Grub Crawl - I Drive: Big Italy (Closed) & Jaber (Closed)

I tried these places on the north portion of I Drive Wednesday afternoon.

Big Italy - I liked everything about the place in between the beginning and the very end, so, I will start with those. The first thing I would change is the logo. It is very franchise-y/cartoon-y. I was expecting a conveyor belt pizza place. It's more high end than that and the signage should mirror that. The final faux pas was the soda price. It's almost three bucks. It just isn't necessary to mark up that much. It's a little thing, but, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. A customer is basically getting a half glass to begin with (ice) and we learned in business school that the syrup cost for a glass is a couple of cents. Aside from those fixable peeves, I was impressed. The inside is very well designed. It is large, open and bathing in light. The outside is homely (an old strip mall) and it is in the older part of I Drive, so, it probably scares away drivers by. However, those who do not judge a book by it's cover will probably be surprised by the: round, central bar, the open kitchen with pizza oven, the private room, the booths and the table seating. The color scheme is tan and black. The materials are cotton, metal and stained wood. It's non-freaky modern. It seats about 100+. The booths line the exterior. The tables are well spaced between the booths and bar. There was a party using the private room and one half of the booths were occupied at lunch. They had three waiters for the main room. They were well dressed, fairly efficient and polite. I had a Margherita pizza for $8. They boast of 100 types, so, my choice was pretty well made up for me. It was very good. Nice cheese. Fresh basil. Thin, but not cracker like. Slightly chewy. Bigger than expected (maybe 12"). They also served a nice, warm half loaf of bread. I certainly seemed baked in house. The pizza selection was entertaining. They have a hot dog and french fry pizza and a pizza with pear (to illustrate). They also have all the toppings you would expect to see to create 100 combinations. Some interesting ingredients were speck, salmon and some brazilian cheese that I forget the name of. The menu also had a decent selection of pastas and meats. The pasta selection also veers from the ordinary. They have some rare shapes and sizes. I think you should make an effort to try this place. The quality is good and the opportunities for a new sensation are abundant. It's in that first strip mall at the intersection of Kirkman and I Drive.

Jaber - I had two Safihas to go from this Middle Eastern restaurant one strip mall down from Big Italy. It is a popular chain in Brazil. A safiha is a baked dough container. It can be open or closed. I had one of each. The first, an Aberta de Zatar (I think thats in Portugese), was opened faced and covered with Middle Eastern seasonings. I noticed sesame seeds and some bitter herbs. Sorry I can't be more specific. It was a little bitter for me. The next, a Fechada de Palmito was a closed pie stuffed with hearts of palm. It was bland with a creamy consistency betwixt the palm pieces. It tasted better when I put some of the seasoning from object one onto object two. They both cost $2.50. The place seems run by one family. The place seats about 50 in a rectangular space. It doesn't effuse much style. You do sense that you are in an Arabic setting. The back (bar) is a little sloppy. There are some glass cases showing pastries and it's a tad cluttered with junk. They serve a variety of Beruits (sandwiches) and cold and hot plates. Most things cost in the teens and up. I would try it for real at some point, but I'm not rushing to do that.

*Bob's Rosti Potatos - I was going to try something from this place diagonally from Jaber, but, the cheapest thing was $13. And that thing was a potato. Needless to say, the place was empty. I'm sure the gussy up the potato with some sort of fancy topping and maybe even fry it into a rosti, but, I'm never paying that much for a potato. I just had a bbq pork covered loaded potato (2 pieced together) at Marlowe's in Memphis and it didn't cost that much. And that place is famous. I expect them to be out of business soon anyway so it would be a waste of a critiquing opportunity. Just letting you know it exists.