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We have a local restaurant review show on our PBS station. People recommend their favorite place and agree to go to two other restaurants that others have recommended. Then they get in the TV studio and compare notes. The restaurant owners also get a brief minute or two on screen in the restaurant to describe their place, and what they are aiming for. (Oddly none of the owners claim to use only the most dated ingredients, or say they put up ugly pictures and use only hard seats so the patrons will eat up and get out more quickly.)
The first year the show spent most of its time over on the east side of town where many but not all of the wealthier neighborhoods are in and near Phoenix. This year they've spread out to the west a bit. They asked people to recommend restaurants in Sedona. (they only got enough recommendations for one show, I think.) But some of the more famous places on my side (actual the northwest corner) of town have been on this year. One place they featured is called Chino Bandito. It's been in a number of books about places to visit in Phoenix. It's really a fast food place that serves Mexican food mostly Chinese style with lots of rice in a bowl. The host of the TV show, who is known as a legit chef around town seemed a little bewildered that everyone was so taken with the place. I've been there a few times. It's in an old, tired-looking strip mall. The food is quite good and unlike anything you'll find anywhere else. They encourage you to sample everything before you order (it's at a counter and you fill out an order slip yourself) . If you don't like rice, they'll put your favorite "entree" in a quesadilla or just serve it by itself. You order and pay for your food and go sit in the next room which has all the ambiance of a school cafeteria. They bring you your food in aluminum foil bowls (about like a throw away roasting pan) and after you've been eating for a while they come by handing out nice fresh warm cookies. Nothing romantic about it, but few people who've been there have anything but good to say about the place.
So... based on a good recommendation for the Chino Bandito, I went to a BBQ place reasonably close to where I live that was featured this past week on the show. "Thee Pitts Again" has been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network where apparently they got a favorable showing. The local review show was mostly positive as well. When I was checking for the exact location on the Internet I found a couple really bad reviews of the place, too. Knowing people tend to exaggerate one way or the other I was still interested enough to try the place for lunch today.
Before I say how I thought it was I ought to mention there are definitely two extremes of people living in Phoenix along with those of us in the middle. Some people like their food so spicy hot that that the fork glows brilliant yellow as you lift the food to your mouth. On the other extreme are those folks who think a speck of oregano in a bowl of soup is cause for rinsing your mouth out with a pitcher of cold water. Some Thai places and some Mexican restaurants go for the super spicy at one extreme. Some American-style restaurants over in Sun City not too far from me are quite successful selling totally bland fare. Personally I don't mind some heat, but gladly accept not-hot as long as there is some flavor to it. I have to say that Thee Pitts Again is definitely in the bland category. There is nothing wrong with the food, but for my tastes pulled pork or barbecued beef brisket, for instance, needs sauce to make it worth going out for. Three Pitts Again has sauce that it is pretty good, but they are pretty stingy with it. Of course I could have asked for more sauce, but I, at least, would like to know what the restaurant thinks is the proper serving balance between the meat and the sauce. The cole slaw was bland. The corn bread was... not just bland from a lot of wheat flour, but had so little structure I ate it with my fork rather than attempt to pick it up. My experience was very much like one of the guests on the local TV show. The food was a bit too bland for me, not just in terms of heat, but of taste. The guy on TV made a point of saying he liked the beans. I know why he liked the beans. They came covered in the sauce they were so stingy with on the meat. It would be totally unfair to call the place bad as some did on the Internet. It really was okay. But if you're looking for fiery barbecue it's definitely not the place for you. I see no reason why folks who like their food on the bland side, shouldn't have a BBQ place to call their own. But personally I'll take my business to barbecue places that more fit what I like.
So what do you like?
Very bland?
Bland?
Spicy without heat?
Spicy with heat?
Fiery spicy?
The first year the show spent most of its time over on the east side of town where many but not all of the wealthier neighborhoods are in and near Phoenix. This year they've spread out to the west a bit. They asked people to recommend restaurants in Sedona. (they only got enough recommendations for one show, I think.) But some of the more famous places on my side (actual the northwest corner) of town have been on this year. One place they featured is called Chino Bandito. It's been in a number of books about places to visit in Phoenix. It's really a fast food place that serves Mexican food mostly Chinese style with lots of rice in a bowl. The host of the TV show, who is known as a legit chef around town seemed a little bewildered that everyone was so taken with the place. I've been there a few times. It's in an old, tired-looking strip mall. The food is quite good and unlike anything you'll find anywhere else. They encourage you to sample everything before you order (it's at a counter and you fill out an order slip yourself) . If you don't like rice, they'll put your favorite "entree" in a quesadilla or just serve it by itself. You order and pay for your food and go sit in the next room which has all the ambiance of a school cafeteria. They bring you your food in aluminum foil bowls (about like a throw away roasting pan) and after you've been eating for a while they come by handing out nice fresh warm cookies. Nothing romantic about it, but few people who've been there have anything but good to say about the place.
So... based on a good recommendation for the Chino Bandito, I went to a BBQ place reasonably close to where I live that was featured this past week on the show. "Thee Pitts Again" has been on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network where apparently they got a favorable showing. The local review show was mostly positive as well. When I was checking for the exact location on the Internet I found a couple really bad reviews of the place, too. Knowing people tend to exaggerate one way or the other I was still interested enough to try the place for lunch today.
Before I say how I thought it was I ought to mention there are definitely two extremes of people living in Phoenix along with those of us in the middle. Some people like their food so spicy hot that that the fork glows brilliant yellow as you lift the food to your mouth. On the other extreme are those folks who think a speck of oregano in a bowl of soup is cause for rinsing your mouth out with a pitcher of cold water. Some Thai places and some Mexican restaurants go for the super spicy at one extreme. Some American-style restaurants over in Sun City not too far from me are quite successful selling totally bland fare. Personally I don't mind some heat, but gladly accept not-hot as long as there is some flavor to it. I have to say that Thee Pitts Again is definitely in the bland category. There is nothing wrong with the food, but for my tastes pulled pork or barbecued beef brisket, for instance, needs sauce to make it worth going out for. Three Pitts Again has sauce that it is pretty good, but they are pretty stingy with it. Of course I could have asked for more sauce, but I, at least, would like to know what the restaurant thinks is the proper serving balance between the meat and the sauce. The cole slaw was bland. The corn bread was... not just bland from a lot of wheat flour, but had so little structure I ate it with my fork rather than attempt to pick it up. My experience was very much like one of the guests on the local TV show. The food was a bit too bland for me, not just in terms of heat, but of taste. The guy on TV made a point of saying he liked the beans. I know why he liked the beans. They came covered in the sauce they were so stingy with on the meat. It would be totally unfair to call the place bad as some did on the Internet. It really was okay. But if you're looking for fiery barbecue it's definitely not the place for you. I see no reason why folks who like their food on the bland side, shouldn't have a BBQ place to call their own. But personally I'll take my business to barbecue places that more fit what I like.
So what do you like?
Very bland?
Bland?
Spicy without heat?
Spicy with heat?
Fiery spicy?