The Pita Pit

Critic's Review

Review 7/9/10

Pita Pit Fort Lauderdale

The final nail in Papaya Gyro's coffin has been driven; The Pita Pit has opened in the Riverfront on Brickell right across the street.

This welcome addition to the Riverfront is not so much because its something great, but because there is finally a decent place to grab something for lunch or a late night snack. With most of the venues in the area closed, there's just nothing to eat around here except for pizza. So now there's a choice.

The Pita Pit's first location was in Lauderhill, which means that no-one has ever been there who lives in the east. I would describe The Pita Pit as "Subway Style". You pick your main filling, either meat, breakfast or veggie, and then pick your toppings. Breakfast pitas include Avacado/Tomato, Ham and Eggs, Bacon or Sausage; while meat choices include a Dagwood (Turkey, Ham and Roast Beef), Chicken Ceasar, Club (Ham, Turkey and Bacon), Gyro and Philly Cheesesteak. I suspect that they'll make anything you want with the available ingredients.

When I first moved the Fort Lauderdale there was a Greek Restaurant where Papaya Gyro is now located, and the prospect of grabbing a good gyro (not the junk they server at PG) was appealing to me. Sampling the Gyro Pita, I can now say there is a decent option. I was a bit troubled when they "suggested" extra meat. I've never heard that with a Gyro before. I don't want to be a fat slob so I declined, and the amount of meat was just fine for a late night snack. For $2 more ($8.25 total) you can get an overstuffed Gyro with double meat. So either is fair. The yogurt sauce they have is the thick greek kind; good enough if not authentic Tzatziki. All and all, a pretty good sandwich.

I returned for lunch without the beer buzz to try something a bit healthier than the Gyro. They have a nifty nutrition calculator on their web site. Now these sandwiches are pretty big so you'll probably be surprised by the calories in a seemingly "healthy" choice.

I opted for a chicken breast pita which starts out with about 4oz of chicken. I had the white pita, and added romaine lettuce, tomatoes, bean sprouts, cucumbers and mayonnaise. No Cheese. The calorie counter said 390 calories (cheese would have added 200 calories). So thats pretty good for a pretty big sandwich.

Pita Pit Chicken

Their calculator is here. There's a bit of a trick in that the default doesn't include the pita bread which is 200 calories. Make sure you select a type of pita (white, wheat or Fork Style) before going to the Choose your Pita tab. The default chicken caesar pita is 575 calories and the Gyro with single meat is 745. Not terrible, but pretty hefty for a lunch or late night snack.