In my first year of undergrad in Toronto, there were not that many late night eateries around campus. Surprisingly, considering its down town Toronto. One of the places that was close by and was cheap, was Pita Pit. Grilled meat in a wrapped pita. Simple and yet so good. Then, for many many years, I never went back. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but it just never came up.
Flash foward to present day, and Ottawa has a Pita Pit. It returned as a late-night food grab. On a trip this past week, I saw a new promotion I had to try, their Spicy Buffalo Chicken Fling (
SBCF).
First, I gotta say our server was pretty awesome. As we came in, a staff member was leaving. Turns out he was sick, and now the sandwich maker girl was left all by her self, with 7 customers in line. She did all the cash first, then like a pro hammered out all the pitas (11 in total). I felt bad afterwards because I didn't give her a tip - see when you order/pay,
Interac gives you the option to tip. Normally I detest sandwich shops or any counter businesses with tip cups because they are doing the same service as say a worker at
McD's, but they don't get tips. But with this server, she had to go above and beyond to get the job done, and stay friendly. I didn't get her name, but she was good.
The SBCF. Lets break that down.
Spicy: presumably the seasoning in the chicken is going to be hot. Maybe its a hot sauce?
Buffalo Chicken: The picture makes it look like its deep fried chicken tossed in sauce.
Fling: Not a wing, but a nickname for a chicken strip. I like this. It's like wing dings. Although
I've heard someone refer to 'dings' as the drumstick part of the wing, but that's just wrong.
So the name and the advertisement got me excited, but things were not as they seemed. First, the chicken was pre-everything already. Breaded, deep fried (I think). The chicken is then placed on the grill and chopped into little bits. I asked the girl while she was constructing the veggie side of the pita if the fling was sauces. She said no, that the picture was misleading, that the flavouring was all in the breaded seasoning, but that was the advantage of the marketing department. I had their hot sauce on the pita, but the guy after me got the same thing and had it sauced while on the grill, that's what I should have done.
These things can be a messy messy meal. The first bite can be a bit daunting, for fear of sauce and juices bursting out.
Here it is. It looks like a bloody mess doesn't it? We got Buffalo Chicken fling in there (see it?), tomato, cheese, onion, Ranch, and a little
tzatziki dressing. What a tasty combo. No really it is.
Here is a shot of the fling on its own. Breaded, and deep fried. There wasn't a strong or spicy flavour to it, but it was a nice chuck of chicken.
Alternatively, above is a shot of my Pita Pit regular choice: the club. Ham, chicken, bacon with grilled onion/peppers/jalapeno (I like that they will put whatever veggies you want to be grilled). Add some mayo and hot sauce and some cheese and bam - great pita.
So the SBCF - my verdict on this wrap was damn good. Granted, not the best piece of 'buffalo chicken' I've had, but this was a tasty pita. I like the spicy mixed with the fresh tomato and cheese and ranch. Oh, and the tzatziki made a soothing counter balance to the hot sauce. (I should point out that this condiment was put on by accident, but I didn't mind at all). So if you live near a college or university, there is a good chance you can try this too. For $6.99 its not the cheapest food out there, but its not bad.
Pita Pit
pitapit.com
pitapitottawa.ca
