by Marsha L. » Mon Jun 16, 2014 10:06 am
We ate dinner here Friday and loved it. (Sorry your experience wasn't as good, JL!)
We were big fans of Pita Delite's food in its former incarnation, but didn't often eat there, opting for takeout instead. Not to be unkind, but Pita Delite's interior was a bit scruffy and pretty "lived-in". I always felt like we were eating in someone's living room due to the piles of toys and children's books, and ever-present bevy of the family's kids (not that they weren't well-behaved, they were).
All that's changed. They obviously hauled every last stick of furniture and all tchotchkes out of that place, re-finished the wooden floor, and painted the walls a serene white. Modern art is on display for sale, and really, the whole place feels modern. No more ordering at the counter now; there is table service with knowledgeable staff. (As in, they know what's in the dishes when you ask.)
There is no liquor license, John had the aforementioned (frozen) pomegranate mint lemonade; I had iced tea. I don't normally like mint-y drinks but I had a sip and it was really a "wow" moment for a non-alcoholic beverage in my opinion. I'll come back to the appetizer in a minute. John ordered beef gyros (pre-done strips, not a roasting cone, but dressed and cooked and presented as well as can be possible) and I had the falafel, which came with greens and tomatoes (and I added avocado slices) wrapped in the thin "Arabic" pita. Mine wasn't dry or hard at all, (if just a teensy bit stingy on the actual ratio of falafel to greens), and tasted great. Everything came out on very modern - there's that word again - china in nifty oval shapes, and I saw a salad at another table in a very hip looking bowl with a free-form scalloped edge.
The crowning glory of the whole meal was the appetizer: the "Avocado Bowl". We nearly ordered spanikopita, but John pointed out that, unlike a lot of things on the menu, it wasn't listed as "house-made", so, having had frozen spanikopita many times in my life, I asked about the Avocado Bowl. The server explained it was "sort of like guacamole, but a lot chunkier", so that's what we ordered. This thing was practically perfect. Served with triangles of hot, pillowy "Greek" pita on a side plate, the AB is a medium sized plate of creamy, perfectly ripe avocado cubes tossed with tomato, red onion, garlic, loads of cilantro, and (I think) lime juice. In the center there was this crazy hot green and yellow "salsa". There was no sour cream in this dish and it didn't need it. We took what we didn't eat home with us. All the food came out fast, fast, fast, which we were grateful for since we had tickets to a show downtown and were running a little late.
Two beverages, one shared app, two entrees came in under $27, very reasonable. I will say they must have blown the budget on the cool china, because drinks were served incongruously in plastic (edited to add: "corn" plastic, at least) to-go cups with lids - and the napkin holder on the table held the thinnest, tiniest napkins I've ever seen. The one wrapped around the flatware was a bit sturdier, but there was only one of those.
Sorry for such a long report, but we were favorably impressed and will definitely go back. John, I hope you'll try it again. Get the Avocado Bowl!
Marsha Lynch
LEO columnist, free range cook/food writer/food stylist