Monday Yummies - Geno's Cheesesteaks and Deli, Tempe, AZ

Loved it!
Good prices, great location, and YUMMY food.

Southeast Corner of Rural and University, next to Club Tattoo
Tempe, AZ

I've been wanting to go to this place for a while, and so I WENT!
A very retro-mod, low-key, "order it yourself", sort of place.
Inside it's set up like both a regular restaurant/diner sort of setting, it a walk-up ordering counter like a fast food or food court place. Super affordable, I think the most expensive thing was their Whole Subs for $8.99.
Laid back, good music (though a bit on the loud side), a lot of TVs with various sports channels.
Great selection of food, coke products for soda, and $2-$2.50 draft beer (Coors, Bud Light, Devil's Ale, Pacifico, and I can't remember the other one, it was a wheat ale like blue moon).




Hot Garlic Buffalo Wings $3.99/half-doz

  Perfect blend, not breaded, creamy sort of hot buffalo garlic sauce, chicken was perfectly crispy-fried and super juicy inside. 10/10 - And I'm REALLY PICKY about my wings!


Bacon Ranch Fries $3.49 and Geno's Famous Philly (1/2 sub) $4.99

These fries, I got for my son, but snuck a few to let you know how they are, A+++!! Just enough ranch to give the fries flavor without making them soggy, REAL - FRESH - CRISPY BACON!!! Not that "bacon bits" stuff that most place put on their baked potatoes or cheesy fries, REAL BACON. Yummy. These fries tasted just like a stuffed baked potato! 10/10

Geno's Original Famous Philly Cheesesteak. What can you say about that? Doesn't the name say it all?
Perfect juicy, tender, well-seasoned sliced beef, onions, and Cheez Whiz. Ok, I have to admit, the Cheez Whiz kind of scared us (my hubby and I), but we got it anyways and OMG IT WAS SOOO GOOD. Is that enough to write about it? Haha. The hoagie french bread its on wasn't one of those buns you get where you have a ton of bread and no sandwich, actually I would have like it to be a little thicker, but the taste and texture of thee bun was PERFECT, and it totally made the Philly.
This was hubby's meal, next time I'm going to have to get us a whole sub and have part for myself, instead of only eating enough to be able to judge it on here. 10/10



Garden Salad with Feta Greek Dressing $3.99

This is what I got to go with my Hot Garlic Wings.
Their Feta-Greek dressing is AWESOME! The feta is more on the mild side, not that rancid cheese most places will give you; no nasty, moldy aftertaste. The salad itself was comprised of green and romaine leaf lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, red onion, and green bell pepper. It was a super fresh, crispy, beautiful salad. And the dressing had a perfect consistency, like an Italian dressing with tons of Feta. Did I mention it was a HUGE salad? Yeah, you can skip the wings and totally be happy with this salad being your entire meal. 9/10 (would have been ten, but I'm not really a "salad" person so because its a salad it gets a 9 from me, lol)

Plain - Ol - Dog (w/ketchup) $1.99

My hubby decided he wanted a hotdog and beer after he was done eating, so here what the hotdog looked like. (He cut it before I could take a picture.)
It might look short in the picture, but this dog was bout 1/4lb of BEEF. And it was the most amazing tasting hotdog I've ever had. I think they might deep-fry it and that's why it looks so scary and dark.
In this case looks ARE deceiving. If you just need a quick meal before you go out, or something to munch on while you're watching the game on one of Geno's TVs, this is the go-to dog. YUM. I give it a 9/10 (would have been ten, but it really looked like a day old dog left on the burner at Circle K for a minute)


Overall Rating:
Service: 10/10 - The girls really pay attention to you even though I think they're supposed to stay up by the cash register, one even cleared our table, and it's more of a "pick up after yourself" sort of place!
Price: 10/10 - Super affordable, and great great GREAT quality. Hubby spent the whole time wondering how they can stay in business giving the food away like that. Lol.
Food: 10/10 - Like I said, great quality and great taste.


We will definitely be hitting this place up in the future.

Food Court Series #1: Gyros on Sunday =]



Maggie's Pita Palace
In the Fiesta Mall, Mesa, AZ
Just North of the US 60 on Alma School Rd.
Family owned and operated.

Gyro and Fries Platter $6.25
$4.75 for Gyro alone

 Obviously, if you can't tell - It just looked so good that I started eating it before I took a picture. =]
This is BY FAR, our favorite place for Greek food/Gyros in the entire Phoenix valley!.
Their gyro meat is piping hot and moist, with a perfect blend of, I'm guessing beef, lamb, and spices like rosemary and marjoram. But with so many different kinds out there, who really knows? I think I'll take the time to ask next time, to let you all know.
Anyways, Maggie's Gyros are by far, THE BEST AROUND.
The size of the sandwich (before I ate half of it) was about 6-7" and stuffed, ok, OVERFILLED, with gyro meat! Hubby estimated about a pound!! I had "everything on it" - which here means, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, with tzatziki sauce. Maggie's tzatziki sauce is also the best I've ever tasted, perfect blend of  yogurt, garlic, dill, and I'm pretty sure they add in some rosemary or something, that gives it bonus flavor compared to other places' excuse of sauce.

• The only thing that probably would scare people away is the fact that it's located inside a tiny, mostly Hispanic occupied, shopping mall, that nobody goes to anymore (including us for the most part).

The fries are perfectly crispy and come to you too hot to touch.

NOTHING IS MADE BEFORE YOU ORDER, except the deserts and the salad items are sitting in the normal ice-box. It's definitely a nice change from regular food court fare, and a reasonable price for the size of the Gyro sandwich. The only downside is that since your food is made after you order it takes about 5-10 minutes to make for you.

OVERALL RATING: 10/10
Pros: Best tasting Gyros I've had in the Phoenix Valley. Family owned. Good prices.
Cons: Located in small, "ghetto-ish" mall.


PS:  Some people just opened a Fried Catfish food stall in the mall as well, which I will definitely blog about in a couple of weeks if I head back out in that direction.

SUSHI SATURDAY! - Tempe, AZ

 

 

Sakebomber Sushi & Grill
Southwest corner of McClintock & Broadway In Tempe, AZ



Great sushi, Semi-affordable to affordable.

Works for my low-low budget =]



Miso Soup
A staple treat when you go for sushi.



I was very surprised at how much I liked Sakebomber's miso soup. It's $1/bowl on their backwards happy hour (after 9pm Mon-Sat), and I actually ended up getting two this time! It was the perfect mix of broth and miso, and I know it looks super cloudy, but it does not have that "too much miso" taste that some places have. It was perfect and tasty, with lots of tofu bits and seaweed.

Overall Rating: 10/10

I'm super picky about miso soup and this was awesome!!



Volcano Roll
Spicy tuna, cream cheese, and sweet egg - tempura fried and served with a spicy sauce

This was really good, tempura fried just so the outside has a crunch, and the spicy tuna with cream cheese/sweet egg mixture was really mild (not fishy) and smooth.
The sauce is like a normal red chili sauce swirled with a mayo miso sauce, pretty sweet with a tangy/hot undertone.
Over score - 8/10
Wasn't spicy enough for me and the menu gave it a two "chili" rating - I was expecting HOT





Las Vegas Roll
Spicy salmon mix, avocado, and cream cheese - tempura fried and topped with eel sauce and jalapenos

This was by far our favorite!
The Las Vegas roll is a perfect combination of smokey, sweet, and spicy. With the first bite you mostly just get a sweet taste from the eel sauce (I love eel sauce), then the heat from the jalapeno starts sneaking up, and the salmon leaves a great sweet and smokey aftertaste. Not fishy at all and enough heat to keep me satisfied.
Overall Rating: 9/10
My partner and I both agreed this was the best we ordered tonight and is on our top ten list of Sushi Roll.



Crispy California Roll
California roll rolled in tempura crumbs
(avocado, imitation crab, cream cheese)

The Crispy California Roll was only $4.50 on Sakebomber's "Reverse Happy Hour" (after 9pm, Mon-Sat), so even though we don't count it as "real sushi" (no real fish/nothing raw), it was cheap and worth a try.

WE WERE AMAZED! This roll was smooth and creamy and didn't have any overwhelming tastes of avocado or cream cheese, a perfect mix! The eel sauce gives that nice sweetness, and the tempura crumbs give it just enough crispiness.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - I'm not big on California Rolls

Rating for a California Roll: 10/10 - It was really yummy even though it doesn't have fish. My partner LOVED IT.



Bomber Fries
tempura fried french fries

We always get these for our son, because...well I'll take a picture next time, but HE MAKES A HUGE MESS WITH SUSHI! My partner loves them too, to the point where he eats all the baby's food.
So basic recipe, batter dipped and rolled into tempura, (I'm guessing) the fries do need a bit of salt though. You can tell that the fires are made fresh from REAL POTATOES, because they're a little saggy/limp, but the tempura makes you forget this because they have that CRUNCH we all love with fried foods. =]
If you like tempura fried things and classic french fries, these are a welcome appetizer and come out of the kitchen super quickly if you're hungry RIGHT NOW.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - I need a little added salt, and although I'm glad they're fresh made, I like my fries a little stiffer. But other than that, they're still really good and a staple when I visit Sakebomber.