| CHOW BELLA | ▼ Café ▼ FIRST TASTE Eat Up Drive-In The restaurant group behind The Montauk takes a stab at elevated fast-casual dining in Arcadia. BY DAVID HUDNALL F or several decades now, drive- thru eateries have been asso- ciated with heavily processed food that in the short term causes you to look like shit at the pool and in the long term kills you. There is no actual reason this has to be the case, though, and even prior to the pandemic, we were seeing global fast- food chains introduce healthier menu op- tions, and startups like Gilbert’s own Salad and Go find success serving meals that don’t contain dangerous levels of cholesterol. David Hudnall This trend will likely continue, and probably even accelerate, in a post-COVID world in which many of us have gotten comfortable with curbside pickup. Fast- food and fast-casual restaurant owners also seem to be discovering that simply not having a dining room can improve the overall bottom line. The folks behind the local restaurant group Jocque Concepts run three more or less traditional bars and restaurants in Scottsdale: Diego Pops, The Montauk, and The Hot Chick. But their latest venture, Eat Up Drive-In (4001 East Indian School Road, next door to The Porch), seems like an acknowledgment of where the Ameri- can restaurant industry is heading. Which Eat Up in Arcadia. is to say: accomodating hungry people who are very busy, vaguely agoraphobic, and trying to avoid saying the word “double” when they order their food. The goal of Eat Up, according to its pro- motional materials, is to “serve the com- munity our favorite homestyle meals, cooked slow and served fast, so you can spend less time in the kitchen, and more time with the ones you love.” We stopped by on our way back from Costco. Eat Up opened in May. Its hours are 4–9 p.m., though the plan is to open for lunch soon. The menu suggests aspirations somewhere between Shake Shack’s so- cially acceptable fast food (and design) aesthetic and the “upscale comfort food” genre of restaurants that have proliferated in gentrifying urban neighborhoods over the last ten or so years. I basically like both of those things. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend much of what we ordered at Eat Up. Absolutely do not get the braised BBQ short ribs, which I’m pretty sure were pre- pared with Manwich (talk about home- style!). It was like eating a stringy sloppy joe without a bun. The sides — you get to choose two, which I do appreciate — weren’t much better. The roasted broccoli was only very lightly roasted, just on one side, and we were unable to detect the ad- vertised lemon butter vinaigrette. The mac and cheese had OK flavor but the sauce was watery, gathering in a pool at the bottom of the to-go container. An all- around bad order, $14.50 down the drain. I was happier with the Hot Chick, a spicy chicken sandwich with house slaw and a brioche bun. I’d put it somewhere be- tween a Wendy’s Spicy Chicken and a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich you’d find in the restaurant of a chef who has his own publicist. It was a bit dry but had a nice, even complex kick to it. Then again, at $12,50, it ought to. The sandwiches and wraps come with fries or a caesar salad. As someone who likes a battered fry, I can re- port that the fries are good. We probably should have ordered the Arcadia salad. We were in Arcadia, >> p 37 32 JULY 1ST – JULY 7TH, 2021 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
