground up prime filet somewhere else and it was far more flavorful and cost less than half of what this cost. The last Filet I had also was far more flavorful, detailed and delicious, (pictured below) and also cost much less. (my husband did say that he has enjoyed filets from other Ruth Chris’s Restaurants…to him this one did differ….)
I THANK my lucky stars that I didn’t go with a filet at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
The Chilean sea bass almost seems amazing after tasting the filet.
$40.
It looks like a large portion and it is enough but not as large as it looks. It is placed on a very small plate. (They are tricky here) This is a standard restaurant side plate….Like the type of plate you would serve a baked potato on or a side of vegetables. The fish is surrounded by small chunks of hard sweet potato and grilled chunks of pineapple in a coconut butter sauce. The fish is prepared well and is tasty with the fresh herbs, salt and pepper. This plate was mostly ok even with the undercooked sweet potatoes. For $40 I think it could have been a little more special. Maybe dressed with a nice vegetable like a few snap peas? A few pretty sprouts? Some toasted macadamia nuts?
For the same price I enjoyed many extraordinary fish entrees from Confluence in Carefree. (They always do fish extraordinary with crispy seasoned skin that is shattering crisp and extraordinary things surrounding the plate).
Hiramasa, huitlacoche, tomatillo, mango, pepitas, arbol chili
The above plate is far superior to-
This was a $300. night out (with tip).
In general there is nothing wrong with ordinary. I expect ordinary at most places but –
……Dinner tasted very ordinary (but was extraordinarily priced).
I left very underwhelmed.
We went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse because we had a gift card.
I do note that each location does differ and your experience at Scottsdale could indeed differ.
www.RuthsChris.com
Everything is subject to change and your opinion may differ from mine.
Ocho Rios Jerk Spot is a Caribbean Restaurant located in an older strip mall in Phoenix Arizona. They offer Jamaican patties, wings, salads, cocktails various Jamaican entrees and more.
They do have a patio but it doesn’t appear to be in use.
Inside is a dining room and a bar.
Today we did take out.
We tried a variety of things. We tried small sized a la carte escovitch snapper, a la carte brown stew chicken, a la carte curry chicken, s/o macaroni and cheese, cocoa bread and a jerk chicken entree with rice and peas, cabbage and festival bread.
All the chicken dishes we ordered were dark meat that was developed with flavors and falling off the bone tender. The curry chicken and the brown stew chicken was very similar to others that I have tried. Very good and similar familiar flavors. The escovitch snapper also had very good flavor. Don’t remember having cocoa bread before but it was good and seemed fresh. It was slightly sweet. The macaroni and cheese was a homestyle kind……a little soft with the noodles but it was very cheesy. I do find that each restaurant has their own unique recipe for jerk chicken. This one is among the best that I’ve tried. It’s very flavorful and very tender. I had my choice of sauce that comes with it. I think? the choices were something like mild, bbq or hot…We picked hot and it was HOT but not nuclear with a nice fruity taste. I thought it was really great!
I have to say…….First taste at Ocho Rios Jerk Spot was….
The Bourbon Cellar is a small independent steak and seafood restaurant in North Scottsdale Arizona. The owner is also the chef and does the in house butchering. Inside is sort of rustic with lots of wood, bricks, bourbon barrels and American Flags.
Outside is a lush dog friendly patio with a water feature.
I’m not a burger person…Most burgers are just food that is very filling. A few are tasty out there and some burgers out there are of a higher quality……..but none are like The Bourbon Cellar’s Prime Filet Ground in House Burger……..I’ve been here several times and I just can’t get past the ground-in-house prime filet burger. This burger is different.
Here is a closer look. All beef does taste different. Especially ground beef. Commercial ground beef just isn’t up there with ground in house beef. Commercial beef is much gamier tasting…..with a slight sourness to it. It’s that dead cow taste….I know it because I used to cook up a few hundred pounds of beef when I was a cook. It does smell like a dead cow. Ground in house beef is a cleaner taste and doesn’t smell as bad at home when you grind your own beef.
It is an amazing big burger so I cut it in half and remove the toppings.
This burger is great but it isn’t cheap and might run you more than most burgers you eat. The bourbon pickles that I added (90cents) and onion ring topping (90cents) are really great. The onions rings are super great because they are shattering crisp and the onion doesn’t pull out when you bite into it. But it is the burger that is the main event here. It’s seasoned to perfection. I think “medium” is perfect here….medium rare would be too much raw meat. It’s like eating a really great steak. It’s so flavorful. I think it’s maybe the best tasting burger that I have ever tried. It’s so good that it shouldn’t be covered up with stuff. I love stuff….but then it covers up this amazing burger. You really have to eat it open face…It’s that good.
My dogs are always happy to help me with the other half.
Even the cole slaw was good. It was made fresh to order and came out after my burger.
It was very crisp and fresh.
We tried one different thing off the menu and went for the macaroni and cheese appetizer.
This was made fresh to order and did take some time but it is a perfect mix of cheesy and creamy. (Gave my dogs some too)
The ground in house prime filet burger from The Bourbon Cellar is Worth a Fork!
