Restaurant Choices

Those of us who have lived in Gilbert for a long time remember when "eating out" meant leaving town. There were just too few restaurants in Gilbert to provide some options, the one exception being Mexican food. The Mister and I love Mexican food, and are almost always content with that choice; but not all of our out-of-town guests concur and sometimes you just need someplace a little bit different.

This is no longer the case; with our explosive growth, the restaurants have followed, and the options continue to increase. Today's East Valley Tribune informs us of another change around the corner:

Gilbert’s historic Liberty Market is closed — for now. In about 18 months, the owner of Joe’s Real BBQ plans to open a posh new market and restaurant there.

Joe Johnston, whose barbecue restaurant is known for pulling crowds into an often desolate downtown Heritage District, purchased the market at 503 N. Gilbert Road and has begun renovations.

“I’ve always liked that building,” Johnston said of the 1918 structure. “I’d like it to be the kind of urban marketplace you find in San Francisco.”

It will be a sit-down restaurant, with pizza, panini sandwiches, soup and salad, but will also house a bakery and a speciality food market.

“There will be a lot of interesting stuff you can’t just buy anywhere,” he said. “Local and natural meats fed on good quality feed. Organic food. We could sell you ingredients, and tell you how to make a unique meal yourself.”

Prepared food, such as pork loin, will be sold either cooked or ready to take home to cook, he said, helping busy families make new or fancier dishes.

There won’t be any barbecue, and the eatery will be different from other downtown restaurants, including homestyle meals at the Farmhouse or Italian cuisine planned at the nearby Oregano’s.

I'm still waiting for his restaurant and coffee shop to open at Agritopia, which I believe is supposed to happen fairly soon. Joe knows restaurants; this will be a great addition.