Family Supper: Wrapped Up

While my husband and I love Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food, our kiddos who once happily ate everything are smack in the middle of a picky phase. So when we recently headed to the new Spitz restaurant on North Killingsworth on an early Saturday evening, I didn’t have high hopes that my kiddos would tuck right into their dinners. This SoCal-based chain offers Mediterranean/Middle Eastern wraps stuffed with seasoned lamb and beef (gyro style), or chicken shaved off of a rotating spit. They also have falafels for vegetarians and plates of fries slathered in aioli and feta.

Don’t worry, while the post-hipster meets Lisa Frank décor and open garage door makes the place feel more like a bar than a restaurant, the food is actually really good. But you do in fact have to order at the bar. And the music is pretty loud — something my 2-year-old son actually liked, bopping his head along like Will Ferrell in an SNL skit.

Spitz offers a kid-size wrap, but I knew neither my son, nor my 5-year-old daughter would actually eat it. So I ordered them a side of chicken to split ($3.50). Unfortunately that was a strike-out, too. While it was tasty by my standards, they found it too heavy on the spice.

My husband was impressed with his lamb/beef Street Cart Döner Wrap, which came with garlic aioli and tzatziki ($9.75). I had the Zesty Feta wrap, which included feta spread and peperoncini ($14.50 for a combo with a fountain drink and side). The wraps were really solid — they were well seasoned, had tangy sauces that delivered and were packed with a garden’s worth of fresh vegetables.

I also ordered the crispy garbanzos with olives. Those little fried legumes were crunchy, salty and highly addictive — and my daughter liberated some of them from my basket. (The fried olives accompanying them were over-the-top salty.) The kids also commandeered most of my husband’s sweet potato fries ($4).

So even though I had to make the kiddos a quesadilla when we got home, we’d still go back to Spitz. Everything else was very kid-accommodating. They had high chairs and the bathroom contained a diaper-changing station. The food came out almost instantly — I had just doled out some Jenga pieces to the kids when it arrived. (They also had checkers and chess boards stashed under the water/utensil station.) Clearly we weren’t the only ones to reach this conclusion — as we were leaving, we noticed a whole slew of families with babies and young kids were populating tables inside and out.

2103 N Killingsworth. Open daily 10 am-10 pm. Spitzpdx.com

Mediterranean Diet

Get your falafel fix at ChickpeaDX. Choose from a pita, salad or bowl — or a side combo plate. 2707 NE Sandy. Chickpeadx.com.

UR Mediterranean Restaurant gets as a many thumbs up for its friendly service as it does for its grilled kebabs.
Pro tip: Seating is limited, so you might want to take your order to go. 4680 SW Watson Ave. Beaverton.

Whether filled with chicken or lamb gyro, you’ll find wraps big enough for two at Gyro House. Try the spicy garlic sauce. 530 Southwest 205th Ave., Beaverton, or 8142 SE Cora. Thegyrohouse.com.