By obyn
oore
CA
Pita Jungle
PP
Mastering “The Art of Healthy Living” This time of year, everyone is looking to feel their best and eat healthier after the holidays. It can be challenging, especially for those who don’t know how. But thankfully, there is a local restaurant that has been the go-to spot for healthy and delicious cuisine for more than two decades. Pita Jungle has wowed its customers since day one and mastered “The Art of Eating Healthy” with 20 locations throughout Arizona. With the mission of helping guests sustain a healthy and balanced lifestyle, the restaurant serves up a diverse menu of tasty, fresh, wholesome foods, including a variety of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Pita Jungle’s menu is influenced by tastes from around the globe with the benefits of the Mediterranean diet always apparent through the use of healthy lean proteins, veggies, legumes, nuts, grains and fruit. Bassel Osmani, Nelly Kohsok and Fouad Khodr founded Pita Jungle in 1994. The three were students at the time attending Arizona State University. The friends often socialized outside of classes, and they all had a similar hard-working attitude and vision for the future. Upon graduating college, they all recognized a need for more healthy restaurants around the university’s Tempe campus, and set out to make a difference by leveraging their own personal experiences gained by working in the local restaurant industry. It was then that the vision for Pita Jungle was born.
“Pita Jungle was founded on the principle of serving the best quality food at a reasonable price with exceptional customer service,” says Osmani. “Instead of focusing on profit right out of the gates, we placed bringing people through the doors as our top priority. Another key component and differentiating factor for us was the vegan and vegetarian menu items. At the time when we started, there was only one nearby market offering these kinds of options, and our team wanted to make healthy, greattasting food readily available for those leading both lifestyles.” With only $15,000 and a vision, the trio opened the first Pita Jungle location in Tempe in 1994. They built the location with their own hands, employing the help of only one handyman. Each Pita Jungle restaurant has a unique mood and personality; it is designed to have a character that is reflective of the times and the locality. From the unique décor and original artwork by local artists, to the custom, handpicked music playlist and creative non-formulaic staff, there are no cookie-cutter locations at Pita Jungle. One of the best-kept secrets about Pita Jungle is their happy hour. Last year, the restaurant revamped their happy hour with more items and offerings as low as $2. Aside from their award-winning menu, Pita Jungle serves up a Seasonal Kitchen Crafts menu every few months featuring a handful of new dishes that satisfy every palate. The current seasonal menu is digging deep in the roots of Levantine cuisine, with ingredients and comfort foods like a
14 January 201
| azhealthandliving.com
Photos Courtesy of Pita Jungle