I’m currently trying to make lemonade out of the lemons that life keeps throwing my way.

Being very new to Maricopa and Arizona (originally from the U.K., moved here from Wyoming), I don’t know where is good to eat around town here or in other places further afield such as Chandler, Scottsdale or even Casa Grande.

Also, most professional reviewers don’t review places with small kids in tow.

I started my culinary reconnaissance Oct. 25 at Roots Eatery, an independent restaurant in The Shops at Maricopa Village on John Wayne Parkway that has served upscale American fare since 2020 in a modern marriage of fine dining and fast casual.

Synopsis

A fantastic little eatery that puts a fun new spin on old favorites, good for date nights or family dinners out.

What we ordered

• Finding Nemo: A new spin on the classic fish and chips.
• Chicken parmesan: A monster meal for two.
• Kids TV dinner tray: A fresh take on a classic school lunch.

Ratings – out of 5 cowboy hats

Food quality: 4.7/5 🤠
Freshness: 5/5 🤠
Presentation: 5/5 🤠
Portion size: 5/5 🤠
Speed of service: 3/5 🤠
Business at the time of visit: 4/5 🤠 (busy)
Staff courtesy: 5/5 🤠
Location: 4.5/5 🤠
Customer amenities: N/A
Other: N/A
Total out of 40 available cowboy hats: 32.5 (81.25%)

Detailed Review

Food quality

The Finding Nemo takes the classic British fish and chips and does it with a bit of a mafioso flair.

The fish portion was surprisingly large and freshly made in-house. The fish fillets were well-cooked but not overdone or greasy and were nicely steamed inside the thin beer batter that surrounded them. The batter was nicely seasoned and left a delightful pop in your mouth instead of the bland bitter and greasy taste that is usually present.

The meal came with the option of two sides; I opted for a double order of fries, as being a chip-loving potato guy I am usually disappointed with the small portions of chips (fries for my American friends) that is given as an accompaniment. This time, I was pleasantly surprised as the double portion of chips would make any fry guy happy.

The meal also came with two containers of homemade tartar sauce; however, the lack of any coleslaw is a missed opportunity to up the mafia street cred.

The chicken parmesan is a sight to behold. Not only is this meal big enough for me and my wife to have shared together, but at the price point they charge, we felt like Bonney and Clyde making off with our not-so-ill-gotten loot.

The chicken parmesan again was well presented with the chicken portion being not far off the size of a whopper, when whoppers were actually a whopper. Not only was the cutlet large, but also thick and juicy, not soggy, but spot-on nice and moist.

The breading had a nice pizzazz and was well complemented by the delicious tomato sauce. However, the breading was slightly overdone which spoiled the otherwise perfect presentation and flavor palate. The mashed potatoes can only be described as a work of art and provide a nice balance to the chicken parmesan and sauce.

Anyone who has small kids knows how picky our little angels can be at any given moment, and the physical annoyance that they can induce in us by turning their noses up at something they just ordered 15 minutes earlier can be visibly seen in the temporal palpitations and not so subtle color change.

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With that in mind, we ordered three kids’ mac and cheese TV dinner trays. The trays were large cardboard segmented trays that I would expect to see in either a hospital or barracks and delighted the kids when they saw them. The mac and cheese was the most disappointing thing on the tray, from my perspective resembling Kraft dinner, as it seemed to be another missed opportunity to up-mafia the whole experience taking it to another level if only in appearances.

That said, all three of the kids ate just about everything on their trays, including the mac and cheese, so at least it was a hit with the kids. The trays also came with a nice portion of freshly sliced strawberries and cucumbers with a good scooping of quality ice cream presented in what I would describe as a nice red retro foil bowl that did a decent job of slowing the melting when seated outside on a warm Arizona evening. The only thing missing were two spoons for eating the ice cream and mac and cheese.

Freshness

This is not your typical restaurant that reheats premade food packaged half a world away and just adds the garnish. Outside of the ice cream and possibly the mac and cheese that the kids had, there is nothing else that we had on this visit that made me think that it was not made fresh in-house.

Presentation

Each of the meals were well presented, with everything placed with care and attention.

Portion size

The portion sizes on both adult entrées and all three kids’ meals were above what we had expected. Usually in restaurants with a more bespoke menu and atmosphere, you find higher prices and smaller portions, as they push you for a larger tab and the ordering of dessert. Not at Roots Eatery. We felt that portion size and quality of the meal were most definitely a steal, as my wife took half of her chicken parmesan home to eat later for another meal.

My only complaint about portions is that they do not have fountain drinks but instead sell by the bottle or can. I would have loved a second Coke, but with a slamming restaurant I would have had to go back inside and reorder another can.

Also, the absence of a beer list or drinks menu stopped me from ordering a beer as trying to find a good beer can be an arduous task especially if you are into your microbrews and are specific about what you like. So, while they may have had what I wanted, trying to figure that out by listing off random beers to a busy server is more of a hassle than it’s worth — hence the Coke.

Speed of service

The speed of service seemed a bit slow at times, so I would say budget 90 minutes or more for dinner service at peak hours, as at times it did seem that people who came in after us who were seated inside were ordering and getting their food before we had even been beveraged.

This is somewhat understandable given how busy Roots was, but still, it didn’t leave a good initial impression. In either case, we look forward to going back to Roots. However, if I was on a lunch break or had time constraints I would not skip over Roots, instead, I would order early, order takeout and not have to worry about after-lunch meetings.

Business at the time of visit

We showed up right during the beginning of a Friday evening dinner rush, and while the inside was very busy, and there was a table left, we decided that we would rather enjoy our early evening together outside on the well-presented patio instead of sitting inside.

Staff courtesy

The staff we engaged with were incredibly attentive even if distracted by the volume of the restaurant. In either case, a busy waiter is not a good enough reason to pass this place by.

Location

Roots Eatery is set back into a strip mall on the southwest portion of John Wayne Parkway 1/2 mile before the overpass. There is ample parking available, however, there is no ADA spot available close to the restaurant door requiring those with mobility issues to walk a little further than they may be comfortable with.

Patio seating is available, but it is a little loud with all the traffic noise coming from 347 only 100 feet away. However, it’s not so noisy that dinner conversation is impossible.

Customer amenities

We did not use the bathrooms during our visit and observed the staff to be quick to clean tables after guests left. The restaurant also looked clean and well-maintained, an evident pride in ownership resonated across most aspects of our visit from cleanliness to food presentation.

Total SCORE OF 40: 32.5 (81.25%)  

How I rate places

• Less than 50%: Poor, save your time and skip this one for whatever reason they didn’t do great that day — we’ll try them again another day.
• 50 to 75%: Good, not the best, not the worst, a solid place for good eats.
• 76 to 90%: Amazing, this place is the bomb! Stop by for good eats, great amenities or something else. Feel free to shout about them from the roof!
• 91 to 100%: A friggin’ unicorn! This place is either so good I’m not going to tell you about it, or I just paid $70 for a cheeseburger and chips with 24-karat gold leaf foil on the bun. No, really, I did!

Overall

Roots Eatery is an amazing place to stop by, whether for lunch, date nights or dinner with the family. Don’t be afraid to sit on the patio and enjoy the amazing weather that Arizona has to offer while tasting some of the best food around Maricopa. As for me and my family, we look forward to going back again.