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.

215 E. McKinley St.

I’ve been watching this spot and hearing about this opening for almost a year. The idea of walking to sushi from my house was so incredibly urbane and hip, it almost made even me a little queasy.

After all that, I gotta say, “eh.”

Maybe I need to go again. The server did not know what was on the menu or how some things were prepared. I felt like the prices were much higher than they should be. Perhaps I was unfairly comparing it to the good old Ichiban at Thomas and Central, where the prices are more reasonable and the owner, Seth, actually comes to visit you at your table and (gasp!) smiles at his customers.

The Good: Generous portions of Nigiri

The Bad: The servers are a little slow and do not know all of the dishes. Leave lots of time.

2245 N. 12th St.

It was so surreal to eat in this warm, comfy place that used to be a nondescript building across from a shady convenience store in the Coronado neighborhood. It was as if they took somebody’s living room from circa 1977, sat us all down and fed us little nibbles of never-before-combined recipes. You certainly would not have seen these combinations in the heyday of leisure suits and Joe Namath.

I had the Medjool dates stuffed with Schreiner’s chorizo. It came with a pear dipping sauce that was light and unique. It went really well with the petite syrah.

Now, there are eight words I’d never imagined I would ever string together.

The Good: Just a really nice atmosphere and decor. They have come up with a very inventive and complementary taste palette.

The Bad: I feel like they should rethink the gorgonzola grits, covered in butter. I think even Jiffy Lube offers a lighter blend for your car.

The Ugly:  Meals and two drinks for the three of us ran $90. That kinda hurt.

7th St. and Roosevelt

Nothing excites a Euro-weenie, urban dweller like me more than the thought of gelato around the corner from my house.  I’m really sorry to say that I’m disappointed. Chill Out Gelato’s offering has little resemblance to traditional Italian Gelato. I’m a proud purist. Give me pistachio or sour black cherry with a sweet zing on the end. I can get Oreo Cookie ice cream at Safeway. Oh, and the staff should at least act like they care about their craft.

2329 North 7th Street

This place is a really interesting idea. They focus on soups. They do a really good job of that. I had a thing called a Soup Flight, which was three small bowls of soup with bread. It was a carrot ginger soup, a chicken soup and a red onion soup. The tastes were complex, layered and not nearly enough to eat. I also could not help but wonder how many people will want to eat hot soup while sitting in front of west-facing windows next August.  Overall: Good concept. Questionable delivery.

I’m sold on this really nifty food co-op called Bountiful Baskets (www.bountifulbaskets.org). Once every two weeks, you pay $15, plus tax, then you go pick up whatever they have available at one of many distribution centers. It happens every two weeks.

See what I got the first time for about $18? Dudes! Those are white peaches!

Since you don’t know what you will get, your are forced to learn new recipes. Its exciting and a little scary.

A couple problems:

1. Their website is like navigating the Kremlin.

2. If you want the organic option, you might as well drive to Las Vegas to pick it up. So, not as appealing.

Anyway, check it out. Its kinda cool, regardless.

108 East Pierce St.

I don’t know what excites me more: the new restaurant or seeing the renovated little store front right downtown. They did a pretty good job with a building that was previously just a cement box.

But, the food is really good and reasonable. It was medium spicy, but had good depth of flavor. I had the Curried Chicken and Dumpling for $9.50. It was really spicy. The dense gray dumpling was meant to be used to clean up the sauce at the end of the meal. It tasted great, but it was like storing a hockey puck in my stomach for later use.

There are Canadian hockey players that do that, you know! Honest. Its kind of like how some fish protect their young. Strange sport, hockey.

It gets better in downtown Phoenix with every new ice cream parlor, especially if it’s locally owned. The folks who own Z-Pizza opened this little joint and connected it to the pizza place at 49 West Thomas.

You readers from out of town stop laughing.

We do what we can, alright?

On a hot Saturday afternoon recently, we took a ride through Willo neighborhood from downtown and tried the offerings.

It was hot. They brought out some water for my dog. Very cool.

Which makes it hard for me to say that I was not really inspired. The staff was really busy next door and seemed to forget that they had an ice cream shop. Maybe I was expecting shooting stars, but the ice cream just did not have much zing.

It was brought in from Richmond California-based Lappert’s Ice Cream. So, “A” for effort. (Or, maybe “F” for huge carbon footprint.)

Still, the nice thing about ice cream is that you really have to try more than once. And, since it is going to be hot for a while to come, I might as well give it another try.

Couldn’t hurt. Might help.

2241 N 7th St

New restaurants are opening along 7th St between McDowell and Thomas. This is the latest. You order from a combination of meats and sides, all presented deli-style under glass. Then you sit and they bring you the meal.

The place is already getting very busy for lunch, because the food is simple, well done and healthy. It has a Northern Italian accent, with lots of fresh roasted veggies. The desserts are worth a shot, too.

It’s a great place, that will be even greater when the summer ends and you can sit outside on the garden patio. However, you have to suspend disbelief a little as cars flash by on 7th St. at umpteen thousand miles per hour, just next to the patio.