RigaToni's

 1850 E Warner Rd.
 Tempe, AZ 85284

Rigatoni's is part of a nationwide chain of Italian style restaurants catering to the family style dinner.

The restaurant is crowded, noisy, and seems to do a large business in take out.

Companion and I arrived for dinner at 6:15 without a reservation, and had to wait for 30 minutes to be seated. This was our mistake, as we usually have reservations, but were unaware of how full the restaurant would be.

After a full 30 minute wait, we were seated. The hard surfaces in the dining room reflect all the chatter at the tables forcing most people to shout at each other instead of having a quiet conversation.

Our waiter showed up after a wait of 17 minutes and asked about drinks. Companion asked for a drink that the bar had no knowledge of (Caesar) and eventually settled for a glass of water. I had a glass of tea that was decent.

15 minutes later our waiter arrived with our drinks, salad, and bread. The bread was nice, but when he was asked for balsamic vinegar it arrived 12 minutes later after the bread was cold and mostly gone. The salad, he assured us was very special. I can only guess that his idea of special and mine were entirely different. The salad had an almost sawdust texture which I attribute to the crab that was put in it. It would have been lovely had it been even back fin crab, but this was picked crab of the lowest quality.

As I perused the menu I noticed the Seafood Special of the Day. Our waiter did not seem to know much about it and scurried off to learn more. After some time he returned to announce that the Seafood Special was not on the menu nor had it been for some time, yet there it was, in black and white.

Returning to the menu, I selected the Seafood Bake. Had I taken the time to really look at the ingredients, I would not have selected it since it contained the same crab that was in the salad, in the same sawdust like texture. Companion ordered the Pasta Jambalya. Apparently someone can't spell Jambalaya or they didn't want to mislead people into thinking this was a real jambalaya.

Our food arrived in record time. My Seafood Bake I am sure, never saw even the door of the oven much less the inside. The number of shrimp was very nice, but I have still not figured out how one shrimp could be overcooked to the point of almost falling apart and the others were cooked properly. As for the newburg sauce it was supposed to be cooked in, it was close to non-existent and what little there was had little or no flavor.

Companions Jambalya. had some excellent andouille sausage that had real bite to it along with shrimp and chicken. Once again, the cream sauce that was supposed to accompany it was sadly almost missing.

Dessert was supposed to be apple bread pudding, but sadly, there were no apples to be found and the blob of ersatz whipped cream quickly melted onto the plate causing the pudding to swim in it.

While I would like to be generous in my evaluation, poor service, food that is advertised but not available and food that is not properly prepared forces my hand.

2 stars.

Chuck's Butcher Block Meats

6606 E McKellips Rd
Ste 104 
Mesa, AZ 85215

While I normally only review restaurants, I could not in good conscience not review this establishment.

I was making Bistecca alla Fiorentina, which requires a huge porterhouse to make it correctly. Restaurants usually use a rather small porterhouse in the area of a pound and a half. I was looking for something a bit more of the same size used in Florence, Italy. While we don't have their breed of cattle here, we do have some nice angus beef. Calling all around the Phoenix area for the cut I wanted, I only found 2 places that  had what I wanted and that could have it for me while I waited. Settling on Chuck's was an excellent choice. My "small" porterhouse was about 4.5 pounds and about 3.5 inches thick. Best of all, it was prime beef, nicely marbled and cleaned of bone dust and excess fat particles. I also tried some other items from the shop, notably smoked pork chops and chile sausages, but I digress.

As a person who has quite literally eaten my way around the world, I've certainly developed a palate for quality beef, and this cut was right up there with the best. Seasoned with nothing more than Maldon Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper, the meat was lovingly caressed with beautiful extra virgin olive oil and allowed to rest for 12 hours. At the appointed time, this mammoth piece of beef was removed from the fridge and allowed to come to room temperature. 

The beef was cooked on an open fire at high heat for 10 minutes on the first side, 8 minutes on the flip side, and 5 minutes on the bone side. After a rest of 5 minutes, the beef was sliced. 

Magnificent, tender slices of fillet and strip steak adorned the platter showing off their beautiful rare to crusty coloration.  Served with roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted shallots, and some lovely bearnaise sauce this was a meal fit for a king. 

The beef barely needed to be chewed, as it fairly melted in my mouth. Washed down with a nice Lambrusco, it was excellent. While this is a bit on the costly side, it was well worth it. Not only did it make a wonderful dinner, but it will again, and probably also make some nice lunches.

My review is 5 stars for quality, service, and cleanliness of the premises. 

Highly Recommended!

Morton's, The Steakhouse

Morton's, The Steakhouse

15233 N Kierland Blvd 

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Years ago, this was known as Morton's of Chicago. A number of years ago it was bought out by Landry's, and the quality is just not the same. For the record, I have eaten at Morton's around the world including what was their flagship in Hong Kong, so I know whereof I speak.

Four of us went for companions birthday dinner and arrived at 5:30. We were seated immediately in an empty restaurant. Our waitress was quite nice, and brought us customized menu's which had companions name  and "happy birthday" printed on top. A staff member came by and took a picture of the table which was presented to companion at no charge.

We were offered drinks and appetizers to start. The bartender really does know how to make a martini!

One of my companions had onion soup and another had lobster bisque, while I had the jumbo shrimp cocktail. The companion who had the lobster bisque was not happy with it because it had spicy cajun seasoning in it. Personally I have never seen lobster bisque with anything other than sherry added to it. My shrimp cocktail was 5 enormous shrimp with a bland cocktail sauce, but with horseradish on the side to spice it up. I was quite pleased with it. The companion with the onion soup declared it adequate, but nothing special.

For main courses, one companion ordered the pork chop which was so overcooked as to be dry and hard to chew. Unfortunately, we were not asked about the quality of the food until after the meal had been mostly consumed. Another companion had the hamburger, which again, was nothing special. The third companion had the cajun rib eye steak minus the cajun seasoning. Cajun seasoning does not belong on the main menu of a steakhouse like Morton's and if available, should be an option and not a main menu item. The steak was properly cooked, but was not the tender piece of meat the Morton's used to be known for.

For my main dish, I ordered the bone in rib steak which is known to be the most flavorful piece of beef.

I was given a huge, ugly, heavy serrated steak knife which did a poor job of cutting the meat and only succeeded in tearing it instead of cutting it. If a restaurant is going to serve prime beef, it should provide a reasonable sharp knife to cut it with. The steak was nothing special and was lacking seasoning. I ordered a cruet of bearnaise sauce, which arrived thick and gluey without much tarragon flavor. Instead of pouring onto my steak, I had to scoop it out and spread it on my steak.

Side dishes ordered were lobster mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and creamed spinach. The lobster mac and cheese did have plenty of lobster in it as a plus. The wild mushrooms that used to be served are no longer available and are now substituted with ordinary button mushrooms, which again, could use some seasoning. The creamed spinach was properly creamy, but the seasoning could take a lesson from Lawry's on seasoning.

On to dessert. Creme brulee was ordered, and the raspberries were the best part. Once again, the creme was lacking flavor though the burnt sugar was o.k. I got the distinct impression that the desserts were not fresh and were made much earlier in the day.

The restaurant did have a few more patrons as our meal ended. As would be expected in a restaurant of this caliber, it was nice and clean, though the valet car service was no where to be seen, though it is advertised as being there.

I used to evaluate Morton's as 5 stars, but I feel it is no longer in that category. The meat may be marked prime, but at best it might be a cutting grade 1 instead of a 4 or 5. At a cost of $500 for this meal, I expected a lot more quality and flavor as it used to be.

4 stars for adequate food but excellent service and cleanliness.

Wonderful Wanda's

Wonderful Wanda's
6401 W Chandler Blvd
Chandler AZ 85226

We were recommended to go to Wonderful Wanda's, and were not disappointed in the least.
The food was excellent and the service matched.

We arrived to have breakfast and my companion had the cinnamon raisin french toast. I ordered the eggs benedict.

Companion pronounced the french toast to be excellent and a large portion. My eggs benedict were perfectly cooked and were the best I have ever had. The excellent coffee added to the wonderful meal.

I will go back to Wonderful Wanda's anytime I am in the area. Best breakfast I have had in a long time.

5 stars for outstanding food and service.

Koreatown 2nd Review

Koreatown

1832 W Broadway Rd.

Mesa, AZ 85202

I have eaten at Koreatown a number of times since my last review and a number of us ate there tonight. I'm sad to report that this business has not kept up to their original standards both in service and in food quality.

First was our server Kim. Not only was she rude to people at the table, but she left us feeling like she was doing us a service by waiting on us and that we were bothering her. Christmas music was playing, and it was so loud that we had to shout at each other to be heard. It resulted in one of the orders being a mistake, which Kim just snipped at the customer about and said it was the customers fault!

While portion sizes were still more than adequate, food flavor and cooking has not kept up with what it used to be. My Dak Bulgogi had no flavor at all, and the onions were all raw. Instead of coming on a sizzling platter as usual, it was in a pool of bland, watery sauce. No amount of soy or gochujang improved it.

One of my companions had Bibimbap and was disappointed by the pool of broth at the bottom which prevented the rice from caramelizing and being sizzling. Soggy rice is not enjoyable in this dish.

We were also very surprised by the BanChan. Not only was it served differently, but there was less of it and we were charged 50 cents for daikon. A staple of the cuisine and always included at no cost in the past.

We were surprised by an automatic tip added to the bill for 5 people of 18%. Quite unusual for a party this small, though in reality we would have given a standard tip of 20% had that not been on the bill.

Because of the service and food prep, I have had to lower my rating from the original 4 stars I gave them before.

2 stars for a mediocre meal and poor service.

Yupha's Thai Kitchen - pandemic update

I have reviewed Yupha's before, and while I don't go out to eat during the pandemic, I still enjoy restaurant food and ordered it for delivery.

We started with the Chicken and Vegetable Gyoza's, which came with a dipping sauce and even though it was in a take out box was served on a banana leaf.

Companion ordered the Himalai which is sauteed chicken with cashew nuts, onions, mushrooms, celery, scallion & bell peppers. Companion pronounced it delicious, and left nothing for me to even taste of it!

I ordered the Panang curry in coconut milk with string beans, bell peppers & lime leaves. This came with Jasmine rice. I asked for it to be Thai Hot, and while it was excellent, I'd have liked a few more peppers in it.

Companion wanted dessert, and ordered the Sticky Rice With Mango. Companion had never had this before and loved every morsel of it.

Even on take out, Yupha's is a class act that is hard to beat. Our food was packed nicely so it could not spill, and while presentation can't be like eating in the restaurant, it was creative and nice.
5 stars again for excellent food, quick preparation, and creativity.


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Los Dos Molinos Mesa

Los Dos Molinos
260 S Alma School Rd
Ste 137
Mesa, AZ 85210

I had not been to Los Dos Molinos in many years (they still had a restaurant in NYC), and it was time for my fix of New Mexican Chile.

Companion and I arrived at 5:45 to an almost packed restaurant on a Tuesday night.

We were seated immediately, and a bowl of beautifully thin tortilla chips was set on the table along with red and green bowls of salsa. Warning: This isn't the tame salsa you get in other places. This has character and tons of flavor along with some decent but not overbearing heat.

Companion enjoyed the green salsa, but ordered a taco salad because of fear of heat. A huge taco salad with excellent guacamole and crema was brought out.

For myself, I ordered the Pollo Fundido which is a huge amount of white meat chicken, wrapped in a tortilla, in a pool of green chile with rice and beans. This was the best Pollo Fundido I have ever eaten. Full of flavor, not too spicy, and a huge portion. While I did not eat the rice, the frijoles were wonderful.

The meal reminded me of eating in a place in Lordsburg, New Mexico that was my previous best Pollo Fundido.

In spite of the crowd, service was excellent, the food was hot, and the place was clean.

5 stars