| rev:text
| - I gotta hand it to Reimun Shleimun & Rian Hanna for making superb usage of Yelp. As restaurants go, they make use of Yelp better than almost any restaurant in the valley. From Yelp discounts, to a Yelp rewards program, to extensive video montages detailing their story & business operation, this is a business that knows to reach its customers in the social media age. Pretty much the only perk they don't offer through Yelp (at least not yet) is Yelp cash back. The end product matters the most of course, but reaching out to the community is key. Their Yelp presence was part of what got me in the door, but the positive Yelp reviews was the bulk of it. On a Thursday at lunch, I took in their Arrowhead location.
You'll find Pita Kitchen's Arrowhead location on the northeast corner of 67th Avenue & the 101 freeway (three doors down from Safeway). For those who have frequented the popular west valley Mediterranean spot Greek Wraps, the setup of Pita Kitchen's restaurant & menu will look somewhat familiar. The menu tilts Greek but with some distinct Middle Eastern influences including a variety of kababs & basmati rice dishes. There are large easy to read menus to glance as you come in the door & while you wait in line. Like Greek Wraps you order up front & they bring it to your table.
This go around I was pressed for time so I got my food to go. Upon looking over the menu I looked for items which Yelpers recommended & where I thought Pita Kitchen might stand out from the Greek Wraps & Pita Jungles of the world. I started out with Pita Kitchen's signature Kitchen Egg Rolls (yup, egg rolls). These rolls are filled with diced gyro meat, spinach, feta cheese, & veggies and come with a taziki dipping sauce. I also got an order of their Greek Fries per Yelper's recommendations. These fries are topped with feta cheese & served with an olive oil mix that you can either dip or drown your fries in. And lastly, this is "Pita" Kitchen, so a pita was in order. Not wanting an epic food coma in the afternoon, I grabbed a Falafel Pita. Three big balls of falafel (deep fried garbanzo beans mixed with veggies & seasonings) served in a warm pita bread with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, & Pita Kitchen's house sesame sauce. Total cost for all the food including tax & with the 20% Yelp check in discount (remember this Yelpers!) came to $15. In 5 minutes, I was served.
Let's start with the egg rolls. Three egg rolls in all. The rolls themselves were juicy & delicious with the perfect amount of crunch on the rolls & some great seasonings on the meat. I gotta admit though that I wasn't really in love with their taziki sauce (which is weird because I usually love taziki). Hard to pinpoint what was off about the sauce other than it was just flat. Still, the egg rolls themselves are a fun innovative dish that looks different in appearance but stays resolutely Mediterranean in flavor. Next up, the fries. Fries were cooked perfectly & while the fries themselves didn't blow my socks off, the olive oil mixture was a delicious accompaniment & a unique alternative to ketchup to be sure. Lastly, the falafel pita. The texture of the pita bread was perfectly warm & pillowy soft just as I'd hoped. The falafel & veggie mix inside was good, though I'll admit I still like Greek Wraps' falafel a little more. Pita Kitchen's falafel has a softer more mellow texture whereas Greek Wraps falafel has a little more crunch and spice.
Overall, I'd give Pita Kitchen about 3.5 out of 5, but I've rounded up largely to the discount I received (as well as a coupon for next time) & the super friendly counter service I received. Pita Kitchen can definitely hold its own against valley based behemoth Pita Jungle, but on a personal level I still think for now Greek Wraps is king of the Mediterranean scene on the west side. But keep at it, Reimun & Rian. You've got a good thing going & a business model a lot of valley business owners could learn a lot from.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)