The Starving Artist — Restaurant in Phoenix

It's a nice place to visit. The atmosphere is worth it. However, the pretzel was the only tasty thing we received that I would recommend to others. I got the ricotta zucchini entree, and my friend got a salad.

The server took a very long time to come back to take our order, so we ended up just ordering everything at once. You'd think you'd bring out the starter first, i.e., the pretzel, but instead, she brought my cheese entree out first. It thankfully only took about 5 minutes before she realized her mistake and brought out my friend's salad, but that meant eating the pretzel last. That ended up being okay but definitely not preferred.

My ricotta plate was fresh. However, the zucchini was barely cooked and, therefore, soggy. I would have preferred it to have some color to it for flavor as well as less sog. I really enjoyed the fact that they used golden raisins, though.

My friends salad looked quite unimpressive. Chopped romaine hearts and some chef-salad-style toppings with a pied Naan. Eh. It's definitely not worth it, and she didn't end up eating much of it.

The pretzel was very nice. It had everything seasoning on it. I was skeptical at first, but it really worked out. The dips were inventive, but we did decline having the peanut butter bacon whip at the table.

I ordered the black Manhattan. I was interested in this drink until I tasted it. Had to have been made with cheap alcohol because that's what it tasted like. Would not come here for a drinks night.

Overall the cost was over $70 for two very cheaply made generic plates, a pretzel, and two drinks. Would I come back or recommend it to others? Probably not. There's gotta be better places. The only redeeming quality was...

I was really down after being sick and in the ER multiple times this year so far. I was running on 2 hours of sleep and in pain, and hadn’t eaten in over a day. I love pizza, it’s what makes me happy, and going on Grubhub I found the starving artist. I was going to order a cheese pie but something caught my eye that made me shriek in excitement - a pickle pizza. I love pickles. But I also love plain and there was no half/half option. I know some places are strict about not doing half/half so I asked if it would be possible and that I would pay anything, I just needed this fuel for my dying spirit.

When the order arrived and I saw the box, I cried. Inside was a perfect half/half cheese and pickle pizza, and outside was a lovely note from the staff. A lot of restaurants would have probably ignored my request and that’s totally fair, I don’t expect much, but the team at the starving artist were so kind and generous and I will absolutely be visiting in person once I start to get better.

As for the food, it’s excellent. The pickle pizza in particular brought such joy to my spirit that I so desperately needed. Please keep this item on the menu permanently if it is not already, I will come eat it at least weekly. I downed this entire pizza within minutes, probably my body crying for calories, and these were some good ones.

I really appreciate the crew at the starving artist and want to thank them for making me smile last night when I didn’t think I could....

Starving Artist was great. I went with a couple of my work friends and we shared a pizza, some dough knots, and each had different drinks. I really enjoyed everything we had.

Specifically, the Royceronni pizza was really good. The peppers and honey gave it a sweet heat kind of flavor that just went really well together. The crust was perfect for a NY style pizza and for $25 it really wasn’t bad at all to split between 4 people. I really enjoyed the flavors and it had a great consistent texture.

For the side of dough knots we got them with cinnamon and sugar and it was really well made. It was very fresh and warm and the dough just felt like it was perfect. The cinnamon and the sugar dip was well portioned and really well distributed.

Finally the drinks were all delicious. I had a strawberry cream drink with rum lime and bitters, and another alcohol that I just have no clue how to spell, but it was fantastic.

Overall this is a great spot. Parking can get a little cramped but there’s plenty on the side street, Service was super quick and staff is really friendly and want to make sure you have...