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A little bit of Greece in the mitten. Royal Oak is not widely known for excellent ethnic food, but there are a few restaurants that are creeping in under the radar. Kouzinas is a fast food kind of Greek street food restaurant that hits the mark in many ways. First and foremost, fluffy and delicious gluten-free pita (you can also get regular and whole grain). This is a deal... a big deal. I don't know any other ethnic food joint that does freshly baked gluten-free breads/pitas right on the spot. However, if you know of one, hit me up! If you've been to Greece or Europe you will have stumbled upon the many different kinds of kebab/kebap/or other spellings of the sandwich. This is Europe's equivalent to McDonald's. It's a personal obesession of mine. Once upon a time I ate a kebap sandwich in a train station in Vienna and I fell in love. I've been looking for that same love at first sight feeling and alas have not found it. OMG... gluten-free goodness. After the fail that was Amicis and Pizzeria Biga's gluten-free pizza, I was reluctant to think that a "chain" would have a better one. However, I had a Jerry Mcguire moment and they had me at... "unlimited toppings." Blaze's shtick is fast, wood fired pizzas, at a low cost. $6.95 for a 6 piece, 11inch flat bread pizza with unlimited toppings? Can you find a better price? I think not. You can get the signature pizzas like the meat eater, art lover, green stripe, red vine, and so on and so forth. I won't detail them all. You can check them out for yourself at Blaze's signature pizzas. My favorite gluten-free pie place is and will probably always be The Stormcloud Brewery in Frankfort, MI. If you're up there try the "Rider on the Storm" pizza (garlic herb oil, carmelized onions, roasted garlic, house-made sausage, brie or goat cheese, parmesan, sliced fresh apples, drizzled with a maple cider vinegar reduction). I changed the cheese and added pepperoni. The maple cider vinegar reduction made it. MmMmm. Anyway, back to the Blaze... The best part about Blazes is the build your own pizza beast. You can load on as many toppings as you want for $6.95. If you want gluten-free crust it's an additional 2 bucks, but well worth it. You won't even know the difference. I didn't. We got two pizzas, one build your own and one signature with some adds. The picture on the left is a gluten-free art lover (artichokes, mozzarella, ricotta, chopped garlic) and we added spicy red sauce dollops, mushrooms, arugula and salami. The picture below was a gluten-free crust ,build your own with two different kinds of mozzarella, pepperoni, onions, pineapple, and banana peppers. They were good in the moment and even better the next day heated up in the oven. Those of you that know about gluten-free crusts... they rarely are ever good the next day. Get a pop or a blood orange lemonade and kick back. The only thing that would make this place better is a liquor license. This place screams wine (not the decor, but the food). You could treat it like a Michigan game and bring your own? Keep in mind it's a family friendly environment and not one you want to linger around in. It's fast food pizza and damn good too. When Lockharts BBQ first opened up I kept saying, "it's no Slows." You kind of fall in love with Slow's wooden decor, basin bathroom sinks, tattooed bar friends, and overall hip feel…or that's just me. What ends up happening is you start getting really tired of waiting an hour or so for a table and driving to Detroit to have some barbecue. Ain't nobody got time for that! So, in came Lockharts, a young restaurant with a lot of potential. One may think, "How can you eff up barbecue?" You totes can. Lots of people do. There are many O'shite BBQ places out there. However, this is NOT one of them. Don't let the early evening emptiness fool you. In fact, love it while you can, because around 6:30pm on a Friday you'll see a whole crowd of people standing around your seat like vultures waiting. Reminds me trying to find parking at Eastern Michigan University. You always felt bad that you were stalking someone, but you wanted not to walk 5 miles, so you did it anyway. Ok, tangent over. |
Giving you a taste of what I taste. From gourmet to everyday. No pretentious bull - just good food.
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