Cali Eats: Patxi's

Date Visited: Late Dinner on Sunday April 20, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

+Elliott was telling us about an awesome Deep Dish Pizza place in Palo Alto during our visit to San Francisco and luckily for us, we were going to pass by during our way out of the city. After our final stop of sight-seeing at Marin Headlands, we were heading out to get closer to Yosemite National Park for the next morning and it was just past dinner time, so we were all ready for some delicious pizza. We drove through a quaint neighbourhood which I guessed was downtown Palo Alto to find parking for the restaurant after a long drive out of San Francisco. Even though it was pretty late, the restaurant was still busy and we still had to wait for a table. 

The waiters let us know that if we were ordering the Chicago style pizza, it would take about 40 minutes so we could pre-order to minimize the wait when we got a table. We of course took him up on the offer as it probably would have taken a while to decide what we were getting anyways. There was 5 of us so we split off in 2 groups as we wanted different toppings. +Elliott and I went for a Small Authentic Chicago Stuffed Pizza with Pineapple, Spinach, and Garlic-Fennel Sausage pricing at $20.50. 

Shortly after, we were seated at table right in the middle of the fairly small restaurant. It looked more liked a bar with the TVs on the wall and the rustic wooden decor. The seating area wasn't that big and covered only about half the restaurant, the bar was situated near the front side going half-way back, the kitchen was in the back with a window looking in, and stairs going up to the very nice bathrooms. They had a nice selection of beers but I opted for a water since I was driving. 

Our wait seemed to take forever, especially because we were starving and it was pretty late already. We were seated after a few tables which didn't have their meals yet so I knew it would be a while. But finally, when our food arrived and it looked amazing and well worth the wait. That first slice from the pie was just oozing with cheese on all sides with a layers of toppings in there also. The small pie has 6 pieces and feeds 2-3 people. Both groups got the small so ours was a bit excessive since we had to have 3 slices each (but we did it). 

I have to say though... it was the best deep-dish pizza I've ever had, I haven't had much but this definitely sticks out in my mind. There was so much sauce and cheese, I felt like that was all I was eating... the sauce wasn't too extravagant and stuck to the simple but bold tomato flavour. The toppings we had were delicious and fresh, lots of spinach in there! They also had honey on the table for the crust (because we saw other people eating it this way!) and it was kind of interesting and tasty, it obviously added just a hint of sweetness to the crust and tomato sauce. I was thinking that it was pretty pricey for pizza, being about $15 each, but the quality was great and they really stuffed that pizza to the max... totally worth the splurge.

Food: 5/5 - Amazing! Been craving this ever since and looking for some deep dish places in Toronto to check out now!

Decor: 3/5 - Pretty small but very comfortable and roomy, they need more tables!

Service: 2.5/5 - Average service, at least they warn you about the wait time!

Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Yes, definitely would try to find one of their locations if I was nearby! Glad we made the trek to find this place!

Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.patxispizza.com/ 

The Patty Shack

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jan 27, 2014
Company: Dine in with +Will

I first noticed The Patty Shack while going to Buster Rhino's next door. I mentioned it to my sister and she said that her friends love that place and rave about their awesome burgers. I definitely wanted to try it out after I heard that. +Will and I met up there after work on Friday and since there was a Oshawa General's game downtown, parking was a bit difficult to find. I was lucky and happened to turn onto the right street but street parking was quite full otherwise. I went in and waited at an empty table for +Will to arrive. 

The place is kind of odd because there's 2 entrances, and 2 large areas for dining with about 4 tables in each section (lots of open space). One section has the area to order and you would think the whole restaurant is just that part, but there's section another connected also with more seating (and even more open space). Upon first glances, it doesn't feel very clean, lots of tables of crumbs on it and kind of dive-y with cheap table and chairs. They have a few large photos of their famous burgers, wings, and poutines around to help you with ordering.

When +Will arrived we both ordered 6oz(1/3 lb) Burgers and shared a Poutine and Drink. I was very overwhelmed the all the toppings and sauces you could dress your burger with. There were so many options, it was very tough trying to pick what you wanted without over-doing it. I had on mine: Golden Garlic BBQ sauce, sauteed mushrooms, pickles, spicy salsa, guacamole, and caramelized onions. I was so fascinated with all the new types of toppings I could get, I totally forgot to add good 'ol ketchup and mayo. I also got the Whole Wheat Bun instead of Regular. The wait wasn't too long to get our burgers, we were the only ones there at this point. I was surprised how thick the patty actually was, and it was cooked consistently all the way through and not too greasy. The bun held the burger perfectly and I'm glad I didn't pile on the toppings because it wasn't messy at all this way! It was a delicious and well-made burger that was the perfect size for me. I wasn't a big fan of the spicy salsa as it was really overpowering in flavour and also the sauteed mushrooms were cold, but that was all my doing with choosing the toppings. I love that you can get a totally different burger every time.

I also ordered a Regular Poutine but while we were waiting, we changed our minds and wanted to get Pulled Pork. Unfortunately they said that they didn't have Pulled Pork so we got the Patty Poutine which is a regular poutine but with their famous Gardillic sauce on it. It was $1 more and they didn't charge us for it. The Poutine was in a large take-out container and just bathed in gravy and sauce. The Poutine was very addicting, the Gardillic sauce added a whole new element to the flavour and didn't really taste like poutine! The fries were soft (not too crispy) but it was hard to think about the fries with all the sauce on top. The gravy also covered all of the cheese curds so they were all melted, just the way I like it. Perfect for sharing!

Food: 4.5/5 - They know what the people want and how to satisfy our cravings! :D
Decor: 1/5 - Leaves a lot to be desired.
Service: 3.5/5 - Awesome service, helpful, and didn't charge us for our poutine order change :)
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would be my top choice for a burger in Oshawa, mostly to try the toppings.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://thepattyshack.ca/