Taste of Bozeman

Rating: ■■■□□ 3/5 “Liked it”

Reviewed by James and Barnes (October 8, 2008)

James: I opted for the daily lunch special—a hot roast beef sandwich topped with grilled onions, sliced pepperoncinis (banana peppers), and creamy horseradish sauce on fresh baked wheat bread. The sandwich was accompanied by a bag a classic Lay’s potato chips and a dill pickle spear. The sandwich was tasty, but nothing spectacular. The sandwich was a descent size but I’m not a big fan of paying $10 for a sandwich, chips, and a drink (though that is quickly becoming the norm around Bozeman).

Barnes: I had the club sandwich on sourdough bread. It was huge: three layers of bread filled with turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and mayo. It was the Big Mac of club sandwiches. Perhaps they should call it the Mama Mac.

Reviewed by James (October 6, 2008)

So today is ‘Pita Monday’ for us Scheduletown.com developers which typically means lunch at the Pita Pit, but given the great response to our TasteOfBozeman blog, Barnes and I decided to change things up this week. Oh we’re still going for a pita, but this time it’s in the form of a Gyro sandwich from Starky’s.

Starky’s Authentic Delicatessen is located in Historic Downtown Bozeman not far from our offices on Main Street. Their website still says they are open at 7AM but apparently their business hours changed sometime recently, so I was unable to order the Ideal Bagel Sandwich I was craving for breakfast.

That aside, I decided to order the Gyros for lunch today. The lunch comes served with not one, but TWO generous sized gyro sandwiches alongside kettle chips and a pickle spear. The gyro itself consists of the meat (presumably sliced lamb but I didn’t ask to be sure), chopped tomato, romaine lettuce, sliced onion and tzatziki sauce on chewy flatbread (ok, so not technically a pita but close enough!).

I’ll admit I gave away my chopped tomatoes to Barnes as I’m not a big fan, but otherwise the gyro was pretty tasty. The meat was flavorful and the vegetables fresh and crisp. The home-style kettle potato chips are too thick and crunchy for my taste but provide a nice compliment to the sandwich.

If you’re a fan of gyros or just want to try one out for the first time you cannot go wrong with this sandwich.

Reviewed by Barnes (October 3, 2008)

In Spanish, la parrilla means barbeque grill. In English, it means delicious! The restaurant of the same name in Bozeman makes about as good of a burrito as you can get in Montana. Today, I had the pleasure of eating a chicken fajita burrito containing diced bell peppers, chicken, beans and a variety of other ingredients such as cheese and salsa. (James is seen below eating the equally tasty steak fajita burrito.)

I highly recommend asking for their “stash”. A couple lines of that hot sauce adds a great kick to your burrito.

Although the food is top-notch, I can’t give a five out of five rating because of the restaurant’s small parking lot. At noon time it is almost impossible to get a parking spot. We’ve often had to park on the side of the street a couple blocks away. But the extra little walk is worth it. ¡La Parrilla es deliciosa!

Reviewed by James (September 25, 2008)

So I saw a commercial for the new Volcano Taco at Taco Bell the other day and thought to myself “Hmmm, that actually looks tasty.” I mean, come on. That bright red taco shell is just screaming out “eat me”. Typically my coworkers and I avoid chain restaurants when selecting a place for lunch, but the Volcano Taco was calling to me so we figured we’d give it a shot.

The first bite of the Volcano Taco was frankly underwhelming. I was expecting the bright red shell to be crafted of crushed hellfire or something, but as far as I can tell it’s just the plain old taco shell dyed red. The heat actually comes from a new sauce drizzled on the taco meat. It’s nowhere as hot as the Wendy’s Five Alarm Chicken Sandwich but it did have a nice flavor to it and the heat did build over time. I actually polished off two Volcano Tacos and finished up with a Spicy Chicken Taco.

Overall, I’d say the taco was not half-bad. Scrumptious even.

Rating: ■■■□□ 3/5 "Liked it"

Reviewed by Dugas (October 2, 2008)

• A half-sandwich is filling and pretty tasty
• Price is good for the area, about $6
• Quick service
• Free pickle(s) with your sandwich
• They offer a variety of daily soups - great in the winter

• Special requests are hit & miss.  Have it your way?
• Almost too bready
• Inconsistent meat cuts - sometimes the roast beef is thinly sliced, other times it is like eating ham steak

 Reviewed by James (September 29, 2008)

Monday for the development team at Scheduletown.com has long been affectionately known as “Pita Monday”. So that should tell you right there how popular this whole-in-the-wall sandwich shop is in our office. Pita Pit offers a variety of tasty sandwiches but by far my favorite is the Philly Steak Pita. I always ask for additional onions and green bell peppers to be grilled along with my steak and they are more than happy to comply. I typically go with the white bread pita though they do offer a whole wheat alternative. My veggies and condiments of choice include shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced black olives, sliced jalapenos, salt n’ pepper, and tzatziki sauce (which typically goes on gyros but I love it on the Philly Steak too!). Top the whole thing off with melted cheddar cheese and I’m in heaven.

Now the one negative I’ll comment on here is consistency of the pita itself.  Since this sandwich is stuffed with the ingredients, it’s not uncommon for the wall of the pita to tear (especially if the employee building your pita is new or inexperienced). A ripped pita sometimes leaks or makes the sandwich difficult to handle. But since this happens infrequently it doesn’t detract from my five star rating. We’re not talking steak and lobster here, but if you’re looking for a delicious and affordable sandwich you cannot beat Pita Pit. Check out their website at http://www.pitapitusa.com/

We tried Domino’s oven-baked sandwiches today. Their advertisement boasts that these sandwiches are “baked at 450 degrees and delivered right to your mouth” for a mere $4.99. I tried the Chicken Parm sandwich, which contains chicken, cheese and a tomato basil marinara. What they fail to tell you, however, is that the sandwich is smothered in a ton of grease. I swear the thing looked like it was deep-fat fried. I was expecting more of a Subway type bread, but it was actually more like pizza dough. They don’t give you much meat either. But the taste was pretty good, all-in-all.

As an aside, I will say that Domino’s has the best online ordering website that I have ever seen. Not only do you have complete control over the contents of your sandwich, but they have a handy “pizza tracker” that shows you the progress of your order from start to delivery. The site makes me want to order again. I only wish their food was as good as their site.