Roots Eatery | Maricopa — Restaurant in Maricopa

A few ways to describe our experience would be "beer on a champagne budget", and "cutting corners at every step".

We went here because we saw a photo of a large mound of cheesecurds on one of their reviews but they no longer serve it. We had gone back and forth on where to eat for quite some time, and the reviews said the food was really good, so we just decided to stick around and eat here anyway.

We walked in and were seated right away. As we walked past all the other tables, I noticed how the plates and sizes of portions were smaller than normal places, and they looked kind of silly in how they chose to display their foods. It was as if they were trying to be fancy, but didnt know how, and it was a bit cringey and funny, but the reviews said the food was good, so I told myself it will be fine and still stayed. We ended up asking to be seated outside, which was really great.

Our server brought us water in plastic cups, and I started off with a "glass" of chardonnay. I was annoyed when it arrived in a double-walled metal tumbler with the restaurant named printed on it.. it looked like they got it off Etsy, and even more annoyed when my Chardonnay tasted old and flat.

The menu didnt have anything I really wanted, and only allowed for sides with their most expensive items, which was a bummer because I wanted Alfredo with a salad, but would have to pay $5 extra per side item. I settled on a chicken pot pie and hoped for the best.

My partner ordered a 14oz New York steak medium rare with mashed potatoes and a Ceasars salad, and I ordered the chicken pot pie with potato fingerlings and a Ceasars salad.

We were offered to recieve our salads first, which we accepted, and when it came out, it was HUGE!! I suggested to my partner "of course its huge, they want you to be full so you are less upset when the rest of your meal comes out with small portions", and he agreed. The salad tasted good though.

When the rest of our meal meal came, my plate looked hilarious. I wasn't really sure what potato fingerlings were, but I was picturing small breakfast potatoes slice longways or quartered, sprinkled with Italian herbs and seasonings. No, these were sliced deep fried puffs of potatoes. My pot pie was somewhat small, and tasted really odd, almost as if there was dill in it, and I did not really like it but the consistency was nice. The potato gingerlings were arranged in a rounded fashion halfway around the pot pie, with a giant opem space on the plate that just looked unnecessary, and could have been arranged better. I asked for ketchup for my potatoes fingerlings, and I was brought ketchup packets, which is unsanitary and gross, and inconvenient. This is not a McDonald's drive-thru, please do not treat your customers like it is.

My partner's plate appeared equally silly. His mashed potatoes tasted as if there was more butter and heavy cream in them than they should call for. They tasted interesting and not horrible, but who doesnt like a little mashed potatoes with their butter and cream? Just odd, and as if someone does not know what they are doing. Also, it was lukewarm, which he seemed okay with, but it really irritated me (again), as our food should be hot when it gets to us. I tasted his steak, which was also only lukewarm, and undercooked, which might explain the lack of temperature, which is still not okay. If we pay $40 for a plate, it better be excellent, and this was NOT excellent. There also seemed to be a lack of seasonings on his steak. Steak tastes good alone, but a little extra something would have gone a long way.

We then ordered a dessert to-go each. He ordered the flourless chocolate cake, and I ordered the creme brulee. The flourless chocolate cake tasted like an overabundance of cocoa powder and he struggled eating it. My creme brulee tasted excellent!! However, the portion was miniscule.

Overall, we were very disappointed in our experience with this restaurant, and will not be going back. We felt like this restaurant did everything they could to cut corners and while maintaining...

In a word: wow! Roots was recommended to us by a friend, so my husband and I hired a baby sitter and went out to dinner tonight (our first "date night" in MONTHS) and let me just say this: they did not disappoint! I am beyond impressed! I rarely write reviews, but they were just that good! We arrived about 5:30PM on a Saturday night, but we found a table right away. It's hard to believe this location used to be a Domino's. It was decorated so cute and rustic. Although the space is a little tight (I believe they have maybe between 8-12 tables?) it still felt very comfortable. We had the first table, so we had a great view of just how great the front and back of house was! The restaurant was spotless, and you can tell they are going above and beyond to make their guests feel safe and welcome. It's not a traditional "sit-down" restraunt where the server comes to you. You order at the counter. But the cashier/hostess Morgan was very helpful and basically took on the role of food runner for everyone dining in. The busser Len was awesome, too! I observed him politely refilling drinks, clearing away used dishes, and checking in on seated guests. Between him and Morgan, you don't miss having a "server." They also gave great food and beer/wine recommendations to everyone. The owner Chris was helping the chef Ethan tonight. Chris was really nice and you can tell he is a humble guy (I didn't even realize that he was the owner of the restaurant until someone told me!) They know their way around the kitchen. I ordered the braised ribs and oh my lord.. melt in your mouth incredible. My husband had the salmon (being from Seattle, I am very hard to please with seafood) but this salmon was out of this world. All of the food coming out of the kitchen looked like a 'magazine quality' dish! We had creme brule for dessert- another dish that is hard to perfect- but it was divine, too! I can't wait to come back again soon to try more things! For a restaurant that had the guts to open mid-global crisis, I am so impressed and I really hope the do well here, because we don't have anything in Maricopa that even compares to the...

My wife and I were really excited to eat here but we were expecting something more of a normal dining out experience. So, if you're looking to be waited on and served...this is not the place for that. That said, it wasn't a bad experience at all. Customer service was great, and the place is clean, with quaint decor.

After perusing the menu, you have to go back up and place your order at the counter. Ok, not a big deal. I didn't like that I had to tip at that time as I didn't have extra cash on hand for a proper tip at the end of the meal. But, like I said, it is not a full service dining experience, so...I guess that works. We ordered the crab cakes and they were superb. My wife had the salmon, and that was very good as well. I went with the ribeye and...was a little disappointed. It had a sweetness to it, which would've been fine if that is what I wanted, but no where in the menu does it state about it being sweet or having sweet notes. I prefer savory for my steaks, and while I didn't hate my steak, I would never have ordered it, if I knew that going in. I also ordered a glass of Merlot and it was served a metal cup instead of a wine glass. It was also quite warm for a red. Perhaps where they store their reds, was a bit warmer that day?

I'm not trying to be hard on the place. I'm actually an easy critic, looking for reasons to like a place. And we DID enjoy our meal, and again the staff was super friendly. The purpose of my review is so that other first timers, have an idea of what to expect when going to eat there.

I actually look forward to going back as there are other items I would like to try, but next time my expectations of the kind of dining experience will be on track. And I'll also ask about how a dish is prepared if there is...