Website of the Day

Today's website is one that you might not want to visit while you are eating, or up to 2 hours post-mealtime. I'm talking, of course, about Celebrities Eating Dot Com. This journey through voyeurism of the oft gormandizing beautiful (and not so beautiful) people is best experienced on an empty stomach, and can only be truly appreciated when you read the comments sections.

Or I just have a sick sense of humor. I'll go with that, as well.

Belly laughs (and aches) all around!

Capone's is no more


I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Capone's is now closed. I got the tip from Legal Chick that there are two large trailers in front of the building, ladders inside, the lights were off, and I just called the number, and it has been disconnected.

I (originally anonymous, but you might recognize my posting style in the above link, and certainly my complaints about Paolo's), called it: "I can see them closing within the year. They're just too expensive for what they are: An expensive gimmick restaurant across from the Simplot plant."

It's a shame, since the food was actually decent, and they are a locally owned. But again, it goes to show that local owners do not always listen. If you are going to spend that kind of money, you'll go to Sanders, or even The Toasted Frog, which took up that #2 fancy spot in our restaurant market.

Now, when is that Olive Garden coming?

EDIT: Thanks to GrandForksGuy for pointing out that this could all be the result of a fire they sustained earlier in the month. If this is just a temporary closure, then I wish them luck when they reopen. I also wish them luck in finding the Italian food niche that we all hoped they would fill, but haven't so far.

I'm still sticking by my prediction of them closing unless they make significant changes.

The Pita Pit Has Opened

The Pita Pit on South Washington is now open. I took Coffee Kid there yesterday. Well, after I talked him out of the McDonalds next door, that is.

The sandwiches are pretty good, and certainly better than typical fast food options. I went out on a limb and had the chicken souvlaki, and The Kid had a gyro.

The chicken souvlaki was OK, considering this isn't a Middle Eastern restaurant. But, I've had worse in far better places. The gyro meat, although obviously the pre-formed and frozen SYSCO variety, was actually pretty tasty (OK, maybe it's been almost a month since I've had Christos in the Twin Cities and I'm somewhat desperate for Greek food.) No, this is not freshly carved from the rotisserie, but again, it is not repellant. The tzatziki was pretty pasty (not a typo) and was missing that expected ZING! The veggie options are typical Subway fare, with the exception of the hummus and babaghanoush, which are an extra charge. As for the actual pita, it was fresh and had a slight sweetness. Or was that the tzatziki making its presence known? I’ll have to go back and find out for sure.

The price for 2 sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, and a soda to share was just under $15.

On the minus side, none of the counter people seemed to know what they are doing. I was asked my order repeatedly, but I’ll give them a break—and another chance—since they just opened a few days earlier. I’ll also cut them slack since this is obviously the first job for many, if not most, of them, as most everyone employed there appeared to be about 16 years old. I have to admit that I found their youthful confusion somewhat cute, but I probably won’t find it so in a few months.

The sandwich board features a “Local” special, but this place is so new that they don’t even have any ideas for that one yet.

The décor is nothing special, but the veggie characters on the walls had names that seemed to keep the seven year old Coffee Kid amused for a few minutes.

I didn’t notice the napkins.

Stop in, repeat your order a few times, and give them a few suggestions for The Local. All in all, I find The Pita Pit to be a welcome addition to Grand Forks.

ADDENDUM: For our "Eat In" order, the sandwiches were just handed to us half-unwrapped (ready to eat.) Some sort of plate or tray would be a big help to the customers.