We picked up the old man @ the 51 & Camelback to go to dinner. We went to a local hole in the wall (not yet reviewed on here) & it had a 30-45 minute wait for our party. We were not in the mood to wait so we drove 10 feet north on 16th st & pulled into "THE VIG UPTOWN" & handed off the car to their free valet. The Vig is a very interesting, dental office building look alike, on the NE corner of Beth.Home & 16th st. It was packed because the Sun's game & had about a 15 minute wait. Rather than wait we went in the back, played some botche ball, & ordered some PHood @ their "Hang Out Area".
We decided to get the guacamole appetizer w/ the roasted tomato salsa $8.00. The chips are fresh, thin, & salty; all a good thing! The salsa is thin, spicy, dense in flavor, & lite. The guac had tomato's, onions, & some other spices that made it very delicious; it was also very refreshing on a 90 degree day & hit the spot as an appetizer. 
The old man went with the Love Me Tenderloin. It's a bistro tenderloin, grilled to your order, sliced and served with red onion marmalade, cheesy dauphinoise potatoes, asparagus and wild mushroom sauce $16.00. The potatoes were heaven! The meat was cooked medium rare & delicious with the mushroom sauce soaked into it. Very nice plate here!
The wife went with the Good Korma cauli ower, carrots, green beans, peas, potatoes, red peppers, onions, paneer cheese and cashews in a creamy coconut-curry sauce with basmati rice and grilled naan bread $12.00. I was put off by this myself but it just wasn't for me. The wife loved it, ate 1/2 of it because of the amount of PHood, & said it was fantastic! PHor the price it was top grade she says. I did have a taste of the curry sauce to see how it tasted, it had a very deep curry taste, many layers of curry & well done.
I went with the Carne Asada on a Potato Pancake sliced carne asada on a potato pancake with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, cotija cheese and roasted tomato-garlic sauce $15.00. I was very intrigued by this on the menu but once it was served I was a bit perplexed. The sauce is overwhelming & having just eaten a guacamole appetizer I was "GUAC'D OUT". The potato pancake was different, somewhat cool when served, & had interesting texture and taste. The carne asada was tasty but served somewhat cool. I wouldn't get this plate again personally but apparently it's a popular re-order by people who frequent The Vig.
VENUE & LOCATION: 10 out of 10. The building is awesome! The boche ball was a fun babysitter for our 3yr old while we waited for our PHood & design is better than most any place in PHOENIX! Location is tough to beat being just 1/2 mile off the 51 & just north of Bethany Home.
VALUE & SERVICE: 7 out of 10. The service wasn't bad but wasn't exactly superb. 3 adults ate w/ 2 drinks & 1 appetizer for $70. It's better than some regarding the price but for what we received & the quality of PHood I'd give it a C-.
COMFORT: 8 out of 10. For being a busy night it was fine. We had to settle with a couch & coffee table in their lounge area. It was fairly relaxing since we didn't need a formal table & chairs. The rest of the venue looked very comfortable & I'd look to get a booth if you're trying to watch a game in the main dining room.
OVER ALL: B+ The Vig has good PHood, medium prices, cool feel to the venue & a relaxed wait staff that makes you feel unrushed & comfortable. I'll go back again but would order what the old man got, stick with a burger, or one of their interesting sandwiches. Give it a try, go on a date there sometime, or catch a game @ their bar.
Been sick for a few days & decided to go out & enjoy some quality pizza @ the 20th st & Highland NYPD (New York Pizza Dept.) We pulled into the parking lot which is overwhelmingly busy due to FRY's grocery store & dropped the wife off to get a table. She walked in & was placed into a corner booth right away. We placed our order & got our drinks all within five minutes of walking in.
We ordered their honey BBQ wings, all wings. This sauce they use here is the best honey BBQ around, it's sweet, spicy, & tart all at the same time. It's a very dense sauce & is wonderful on these wings. The wings have a crispy skin that is crunchy in all the right areas & with ranch mixed in these wings will take you for a very enjoyable ride!
The pizza here is the BEST PIZZA IN ALL OF PHOENIX! We ordered a Pepperoni & cheese pizza. It was served extremely hot, the cheese was gooey in all the right ways, & the dough is different than any type of pizza dough in the valley.
We just did pizza & wings, & it was wonderful, filling, & priced well.
After tax & tip we got out of there for around $24.00 & had 1/2 of the pizza to take home w/ us.
VENUE & LOCATION: 9 out of 10. Right by FRY's makes the parking sometimes pretty hectic & the bathrooms are a little "Gas Station Like" with the age & lack of cleanliness. I'd still give it a 9 due to how easy it was to get in & out, being 1 minute off the AZ51, & the NYC decor inside the dining room.
VALUE & SERVICE: 10 out of 10. Our waitress was wonderful, she was always on top of our drinks, asking about the quality of our PHood, & making sure we were good the entire time. The value is A+ with regards to getting what you pay for here. The pizza is 100 times better than any mainstream big name pizza spot & if you're only ordering pepperoni like us also offers better taste that the small swanky pizza spots. They do offer a bunch of different flavors of pizza but I've found the pepperoni to be my absolute favorite pizza of all time!
COMFORT: 8 out of 10. It's a bit tight in there, they probably have 1-2 too many tables in the main room. The tables are a bit small for all the PHood but it's not really that big of a deal.
Over all: A+ if PHood is all you care about A- if you need a tip top restaurant experience.
I'D GO ON THE RECORD FOR SAYING IT'S THE BEST PIZZA IN ALL OF PHOENIX; GIVE IT A TRY WHEN YOU WANT SOME PIZZA & WINGS!
The old man & I were on baby duty the other night & decided to go to a "Chain" burger joint that feels & certainly tastes like a hole in the wall type place we all love. On the SW corner of Camelback & 20th st sits SMASHBURGER!
The lil'gurl got a kids meal $3.99 which comes w/ regular fries, good size cheeseburger w/ no produce, & a small drink. More than enough food for our 3yr old princess!
The old man got the 1/3 pound SMASHBURGER w/ no cheese $4.99. He thoroughly enjoyed it & said it was one of the better burgers he had tasted in a while.
I decided to stuff myself (regretted this decision later) & ordered the 1/2 pound Classic Smashburger $5.99 w/ cheese & the Smashfries w/ olive oil, garlic, rosemary, & other herbs as they say. The fries are fantastic & the burger is very good as well. Smashburger is a fast PHood type of place, walk in, order, pick a table & sit down. Once your order is done it's coming to your table by one of their runners. I know this is gross but some type of sewer is leaking out front or perhaps a trashcan is spilling over because it's terribly smelly outside. Besides that major issue the experience was very enjoyable. Fast service, good PHood, decent prices for what you get, & a good location in central PHoenix.
VALUE & SERVICE: 9 out of 10.
The service was fantastic & exactly what you'd expect from a place like this. 10 times better than any other fast PHood type place but value maybe is a few bucks from being a 10 out of 10. The fries were $1.79 w/ a purchase of a sandwich & $2.79 without a sandwich purchase. Both are overly fair amounts but I found a chicken option to the sandwiches @ $7.00 a bit steep, $4.00 milkshakes, $7.00 jack in the box type salads.
Still 9 out of 10 is good for them!
COMFORT: 7 out of 10.
The smell outside alone should take this down to a 3 out of 10 but I'm going to be fair to these guys. The inside is exactly what you'd expect. Normal tables & chairs along w/ a few padded benches through out & a soda fountain for free self served refills.
VENUE & LOCATION: 9 out of 10.
Camelback & 20th st. Brand new restaurant. Nothing amazing with design or incredible construction w/ regards to the building, but then again, it's SMASHBURGER, what did you expect?
RECOMMENDATION: If you've played out your "IN & OUT" card Smashburger is a solid burger alternitive. I wouldn't go here if I was craving a salad or 5 star service but I would recommend giving it a try the next time you're over by LAST CHANCE or the BILTMORE AREA!
B+
So I went to check the mail & the PHX MAGIZINE was sent to me, well, long story short they had some spread about the HILLSIDE SPOT in Ahwatukee & all it's success & loyal followers. The pictures were of some amazing PHood & I decided that second that we were going to be eating there that night! So we took the 20 min drive from downtown PHX to Ahwatukee which is a suburb on the south side of south mountain (the one w/ all the red lights blinking in PHX for those who know it by that & live out of town) & known as a decent part of town but for years has been a restaurant black hole due to many trying but failing to succeed down there.
We arrived & were surprised by the fact it was in a stip mall, by the pictures we thought we may have another St. Francis or Postino's on our hands, not the case. We put in our name for a 4 top table. We waited 25 minutes & wondered why there were 5-8 vacant tables inside but we were not being seated. Once we were finally sat the lights inside shut off & it was pitch black, yes, completely dark! Could not read the menu or see what I was grabbing on the table for about 4-5 minutes. They finally turned the lights back on & I ordered some "Homemade Lemonade" which was very tart but tasty. Reminded me a lot of Chick-Fil-a lemonade. We ordered a lemonade for the lil'gurl & she didn't take a 2nd sip, too tart for her but we were charged for both @ a $3.50 premium.
The guacamole appetizer was delicious. Had some type of pineapple, tomato, cheese, mix. The chips were stale to begin with but actually got use to them. For $7.00 I'd say with fresher chips I'd order this again.
I wanted to try something I couldn't make @ home or find anywhere else so I went with the Croque Monsieur Open face French hot sandwich prepared w/ rustic French Bread, Bèchamel (it’s like a white gravy), sliced Ham, Gruyere Cheese. Served w/ hand cut fries & I also added (at no extra cost) an over easy egg to the top of it. This was certainly a one of a kind type dish. It's served on 2 french bread rolls & cut in half, than laid on their sides, the meat & Bechamel is added than baked. Very crispy, dense, warm, & interesting. If you're looking for something different & filling this is a great $8.00 option.
The wife got her usual side of fries $3.00, which are world famous (claimed by restaurant) because they're never frozen. Comparable but more salty than In & Out fresh fries.
The wife got the Tunisian Grilled Vegetable Salad a combination of Kale, Spinach, Tomato, Vegetables, & Olives. Served w/ a simple vinaigrette. $8.00. Had some interesting persuasions with the Kale & spinach along w/ the vinaigrette. A one of a kind salad you can only get @ the HILLSIDE SPOT.
Our lil'gurl went with the $3.00 butter sauce pasta which was served with nothing else. With the fries she shared w/ her momma & her lemonade we got out of here for about $9.00 for her portion of PHood. Somewhat a disappointment with regards to the kid menu, not very deluxe considering the type of "SPOT" we were at.
OK, NOW THE PHUN PART! The sole reason I wanted to eat here so bad was the picture in PHX MAG of the apple pie alla-mode. When we sat down for dinner I mentioned to the waitress we were very excited to try the apple pie. She mentioned they were out of Vanilla ice cream & wouldn't be serving apple pie with out it. Long story short, after I talked w/ the manager, he gave us a slice to go, & STILL CHARGED ME FULL PRICE FOR THE APPLE PIE NON-ALLA-MODE! Let's just say that when I handed him the card about being reviewed by us he almost fell on the PHloor. I told him exactly what I tell every place, "We'll give you another chance because tonight was a debacle", he looked & me in relief. I still have to review it the way I see it however.
VENUE & LOCATION: 5 out of 10.
The inside was cool, nice firepit out side, but in a stip mall & in Ahwatukee. If you live down there you're loving this location but for the rest of the valley it's tucked in behind south mountain & not worth the drive.
VALUE & SERVICE: 2 out of 10.
They ran out of ice cream, the server was having an obvious bad 1st night working there, the hostess was running around like a Beverly Hills Blondie chicken with her head cutoff. They have the hostess stand smack dab in the middle of the "SPOT" & it's confusing as to which door you go into & who you talk to to get a table. It took us 20 minutes too long to get a table, especially since there were empty tables the entire time we were waiting. The PHood was good but the fact that I paid almost 10 bucks for my daughter's lack luster PHood is irritating. I can take her to Ruth's Chris for $13.95 & she can eat prime Fillet Mignon for crying out loud! No big deal, ;-) Not much offered on the service side of things as the manager mentioned to me he had to hire a bunch of people & then fire them, about 3 seperate times. I'm sure it's tough to find good people to work but if that's the case find a professional serving crew or don't offer a waiter type experience; have people order @ the counter & have the PHood ran out to the table. SIMPLE AS THAT!
COMFORT: 7 out of 10.
Once we finally got our table & the lights were turned on it was fine. We had our own corner booth & it worked out well for us.
RECOMMENDATION:
I will go back but only because I'm a man of my word & I told the floor manager / partner that we'd give him another chance. As of now I can't recommend going here unless you live in the store next door & have a free PHood coupon for any item on the menu.
D- total grade for 1st visit: 2nd visit review to come down the road...
Hopefully they're still in business...
On the NE corner of 12st & Mohave in Downtown Phoenix you'll find one of the best Mexican PHood spots around. Do not go here for a PHancy meal. Do not go here for amazing service. Do not go here for anything other than PHantastic Mexican Phood because that's exactly all they offer!
When I walked into Carolina's today I was greeted by about 20 people waiting for their PHood in the main lobby area. They have an extensive menu on the wall (looks like it's been there since day one in the 1970's) & it all looks amazing! I got a drink with my order & enjoyed the Manzanita Apple Soda you only find once in a blue moon here in the states.
Notice & enjoy the styraphome everything is served in. Like I said, not the venue for a trendy night out. The wife ordered the Combo #8 $4.95 which consists of 2 cheese enchiladas, lettuce, re-fried beans, & Mexican rice. The sauce on top of the enchiladas was mediocre & the cheese was hard to notice with the extensive flavors & spice from the dark sauce. The rice & beans were fantastic but not worth even an 8 minute drive from our townhouse. The wife will be ordering something different next time she goes here.
This is the Manzanitta apple soda, you can get can's @ Wal-Mart & some Mexican markets but other than that it's almost impossible to find. When I saw it on tap I was ecstatic & drank an entire cup of it before the PHood came out. This is enough reason for me to go back monthly & experiment on dishes until I find one I love more than life itself.
I went with the Combo #6 which offers Chorizo, potatoes, rice, beans, lettuce, & one of the "Best tortillas in town" that is the size the skin of a regulation basketball. I made 3 seperate suto burrittos out of my massive tortilla & goodies on my platter. The "On Tap Hot Sauce" is also very good & highly recommended to those who like that type of stuff. For the costs, this plate was tough to beat. If I ordered again I'd request extra meat as it was pretty lite in this dish, the potatoes were a bit dry & lacked the presence of cheese on top of it.
VENUE & LOCATION: 5 out of 10. Let's be honest, if this was a different type of place it would be a 0 out of 10. The building is a year or two from being condemned & torn down. The neighborhood is sketchy at best & this is during the 1pm lunch hour. I give them the benefit of the doubt because @ this point it's almost their M.O. to have a hole in the wall x's 1000 curb appeal.
VALUE & SERVICE: 10 out of 10. When you can go stuff yourself for $12.02 & have unlimited refills on the soda you've found yourself a winner. Everything on the menu is priced below market value & looks tasty (peeking on other people's plates) as anything. Service was as good as you'd expect. They take your order @ the counter, make your PHood in the kitchen (which you can see) & hand it to you about 10 minutes later. Other than that you're serving yourself.
COMFORT: 7 out of 10. As long as you don't mind eating in a main dinning room straight out of Chihuahua Mexico you'll be fine. If you're worried about safety outside the restaurant, cleanliness, interior design, &/or age of the table this place may not be your spot. I'm not worried about much & enjoyed every bit of my authentic experience @Carolina's Mexican PHood "The best tortillas in town" just south of Downtown PHX!
RECOMMENDATION: Give it a try, it's $5.00 a plate for crying out loud! Pre Dbax or Suns game drive down 7th st a mile & go east on Mohave. Keep your opinions to yourself & enjoy some authentic Mexican phood!
B- until we find something worth dying PHor!
On the SE corner of Camelback & 22nd st is our favorite steak house around. Even though Ruth's Chris isn't exactly a hole in the wall we reviewed it last night & enjoyed every minute of it.
We called about 20 mins prior to our arrival & asked for a table that would accommodate our 2 kids & 2 adults. They were very accommodating & had a table ready for us when we arrived. We usually request a table in their side room so the kids don't disturb the other guests, they did this for us again no issues & we basically had our own wait staff taking care of us. They took our drink orders & had HOT bread on our table within 10 minutes from arriving & handing off the car to the $3.00 valet.
Unfortunately we didn't get the pictures of our salads but we sure did enjoy them. The wife got the steakhouse salad w/ ranch & I went w/ the Caesar. The wife got the petite fillet w/ extra butter $39.95 & garlic mash-potatoes as her side. She likes her steak cooked medium well & it was fantastic as always! If your steak is ever undercooked you can always count on the plate being 100+ degrees which allows you to cook the steak on your plate after cutting it.
I went with the large fillet & had them throw some shrimp on top of it $49.95 with extra butter. The pictures show the sides differently but my side was the cream spinach. Both of our dinners are part of Ruth's Chris special summer menu. If we had ordered all this ala cart it would have been over 20% more in price. We also love the BBQ butter which you can get as an extra for bread dipping & also to eat with the shrimp & steak. My fillet was larger than I've had lately & was wonderful. I love getting a coke w/ grenadine @ Ruth's, they have some brand of grenadine that tastes like no other I've had. It's a great mix to our meal for someone who doesn't drink alcohol.
With the summer menu you also get a nice dessert @ the end. This summer they're serving the berries & cream w/ a side of chocolate cake. The cake has a fantastic taste of chocolate but is too dry to enjoy much more than a bite or two. The berries & cream is a one of a kind delicateness of fruit & custard tasting cream.
SERVICE & VALUE: 10 out of 10. You get the best steak you'll find anywhere. The sides are incredible & the free bread is good enough to be charged for it. They will not nickle & dime you for sides of sauce, extra bread, refills, etc. Truly a place you can go & enjoy a night out, even with the kids. Service is always tip top, regardless of location. Other than the steak quality, I'd be willing to bet the service is their largest item of pride.
COMFORT: 10 out of 10. Never a long wait. You can always count on things being the way they're suppose to be @ Ruth's Chris.
VENUE & LOCATION: 9 out of 10. The location is as good as it gets for people of Phoenix. Looks north onto Camelback road & is only a mile east of the AZ-51 & Highland exit. It takes us less than 10 minutes to get there from downtown PHX. This particular location could use some updating with it's chairs, carpet, decorations, but we didn't go here to interior design; will not affect your meal whatsoever.
OVER ALL: A+ & we'll return monthly as we have for the past 5+yrs!
WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE WONDERFUL PHood @ Ruth's Chris Phoenix!
Tonight was our daughter's 3yr old birthday party & we found that we were hungry still after all the party PHood. We headed north on Central again, very enjoyable on a early May Saturday night with the windows down & sunroof open & enjoyed an outdoor dinner @ HULA'S MODERN TIKI.
On the NW corner of Highland & Central sits an up & coming shopping center that hosts HULA'S. You've probulbly seen it driving by. It's got open walls that marry inside eating w/ outdoor enjoyment, it's got a 1 of a kind appearance that you don't see much in restaurants, & the location couldn't be better for a busy venue such as this, plenty of parking.
This was our appitizer, actually dove in right when they put in down & forgot until it was almost gone to snap a pic. It's amazing! HAWAIIAN CEVICHE $9.00 fresh white fish, “cooked” in citrus juice, with coconut milk, chili, cilantro, garlic. YUMMY!
We were offered a free BASKET OF SWEET POTATO FRIES ($6.00 normally) with their world famous secret dipping sauce, for the kids. This was the best sauce for fries! Very tasty & great portions!
After looking @ the menu I was baffled by what I was going to order, it ALL looked amazing. The waitress was extreamly knowledgeable & helpful. She recomended the BUTTERFISH which is firm, light, delicious $16.00. You get to choose from 6 different types of preperation for your fish & I chose the: JAMAICAN JERK jerk sauce, rice, plantains, with 2 johnny cakes. The sauce was dense & tasty, the plantains are banana like & very enjoyable fried as they are. The johnny cakes are a sweet cornbread type of cake, tasty especially when mixed with the mango, rice, & jerk sauce. Very good plate!
The Old Man ordred the LUAU PORK SANDWICH $11.00 dubbed as “heaven on a bun”, topped with coleslaw. I had a couple bites of this & it was the best pulled pork sandwich I've ever had. The bun was correctly crunchy on the outside, it had a sweetness to the slaw, bun, & pork. This is the best $11.00 purchase in all of central Phoenix...
The wife had THE HULA BURGER $10.00 with maui onions and hula sauce with Jack cheese $.50, grilled pineapple $1.00 and french fries. Once again, was VERY IMPRESSED w/ the quality of PHood here! The burger patties are ground on sight, & must be some type of strip steak or prime. It's a wonderful combination of sauces, seasoned beef, cheese, pineapple, & lightly sweetened bun.
Our friends split the Tacos, they asked for one of each: SHRIMP TACO ($14.00 normally w/ 2 tacos) sautéed shrimp, tortillas, beans and rice PORK TACO ($12 normally w/ 2 tacos) slow roasted pork, tortillas, beans and rice. With the combination it was $13.00 & enjoyed by our fiends. Smelled very good & may have to order this next time I go myself...
Comfort on the patio was good. There is a very cool fire pit in the middle of the patio area. It adds so much to the ambiance but added a little too much heat for my liking on a May night in Phoenix. They'll also need to add some misters one of these days but tonight was still comfortable. We sat on a 10 top table w/ 9 people & had ample room to spread out & let the kids settle in. With our friend's kids, we had 4 kids 3yrs or younger, with 5 adults. Our kids had 1 of the 2 highchairs in the whole place.
COMFORT: 7 out of 10.
Service & Value was top grade! The waitress was wonderful & knew more about her menu than most waiters @ Ruth's Chris know about theirs. She was versed with drinks, fish, pork quality, & what kids need to be happy.
The prices for what you get are more than fair. The quality of the PHood was obvious & the portions were healthy! Presentation of the PHood looked like something you would see on the Food Network &/or possibly in a magazine with hours to perfect the picture. Very well done Hula's Staff!
SERVICE & VAULE: 10 out of 10!
Venue & location is as good as it gets in uptown Phoenix. Parking availability was open. Location being right on Central Ave was easy to access & quality of the tenant improvements for the actual building was extremely impressive! Hula's turned a previously "Tear-down" type building into a hip, updated, & 1 of a kind venue!
VENUE & LOCATION: 10 out of 10!
Well, we were up by the Scottsdale Air-park again for some dance rehearsal this evening so we went to Ristorante Giuseppe's for some tasty PHood. We walked in around 5pm & there was NO ONE there. One would normally be concerned but we've been there before & it was packed so there was nothing to worry about. Located on the SW corner of T-Bird & Scottsdale rd is a gem of a ristorante, especially if Italian PHood is your thing!
We started out with an order of bruchetta which was delivered to the table within 5 minutes of literally sitting down @ the table. The main gripe we had however was the fact that the menu does not describe anything about the PHood. We had to ask the waiter about our dishes & he was not much of a talker, in English especially. The appetizer was PHantastic & highly recommended, $NO IDEA, not on menu, can't read handwriting on handwritten bill... GO FIGURE!
They serve some garlic butter w/ bread as well, nice touch, the 3yr old lil'girl love it & it was tasty.
The wife got the Zucchini Parmigiana with penne pasta. $14.95. There was not a whole lot of zucchini as it was cut very thin but the flavor was very good. The sauce is a mixture of red & white sauce. It's very tasty & different. For the cost this was a disappointment. As another review mentions, the cost for the dishes are DOUBLE what they should be.
I ordered the 4 meat Poppino dish $15.95. This has the mixture of sauces, tons of cheese & 4 different types of meat: Veal, Sausage, Chicken, & Pork. This dish is the best Italian dish I've ever eaten. The flavors of the meat & sauces all mixed together are amazing. They bake the dish to really melt the cheese on top of the dish & infuse cheese throughout as well. The serving size is about 2/3 what it should be but I'm sure the cost of the food/meat makes the size what it is. This dish alone is a 10 out of 10 for Italian PHood!
We ordered the Tiramisu for dessert. The waiter was bragging about the "Homemade" desserts. This was $5.95, we think, & was delicisous as well. Once again, for the price, we were dissappointed in the serving size. We've had tiramisu dishes @ other locations that were double the size & same type of quality for the same money.
Venue & Comfort: For once we're going to split these.
Comfort was a 8 out of 10. We had the family table in the front of the house. That was nice, no worry about wait staff walking into us, other patrons needing to slide by, nor much noise either. The reason we have a couple points off is the "FLY ISSUE" we faced. There were 4-7 flies around our table at all time. Never on the PHood, thankfully, but was a bit gross seeing flies on out table & arms while we eat.
Venue is a true DIVE! 3 out of 10. For the prices you'd think they'd offer something hip, updated, or @ least clean. Not the case. The place hasn't been updated in decades, there is not 1 matching item in the house, & it's located in a strip mall that also includes an Asian massage parlor, Jack in the box, Jewish bookstore, & another Italian restaurant. Go Figure!
PHood value: total overall value is a 5 out of 10. We ate for $60.00 after tax & tip. Not exactly a $60.00 meal in a stip mall. The wife wasn't impressed, I was pumped w/ my dish but not the costs, & the dessert wasn't exactly a bargain. If we had drank anything other than water I'd be somewhat expecting of the costs, not the case this evening.
Service was: 4 out of 10. The place was empty. Our waiter had 1 table, us. Our water cups were empty, our questions were not answered appropriately, & our bill was a scribbled collage of makeshift letters & roman numeral numbers telling us what we owed. This was so very lame, & sad frankly.
Recommendation: Get the 4 meat dish to go. Don't eat there, even though they offer a "Bring your own wine" w/ no corkage fee. The younger son of the owner was our waiter before, not this time, as was great. If he waited on us again & minus the flies I'd give it a B- over all. Since we didn't get any service whatsoever I'd give this review a D+ & say, we most likely will not return ever again!
We decided to pack up the car & drive north from the real downtown PHX. Driving north on Central ave around 7pm on the weekend is very enjoyable especially when the weather is mid 70's & clear skies. Just east of Central ave on the south side of Camelback Rd is an old office building 111 that's been turned into the coolest venue in town to eat at, BAR NONE!
Our wait was only 5 minutes or so & the got us a 4 top in the main seating room. Once we ordered they gave us bread w/ oil. We got water w/ lemon & some house made lemonade which is stellar!
As an appetizer we ordered the potatoes crispy fingerlings, rosemary, sage, lemon aïoli $6.00. This was a HUGE surprise. It's unlike anything we've ever had around the world. The flavors are vast & the ailoi is one of a kind! Highly recommended!
They asked us right away if we'd like to put in an order for our daughter. She's 3 & was hungry. Good looking out by the St. Francis staff here! Kids eat free @ St. Francis, YES, KIDS EAT FOR FREE! They get to choose between the pot roast & cheese pizza w/ the salad. She chose the obvious & loved it! Our girl ate all but one bite of the pizza, I had to try it, & it was very well done! The salad they serve w/ the free kids pizza is wonderful also, I'd gladly eat a larger portion of it or lunch sometime @ the price of $8-$12! This alone is reason for the value meter to range beyond 10 out of 10!
The wife ordered the chicken: garlic whipped potatoes, mushroom sauce, con t tomato $18.00. This is served rotisserie style w/ the bones in it. Very fresh, small portion, very moist, & variety of types of meat w/ a breast, drumstick, & thigh included. The presentation is phenomenal as well.
I had the Pot Roast caramelized carrots, broccolini, texas toast $18.00. This was incredible. The sauce was from another world it was so good! The veggies were good. The roast was so soft & served on a larger than normal texas toast piece of bread. The entire dish was like a 3-ring circus, it kept coming w/ new tastes & options of how to set up your next bite. I was starving & could have used another 1/3 to this dish but it probably enough food for most people out there.
The bread pudding sticky to ee w/ sweet cream gelato $7.00 was wonderful. Again very small in portion & could have used twice the sauce for as some bites w/out the sauce were VERY DRY & almost painful to get down. If this was twice as big in size & had a few more spoonfuls of sauce I'd almost have to rank this as one of the best desserts in the entire valley! The flavors are unimaginable, it's mixture of sweet cream gelato w/ the bread & sauce are unlike anything you've ever tasted. Rumor has it the recipe is over 200yrs old & safely guarded by an underground group of chefs.
St. Francis get's a 10 out of 10 for comfort & venue. It's the nicest venue in town, the location couldn't be any easier to get @ 111 Camelback & the free valet allow you to come in, drop off the car, & worry about quality food & an enjoyable experience.
Value is a 9 out of 10. The free kids meal is appreciated. You won't feel nickle & dimed here. There's nothing more that pisses me off than to go spend $80-$120 on dinner & get charged for a side of syrup or get charged again for what should be a free refill on your soda. The reason it's not a 10 out of 10 is simply due to the portions. Like I said on previous posts, I like to EAT & for $20-$30 a plate you should be FULL after wards. I was almost comfortable but not FULL when I left. Do not let this get in the way of going here however, it's quality & extremely enjoyable!
Service is an 8 out of 10. The water glasses are under sized & the place is usually packed. If you're needing to get in & out do not consider St. Francis. The staff is kind, professional, & on top of stuff. Sometimes I get a weird "I'm better than you vibe" from a few of their managers, waiters, kitchen runners, etc. & it drives me nuts. If my glass was full more times than empty & the attitude was checked @ the door I'd be forced to give them a 10 out of 10. We'll see if & when the service improves as this blog gets more popular.
Over it's an "A" for one of a kind "EXPERIENCE" for anyone who goes!
Recommendation: GO, ENJOY, & GO BACK AGAIN.
YOU'LL GET HOOKED LIKE I DID & WANT TO GO BACK WEEKLY!
Here's to the coolest venue in town & top 5 eatery's in all of Maricopa county w/ regards to food quality!
