Garbanzo

Ordered online tonight and drove through the snow to get dinner from Garbanzo. We went back inside to ask for fries and check on the pita. We were told the pita was in our plates when in fact it was not. Paid extra for gluten free pita even. Not in the bag or in our plates. I ordered tahini sauce on mine because I am allergic to dairy and cannot have other sauces. I got home and found dairy-riddled cilantro sauce glazing my dinner. Normally, I wouldn't be very upset but this is not my first poor experience with this company or with ordering online with them.

Here's another Denver fast-casual FIRST. The chain was founded in Greenwood Village, although the location I've frequented is in Glendale on South Colorado Boulevard. I love Mediterranean food, and Garbanzo is quite clever in the way it adapts gyros and kabobs into Denver’s fast-casual milieu. Like our other quick-serve, high-concept, chef-inspired restaurants, they prepare their dishes daily and from scratch, with one eye on tradition and the other on new-wave healthiness. They also offer sponsorships and fundraising opportunities to support a sense of community. The food? There are vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. You can have steak, chicken, or gyros, or you can have falafel or Portobello mushrooms. The hummus, tabbouleh, and baba ganoush look good and taste that way. Some ingredients are sourced locally and others are imported directly from the Mediterranean region. They make their pita, falafels, potato chips, and baklava in-house (cookies, too). Their salads and sauces are produced in-house, too. I love the sauces, and there are many to consider: tzatziki, cilantro sauce, red chili sauce, Mediterranean white garlic sauce, tahini sauce, Greek vinaigrette. I never leave the counter with less than three of them! Westword published “Garbanzo Wants Diners to Feel Good About Mediterranean Food” by Jenn Wohletz (May 1, 2012). It’s a good look at the history of the company, from founder Alon Mor's Israeli grandmother to the franchising plan that has since exploded, bringing Garbanzo to Boston, and to Texas, and many points in between. There is a problem, though. Lately, the Garbanzo I patronize has seemed a bit listless. The offerings are less delightful. The bloom is off the rose, as they say. Has something happened to the food, or to the restaurant? Or have I just become too used to what they offer? Too jaded? I worry that in the fast-casual world, the “fast” sooner or later overwhelms the other elements of this genre – and the made-from-scratch, locally-sourced, chef-inspired elements suffer accordingly.