The Parlor
1916 E. Camelback Road

I admit it. I have a crush on The Parlor. I’ve been three times since it opened early last month.

You know, The Parlor proves that you can put almost anything on pizza and have a hit if the crust is good. I had the Yukon Gold once, which was pizza with potatoes and an egg right in the middle. I also tried the truffle oil and mushroom pizza and the sausage pizza. All incredible.

Perhaps my review is not complete. I never tried their salads or other nosh. But I’m a pizza snob. So sue me.

Still, the ambiance is fantastic and the service was good, with the exception of one waiter who seemed to forget we were there once. I look forward to cooler days when I can sit out on the patio area among the fresh growing vegetables that they actually use in the restaurant.

Much of the internal décor came from reclaimed wood and metal from the short-lived Bahama Breeze, which was torn down across the street. Kudos for the re-use. However, I do respect the criticism that The Parlor looks way too much like The Vig, just with pizza.

The Good: Sitting at the bar, watching the pizza being made in the stone oven.

The Bad: The Parking

The Ugly:  None

Friday night was Night Rail, a last-minute, all social network-driven, flash mob-style effort to show support for later light rail hours.

See the Thursday post for all of the great organizers of this event.

By Midnight, we had almost 60 people standing at the Roosevelt and Central Metro station, with more on the way.

My close friends and I started at Monti’s in Tempe. Nick Bastain of Rail Life was there, along with about 20 others. Michael Monti of Monti’s was with us and laid out the long and sometimes sordid history of Monti’s. (Did you know it used to be a brothel?)

We worked our way back to Central. Unfortunately, Portland’s was not open by the time we got there. I think they would have had some good business, had they been open. After our rally, we all dispersed, ending up at the Roosevelt, Carly’s and other places in-between.

In the future, we will communicate more with businesses along the light rail to encourage them to get involved. In the end, this was a test. It was only a test. We now know that we have the ability to get the word out about Night Rail. Our next phase will be to grow the event through business participation, live music and the help of people like you!

If you have not heard already, a bunch of groups downtown, including Get Your PHX, are collaborating in support of the new light rail hours. We are encouraging y’all to come out on Friday night the 31st.

Start anywhere and go anywhere, but stop by the Roosevelt and Central stop at midnight to show your support for late rail hours. We need to raise awareness that the city made a very controversial decision to run the rail later and we need to support that.

My understanding is that the press will be there.

Here are the super-fantastic organizations that are supporting the effort:

Howdee all,

I’ve finally got it together! The Get Your PHX Website and blog. So, here is what it’s all about:

My goal goal is to be the anti-blog, the anti-tweet. Stories will be a little longer and less frequent, but I hope to bring you views and opinions that you won’t get elsewhere. The good folks over at Downtown Phoenix Journal and Rail Life have done a stellar job of getting you up-to the minute news. Call me old fashioned, but my goal is to get in to some deep analysis of events and policies that affect our lives.

GetYourPHX.com is divided in to two parts: Life and Live.

Under “Life”, I’m going to post the same kind of quality detritus that that you’ve been able to find in the Clark Report: commentary on state and local issues, restaurant reviews, cool stuff that makes Central Phoenix special. Look also for guest bloggers and inside scoops.

It’s like the New Yorker, but without all the cool panel cartoons and ads for homes in the Hamtons.

On the “Live” side of the site you can keep an eye on the Central Phoenix real estate market. I’ll post market analysis and tips tailored to what you are looking for, whether you are a first time home buyer, you are selling or investing.

Folks, I love my work as a Realtor, but I don’t want a site that screams “Buy! Sell! Now!.” So, please check out the “Live” side of the site and let me know what you think.

Over-all, I look forward to your thoughts and comments. I’m just getting started here, so please check in here or through the RSS feed. I am committed to make Get Your PHX a great source of information and commentary.

A special thanks to Derek Welte at HalfManHalfMachine for the design on this site. Also thanks to James Day at NetSysInteractive.com for the work they did to help us get the site together.

So, for now, I’ve posted all of my old restaurant reviews from the Clark Report because folks keep asking about them.

1301 NW Grand Avenue

I remember walking along Grand Ave. years ago when I saw the corner property that is now Sapna Cafe. It was an oddly shaped space, just a cake slice of a building. I figured it would be perfect for a little coffee bar or restaurant.

I have not heard much talk on the street about Sapna, although it’s been open for three months. After trying it, I really want to give it a better review than I can (at least for right now).

I went three. Once just to test out the coffee and Wifi and the twice to grab a sandwich. The Wifi did not work. The shape and orientation of the building with it’s tall windowed sides meant that the only time the sun was not over-heating the restaurant was the three hours it was directly overhead.

They couldn’t do much to cool the place, despite extra fans.

The staff were all pleasant and conversational. But from what I had on my first visit, the food was not what I expected. Sapna was given its name from a nickname that owner Ana Borrajo was given while traveling overseas.

I had a chicken panini and a salad. The salad dressing was quite unique, but the panini was nothing to write home about.

However, the second visit -for lunch- helped me see the light. I had the pasta with ratatouille. It was unique and flavorful.

I also want to encourage you to support a little restaurant that is taking a chance on Grand Ave., despite the unfortunate solar heating features.

The Good: Aesthetically a really cool place to eat. Go for the non-traditional items over the sandwiches.

The Bad: It’s bloody hot outside!

The Ugly: East and west-facing windows in a little space make for a warm experience!

4700 North Central Ave.

The founder of Lux and Lola Tapas, Daniel Wayne, has re-entered the coffee trade (he sold Lux several years ago).

The new Lola Café is just north of Lux at Highland and Central. I can’t figure out why he is so close to Lux and why he did not start this new venture near my office. Clearly, he forgot the rule about checking with Ken before making major business decisions.

Daniel made a breakthrough in coffee when he opened Lux 8 years ago. He made a cup of coffee which had a high level of craftsmanship to it. You simply could not find that downtown back then. He put a lot of thought in to what goes in to his drinks, for instance Ghirardelli chocolate and whipped cream made on the spot with vanilla and a shot of espresso.

Lola Café has everything that Lux used to have: great coffee, fantastic atmosphere, incredible pastries, etc. Not that Lux doesn’t have that, but the drawback to Lux nowadays is the crowd and the noise.

So, until Lola Café gets to be as crowded as Lux (I give them two weeks), I may favor Lola over Lux for meetings, work and the odd occasional book reading.

The Good: The consistently incredible coffee and food.

The Bad: Not too far in the future, it will be too crowded and noisy for this old curmudgeon.

The Ugly:  None

501 E. Camelback Rd.

Two Hippies is not new. People have been raving about it since late last year. But I never got around to reviewing it.

Folks, this is some of the best recession food you can find. Get a Taco 3-pack for $5 or a massive burrito for $5. My three pack always includes the pork and the chicken. The third varies. Regardless, you never go hungry.

It is getting a little hot to sit outside and eat now -no indoor seating. However there are enough misters around the patio to sink the USS Ronald Reagan and they’ve done a good job of hiding their customers from the sun.

The place is a lot of fun, too. It’s plastered with every kind of odd, eclectic sign, poster post card and plastic Kewpie doll you can imagine. It’s Jimmy Buffett meets, er, eh,…Jimmy Buffett.

The Good: Cheap, good, filling!

The Bad: It’s bloody hot outside!

The Ugly:  none

214 W. Roosevelt

These guys have had a hard time of it, I’m afraid. They’ve only been open since mid-April. They don’t have a liquor license yet. They’ve been handing out free sangria to compensate, and I’ve still heard some complaints.

A group of seven of us went last week; very excited to try it out. I felt like I wanted to like it more than I really did. There were so many things that they did right, but such crucial things that they missed.

We sat out on the sidewalk with beautiful trees overhead and a very soothing atmosphere, despite the traffic on Roosevelt.  The pizza oven was down, so we couldn’t try that most important staple food. The prosciutto panini, on the other hand, had a beautifully layered and textured taste.

Owner and chef Leonard Jay came out at the end to apologize for the oven being down. I wished him the best, but I couldn’t help sense that his less-than strong start was going to get the better of him. Still, it’s refreshing when restaurant owners take responsibility and attend to their customers.

To be fair, it was still considered a soft opening until May 1st. I hope they get the wrinkles out because I saw such great promise.

The Good: Great presentation, beautiful flavors.

The Bad: Still a little disorganized. Don’t give up yet.

The Ugly:  “Could I get a little sangria in my water, please?”

5144 N. Central Ave.

I’ve always enjoyed the original Postino at 40th St. and Campbell. They had good wine and pleasant food. It’s good news that the owners have opened Postino Central at 5144 N Central Ave.

However, it’s sad that the old Katz’s Deli at that same location had to close down to make room. Originally opened by David Katz in 1959, it survived until 2008. It was a mainstay for political lunches in town. According to the Jewish News, it was the spot for coffee meetings of the founders of the valley’s first rabbinical council.

Something tells me that the building, at least, will stay on as a place for nosh and “zitzungen.”

The Good: The Bruschetta with brie, apples and fig spread pretty much melts on the tongue.

The Bad: Something about this restaurant’s business model seems to include forcing people to park in residential neighborhoods. I bet if they did a franchise in Beverly Hills, they would inevitably irritate Bradgelina with the all the cars.

The Ugly:  Not applicable.

4201 N 7th Ave

I heard from a friend how great this place was. I hate to say it, but I don’t agree.

Let me qualify that and say that I’m quite picky about Italian food. I much prefer what I call “simple” Italian food over “red sauce” Italian. Red sauce Italian is what I think of as the traditional American expression of Italian food: lasagna, spaghetti, pizza with red sauce. The more simple food relies less on sauces and includes a lot more grilled veggies and greens. I think of Cibo and La Picolla Cuchina in this category.

So, going in to it, I have my prejudices. The service was great, the place was clean and I’m sure they have great stuffed manicotti. But I just could not get in to it.

I ordered their Quattro Fromaggio pizza. It was nice, but did not rise to the level of a couple other places I could mention downtown. For me, it’s all in the crust and they just did not have it. You could put peanut butter and licorice on a pizza with the right crust and I’d still like it.

The Good: Clean restaurant, good lunch prices, “A” for effort.

The Bad: Uninspiring decor.

The Ugly:  If your patio is  going to be right on 7th Ave., I suggest some sort of sound barrier.