Tag Archives: #PhoenixFood

Persepshen Restaurant Phoenix AZ- Worth a Fork! – Newly opened Farm to Table

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Persepshen (per’sepSH(e)n) is a farm to table type of restaurant that opened in Phoenix Arizona. They locally source as much as possible, serve organic and do whole animal cooking. Everything is made in-house by scratch. It’s a small restaurant that offers a large menu with lots of variety. The menu is broken down into snacks, small plates, big plates, real big plates, kiddos, sweet treats and just a bite treats. They offer local beers and liquors and also offer wines and Italian sodas.

Near the main dining room it looks like this. (nonstop people walking by)

From my seat it looks like this.

It might be a sort of a chic rustic sort of atmosphere.

The bar.

The kitchen.

The menu was pretty darn massive with a lot of variety for a small restaurant.

We arrive and my husband is starving so he tries a “just a pig stick” with hatch chili while we are deciding ($3.00).

It arrives wrapped up and here it is unwrapped. It’s made in house from the whole animal. I keep hearing….”this is really good!”………..”this is REALLY good!”

Our server was very knowledgeable on the menu and gave many suggestions.

We finally decide and here the plates come.

Our first plate is the melon ($13.00)

It’s a nice light refreshing starter with house made pickled peppers, mint, honey, goat cheese, black peppered cashews, micro greens and of course melon. (this could also be a nice light dessert)

Our next plate is the wood roasted carrots ($9.00)

They arrive in a hot skillet on a slice of tree. The carrots are wood grilled and are tossed in bbq sauce with pickled sweet peppers and are also topped with crispy onions. This plate ran on the sweet side. Maybe too much bbq sauce.

Our main plate was the wood grilled sirloin steak ($22.00).

It was prepared medium-medium/rare. It had a nice sear with a well seasoned exterior and a fresh tasting tender delicious interior.

The steak was covered with lots of young grilled black eyed peas. They had a nice wood grill flavor to them and sort of were similar to green beans. Tostones and chimichuri completed the plate.

The sweet ending was a yuzu laced slice of pound cake embellished with poppy seeds, blueberry jam, creme fraiche and candied basil leaves.

I’d say that Persepshen was Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

I haven’t found a website for Persepshen but they are on Facebook.

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to the 2019 Arizona Taco Festival at Westworld of Scottsdale AZ

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The 2019 Arizona Taco Festival was a two day event held at Westworld in Scottsdale. It ran from Saturday October 12th and Sunday October 13th. General Admission tickets ran around $15.00 a person but discounted tickets were available on Groupon for half price. Tacos did cost around $3.00 each. In addition to tacos there were other activities such as a chihuahua beauty contest, a hot pepper eating contest, a hot sauce expo and a tequila expo and more. Certain activities were for an additional charge. Parking was about a mile from the event. Closer parking was available for $20.00.

I went on day two Sunday the 13th. I got there bright and early about 20 minutes before opening. The line wasn’t too bad today and the weather wasn’t too bad either. It was on the warm side but breezes blow by to cool you off.

I warn you that I tell The FORKING Truth so don’t expect every stop here to be perfect.

The people behind us

Our first tacos came from Taqueria Mi Lindo Guanajuato.

The one on the right was chicken and the one on the left I forget…It was either beef or pork. These were ok and messy to eat. I noticed that most of the tortillas were not grilled today.

Next we tried a combo taco plate (chicken, beef and pork) from Taste of Korea.

This was one of the few places that prepared nicely cooked moist proteins….but these tacos were made with LOTS of mayonnaise that sort of grossed us out. The beef was very sweet tasting. The chicken might have been the best of what’s here.

Next we shared a bean taco from Los Sombreros.

It was on the bland side……

Next was a red chili chicken taco and a fish taco from Vaqueros.

These tacos were tasty and it was nice to have the grilled hot serano pepper. I know that tacos in Mexico usually have some more vegetables in them to be tastier. These were also almost impossible to eat standing up.

It really wasn’t too busy here at lunch time.

They have someone spinning records.

This lone tent looked interesting….Might have missed out on something good?

Tried a chicken taco from Superfarm Super Truck because they displayed a lot of awards.

The sauces on this tacos were VERY GOOD but this taco shell has seen better days…..It’s like air dried and crunchy.

Next was Sr. Ozzy’s

They had a line and were selling TWO Tacos for Three dollars.

By now I’m sort of full and couldn’t go on much more but my husband is still hungry. So he eats these tacos and I just take one bite out of the beef taco. (bottom left) Beef is seasoned well but it’s sort of boring without all the vegetables. I didn’t try the seafood taco. It was the only cooked tortilla we tried today but my husband said it tasted fishy.

Next is a chicken taco from Vecina.

This chicken is dry and the taco is cold. I think these were made a long time ago.

I really had high expectations for a vegan carne asada taco from Verdura. I’ve been to Verdura and have had good vegetable plates there.

It looks good. I’m very thankful that I tried the tiniest morsel before attempting a bite. THIS IS INEDIBLE. THIS WAS THE FORKING WORST TACO I TASTED AT THE TACO FESTIVAL> It’s a #FORKNO …..They must have had an accident and dumped a whole large container of salt into it. It’s so salty that this taco could kill people. I wished at the moment that there was some sort of food super hero that I could call to fix this……. I bet the nearest trashcan is full of these tacos.

That was my trip to the 2019 Taco Festival.

I don’t expect to return again.

www.AZTacoFestival.com

But EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change……Your experience may or may NOT differ…..

The Forking Truth

My Trip To Fellow Osteria in Scottsdale AZ

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Fellow Osteria is a full service Italian Inspired Restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona (the area between the Phoenix Zoo and the area the boarders Tempe). From the outside and inside the first thing you notice is how lovely, vast and park-like the outdoor seating is.

The indoor atmosphere is bright, airy, crisp and modern and is filled with lots of bright light during the day.

We started by sharing the arancini.

We received five fried rice balls that were crisp and seemed free of oil. They were dusted with hard grated cheese and were made with saffron, fontina cheese and sat in an oregano heavy tomato sauce.

They had a perfect texture and the correct amount of saffron but were on the one note side. Today’s batch could use just a small amount of pepper, stock, onion and wine and a more flavorful cheese like parmesan inside……. Then they’d be really great. ($10.00 subject to change)

We both tried the Lunch Love – eight inch pizza with half house salad, kale salad, or arugula beet salad. ($9.99 subject to change). What’s not to love? A personal size pizza and a healthy salad for only $9.99.

We were served our salads first. Both salads were the perfect size.

The top salad is the house salad. It’s made of mixed greens, heirloom tomatoes, Parmigiano cheese and is lightly dressed with a vinaigrette dressing.

My salad was the bottom salad.

I liked that my salad had a lot of textures to it. This salad is a bowl of arugula, tender-crisp beets, whipped ricotta, candied walnuts, chives and a light vinaigrette. I thought the cheese was very good and creamy but the walnuts were heavily coated with lots of sugar today……………..

Things were timed nicely and our pizzas arrive after we finish our salads. I got the pizza made with sweet charred corn, ricotta cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano and Calabrian Chile.

It’s a non traditional pizza that is delicious!……The crust is unusual too……It is crisp on the bottom and looks like it’s made with some sort of wheat or grain flour that is organic. The menu reads organic flour and tomatoes….

Anyways…….I taste that the corn was fresh, sweet and charred. The ricotta is creamy and lightly seasoned. The Calabrian Peppers add a good deal of yum and zip…..This non traditional pizza is YUMMY DELICIOUS!

My husband to my surprise ordered the pizza with pesto, mozzarella, braised chicken and heirloom tomatoes.

I tried two bites. This pizza was cooked perfect….It was nice and crisp and fully cooked. The cheese was rubbery on this pizza and the chicken was dry. We both enjoyed the corn pizza much more. The corn pizza is the way to go…It’s delicious!

That was my trip to Fellow Osteria

www.FellowOsteria.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Sapiens Paleo Kitchen Scottsdale AZ is Worth a Fork! It doesn’t matter if you are into Paleo to dine here.

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Sapiens Paleo Kitchen is a small French Style, Paleo, gluten free, B.Y.O.B, restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. They offer healthy quality Paleo inspired French Cuisine by the experienced French trained master chef Aurore de Beauduy. Paleo is healthy cuisine designed to choose foods for your best health. Many foods such as grains, most dairy sugar, and more are avoided. This is a SMALL restaurant and the whole dining room is pictured above. Reservations are necessary.

The tables are small and are somewhat spaced close together.

It seems like you get more space when you gaze at the Mountain View threw the front window.

We started out with a paleo bread platter ($10.00…subject to change) and the balsamic braised brussels sprouts ($5.00….subject to change).

We received an assortment of thin toasted breads and chunks of bread, smoky tomato jam, artichoke tapenade. Some bread thins were herbed and some contained fruit. The chunk bread seemed richer and all the dips were tasty. Balsamic braised Brussels sprouts had a nice tender crisp texture. The portions ran larger than from a typical French Restaurant.

For dinner I had the branzino special ($31.95….subject to change).

This branzino is seasoned just so and just melts in my mouth. I don’t recall having a branzino that was prepared or tasted this well before. There is also this delicious parsnip puree here and hericot verts, large capers, frilly lettuce, persimmon and a sweet tomato.

My husband went with the rabbit stew in a dijon mustard sauce with potatoes and onions. ($28.00….subject to change).

He said it was really great and just right for him. He also mentioned that for me it might run a little high on salt..

We decided to share the daily made les chocolates ($10.00…..subject to change).

At first taste you know that you are eating high quality chocolate. I sort of wish I had a big box of this to take home. It’s really Forking Good! Some chocolates have fruit, some have nuts and one is filled with coconut. This is a generously sized plate and we shared it with two other people at our table.

High quality, reasonably priced, masterfully prepared food that is healthy.

Sapiens Paleo Kitchen in Scottsdale AZ is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.SapiensKitchen.com

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

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Hand Cut Burgers & Chophouse in Scottsdale AZ

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Hand Cut Burgers and Chophouse is located in Scottsdale by The Scottsdale Fashion Mall. This is a full service restaurant with a bar that offers appetizers, sandwiches, salads, burgers, steaks, other dinners and more.

They offer high top tables, booths and bar seating. Three turntables are by the front of the restaurant for music. Sports are playing on big screen televisions.

From most seats you can view the open kitchen and the cold prep area.

Today we came for lunch and I went with a Chop Salad with added salmon ($10.00 + $7.00 subject to change and it it did just change……….just a few days ago they updated the menu and the chopped salad now does indeed differ some but is the same in price).

I received a plate of fresh greens, corn kernels, blueberries, goat cheese, pine nuts with blueberry balsamic dressing. All is OK here. (****NOTE the menu has changed slightly as of October 1st 2019)

My husband got the Steak Salad ($15.00 subject to change) (this one is still the same on the menu)

Here was fresh greens, sliced flank steak, blue cheese, garlic croutons, tomato, avocado with balsamic vinaigrette. All is ok here too.

Both salads were made with fresh greens and were made with a generous amount of delicious cheese.

That was my trip to Hand Cut Burgers and Chophouse in Scottsdale.

www.HandCutChophouse.com

Hand Cut Burgers and Chophouse is of the Riot Hospitality Group of restaurants that include Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, El Hefe, Farm and Craft and Riot House.

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

The Forking Truth

Old Town Taste – Tempe AZ – Szechuan and Non-Spicy Chinese Food – Worth a Fork!

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Old Town Taste is located in Tempe Arizona. This is a Chinese Restaurant that offers Szechuan and non-spicy authentic style Chinese Food. The atmosphere is neat and clean and during the day lots of bright light comes in threw the glass front exterior.

There is wallpaper around the restaurant that illustrates an “Old Town.” It looks like it could be an old town anywhere but it’s probably suppose to be an old town in China. A place where you can get Chinese Food the way it’s been made since long ago.

They offer all kinds of different dishes here. A few of the dishes offered are peanuts in vinegar, spicy sour shredded potatoes, sauté garlic lettuce, fried egg with tomatoes, braised beef with mint, bacon with wide green beans. They offer dishes you might be familiar with or just sound familiar with like kung pao chicken, braised meatballs in brown sauce, braised duck in cooking beer iron wok stewed organic chicken and fried cumin lamb. They also offer dishes like red oil intestine noodles, garlic flavored chicken gristle, steamed duck heads with spicy sauce, Chen’s sour spicy lamb spine and Szechuan Style blood curd.

We shared two dishes…the fried eggplant, bell pepper and potato dish ($12.99 and the Szechuan Style spicy fish ($15.99).

We started with the eggplant dish.

This is a lighter dish. It’s mostly eggplant with a small amount of green bell pepper and a little bit of potatoes. It’s a mild dish in a light garlic soy kind of sauce. That turned out to be a great choice to cool us down from the Szechuan Style Spicy Fish.

It’s spicy and delicious! The mild white fish was fried with a crispy coating that seems free of oil. It’s very spicy, nose running spicy but doesn’t hurt. The Szechuan peppers numb your mouth so you can enjoy the heat. There also is garlic and other seasonings and crispy fried green beans. This dish is really GREAT!

That was my first trip to Old Town Taste in Tempe. Can’t wait to try other dishes!

Old Town Taste is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

I have not found a website page for Old Town Taste but they are on Facebook.

1845 E Broadway Rd Tempe

480-702-7101

closed Mondays

Open for lunch hours Tue-Sun 11:30-2:45

Dinner hours are Tue-Sun 5pm-9:30

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

The Forking Truth

J&G Steakhouse at The Phoenician in Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork!

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J&G Steakhouse is an upscale restaurant located in the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale Arizona. The Steakhouse menu offers much variety with slight Asian Accents done by French techniques. The menu is also offers a few dishes of the namesake celebrity chef Jean-George Vongerichten. At this time the current executive chef is French Trained Jacques Qualin who has worked with chef Jean-George Vongerichten.

The restaurant overlooks the beautiful resort grounds and golf course.

The seating is sort of set up orchestra style with different levels so everyone can have a view.

On this visit it happened to be restaurant week and J&G Steakhouse offered an ultra amazing detailed generous three course menu for $44.00 a person.

They start everyone out with hot fresh slightly salted Parker House Rolls and butter…..I’ve been here before so I knew we had to order the black truffle cheese fritters ($11.00 subject to change).

Six TINY marble sized balls of pure JOY! So easy to woof down…….One person could easily eat all of them.

They just taste SOOOooooooooooOOOOOOh FORKING GREAT! Yummy delicious comte cheese black truffles that actually taste like black truffles and this ultra thin crisp miracle shell that holds in so much treasure. These are just SO FORKING GREAT!

We both went with the restaurant week menu.

My first dish was the smoked salmon toast.

WOW! It stunning! Sliced smoked silky salmon, salmon roe, borage flowers, dill, shaved cucumber, creamy spread and toasted quality bread and the most amazing delicious micro herbs and sprouts. Take a closer look.

This was so detailed…the flavors in the micro herbs were OUT OF BOUNDS and were so FRESH……I forgot to ask if they grow them there because that’s what they tasted like.

My husband started with the longevity noodles.

This was a generous bowl of noodles with three grilled wild shrimp in a ginger broth with pea shoots , herbs and chili.

For my main I had the slowly cooked arctic char.

The arctic char was so creamy and mild it almost was like custard. I rarely eat the skin but it was delicious here and was seasoned to perfection. The green in the middle of the plate is wood sorrel and wood sorrel emulsion…..It’s sort of like green borscht on the plate and adds a nice interest between the fish and the rest of the plate. The other side of the plate are perfectly cooked chanterelles (what a treat like $50 a pound at AJ’s and always in bad shape). The little slices aren’t potatoes but are pan fried slices of lighter more vegetal kohlrabi. This was really a stunning dinner….This dinner alone was worth $44.00 that restaurant week cost.

My husband had the grilled PRIME sirloin cap.

This plate also came with roasted Japanese Eggplant, chimichurri sauce, wine sauce, fresh herbs and Fresno-garlic marmalade. Stunning plate with strong bold flavors.

Then we shared TWO desserts.

One was a poached pear covering amaretto ganache in a hazelnut frangipane with some sort of white chocolate puffs.

The other was a molten chocolate lava cake with caramel ice cream and a crunchy sweet laced edible snow flake.

By the way…This was FORKING GREAT!

J&G Steakhouse at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale AZ was Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! Worth driving across town for!

www.JGSteakhouseScottsdale.com

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

The Forking Truth

Bamboo Cafe Glendale AZ – Asian Food – Different and Double Sized Portions and Low Prices

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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.

The Forking Truth

AZ Restaurant Week Fall 2019- Zinc Bistro Scottsdale – Worth a Fork!

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Arizona Fall 2019 Restaurant Week runs September 20th – 29th and somewhere around two hundred restaurants are participating. They are offering three course special meals for $33.00 and $44.00. A few restaurants are offering TWO for $33.00 and TWO for 44.00 deals. Zinc Bistro is among the participating restaurants offering a special restaurant week menu ($44.00).

Zinc Bistro is a New York Style Parisian Restaurant in Scottsdale Arizona in the Kierland Commons.

The atmosphere is sort of an old fashioned look with a tin ceiling and classic fixtures and traditional seating indoors, or at the bar, on the patio or the courtyard.

If you have an appetite for shellfish an oyster bar and other shellfish is available in addition to the menus.

The traditional French Onion Soup has been featured on Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate so I had to start with that since it was on the restaurant week menu.

It taste like a high quality gruyere with a little snip of chives. Ohhhhhh It’s DELICIOUSSSSSSSSSSS! I don’t know why so much cheese is melted on the outside of the bowl. A toasted piece of baguette holds up the cheese. The soup is so different…and amazing. It’s not at all what I expected……It’s so caramelized onion-ee It taste just like confit onions well maybe because they are confit onions. Those onions are melty and must have been slow roasted for around 8-12 hours with bay leaves, pepper, herbs and a big splash of something I’m not very familiar with maybe Pernod? Oh it’s delicious and Forking Amazing. WOW!

My husband started with the Escargot Bougugnon.

There’s an interesting spice blend on the escargot. It’s herbs de Provence, garlic, parsley, pernod and a little heat from Calabrian Chile. There is also a rich slice of brioche.

My main was the Blackened Alaskan Halibut.

It’s almost too pretty to eat! There’s flowers, pretty vegetables and special seasonings. Now I go to taste some fish. I never had anything blackened that tasted this delicious and complex before. It’s sort of spicy but lightly smokey and fruity with other flavors mixed in. The halibut is very tender, moist and flakes. Under the center piece of fish is a breaded green tomato in a pickled tomato remoulade. YUM! what a treat! There’s another dab of something green and creamy and chopped up onion and celery and a little tempura fried oyster. This plate was very detailed and Forking DELICIOUS!

My husband had the Compart Farms Pork Tenderloin.

All kinds of wonderful things were on this plate. There was escarole with ventreche (pork belly seasoned and with smoke), choucroute ( a type of French sour kraut) and caramelized apple hydromel (honey and water liquor that is fermented or mead).

Then we got to share TWO desserts!

One was the Upside Down Apple Tart Tatin that was topped with malted cascara ice cream. Other goodies here were luxardo cherries and cocoa nib crumble. YUM!

The other dessert was a Peanut Butter Eclair.

It had Nutella Pastry Cream and Strawberry Ganache with pretty flowers. It was suppose to come with Foie Gras Powder but I asked them to leave that off. I liked how this was so different and the strawberry ganache wasn’t too sweet either and had lots of strong strawberry flavor.

It was a lovely very detailed three course dinner that we both enjoyed!

Restaurant Week Fall 2019 at Zinc Bistro was worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.ZincBistro.com

Every THING is subject to change and your exsperience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

My Visit to Zinburger Phoenix AZ Sept 2019

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Zinburger is a casual full service burger restaurant chain with many locations across the country. They started off as a Phoenix Based Fox Concept Restaurant but have recently been purchased by the Cheesecake Factory. I went to the Phoenix location at the Biltmore Fashion Plaza.

The specialty of the restaurant are burgers. The standard burger here is fresh ground two times a day and is portioned at six and a half ounces. The standard burgers are made from certified Angus beef or you can upgrade to American Kobe for $5.00 extra. Other choices are all natural chicken and turkey. They also offer salmon, veggie patty, salads, sides, milkshakes, children’s menu and more are available.

Outdoor seating on patios that wrap around the restaurant.

Indoor seating at the bar or standard tables.

This picture in the restaurant sort blocks my burger craving today.

When you look at the beautiful cows it’s easy to feel guilty about eating beef……………for me…maybe not you.

Today I tried the seared salmon salad ($16.50 subject to change)

My salad is made with some fried Brussel sprout, radish, carrot, romaine, other greens and was tossed with lemon mustard vinaigrette. I also got a few sunflower seeds and my salad is missing the avocado. The salmon is seasoned nicely and is juicy. It’s a decent salad as is………….Last time I did have the Bruce Lee Burger and that was memorable and really delicious. It was also some sort of prize winning burger from a burger battle.

Zinburger – Bruce Lee Burger

My husband had the El Diablo Burger again just like last time. ($11.50 subject to change).

The burger is nicely caramelized and was prepared to a perfect medium rare (on one side). This burger came with pepper jack cheese, jalapeños (that taste canned) and caramelized onions. This burger is missing lettuce today and looks like it was made with less cheese than before. Still a very good burger. It’s fresh ground in house, nicely caramelized, prepared reasonably well.

Here’s a El Diablo from a prior visit.

Zinburger’s El Diablo Burger

Zinburger in general prepares good food but the service that I experienced runs very average. Servers should be aware of what they are serving and should check to see that the dish leaves the kitchen correctly.

I do need to note that the management adjusted our bill generously each time an error was reported. (on a prior visit we ordered a salad to share that never arrived)

That was my September 2019 visit to Zinburger.

www.ZinburgerAZ.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth