| rev:text
| - Yesterday morning I decided, because I'm brilliant, to hike. Not one. Not two. But three of Phoenix's seven peaks. Starting at 10 in the morning.
Granted, they were three of the smaller peaks (Shaw Butte, Lookout Mountain, and Shadow Mountain), but little did I know it was going to be Phoenix's first 100 degree day of the year (going up the southern trail of Shaw vs. taking the dirt road up was pretty friggin' exhausting, I'll tell you that much).
In any case, after scrambling down Shadow Mountain (the third of the three), I was a sight - all sweaty, scraped up, and badly burnt due to cheap sunscreen (curse you, generic Walgreen's brand) and so I looked like a dripping wet grilled tomato, but man, was I famished. Rarely, if ever, am I in the environs of Cave Creek Road and Greenway, and when driving away trying to figure out what and where I was going to eat something, I spotted Yusef's.
Immediately I pulled in and walked inside. Now, I must have been a sight because the old couple eating at the table by the door just stared at me. I surveyed the place for a bit. Pretty much a well-stocked Middle Eastern market full of Arab and Israeli goods. I read the article cut out from the Arizona Republic some time back which gives a brief background about the owner, who took over the store in the mid-80's.
I walked up to the counter, where the owner kind of looked taken aback by the human mess standing in front of him. I could imagine what was on this guy's mind. "Is this guy homeless? Is he tweaking on a meth? Why's he dripping wet?" I was hoping the iPod strapped to my arm would clue him that I was actually was exercising, to which he probably thought, "This guy's exercising outside in this heat? Freak. What's wrong with him?"
"Hi."
"Hi."
"I'd like a chicken kebab sandwich."
"That would be 20 minutes. You sure you want to wait for it?"
I was starving, but I was also dead tired and waiting while sitting in an air conditioned store/restaurant didn't seem so bad.
"Sure, I'll wait."
"You'd like this to go or for here?"
"Here, please. And I'll take 3 Gatorades. I climbed three peaks today, that's why I'm a little messy. Sorry."
"Uh, fine. You go sit down now."
As I was sitting and cooling off, two guys came in speaking and joking in Arabic. They sat down, too, and looked like they knew the owner pretty well. One then tried to take the owner's picture, and the owner gave him the smackdown about lawsuits or something, even though they were very jovial with each other. But the owner was serious.
Needless to say, I didn't chance it when my sandwich came to my table, so no pics of the food. Sorry. I'd say it was tasty, though - saffron & spice marinated grilled chicken breast pieces in a nice pita with shredded lettuce, pickles, and olives. I wanted to sit and savor it slowly, but I pretty much just wolfed it down. Decent value for $4.99, I guess.
I went over the rest of the menu, which ranged from fresh, cool Mediterranean salads to grilled lamb & beef & chicken dishes served with rice pilaf to desserts like walnut / pistachio / almond baklava to drinks such as Turkish coffee and hot anise tea. The most expensive items on the menu were three combo dishes, all $11.99. One of them is the veggie combo, which includes hummus, veggie dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), spinach pie, falafel, and mujadara (a rice/lentil dish), so definitely a place for carnivores and herbivores to break pita together.
Now, given that I only got one simple sandwich, I can only rate this place so high at the moment (I'll have to try some entrees before adding any more stars).
I'd say the store part had a pretty decent selection of goods, but there are other Middle Eastern markets in the Valley with a much more varied and greater number of stocked items. I also couldn't tell if the owner's demeanor is that way with everyone or if I freaked him out by my appearance. Who knows. Then again, if I looked like a dark red, glistening shadow, I can't imagine most places would have been friendly towards me.
But I'm still glad my crazy lapse of judgement of hiking in insane heat brought me to this place. Because now I know it's a good joint to go to if I'm ever in this stretch of north Phoenix.
Three heatstricken stars.
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