👨🍳 Stuffed Shells Spinachi and Garlic Chicken Pesto will be the entrees when Romeo’s Euro Cafe in downtown Gilbert holds its weekly ‘‘Taste of Romeo’s’’ dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The dinners, held in a private dining room, feature five courses selected from the restaurant’s regular menu.
This week’s courses
Spanaki Balls: Spinach, rice, and a blend of cheeses. Battered and deep-fried. Served with marinara.
Greek Salad: Tomato cucumber salad with onion, green peppers, and feta cheese tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Garnished with Kalamata olives and pepperoncini.
Stuffed Shells Spinachi: Pasta shells stuffed with spinach and cheese blend then baked in marinara.
Garlic Chicken Pesto (pictured): Chicken breast sautéed with roasted garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil in a basil pesto cream. Served over linguini.
German Chocolate Brownie
Cost is $44 per person plus tax and tip. You can add five wine tastes for $10. RSVP: 480-962-4224.
🐓🐖 Full Speed Chicken & Ribs, the new concept from Little Miss BBQ owners Scott and Bekke Holmes, has soft-opened in the former Trapp Haus BBQ space on the southeast corner of Roosevelt and Fifth Street in downtown Phoenix.
What’s on the menu? Fried chicken thighs and tenders (Southern, medium hot, or hottie hot hot), pork ribs, chicken and pork sandwiches, buttermilk biscuits, pimento cheese and crackers, and strawberry shortcake biscuits.
Wet your whistle: The house beer is Full Speed Red Chili, a slightly spicy collaboration with Wren House Brewing. Cocktails include the Don’t Be a Chicken made with pineapple jalapeño tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and simple syrup.
The space: The 1,700-square-foot building has a small indoor dining area, a back patio, and a walk-up window for to-go orders.
If you go
📌 Full Speed, 513 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, 602-237-5292. Soft opening hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Mondays.
🍰 Too Sweet Cakes, the Oregan-based bakery that services all the Black Rock Coffee Bar locations, has opened its second Valley location on the southeast corner of Val Vista and Pecos in Gilbert.
What’s on the menu? A huge variety of cookies, doughnuts, croissants, croissant doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, scones, bars, cakes, cupcakes, macarons, and cheese cakes. On the savory side, there are breakfast sandwiches and burritos.
If you go
📌 Too Sweet Cakes, 1727 E. Pecos Road, Gilbert, 602-339-0307. Open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.
🍕 iPizza, a family-owned pizzeria that serves 16-inch pies, has opened in the strip mall on the northeast corner of McKellips and Miller Road in south Scottsdale.
What’s on the menu: Pizza (whole pies or slices), meatball and chicken sandwiches, wings, garlic knots, salads, and desserts.
If you go
📌 iPizza, 7620 E. McKellips Road #1, Scottsdale, 480-625-0360. Open 11 a.m .-6:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Closed Sundays.
🍸 The Goose, the latest bird-themed speakeasy from the owners of Crust Simply Italian, opens adjacent to the pizzeria at 5 p.m. today on the northwest corner of Hayden and Via de Ventura in central Scottsdale.
Menu highlight: Goose Bumps (two shots of premium vodka with two portions of caviar).
Birds of a feather: The Goose joins sister concepts The Ostrich (in the basement of Crust in downtown Chandler) and The Blue Heron (next to Crust at Verde at Cooley Station in Gilbert).
What’s next? Another Crust with a speakeasy called The Nightingale is opening this summer in downtown Mesa.
If you go
📌 The Goose, 8300 Hayden Road #F102, 480-948-3099. Open 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday.
🍺 Uncle Bear’s Brewery in Gilbert will host a special tapping of ‘‘Kory’s Kolsch,’’ a beer brewed in honor of late Captain Kory Yule of the Scottsdale Fire Department, at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The history: The 42-year-old Yule died in January from multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer. Firefighters are known to be at higher risk of the cancer due to the hazardous chemicals they encounter.
For a good cause: Family, friends, and colleagues of Yule gathered at the brewery last month to brew the beer. A portion of the proceeds is being donated to Yule’s family.
🍩 Randy’s Donuts, the iconic Los Angeles doughnut shop featured in dozens of movies and TV shows, has made its Arizona debut near the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Bethany Home in north central Phoenix.
What’s on the menu? Randy’s offers nearly 50 kinds of doughnuts ranging from simple (plain glazed, $2.05) to premium (such as Fruity Pebbles Raised or Bacon Maple Long John, $3.85).
Geared for takeout: The interior has only two four-seat tables, so plan on getting your doughnuts to go. There’s a drive-through if you don’t want to leave your vehicle.
No sign .. yet: Although Randy’s is famous for its 32-foot-high doughnut sign, the Phoenix location has a temporary inflatable one. The permanent one will be installed next month.
What’s next? Randy’s reportedly plans to open locations in Chandler and Gilbert before the end of this year.
If you go
📌 Randy’s Donuts, 5709 N. Seventh St, Phoenix, 480-716-1999. Open 5 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
