- [Narrator] And now an Arizona PBS original production.

- I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to Check Please Arizona.

The show where folks like you recommend their favorite restaurants.

Coming up we have three guests who are passionate about their picks.

They've dined at all three and are ready to share their reviews with each other, and with you, right here on Check Please Arizona.

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(upbeat jazz music) - This week on Check Please Arizona our guests have eaten both Ethiopian and American comfort foods.

And they're joining us at the table today to talk about their adventures.

Public Affairs manager, Ben Stewart loves exploring Arizona with his wife and for an easy dinner out, they choose a classic neighborhood pub.

Stay-at-home mom Laura Olsen has recently moved back from Phoenix from the Middle East.

But she's found the familiar in an Ethiopian restaurant and spice shop.

Up first, caterer, Evan Sallustro, has tasted cuisines from around the world.

But his pick offers a fried classic with a twist.

It's Welcome Chicken and Donuts in Phoenix.

(upbeat rock music) - [Wayne] We are in the heart of the Golden Gate Barrio neighborhood.

And we are operating out of a 1970s KFC.

The idea of pairing chicken with donuts really came from Korea town in LA, the mom and pop shops.

The chicken here, at Welcome Chicken and Donuts is a Korean style fried chicken.

That is a almost tempura style batter.

We make that with flour, little baking soda and water, salt and pepper, it's very simple.

The twice fried element of that really brings out the flavor and adds some extra juiciness to the chicken.

All of our donuts are made from scratch.

We have a yeast donut and a cake donut variation.

Really inspired by seasonality of ingredients, up- Whatever upcoming holiday is next, and sometimes some childhood memories help drive the flavors in the case.

Chocolate roast pistachio is a raised donut.

Scratch made chocolate glaze, crumbled pistachios, which add a nice crunch.

And then a meringue that we add a rose extract to, to give it some color and a little flavor and texture.

That's a beautiful donut right there.

Absolutely an original Welcome Chicken and Donut.

(upbeat music) - So Evan, chicken or donut?

- It's a tough position here, but the donuts are amazing.

They have such wonderful flavors.

They've got kind of organic ingredients, which really bring out, I think the donut flavors, and was very excited with the concept of Korean fried chicken.

And this was one of the early entrants into the valley for such a twist.

- You know, that's really fascinating 'cause you know, on the surface of it, I went in and I was like, this is great fried chicken.

But tell me about the Korean twist to it.

- Well they, they fry it twice.

So it has kind of a crispier than our, say our American style.

And then they kind of paint it with a sauce.

It could be like a Japanese barbecue or Korean.

I think there's a Vietnamese flavor as well.

And so it's brought to temperature with this sauce on after frying and really has a wonderful contrast of kind of crispness and sweetness and the spice, so.

- So to me it's a, like a real classic, like you go in there and you're, you're having sort of a diner fried chicken experience.

- I saw this thing on the menu called Griddle Sandwich and we went at kind of brunch time on a Saturday and it sounded really good to me.

So it's a donut with maple glaze, cheese, egg.

- Ooh.

(laughing) - Yeah.

- Wow, welcome breakfast.

I couldn't turn that down, I had to do it.

My wife got the chicken though.

So I did get to try the Korean chili chicken and it was extremely good.

- Well, tell me what you thought of the Korean barbecue sauce.

What was it like?

- [Ben] Kind of like a sweet and spicy, but the chicken was very tender and flavorful.

It was some of the best fried chicken I've had.

- Yeah, I agree.

I had the chicken sandwich.

The chicken was perfectly fried.

It was light, and the roll that it was served on was kind of a sweet, lighter.

- [Mark] Ooh like a Hawaiian bun or something.

- [Laura] Yeah, yeah.

- [Mark] Oh nice.

- [Laura] And I got the, the spicy Korean sauce on top.

- [Mark] Very good and was that like?

- [Laura] It was sweet, but with a kick.

I would buy it if they sold it.

- It really, I found it to be very bold.

I mean most Korean food does, is known for its kick and it did certainly have a kick and that's pretty classic.

What, what else did you have?

- I had, I had a chicken egg roll and it came with a spicy sriracha sauce, which was really nice.

- [Mark] Nice.

- And then I all also had a red wine chocolate pudding donut.

- [Mark] Ooh.

- [Laura] Yeah, it was, it was intense.

It was good.

The frosting was a red wine frosting and it was sweet, but kind of buttery and had the same bite as red wine.

And then it was stuffed with pudding and it was, it was delicious, it was a hearty donut.

(laughing) - Well, tannin had, red wine has tannin in it.

So that's probably what that, that little bite was.

The natural tannins that dry out your mouth, that make you feel like, you know, you had a spoon full of peanut butter and it.

(laughing) You know, sticks to the roof.

That's when a wines really tannic.

Evan, what did you have?

- Well, I also tried a breakfast sandwich.

The South by Southwest, which was quite delicious.

And we also had some of the Japanese wings, which were quite delicious, quite crispy, flavorful, and also had a little apple fritter just to make sure we- - [Mark] Oh, tell me about the apple fritter.

- [Evan] Wonderful enough for two people.

It was, it was shared and, but, but flavorful cinnamon, apple fried goodness.

- [Mark] You know, I had that same thought that it was enough for two people, but it, something happened only one person ate it.

(laughing) I'm not gonna say who but- - Magic.

(laughing) - So do you know that they, they, I was told they get those apples in Sedona when in season when they can.

So they're actually, you know, apple fritters can, you can get those canned gooey sort of cornstarch things, not at this joint.

This is, these are like you crunch into 'em.

It's like, oh, that's an apple.

- [Evan] That's kind of their- - This makes you feel a little better about eating the whole- - Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

(laughing) - So I, I need you to describe that South by Southwest sandwich you had, it sounds great.

- [Evan] Well, it's on a base of a glaze donut, so it's quite tasty and yeah, there's a egg, there's, I had with sausage, there was kind of a, I think it's called a tom yum sauce.

So it kind of has a sweet, spicy combination.

There's a little cheese in there as well.

And it just all melts together into something delicious.

- Everything good on a donut.

- [Evan] Absolutely, absolutely.

- You know, it's so interesting what happens with eggs.

There's kind of a neutral flavor carrier.

But when you put the something either vinegary or sweet and spicy on it, it just really changes eggs quite a bit in a, in a good way, of course.

And then of course, when you have spice or anything tart with sugar, like a donut, it balances it all out, makes it a perfect sort of.

- Much more interesting breakfast sandwich than the normal.

- [Mark] It wakes you up.

- Absolutely fires you up.

- [Mark] What.

- Absolutely.

- So Evan, how would you describe this place?

- Well, it's fried chicken and donuts with a fun twist.

- [Mark] Nice, Laura.

- Organic ingredients with a hipster vibe.

- A fun atmosphere and kind of an old school diner feel to it.

- If you would like to try Welcome Chicken and Donuts, you'll find it at 1535 East Buckeye Road, just West of 16th Street in Phoenix.

Reservations are not accepted and the average tab for lunch is $12 without drinks.

(upbeat music) Up next is Laura's pick.

It's authentic Ethio-African in Phoenix.

(upbeat music) - [Anduale] Yeah, Ethiopian food is like, I think it is very, I can call it romantic, you know really you can grab by your hand and even share with someone, you know.

You know, like really it's just a, a dish.

You bring it out and you can share it three, four people together in the same plate.

I mean, it's just, you see that collectiveness and society and just family and unity in dishes.

When I do research, when, before I start this restaurant, there are couple hundred thousand people they call themselves vegetarian in Phoenix.

We have variety of vegetarian dishes.

And when you have like for instance our lentil or our (mumbling) you feel like you really eating really nice home cooked kind of meal.

And you know, you don't miss meat.

(laughing) So I mean.

Another dish is samosa.

Its like a pastry shell.

It's filled in either your choice of meat.

In our case, we use beef or lentil.

And you can use it with our (mumbling) and you can dip it on that.

When they smell the food, they really smell the food because we make from scratch.

We not opening cans, we not short cutting anything.

And just, we just cooked.

Like we cooked at home.

We have been here six years, six long years and putting all those hours (laughing) 14, 15, 16 hours a day.

And I think authentic Ethio-Africa is now a known ethnic food around Phoenix.

I think Ethiopia, if it's cooked right.

It's, it's cooked right.

(laughing) - So Laura you spend a little time in the Middle East.

Why is this place special for you?

- Well, it reminds me of kind of a place that you might find while you're traveling.

You know, you're not sure what the food will be like, but you try it on a whim.

And I was just so pleasantly surprised when I went in.

The owner is a lovely man.

He and his wife cook everything there.

They're the only two people I've ever seen in there.

And he takes a lot of pride in his food and- - Yeah, he's passionate about it.

- [Laura] Yeah.

- Like this is like a calling for him.

- Right yeah, listening to his descriptions.

I mean, the way he speaks about food is just beautiful and the food is, itself is delicious.

- So what'd you think Ben, when you first rolled up to Ethio-African?

- Well, it was kind of hard to find.

It's small and when you walk in there's only a few tables.

We were lucky that there was a table open for us.

- By few I think there's four.

(laughing) - Yes, five.

- There was one outside too I think.

- Yeah that's right, that's right, there is.

- But yeah, very cozy feel.

You can tell it's like a family run joint and- - But it is now your favorite Ethiopian restaurant you've ever been to.

- I will definitely say it's my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, yes.

- Whose was first time?

Not you, was it first time Evan?

- It was yes.

- Definitely, yeah.

Definitely a lot of love and, and energy in that, in that place.

- Well, I was telling friends about, it's really kind of funny and saying, I really wanna bring 'em there.

And both of these guys were kind like basketball players.

And I was like, I don't know that we can all fit in there together.

And my one friend said, well, I'll just kind of try to stand a little taller and thinner.

(laughing) But the greeting from the owner, amazing.

What did you think Evan?

- Yeah, I paled up with the owner very quickly as well.

He was, he and his wife own the place, and was telling me about how they grind their own spices there and they make their own cheese.

And he really it's an American success story.

He worked, I guess, in a commissary before opening his own.

So you really were rooting for him to, for this to taste delicious even before I tasted it 'cause he was such a nice guy.

- And he's very happy about that.

I said, how long you been open?

He goes six years, I'm a survivor.

- There you go, so true.

- And he also, in my case, took my order, went and cooked it, and then brought it to me.

It was, was it was great.

So what did you have to start with?

- I had a spicy handmade cheese, which I'm embarrassed to pronounce, but it was quite quite flavorful, served with some pita bread.

Really, really exotic flavors.

- [Mark] Yes.

- Certainly for my palette unique flavors and was very excited to try them.

- So Laura, what did you have?

What did you start with?

- I started with a house salad, which sounds simple, but it was really delicious.

The vegetables were all very fresh and the dressing itself was kind of a spicy herb.

He said it was just lemon and oil and pepper, but whatever it was, it was so fresh.

It was unlike other dressings I had tried.

- Yeah, it's just what kind of pepper is what I'm thinking.

- [Laura] Yeah exactly.

- You get something you get sneaky on it.

- Yeah.

- What else did you have?

- I had the vegetarian platter, which was served on the injera bread.

And it had five or six different types of combinations of vegetables.

Collared greens and the beets and potato, and the split, the yellow split peas and the chickpea lentils.

All of them were delicious and super fresh and flavorful.

- All flavors.

- Yeah lots of turmeric and spices and you can really taste that you know, that there's a lot of carrot put into the food.

- The injera bread, which is very Ethiopian and very common.

Describe that for us.

- [Laura] It's like a, well, it looks like a giant tortilla almost.

It's made of teff I believe.

It's super high in iron and calcium and it's, it's just a great carrier for almost any flavor.

So you use the bread to pick up the different piles- - [Mark] It's, it's almost elastic.

- [Laura] Yeah it is.

- [Mark] its so much sort of, I would say gluten, if I were gonna use that and just as really an interesting, and it has a bit of a, you know, almost like a sour taste, like if it were a starter, a sour.

- Yeah... - Vinegary it's really interesting.

- Yeah.

- Fun, fun stuff.

- We had the meat and vegetable sampler.

So it had beef, chicken, lentil, beans, collared greens, and then a salad in the middle.

And then a lot of bread to, to eat with.

So the people sitting next to us were using forks, but my wife was like, no, you have to eat it with the bread.

You have to eat it with your hands.

So like you said, it, it kind of stretches so you, you can grab the food with it pretty easily.

And so we did it, what we thought was the authentic way.

So it was fine- - The ingenuity of people.

(laughing) It, it is very clever.

It's like the perfect tool.

- Actually I had the same meat and vegetable sampler with the beef and chicken.

Collared greens, which were really interesting collared greens much, I think, more flavorful than what is offered at Phoenix.

The chicken very tender.

Definitely a lot of spices used but not kind of overpowering.

- And the spices are not heat spice, it's more bold- - Correct.

- Aromatic spice, right.

Yeah.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- [Evan] The peas as well, which were delicious, almost like a British mushy pea with a Ethiopian twist.

- You do know you're mushy peas.

I, I love my mushy peas.

- [Evan] There you go.

- What we're talking about is a British thing.

You know, they're known for their culinary, but what they do is they cook peas beyond belief and then they make 'em very mushy and savory and it's really actually quite good.

A little gray, but very good.

(laughing) So Laura, you had some dessert.

- I did, I had the baklava and he served it warm.

The, the bottom was actually warm and the top was cold, which sounds odd, but it was really good.

It was a nice combination of flavors.

Very sweet with the flaky crust on the top.

- So guys desserts?

- I, we were full good.

(laughing) We- - Good.

- [Ben] Yes.

- I, I would concur with that absolutely.

Generous portion of the, I did have some of the cinnamon tea, which was very refreshing.

- [Mark] Oh, tell me about.

- [Evan] Oh it's I think cardamom and cinnamon tea.

- [Mark] Okay.

- [Evan] Its a very refreshing, served warm.

- So Laura, in a few words, how would you describe your restaurant?

- Flavorful Ethiopian food served with a smile.

- A humble restaurant that serves some delicious ethnic food.

- Yeah, quaint, unique and flavorful.

- If you would like to try authentic Ethio-African, it's located at 1740 East McDowell Road, just West of North 18th Street in Phoenix.

Reservations are not accepted.

And the average tab for dinner is $11 without drinks.

(upbeat music) Up next, Ben's hometown favorite, it's Wally's American Pub 'N Grille in the Arcadian neighborhood in Phoenix.

(lively music) - Wally's my dad.

I am one of six children.

Two of whom are in the restaurant business.

Wally and I live three streets apart from each other, and we're one block away from here.

Wally created this, this menu that catered to both families (mumbling) are on a date night.

And then it was also a pub.

So you can come out and grab a beer at the bar if you'd like.

The food is American comfort food.

We, we pride ourselves in having a variety of different options from pub fair, all the way up to for instance, our halibut at night.

It's one of our higher end items.

It's a pan Alaskan halibut topped with a lemon caper butter sauce and two grilled shrimp.

And then we'll serve that over a bed of couscous and sauteed kale.

You really would expect that here in a, a small little local gastro pub, but it's one of the, one of the items that we pride ourselves on and that people are actually blown away when they, when they see it walk by a table.

They're what, what is that?

Our Southwestern salmon salad is, is amazing.

It's salmon with, with lettuce and tomatoes, black beans, onions with crispy tortilla strips.

Yeah, if you don't feel like cooking, you come to Wally's.

On any given night, I can be here on a Friday night and I'll know, 90% of the people in here, you know.

And I've known their kids and we get to watch their kids grow up.

They know my family.

It is an extension of our living room, you know, a lot of times Wally and I would rather be here than at home.

(laughing) You know, it's fun for us, yeah.

Sorry honey.

- So Ben, what makes this neighborhood pub your place?

- It kind of just has a, a cozy feel to it.

It's very consistent.

You know that you're gonna get good food.

You know, you're gonna get a well poured Guinness.

(laughing) They always have this, the ball game on.

It's just a fun atmosphere.

- Well, I would echo that familiar atmosphere.

You walk in and you immediately are at ease and are ready to order a pint.

- So what did you first have?

- I, we started with a jumbo shrimp cocktail.

My wife's from South Florida and we eat a lot of seafood when we go there and it's hard to find good shrimp cocktails at our seafood in general of Phoenix.

But the jumbo shrimp cocktail is, is really good.

- Tell me about the cocktail sauce, classic?

- [Ben] Yes.

- [Mark] Little bit of kick from the horse radish?

- [Ben] Not too much, but a little bit, yeah.

- Just enough.

- Yeah.

- All right, like that.

Don't want to, don't want to kill the shrimp, right.

- Exactly.

- Shrimp are kind of delicate.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- Sometimes there is a little too much.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- It's like, woo.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- All right, I don't, clear my sinuses here today.

(laughing) Evan, what'd you start with?

- Delicious appetizer grilled artichokes.

- [Mark] Oh yeah.

- [Evan] Charred, great flavor.

Just lightly seasoned salt, pepper.

But came with a couple of dipping sauces.

One is a basil and one's a chipotle mayo, nice fire.

- [Mark] Yeah, artichokes are interesting.

There's male and female artichokes and the, the male artichokes actually have the most meatiest bottom and you have to trim off sort of the spikes that are on their tops of their leaves, and artichokes are really, they, I think they threaten a lot of people because you know, you have to take a spoon and dig out the choke and all that fur in the middle, and then cooking 'em is really actually a blanching process maybe with a few slices of lemon.

But the, the restaurant that is, is willing and bold enough to do artichokes and they're done well.

That's a good one.

- I had the spinach artichoke dip with the ol' good standard and it was, it was delicious.

It, they served them, served it with tortilla chips and the dip itself had a lot of big chunks of artichoke and lots of spinach.

- [Mark] Creamy gooey.

- [Lauren] Yes very gooey, yeah.

- [Mark] Okay.

(laughing) What'd you had for an entrée?

- I had the pot roast.

So it's kind of just like home cooked meal really.

The meat is very tender and flavorful.

Comes with mashed potatoes and, and vegetables.

- As it should.

- [Ben] Yes.

- Classic, why, how can you mess that up?

- [Ben] Exactly.

- I mean well, it's actually quite easy.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- Mom, ear muffs.

(laughing) Hers...

Okay... Evan.

- Beef stroganoff was my entree and quite delicious.

It had a nice mixture of mushroom, beef noodles, little drizzle of sour cream, very nice presentation and quite tasty.

- [Mark] One of those classic dishes, very, it just kind of feeds your soul.

What, what else did you have?

- The macaroni and cheese with torn basil and tomato.

- [Mark] Ooh.

Very interesting.

So when you, basil is a very aromatic herb and you've seen now mixologists, how they slap it like that.

What that does is it releases the oils, which has all the aromatics in it.

But the same thing happens if you tear it.

And it only sticks around for just a little while.

So in the kitchen, you kind of have to do it real quick just before you're gonna serve it.

- [Laura] It kind of gave a freshness to, to the macaroni and cheese.

It was, it was delicious.

- So Ben what'd you have for dessert?

- We had the caramel apple pie.

I believe they get it from Pie Snob.

Is that right?

- [Laura] I had the same.

- [Ben] (mumbling) name.

- It was incredibly good.

Yeah it comes with ice cream.

I always go for the crust first, which my wife didn't like, 'cause I probably ate all of it, but very flavorful, very good.

- Evan.

- A crème brûlée with some fresh fruit.

- [Mark] Nice caramel crust on top?

- [Evan] There was, it was presented in kind of a large casserole and there was plenty of crunchy caramelly goodness on top there and the fresh fruit was a nice compliment.

- [Mark] Nothing better than breaking through that to some creamy goodness below.

- Absolutely.

- I also had the caramel apple pie from Pie Snob.

Shared it with my family, my parents and my husband.

And we wished we had two slices because it was delicious yeah.

- [Mark] Any ice cream?

- [Laura] Yes, ice cream yeah.

- [Mark] Nice.

- [Laura] Nice compliment to the warm pie.

- [Mark] So Ben, in a few words, how would you describe Wally's?

- Comfort food, cozy and just a, a great neighborhood spot.

- It felt like a familiar space, even though it was my first time there.

- [Mark] Very nice.

- Yeah, your quintessential American pub.

- If you would like to try Wally's American Pub 'N Grille, it's located at 5029 North 44th Street just North of Camelback Road in Phoenix.

Reservations are accepted and the average tab for dinner is $34 without drinks.

Thanks to Laura, Evan and Ben for sharing their picks.

And don't forget, you can share yours too.

Go to AZPBS.org/checkplease and nominate your favorite spot.

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Hashtag Check Please AZ.

Join us next time with three new guests will bring us three new restaurants right here on Check Please Arizona.

I'm Chef Mark Tarbell, eat well and often.

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(upbeat music)