The other day I heard about a new restaurant which opened up in Burnsville across MN-13 from Ramadan, Pita Plus Sandwich Grill.
A family owned restaurant which claims to pride itself in from-scratch cooking and fresh, quality ingredients, this sounded like exactly the kind of restaurant we would love to hit up. While the menu touts the much hated frozen yogurt, the main entrees range from Greek to turkey and beef and seem decent enough at first glance.
We arrived at about 7:30 on a Thursday and found the restaurant completely deserted aside from the three people working inside (the owner, his daughter who he, I hope, jokingly suggested drop out of school already). We walked up to the counter and placed our orders for a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich for The Wife, a BBQ Beef Sandwich for me, and a Mac and Cheese for The Rooster. There were a stack of local flyer coupon books by the front door and The Wife snatched one up, thumbed through it, and found a buy one and get one half off coupon to use. With chips and a drink each of the entrees ran between $8.25 and $8.75 with The Rooster’s Mac and Cheese nabbing just under $2. Before the coupon we would have paid just over $20 for the honor to eat this meal but with the coupon it was a slightly more reasonable $16 and change.
While they have a ton of gyros, the meat wasn’t on the spit tonight and without being able to see it I decided on the BBQ Beef Sandwich. The menu notes that it’s made with their famous BBQ sauce. When I asked what made it famous, being they haven’t been open all that long, they told me the patriarch of the family used to own and operate Jimmy’s Lemon Tree, a greek restaurant which also had very popular BBQ. Being sold on a family recipe handed down through the generations, I placed my order on a pita bread–being that they are a pita place after all. The sandwich itself is simply bread, beef, and BBQ sauce. The Wife, still riding the high from her taste of Blue Ox‘s Buffalo Chicken Sandwich a few weeks ago, chose to go that route. It comes with lettuce, tomato, and blue cheese. Pretty typical stuff.
The orders were made up while we waited at a table munching on the pretty poor selection of kettle chips (plain, jalapeno, and parmesan garlic I believe). I was pleased to see that they had Diet Sierra Mist on tap as too many places don’t offer any caffeine free diet sodas. Our orders were up after we finished our chips and I went up to the counter to retrieve them.
The Rooster’s Mac and Cheese was simple. The noodles, while chewy, were covered in cheese that wasn’t made out of a box. It had some nice flavor and while it will never compare to the excellent product put out by Valley Tap House, it was hands down the best item we sampled last evening and being that it was simply underdone noodles and some cheese should tell you a lot about what’s to come.
The Wife’s Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was tiny, tasteless, and generally awful. While she opted for the house bread (a simple hoagie roll) instead of the pita, there was nothing at all worthwhile about this sandwich. When I think of “house bread”, a boring roll that could have been Subway’s 6″ day-old castoffs doesn’t come to mind. Instead, I think of the homemade pretzel buns I made the other day, not the garbage we were served last night. The chicken was orange like Buffalo sauce but it didn’t taste like it. The bleu cheese was there but tasted weak and watery; I’ve had better bleu cheese dressing at BW3 and that’s saying a lot. The lettuce and tomato were wilted, slimy and gross. I realize that tomatoes aren’t in season but I really don’t see the need to be pasting orange tomato slices on top of orange Buffalo sauce. I mean if you’re not adding anything with the vegetable, why don’t you just leave it off? When the owner later asked us how our meals were I minced no words. I told him that if he wanted to compete he needed to up his game and he should check out Blue Ox because they had him beat by 100% and I noted they’re also family-owned and operated just in case he was wondering.
My BBQ Beef Sandwich was, hands down, the single worst meal I’ve had in a very long time. I mean it was almost as bad as what I had at the now defunct Anthony’s Parkway Grille and that’s saying a lot. The BBQ sauce was good. I mean, it could have been out of a bottle and/or simply Famous Daves with a little more liquid smoke added but it wasn’t as disgusting as the rest of the sandwich. The pita bread, remember this is the namesake of the restaurant, was downright atrocious. It was chewy, rubbery, tasteless, and added absolutely no value to the sandwich. Honestly, if they weren’t buying it from some sixth-rate supplier I would be surprised and it certainly wasn’t made in house as the naan across the street wrapping Ramadan’s gyros (which are HUGE (big as my head, seriously) and only $8 with fries) is. The beef, however, was miserable to eat. It was chewy, chewy, and chewy. It had zero beef flavor and I really just couldn’t get by the toughness of the meat. For a restaurant which claims, “We are up early every morning to grill our chicken and steak, roast our turkey, and slice our vegetables,” I have to admit that they may want to check to make sure they’re not microwaving the beef because there’s no way an oven could make beef that disgusting. Honestly, I wouldn’t expect that poor quality of beef out of a $1.99 Hungry Man frozen meal stuck in the back of a vacant bus station vending machine, but there it was on a plate in front of me at a Burnsville restaurant for $6.75. When I told the owner how awful his meal was he at least had the decency to look disappointed and say he was sorry. I’m guessing that the slew of reviewers on Urbanspoon (almost all with 1 review under their belt) are shills because if they’re not, they’re in line with those who think Old Chicago has the best bacon cheeseburger in a five mile radius.
On my way out I offered them the best of luck. I was really genuine in saying it because they’re going to need a lot of it to pull Pita Plus Sandwich Grill out of the hole they have dug for themselves. There is absolutely no way this place is going to last 6 months, let alone a year, unless they make some serious changes to their cooking. All the nostalgic BBQ sauce in the world isn’t going to help save them from what amounts to sub-amateurish cooking skill.
Have you eaten at Pita Plus in Burnsville? If so what did you think? What items did you try and what were your favorites? If you were going to choose a gyro would you pay $8 (with fries) across the street for homemade bread, fresh meat, and a ton of veggies or would you go with a premade pita, tough meat and no flavor for for about the same price? Do you have plans to head over there to see if it’s really as bad as I say? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Address:
Pita Plus Burnsville
1501 Riverwood Drive
Burnsville, MN 55337
Phone:
952-895-4058
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June 1st, 2012 at 8:14 am
That sounds pretty crappy. While I can appreciate a sandwich so simple at times, you really need to know that you can nail it every time. Three ingredients and two were awful and it sounds like the third was at best average? I don’t even know how that is possible.
Also, a place that has in your words “a ton” of gyros, but they are choosing not to make them to order in a place that had no customers but the three of you?
It sounds like maybe the owner is a nice guy from your review, but nice is not a very good substitute for incompetence.
Lastly, you mention that the pita was in your opinion sourced? How does a place that calls itself Pita Plus not make their own bread from scratch? Mind boggling.
June 1st, 2012 at 8:43 am
I don’t wish failure on any local business. That said, would-be restaurateurs need to step back and evaluate what they are doing. How much capital goes into opening a brand-spanking new restaurant centered around foods any idiot could easily make at home? For $15, I could buy and grill a flank steak, a bag of pita bread and a jar of BBQ sauce and feed my family of 5. It was the same thing with Johnny’s over on Cedar Avenue — you won’t make a long-term living opening a bricks-and-mortar restaurant serving hot dogs and Kraft Mac-and-Cheese and other $3.50 meals.
A pita sandwich is my bail out meal when I have 3 minutes to eat/feed my family between work and getting the kid to little league. It’s not something I’m going to seek out and I think I (tragically and temporarily) represent the typical Burnsville lifestyle…at least of those with the disposable income to go out to eat.
If a Quizno’s with it’s almost limitless corporate backing can’t succeed there, how will this place?
At some point, I’ll stop in and grab something for no other reason than to give a local business some support. I hope the food proves me wrong and I like the place.
June 1st, 2012 at 1:20 pm
I saw they are open, and will stop by and give it a try. I think I will give them a couple weeks and see if they can improve on what was clearly not a great start.
I think its really important for a place like this to understand that there are any number of places a person can go to for similar food. A bad first visit likely means no second visit and they will be out of business soon.
I wish them luck, and hope for a pleasant surprise when I get in for a visit.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:23 am
Speaking of new places in Strip malls, Bill do you know what is going to
be at the old Starbucks at 42/11 ? someone told me a new restaurant is going in there? If you have mentioned this on another post, i apologize.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:55 am
Byblos. There’s a post for it.
June 4th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I’m shocked the astroturfers haven’t gone nuts on this place given the crazy amount of bogus posting they did on Urbanspoon. Check out this gem from “boomer5″ who is…..drum roll……Maria Peerboom, wife of the owner:
Yes….the OWNER’S WIFE said “felt like family”. PRICELESS! That has to be one best astroturfing posts ever.
There were posts from in-laws, friends, and so on and not one mentioned they were an insider. It was clearly a coordinated campaign. Thankfully Urbanspoon took them down (you can see the cached version if you Google around).
I just scratched this place off my “to visit” list. No thanks.
p.s. Bill are you filtering these people now or what?
June 4th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Only one person has attempted to post a comment and I was too lazy to even check how she was related to the family. She didn’t respond to my usual verification e-mail so I haven’t approved the comment.
Fun fact: she accused me of being a competing business with my reference to Ramadan across the street. While I have an excellent relationship with the owners of Ramadan, I certainly have no financial stake in the place and I think it’s pretty damn funny they’d accuse me of that.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:21 am
Interesting you mention “unfair critiques”. Let us know…what exactly is your relationship to the owners?
What I consider “unfair” is when people post seemingly objective glowing reviews of a friend’s restaurant without disclosure.
Please….enlighten us.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:41 am
The owners (Peerbooms) are friends with all of the Bunnell’s locally in many different ways.
June 5th, 2012 at 11:01 am
MSPD,
Since you already quoted it, I am not going to do it again, but I am laughing at the last 3 words, not the first two.
While never my speed, perhaps the grand opening of Planet Hollywood 20 years ago might qualify as “truly exciting” with all the national celebrities that were flown in for that. That might be the only example of “truly exciting” that could apply to a restaurant in Minnesota.
A 1000 square foot Sysco driven dump does not qualify as “truly exciting” even if it was being opened up by Elvis and that was the day we just found out he is still alive. I think Amber Bunnell needs to go back to fucking adjective school (sorry for the swear, but I just wrote my guest post and I decided not to use any bad words in it).
June 5th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
“Yes….the OWNER’S WIFE said “felt like family”.”
That just made my day MSPD. I laugh every time I think of her writing that.
June 6th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Urbanspoon keeps deleting MSPD and my posts about the astroturfed comments there. Disappointing.
Here’s his most recent comment:
June 6th, 2012 at 10:07 am
Reinforcing why I consider Urbanspoon a joke of a source of meaningful information.
June 6th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Well, I don’t consider it a meaningful source of information anymore than any other online site but they are a big source of traffic ;-)
June 11th, 2012 at 6:32 am
[...] who joined me sent me a text message which said that we should really consider heading over to Pita Plus instead because the line was 100 people deep. Surprised, I drove on and arrived to find Dan’s [...]
July 2nd, 2012 at 6:37 am
[...] quickly. The portions were large and even though they were similarly priced to the offerings of Pita Plus, there were at least sides including hummus, tabouli, fries, and/or a house [...]
July 6th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Here is my experience with the Gyro I had here. I feel stung having had 2 bad gyros at 2 new places in Burnsville in only 1 week!
The food here needs work. Time to rethink the entire menu… Use fresh local and ripe ingredients and for a place that prides itself on its pitas, don’t use pitas that taste like they are from a bag.
You have the ability to be good… go with it. That means no microwaves and fresh cooked ingredients. The sandwich I had didn’t seem like it was made to order. It should have been a sign that the gyro meat wasn’t on the spit.
Also, please stop the bogus reviews… there was one on here before from the wife of the owner talking about how they made her feel like family there… I HOPE they made her feel like family!
There could be potential here… I hope they use it. But the gyro I had was not good
July 6th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Jeremy, go across the street to Ramadan for the best gyro around. It’s enough food for two meals.
July 6th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Ozzie,
I took my team there for lunch. 4 people, 4 gyros w/fries, $29.95. Two of us brought home enough for another meal. Me? I scarfed that fucker down and loved every minute.
The best part? They make their own fries too and damn are they good.
July 9th, 2012 at 10:56 am
I am thinking I might try Ramadan today… are they open for lunch?
July 9th, 2012 at 10:59 am
JD, yeah, they are. If it looks scarily empty just ignore it and ring the bell on the counter where the register is.
It’s in the brown commercial building across MN-13 from Aldi/Pita Plus sorta near DQ. Ignore any bad directions you may get from Google.
July 10th, 2012 at 11:04 am
I tried Ramadan the other day. The Gyro is outstanding. The indian food was also good, in particular the rice, which I thought had great flavor.
August 3rd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
I went over there today and Pita Plus is no more.
August 3rd, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Wow.
August 3rd, 2012 at 2:59 pm
No way. Bill shutters another restaurant. What a meanie.
August 11th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
So, instead of just being honest and not posting fake reviews and instead of taking constructive criticisim and making imrovements they simply close? INSANE! Either they realized that they knew nothing about running a restaurant and cut bait before they spent too much money, or they just gave up. It would have been pretty simple to make some small adjustments to the food and they could have been a success. This just seems wierd!
October 4th, 2012 at 10:38 am
I live on Burnsville Parkway and Nicollet. I didn’t realize Pita Plus was even there until last week, when I was driving by and noticed that whatever it was didn’t look open. I thought maybe it was just opening, so I came here to get the scoop. Looks like you saved me $10 on a bad lunch. Although if food is really that bad, I am big on asking for a refund if I’ve only taken a few bites.
Is that space cursed?
December 26th, 2012 at 7:32 am
[...] Palace 14. Black Stallion Saloon 15. Byblos Lebanese Grill 16. Betty’s Cafe and Pies 17. Pita Plus (closed) 18. Piccolo’s Pizzeria 19. Lone Oak Grill 20. Steak [...]
February 27th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Driving past this today, I saw that the Pita Plus signage was finally taken down and it has a new sign saying Panda something-or-other. Presumably a Chinese place, then.
February 27th, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Panda Express? Not another one…
February 28th, 2013 at 7:11 am
No, it wasn’t that; it didn’t have the font or logo and the letters were in green.
February 28th, 2013 at 7:43 am
Panda Plus
February 28th, 2013 at 8:44 am
Great! I have been wondering when there would finally be a place that I could get some sub-par “Chinese” food in the South Metro.
February 28th, 2013 at 9:20 am
I bet this post has set a record for the “Most Comments For a Restaurant That Was Open 3 Days”.
February 28th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Maybe we will get lucky and they will be serving real panda…
February 28th, 2013 at 5:20 pm
It’s Panda Wok Asian Express. I got a better look at it today.
February 28th, 2013 at 5:37 pm
Idiots. Think of how much money they could have saved just swapping out the “it” with “and”.
March 2nd, 2013 at 11:22 am
MSPD,
You last comment took me about 14 hours for me to get it. I a pretty quick like that.
March 2nd, 2013 at 2:53 pm
You’re days ahead of most people, I imagine.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Panda Wok is now open.