Arpeggio's Grill: A Good Find in the State Capitol

Restaurant: Arpeggio's Grill
Address: 6619 Airport Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78752
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 5/29/2016



Background:
Salam/hey guys! And welcome to my latest review. I have been really busy. I have gone back to work, Ramadan is in full swing, and I focused on getting into shape. Well at the end of last month, my family went to a place in Austin called Arpeggio Grill. Now why Austin? We had taken a road trip to Fredericksburg, which is in West Central Texas, west of San Antonio. We decided to stop at a place in Austin for dinner before getting on the fastest highway in America on our way back to Houston. I would have picked Halal Bros, which I have heard has the best halal food in all of Central Texas. But my family are not big fans of it. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when they said they loved Gyro King when I took them there a few months ago. So we got help from my sister's friend, who is a student at the University of Texas, on deciding on where to eat before heading home. He then recommended Arpeggio's. I have heard a lot about Arpeggio's from people I know that attend UT Austin. I have heard a lot about their giant pizza. Based on the pics, it was the largest that I have ever seen a halal restaurant offer in my life! I have heard a lot of good things about their food, so I went with high hopes and expectations. Despite my sister pleading to go to Brio's (and being extremely salty because we didn't go to a place of her choice), we headed to Arpeggio's.


Let The Experience Begin!
Arpeggio's is located next to Ya Hala Hookah Lounge (not connected to the restaurant) at the intersection of Airport and Huntland Drive. The inside was very nice. There were tables and there were even sitting areas for families and large groups of people. The majority of the people in there were UT students (I assume this is very popular with UT students). We were welcomed and then taken to the table by the really nice waiter. After reading through the menu, and me taking my time to decide what I should get, we were ready to order.



Let's Eat!
Well, the pizza was out of question unfortunately. Dad is not a fan of pizza, and will never be. So we ended up going with the Arab food. We ordered a few items: the Arpeggio Meza platter (hummus, tabbouli, baba ghanouj, rice topped with chicken and beef shawarma, and dolma served with garlic sauce and pita bread), the Mashawi platter (kafta kabab, chicken shawarma, and gyro meat served with rice and tzatziki sauce), the chicken kabab plate, and some garlic hot wings. The waiting time was 25 minutes and 10 seconds. While waiting, we reflected on how Fredericksburg was and how much fun we had on the trip.



Menu: http://www.arpeggiogrill.com/#!menu/c24tf

Their Arab items are pretty standard. You have various kababs with rice, sandwiches, and the popular appetizers. They have a wide variety of pizza toppings available, but they should put the prices of the toppings on their website. The wing flavor choices were fantastic. It's the most that I've ever seen at a halal restaurant in the US so far. I really hope that one day many halal places in Houston that have wings would have other flavor choices instead of just buffalo or BBQ. Everything was reasonably priced, including the giant pizza. They also have a lunch special on weekdays.

(From top left): Arpeggio Meza Platter, chicken kabob, Mashawi platter, and garlic hot wings

The Verdict:
We had a positive experience here, and the stop was worth it. I really liked the wings, the chicken kabab, and the chicken shawarma. I didn't like the kafta kabab though. My family were stuffed after eating half their plates, while my dad and I were able to finish our plates, despite having snacked throughout the trip on chicken sandwiches, water, Coke (for me), and Lays BBQ Chips. After paying the bill, we hit the road.



Conclusion:
Arpeggio's is a solid place to try in Austin. The people are really nice and the food is solid. My dad actually got the flyer from them so that the next time we're in Austin, we would try that place. I hope to try their giant pizza when I hopefully come with my friends to Austin after Ramadan ends. If you want to try some Arab food in Austin, then I would recommend this place. Just don't order the kafta kabab though.



Grading:
Service: 9/10
Food: 7/10
Total: 16/20 = 80% (A)
Pricing: $$ out of $$$$



Restaurant Information:
Arpeggio's Grill
6619 Airport Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78752
Phone: (512) 419-0110
Website: http://www.arpeggiogrill.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Arpeggio-Grill-104967339545904/
Timings: Mon-Sun: 11 AM - 10 PM
Caters: Yes
Online ordering available via GrubHub (source: https://www.grubhub.com/restaurant/arpeggio-grill-6619-airport-blvd-austin/327492?classicAffiliateId=%2Fr%2Fw%2F39492%2Frestaurant%2F327492)

Feel free to comment below, send me an email, or message me on Facebook!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

Pizza 101: The Best Halal Desi Pizza in Town

Restaurant: Pizza 101
Address: 15215 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, Texas
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 5/28/16



Background:
Salam/hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great Ramadan! Today I will be writing about one of the newest halal pizza places in town: Pizza 101. I first heard about it on Facebook when the owner announced that the restaurant will be opening in Sugar Land. I was really excited to see another halal pizza place opening up in Sugar Land, and wondered how it will compare to U.B.'s. Thing is though, that this turned out it will have both Desi pizzas (i.e. kabab pizza, chicken tikka pizza, etc.) and regular pizzas. So it wouldn't be fair to compare them to a place that has Arab pizzas. Some people actually got to try it, including one of my good friends. She was a really big fan of it. Everyone who tried it got the Desi style pizzas, and they said they loved it. Those same people said that it was the best halal pizza in town, but I took that with a pinch of salt. This is because you cannot compare Desi style pizza to regular pizzas you get at Home Base, Crespo, or Russo's. Just to let you know, regular pizzas = meat lovers, supreme, beef pepperoni, etc. You cannot expect the regular style pizzas to have the same amount of spices as the Desi style pizzas. And I say this because I have had Desi style pizza before in my pre-blogging days. Anyways, the time came for me to try Pizza 101 after I attended a nikkah (declaration of legal contract between bride and groom in an Islamic marriage). I was really hungry, and was in the mood of a major cheat meal. So I thought "why not try this place since it just opened up". After the ceremony was over, I headed to the restaurant.



Let The Experience Begin!
Pizza 101 is located way at the back of the strip mall complex on 59 and Williams Trace (same complex as Aling's). In fact, you have to turn onto Williams Trace just to get there. Next to it is a Marble Slab. Inside, there was a TV playing and the interior looked really ice. There were facts about pizza on one side of the wall, There were two TVs above the cashier showing the menu. After waiting, I was ready to order.



Let's Eat!
I was originally going to do the build your own, but it ends up that they charge for every ingredient added. This was not mentioned on the menu and I was pretty disappointed. It's not right to rip people off like this, especially those who are on a budget. What Blaze Pizza and MOD Pizza are doing by allowing you to put unlimited toppings for one price is becoming increasingly popular, and we need more than one halal pizza place to do so. I asked them what their popular pizzas were, and they said the kabab madness and the chicken tikka pizza. So I went with a small kabab madness. The kabab madness pizza consists of  Problem was, they didn't have the small crust, so I had gotten a medium pizza. I really didn't get the logic. How can you say that you only have medium or large if they require more dough than a small?? Yes, it may be your soft opening, but you should still be able to make some more dough if one were to order a small and take a lot away from the medium or large pizzas. Thankfully, they let me pay for the medium for the same price of a small.



Menu: Pizza 101 has regular style pizzas along with two Desi style pizzas: the chicken tikka and the kabab madness. They have pasta as well. The drinks are priced pretty high in my opinion. I got the menu from their Yelp page because their website didn't mention the pizza prices for some reason.

The Pizzas (Photo Credit: their Yelp Page)

Appetizers, Pastas, Drinks, and Desserts (Photo Credit: their Yelp Page)

Kabab Madness

The Verdict:

Despite the issues in the menu pricing and the unavailability of the small size, the pizza was phenomenal. The kabab in the pizza was out of this world! Everything else was full of flavor adn was really tasty. The dough was not too thick. Two thumbs up for the pizza.

Conclusion:

Pizza 101 definitely has a chance of beating out Crespo and Home Base Pizza in the title of best halal pizza in Houston. I hope they add the menu prices for the extra toppings in the build your own pizzas. I'll definitely come back and try the other pizzas that they offer.

Grading:

Service: 7/10

Food: 9/10

Total: 16/20 = 80% (B)

Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Pizza 101
15215 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, Texas
Phone: (281) 201- 8525
Website: http://www.pizza101tx.com/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pizza101tx/
Timings: Mon-Thu & Sun: 12 PM - 11 PM; Fri-Sat: 12 PM - 12 AM
Caters: not yet, but will eventually start
Delivery will start soon
Ordering online available

Feel free to comment below, send me an email, or message me on Facebook!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed