Pangaea Dinosaur Grill — Restaurant in Paradise Valley

I went here 1 year ago during the pandemic and was incredibly impressed. I wanted that experience again and to support a small business, so I went again on Christmas Day. Busy, but not jam packed. Waited 30 minutes to get our order in. We ordered a calamari appetizer, a shrimp dinner and a slice of cheesecake. When it finally came, the calamari was so overcooked it was like thin rubber bands. Completely inedible. Then the dinner arrived. 5 shrimp on a plate with a handful of fries. They said they were jumbo but honestly the ones you get from Long John Silvers were larger… and more edible. The shrimp was old, like it had sat too long in the freezer. They were awful. The dinner was split between myself and my mom, and we argued over who had to eat the last shrimp. Unfortunately I did. The fries were excellent, but there wasn’t enough of them to make a blip. The server never came around to check on us until he dropped off the check. No cheesecake. So I waived him down again when he came back into our section. He eventually came back with a piece of cheesecake. It looked very wrong. It had obviously been microwaved. The sides were melted out/collapsing. The whip cream on top melting. And when we cut into it, it was frozen in the middle. I ate it because I was paying for it. But the server only came back once to ask “how was it?” I told him “I don’t think you want me to be honest”. Instead of asking me why, he walked away and we didn’t see him again. They usually pick up your method of payment, but we just sat there. I finally got tired of waiting and went to where they run charges. Waited more despite the server seeing me stand there. Finally paid $34 something. I was there nearly 2 hours. Killed the whole afternoon so we didn’t have time at the butterfly exhibit. Went home and got sick to my stomach. That’s what finally convinced me to post this review. I don’t like leaving negative reviews but this was bad. The only reason I left 2 stars is because it’s a nice atmosphere....

Not sure about other mixed reviews, but when I went there it was AMAZING!!! The food was some of the best Greek food I've ever had, and we go around to lots of restaurants around the valley.

The first thing we tried was the tzatziki and pita appetizer. The slices of pita were fresh and hot, and you could tell the ingredients in the tzatziki were fresh.

Next, we got the standard gyro and the mixed berry salad. Whoa!! The gyro meat was very fresh, had just the right moisture, and the toppings were so fresh that you could swear they just got them from the garden. The best part of the gyro was that it had the perfect blend of spices and there was absolutely nothing I could pick out of it as being wrong.

The berry salad was also superb! So many times we have a berry salad where the vinaigrette dressing is either too tart or too sweet. Not here! I was blown away that this dressing on the salad was the perfect blend of sweet and tart, and made me want to go back for another bit over and over. And the salad, berries, and nuts were all so freshly made and prepared! Also the onions on the salad are sweet and not hot, almost like candy.

When we thought we were done, we passed by the cheesecake and thought we had to give that a try too. It... Was... AMAZING!!!! You know how normally you get cheesecake and it's very dense and sometimes feels like it's just been cheaply put together, or you can only have a few bites then you feel full? Well not here!! This cheesecake was light and fluffy while still giving you that creamy enjoyment that you always love in cheesecake. To top it off, the honey, crunchy crumbles, and various toppings on the baklava were sooo good!!

Anyway, I'm super glad we took a chance at this place. We drove across the valley just to try out the restaurant and we were not disappointed! I would give this place 10 stars if we could, we're definitely...

Honestly two stars is being generous. I normally love OPA, other locations at least. I don't know if it's the cooks, or how busy they were or whatever but the food was a serious disappointment this time. The fried fish I got was undercooked, and the salad was so cheap soggy and the ingredients seemed either old or from a can. The fries were good though, OPA has the best fries in general ngl. My child had some suspicious looking chicken nuggets that had some little stringy bits hanging off of it, but I tasted it and they tasted cheap but fine so I let her eat them (but I think the toy given with the kids meal was a SERIOUS choking hazard. Like that's just lawsuit waiting to happen, i threw it away the second we left the restaurant). My husband got a gyro and he said his was fine. And I'll admit the cheesecake was bomb. But the PRICES were straight up just ridiculous and quality was not up to standard for that price. Like if you're at Disneyland? OK Maybe. But this pangea thing is nowhere near cool enough to excuse this price gouging. And to top it all off, all three of us got sick after we drove home. I was vomiting, my husband had stomach cramps and I'm not sure of my daughters symptoms because she's not old enough to talk but she was crying, cold sweats, and just overall inconsolable and I even was considering the emergency room. The symptoms are finally easing up now, hours later. Our waitress was nice though. 100% will not return. Better to eat somewhere else before or after you go to the boardwalk. Wish I had just packed...