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Pita Pouch, Fast-Casual Falafel and Schwarma - All Virginia Locations Closed; Opening in Washington, DC


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I was walking out from Baja Fresh when I noticed this place, which is relatively new. I popped in quickly to see what it was all about, and it reminded me of the schwarma places like they have in Jerusalem. I stopped by for lunch the next day (nothing says "I love you" on Mothers Day like takeout Schwarma), and got chicken in a pouch with yogurt sauce, hummus, pickles, onion, and tomato/cucumber mix. It was solid if unspectacular. The chicken was flavorful and it appears they have new fancy cookers (rotating, gyro style, with auto cutter), so it had moist and crunchy parts. There were at least a dozen choices for toppings, and they looked good, if nothing else. The pita they gave me was stuffed, so they don't skimp out on the meat or toppings. The side of fries were terrible (limp and tasteless). The side of hummus and pita was huge, given the price, tho I never got around to tasting it alone (it was unremarkable in my sandwich, but there was a lot of other stuff in there, too). There are clearly service issues to be worked out, but nothing that can't be solved with time and experience (that is, nothing egregious happened).

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Either way, I don't mean to oversell the comparison.

I'll oversell it for you:

* Quick-Serve, feels like a Korean Fro-Yo place (until you see the plastic chandeliers)

* One person working assembly was on his first day (be patient!), the other had a bit more experience

* The owner was a well-built gentleman around 60, and was absolutely Middle Eastern, possibly Lebanese, in ethnicity

* The lady at the cash register was young, and also Middle Eastern - there were four people total

* Chicken and Steak shawarmas, with *real pieces of meat* on the skewer - nothing processed and formed

* Choose your toppings, and they'll 1) put the toppings in 2) put the meat in 3) put the toppings in again

* Three weeks old, and looks like it opened just yesterday - clean as a whistle, "Pouch" or "Bowl"

* Toppings are fresh and beautiful - roasted cauliflower, roasted eggplant, and about twenty others

* Today, the chicken looked better than the steak, but *only because the skewer was wider*

* My guess is to get whichever meat is the widest on the skewer (it's been there less time, and is "floppier" around the edges)

* No tips on credit card - if you have cash, you can throw it in - the cashier politely shook me off when I asked for change for my $20 to leave a tip

* My chicken shawarma (with about five toppings) was too salty; other than that, it was excellent

* I got a steak to go along with an order of Baba Ghanoush (they throw in a pita that is absolutely the equal of Zaytinya's)

* Pita Pouch, despite being quick-serve, is a place I would drive to Maryland in order to try at least once

* The owner, Ramzi Iskandar, also owns Cloud Lounge, Burger 7, and Tarbouch Grill

* Website is here, Facebook page is here, Initialized in Italic in the Dining Guide

* Scheduled to open a second outlet in the Tysons Corner Food Court in August, 2015

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Yes, the reason I gave it a "solid but unspectacular" description was because we also thought it was too salty (and, after further review, I think the hummus and fries (which in Jerusalem are often included as a topping in the pita) should be better). I didn't mention it specifically because I wasn't sure if it was a result of our topping combination, or just that they over salt the meat. (I suppose I could/should have included this with the caveat in my original review.)

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Yes, the reason I gave it a "solid but unspectacular" description was because we also thought it was too salty (and, after further review, I think the hummus and fries (which in Jerusalem are often included as a topping in the pita) should be better). I didn't mention it specifically because I wasn't sure if it was a result of our topping combination, or just that they over salt the meat. (I suppose I could/should have included this with the caveat in my original review.)

I just now finished the steak (with a different set of toppings), reheated, for lunch, and it wasn't too salty - so it was either the marinade on the chicken, or some of the toppings I chose for it. BTW, they did offer me hummus as a topping (I didn't get it, and I still haven't had my order of Baba Ghanoush). I reheated my steak shawarma in a barely warm oven while I was out running an errand, and it sort of fell apart as I was eating it (the pita is very thin, and reheating it in the oven makes it lose structural integrity - this is not a bad thing, as the best pita bread, like all good bread, should be eaten soon after it's baked).

I'll be going to this place fairly often because it's on the healthy side - the only carbohydrate is the very thin pita bread, and if you get a "pouch," you can get just meat and raw-or-roasted vegetables. It might be a bit salty, vinegary, and spicy, but there are no calories in those three things. Drinks, btw, are mostly cans of San Pellegrino Limonata, Blood Orange, etc. - they have about five varieties, and there's also a version of Doogh in a plastic bottle.

How much do you think those robot arms cost?!

---

ETA - I take it back: the pita isn't *that* thin. I had about one-third of the Baba Ghanoush with my extra piece of pita this evening, and it was made from smokey-tasting eggplant. I suspect Pita Pouch might be a franchise (the decor is very fro-yo-like), and I have no idea if they're purchasing the skewers of meat from a central location, or doing them in-house - the vegetables seem too snappy to be purchased from a central operation, even the roasted ones. There's a multi-burner induction stove right next to the toppings, so they're cooking some things in-house.

Please keep in mind also: a restaurant in Italic isn't necessarily spectacular (though some are) - 1 in 5 independent restaurants make the cut, so they only need to be "distinctive" - basically, DR-Recommended, ranging from very good to excellent to noteworthy (e.g. Ben's Chili Bowl). If you go to an Italic restaurant, you won't be wasting your time. Kite Runner Cafe, for example, is being retired in Italic.

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ETA - I take it back: the pita isn't *that* thin. I had about one-third of the Baba Ghanoush with my extra piece of pita this evening, and it was made from smokey-tasting eggplant. I suspect Pita Pouch might be a franchise (the decor is very fro-yo-like), and I have no idea if they're purchasing the skewers of meat from a central location, or doing them in-house - the vegetables seem too snappy to be purchased from a central operation, even the roasted ones. There's a multi-burner induction stove right next to the toppings, so they're cooking some things in-house.

Please keep in mind also: a restaurant in Italic isn't necessarily spectacular (though some are) - 1 in 5 independent restaurants make the cut, so they only need to be "distinctive" - basically, DR-Recommended, ranging from very good to excellent to noteworthy (e.g. Ben's Chili Bowl). If you go to an Italic restaurant, you won't be wasting your time. Kite Runner Cafe, for example, is being retired in Italic.

I went back today with an Arabic speaker - without trying to pry, it came up in casual conversation that the cashier is from Gaza. Neither the chicken nor the steak was too salty today, and I can pretty much confirm that a Bowl ($8.29) is worth the $1 upcharge from a Pouch ($7.29), as you get some of their very good, long-grain rice spooned into the bottom, seemingly a little more of everything (there's more room), and also a piece of pita on the side (I"m not sure why I thought this was thin pita; it isn't at all) - I couldn't even finish half of my meal, and could probably stretch it to last the rest of the day if I wanted.

Like The Delicious, I don't want to oversell Pita Pouch - which had about fifteen more customers today at 1 PM than they did two days ago (it was empty two days ago - the word's getting out! :)), but for someone who lives in the area, it's an exciting, inexpensive, quick, healthy option.

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They need to get their act together, I stopped in last night to get a couple of schwarma bowls to take to a friend's house and had a bad feeling when I saw the line. I nearly walked out at that point, but decided to chance it. I could see that the rotisserie with the steak was pretty much down to the nub, but I was getting chicken anyway. There was plenty of chicken left. When it was my turn to order, they put almost everything in but chicken. They told me something about the chicken not cooked enough yet. But everyone who ordered pita was getting the same chicken. So my bowls sat there, forlorn, and the original server went off to wait on the pita people. Every now and then an employee would ask me about the bowls and tell me the chicken wasn't ready. Then they put chicken on one bowl, but the other sat there without its protein.

Finally, when the 10th apology came I just said "I'm leaving."

They need to take a good look at Chipotle and Cava's methods. There is not enough room behind the counter for the employees to pass each other. It was a clusterthingy, and I can see a "For Lease" sign in that place's future pretty soon.

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They need to get their act together, I stopped in last night to get a couple of schwarma bowls to take to a friend's house and had a bad feeling when I saw the line. I nearly walked out at that point, but decided to chance it. I could see that the rotisserie with the steak was pretty much down to the nub, but I was getting chicken anyway. There was plenty of chicken left. When it was my turn to order, they put almost everything in but chicken. They told me something about the chicken not cooked enough yet. But everyone who ordered pita was getting the same chicken. So my bowls sat there, forlorn, and the original server went off to wait on the pita people. Every now and then an employee would ask me about the bowls and tell me the chicken wasn't ready. Then they put chicken on one bowl, but the other sat there without its protein.

Finally, when the 10th apology came I just said "I'm leaving."

They need to take a good look at Chipotle and Cava's methods. There is not enough room behind the counter for the employees to pass each other. It was a clusterthingy, and I can see a "For Lease" sign in that place's future pretty soon.

I had something of a similar experience my third visit there - it was in the afternoon, there was no chicken, and the steak was down to a nub, and there was also no pita.  So, obviously the choices were a steak bowl or a falafel bowl; the steak bowl was pretty awful (more the visual remnants than the actual - they had been squirting sauce on the dropped beef to moisten it), but they were milking it for what they could get. There was also something of a "cabal" about whether or not I could get a half-piece of pita or not - it's possible they had a few left, and were saving them for friends - I ended up getting half a piece, and it was so weird that I can't really explain it correctly (everyone was very nice, but it was like a bunch of ants running around who had eaten something with alcohol in it, going this way and that, for seemingly no reason). On either of my first two visits, I wouldn't have been able to relate to your post, but now I can picture it *exactly*.

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There was also something of a "cabal" about whether or not I could get a half-piece of pita or not - it's possible they had a few left, and were saving them for friends - I ended up getting half a piece, and it was so weird that I can't really explain it correctly (everyone was very nice, but it was like a bunch of ants running around who had eaten something with alcohol in it, going this way and that, for seemingly no reason). On either of my first two visits, I wouldn't have been able to relate to your post, but now I can picture it *exactly*.

Thanks Don, it was strange, I watched them pulling freshly made pitas out of the oven while I waited in line, and there were at least 5 people behind the counter, who were very nice. But they had no sense of order, and didn't have a "big picture" for throughput.

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We were meeting a friend in Falls Church for lunch so I checked out the list and decided on Pita Pouch.  WOW am I pleased.
Clean, fast, completely customizable, friendly
Common tables and wierd clear plastic chairs.
We will be back!

Grandma note:  Very well lighted but not food she's ever heard of so not sure would like and I'm afraid that she wouldn't be able to see the chairs and would be confusing to her.
 

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Also on the top floor food court at Tysons.  Though the price for a sandwich or salad comes in north of $10, it's still easily the best choice in otherwise treacherous territory. They are quite generous with toppings.  You can also order the falafel separately, with hummus, for something like $4.  

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Power was out at my house from Friday morning thru Sunday evening.  To recharge phones and such, I hung out with my sister at FC middle school and read while she caught up on some work on Sunday morning and we walked over to Pita Pouch for lunch.

I was mesmerized by their pita oven, a rotating, semi-open turntable that held about a dozen pitas.  The pita guy would slap on pita as it slowly spun around, on the second rotation he would flip the pitas, and on the third he would take out the finished pitas and then start a new batch. 

I was considering getting a bowl but could not resist the pita so fresh that the pouch maker had a hard time fitting them in the paper sleeve because they were still puffed from the oven and he couldn't hold them well because they would burn his fingers.  They had two large rotisseries skewers, one of chicken shwarma, one of beef shawarma, plus many toppings (yay, pickled turnips!).  Similar to Cava Grille, but a bit smaller in scope.  Everything was fresh & tasty, generously applied, and a welcoming atmosphere.  A pouch and a bottle water was a little over $10. 

The clear plastic chairs are gone and have been replaced with a cheery mish-mash of brightly colored woven rattan bentwood patio type chairs.

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And, they've closed their Virginia locations, but are apparently in the process of opening in DC according to their website. 

PitaPouch_Logo-300x170.png

 WE HAVE CLOSED OUR VIRGINIA LOCATIONS.
WE ARE MOVING TO DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON DC.

 WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS AND LOOK FORWARD TO SERVING YOU IN OUR UPCOMING WASHINGTON DC LOCATIONS

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