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Friday, May 10, 2013

Pita Grill - Irvine

Force of habit and cheapness rules my daily work-lunch routine. At least once out of the week, if it's not Yoshinoya, then it's Wendy's. At Yoshinoya, I add extra chicken skin to whatever I happen to order (even the beef bowl), and at Wendy's I turn their baked potato into a sort of improvised shepherd's pie by fluffing up the potato good and soft with the butter and sour cream, and then slowly working in their chili. Try it yourself. You'll love it.

But there's now a third on the rotation. Pita Grill is a special place. A place that serves food I didn't expect a place like Pita Grill to serve. Their kebabs explode with juice and cooked to any degree of desired doneness. Twirling columns of meat are shaved with a handheld device that whirrs and whinies. The most popular is the chicken, piled in snowy mountains and eaten with pita bread after being slathered in a potent garlic toum, one of the best I've tasted which is as good as, if not better than, Zankou's.

And then there's the veggie plate (shown above).

For a little less than $10, I can choose any 5 items from their mile-long side dish display, a pick-and-choose array full of veggie entrees that I actually want to eat, including a krab salad I took an immediate liking to. There's also well-seasoned falafels (two per order); fried cauliflower so addictive you forget it's cauliflower; hummus as smooth as butter cream; and many more items that would cost a fortune if you ordered it a la carte.

Pita Grill
3800 N Barranca Pkwy. Ste N
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 552-7482
http://pitagrillirvine.com

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10 comments:

  1. MikeHs9:44 AM

    Edwin - How would you rate PG relative to some of the similar options around Irvine, like Chicken Dijon and Gourmet Grill Masters (and I'll even throw in Chicken Maison outside the City limits, over on Bristol)? Thanks for the info - as I will definitely check this out.

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  2. elmomonster6:19 PM

    Mike,

    I would have to say I prefer Pita Grill over Chicken Dijon and Gourmet Grill Masters, although both of the latter are good. And Chicken Maison is excellent, but it's got a different bent than Pita Grill I think...so that one's a toss up.

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  3. Mikehs11:41 AM

    Thanks for the input (and the review), Edwin. My wife and I did try PG out Friday night, and now I see the differences between this and the other primarily chicken-oriented places. We both really liked PG, and best of all we were able to bring back some good selections for our vegan daughter. Oh, and I really, really liked their roast garlic potatoes.

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  4. elmomonster11:22 PM

    Mike,

    Awesome! Thanks for the feedback! It makes me happy that you were happy! Now I have to try their roast garlic potatoes!

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  5. Michelle12:16 PM

    Thanks for the recommendation! Just ordered two chicken pitas to go. And btw, check out Johnathon L.'s review on Yelp. It sounds a lot like yours. ;)

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/pita-grill-irvine-2

    http://www.yelp.com/user_details_reviews_self?userid=JYo8-uA1w11gS3fhKeu88w

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  6. elmomonster7:12 AM

    Thanks for the heads-up Michelle! That "Yelper" is a plagiarist! He has copied reviews from better blogs than this one as well! It doesn't look like he wrote any of his reviews.

    I've alerted the Yelp admins, but have never had much luck with them doing anything in the past.

    If any readers of mine who see this can help and are Yelp-users, please flag him!

    Thank you all for supporting this blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. elmomonster8:30 AM

    To PY! I've received and read your nice notes (and am abiding by your wish not to publish it)! Thank you so much for your vote of confidence and for being a reader for so long!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Phil8:50 PM

    Edwin,

    The plagurists account has been closed and all his reviews have been removed. Glad I could help!

    ReplyDelete
  9. elmomonster3:33 PM

    Thanks Phil!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Michelle4:39 PM

    No problem! Btw, sadly, Pita Grill closed as of Sunday, June 2nd. We visited that night and they said that was their last day! According to one of the employees, they might re-open in a month or so somewhere on 17th Street in Tustin.

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