Blue Moon Sports Grill

At first we were like… this is a bar, but still went in. I’D crisis… but once we got the Hummus we were hooked. Gyro was awesome. I would get the fries and not the salad. Salad was not dressed and plain. Just needs a Greek dressing and that would fix it. Tadzhik sauce was awesome! Try this place for Greek food. Not to bad.

Hmm… bad reviews must have been in the same party… these ladies could not be further from the truth! Really good local place with a great friendly owner. Decent authentic Mediterranean food choices and American food has been added too. Great stop for lunch or pop in for just a beer or cocktails. Have been here numerous times and the only disappointment is more people don’t drop in! Give this place a try, you will probably enjoy! Great gyros, try the kababs and spinach puffs for a filling, fair priced dinner.

I like this place… Good hummus… Good salads, healthy pours on drinks… Friendly service… very attentive. Will def be back!

Really great food … First visit to the neighborhood space, Greek American. Angus hamburgers (really inexpensive before 5.30), great happy hour prices — until 6.30… Gyro, grape leaves spanikopita, good stuff — 6 sports stations, music, horseshoe shaped bar with tables available.

Some of the best and freshest Greek food you’re going to find in the area! This is my go to gyros place. If I’m not having a draft beer I will have the ice tea. It is my favorite unsweetened ice tea. A subtle note of mint to it and it is always fresh. If I’m getting food to go, I will always have 2 – 3 glasses of the ice tea while I wait. The gyro is great and never disappoints. The menu just changed slightly and you can now get the gyro as an appetizer, or as a «sandwich» on the best pita bread you will find in Phoenix, or as a dinner. I have had each multiple times. I’m not a big fan of feta cheese but the feta they use here I could have on everything. I also love the teriyaki chicken, the chicken kabobs, the beef kabobs and the salad that accompanies the dinner. I am a salad snob and everything has to be extremely fresh for me. The vegetables are the freshest I’ve had in a restaurant and consistently so. The fresh fries you can get with the gyro sandwich are the thicker square cut style and always hit the mark. I have to try the wings next, my friend loves them.
Ignore the older bad reviews. If you want great FRESH Greek food, this the place to get it in Phoenix. You will not be disappointed with anything you order.
The parking lot can fill up but parking around the corner on the residential street is available as well as across the street. It’s worth the walk if the lot is full.

Not a fan of the service. The man that is always working there is not friendly and rude to kids. The food is decent. Go to Greek Town near 7^th Ave and Butler for better food and service.

Healthy, delicious food served by the on-​site owner who is handsome and as nice as could be! Don’t believe those bad reviews, those girls do not know what they are talking about. This is the kind of local business we need to support!

Great food and relaxing atmosphere.

We went to try a new restaurant and gladly report that we can’t always base the quality and service of a place on just one person’s opinion. Admittedly, we were a little leary to try.
IT WAS AWESOME. Our service was incredible. Our waiter was friendly and made awesome recommendations. Our family ordered a large variety of food and we honesty had everything come out at a perfect temperature and the taste, quality and quantity were all great!
Perhaps because other people thought it was hot the restaurant responded and had the air on to excess. We were actually cold.
We would go there again!

I work in the area and decided to try Blue Moon today. I too, am glad I didn’t read the former reviews because my experience was very different. I had a lunch special Greek Salad with warm pita bread. It was very good – light, crisp lettuce and vine-​red tomatoes with just the right amount of dressing on it. I typically order dressing on the side and this time, I forgot. Thankfully it arrived absolutely perfect, according to my tastes. Purple cabbage and cucumbers gave it a nice crunch, and the portion size was generous. The pita bread was wrapped up and warm, and fresh baked. I’m going to suggest this to my co-​workers next week as a new go-​to place in the neighborhood.
PS – there are several TVs inside. I would consider watching games here and having a beer or two as well!

Ok, the first thing I want Unilocal visitors to notice is that this is actually a 4-​star restaurant if you deduct the infamous 1÷13÷09 night that inspired a half-​dozen young professional women to logon and give this place one star. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt their experience was negative, but personally, I don’t think you should give one star or five stars to ANY place you have only visited once given that statistics suggest that your extraordinarily good or bad night might be the result of (un)happy coincidence, as opposed to a genuine reflection of the food and consistent service that a particular establishment is capable of.
That said, I have been to this place approximately 25 times dating back to the 90s, when the restaurant was a very humble dive known as «Taste of Mediterranean». And by humble, I mean humble, as in those awful backlit framed «paintings» with «moving» waterfalls in them and tacky fountains and lousy bathroom upstairs. The décor in the 90s was dreadful, but I tolerated it and kept coming back for the food.
Enter Y2K+5. Taste of Mediterranean burns down, and its proprietor (the NICEST owner/​operator in Phoenix) decided to make a go of it and he essentially mortgaged his liver and lungs to rebuild this place with a decidedly modern feel. Yes, there is something to the criticism that the «Blue Moon Sports Bar» has an atmosphere inapposite to genuine sports bars. And yes, it is a minor miracle that the guys from Coors haven’t sent the owner a «cease and desist» letter given the restaurant’s name and the huge Blue Moon beer banners that often drape the exterior. But that’s all I can really criticize here, because the food (and that’s what you are interested in, right? The Food?) is absolutely FANTASTIC and markedly unique.
The Basmati rice preparation that comes with most combination meals remains untouchable, nobody in Phoenix even comes close, and the portions are heaping. All of the beef and chicken offerings — Kefte, Sultan, Shish, and the awkwardly appearing «Teriyaki» chicken are absolutely 5-​star dishes. They have an American food section on the menu too, including sports bar burgers, but I never wander that far. But I bet they’re good.
I think the neatest part about your Blue Moon experience will be your service. You see that tall, clean cut guy with the irrepressible smile taking your order? That’s the owner/​waiter/​bartender, a true and wonderful classic successful (hopefully) immigrant from the Middle East, who is happy to speak to you at length about any topic that comes to mind — including how his (or your) business is going. Not a shred of pretentiousness in him, the attention your getting from him is sincere and he actually wants to hear about how crappy your life is going! I love it! You can tell in an instant that he wants your experience to be a good one, and to the extent he can influence that, he will (read: Heavy and strong liquor pours!)
PROS: 4.5 star FOOD, 4 star DRINKS, BIG-​ARSE TV’s tuned in to various MAJOR AMERICAN SPORTS (what!!! No futbol!!!), drink variety, menu diversity. Rarely packed in terms of capacity, so you get quick service. Located in underrated apart of Phoenix approaching the very well-​known but very rarely visited Dreamy Draw. Hey, Spy Headquarters is only a half-​block away! :) It’s also a stone’s throw from Carlos O’Briens if you chicken out in the parking lot and decide you need a name brand joint instead.
CONS: Parking is tight and counter-​intuitive, but go ahead and park on the adjacent residential street. Really, no one cares if you park there. Only a matter of time before Coors lawyers try to shut him down or fairly obvious trademark infringement with the use of the name + the strategically placed huge Blue Moon beer banners, so get it while the gettin’ is good!
So why not five stars? Simple: I honestly don’t like Mediterranean food much. But if I did, this is the one truly reliable place to get it.

I am glad I didn’t read some of these reviews before I tried out this place! It was very good!
Lentil soup was YUMMY… and I am not much of a lentil soup guy.
I had the Gyro and my wife had the falafel. Very nicely seasoned and the flavor was there. My wife’s falafel was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside (as it should be). She said that it reminded her of the falafel she got when she was on vacation in Israel.
The only bad thing about the place is that it only has like 8 parking spots out front. I spoke with the owner and one of his customers who came in for a pickup order and he said that he has been getting food from here for 15 years.

My husband and I have been frequenting this establishment since before it was Blue Moon Sports Grill. It used to be known as Taste of Mediterranean, before suffering damage from a major fire. The «regulars» who loved it, came out in droves to help the owner get back on his feet, and encouraged construction on the new establishment. After a long wait, Zulfu (the owner — or John as some call him) re-​opened the restaurant with a new name, a huge bar, and the same great food.
I was very disappointed to read so many negative reviews. We have never encountered a bad smell, and we are always happy with our meals. I usually get the The Basmati rice melts in your mouth. It is delicious. The mead is always tender and spiced just right. Also, the rice pudding is a must for dessert. It is DIVINE. Everything from the hummus & pita to the Kabobs, to the gyros & fries is ALWAYS great. This is one of the reasons we choose to go back. The other reason is because of th owner, and his outstanding customer service. He is a hard-​working, humble, and sincere man, who produces a great product, and that is always grateful for our patronage.
I was not asked to give this review, I just chose to because we love this place so much. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be good. And that is exactly what Blue Moon Sports Grill is.

Great local business owned by a great guy. I love to support these small businesses and Blue Moon has great food and a wonderful atmosphere. I don’t drink so am hesitant to go into bars alone. I can go in anytime to the Blue Moon for a snack or dinner and know the food will be great and the owner will fawn over me.
I eat well at the Blue Moon and the owner treats me like a friend. What more can I ask?

Uhhhh, yeah this place was not good for me. I didn’t care about the parking, I just parked in front of some guy’s house next door. Thanks buddy.
As for the smell, yeah it wasn’t good, but that alone would not warrant a bad review. I might just suggest a Glade plug-​in or 5.
The environment was bright, sterile & oddly quiet. Maybe because it was mostly empty. This pace is definitely not warm & cozy. Losing points.
I was hungry & trying to search the menu for dinner choices. When I told the waitress I was still deciding & started to ask her a question about a menu item, she literally walked off while I was in mid sentence. The girl next to me started laughing & so did I. Maybe she didn’t hear me, but it was obvious she wasn’t listening either. Food was basic, but nothing special.
Luckily I was only having 2 drinks, because the waitress would disappear for long stretches of time. At some point the 2 other tables left & our table of 10+ people were the only table in there. So why did our service suck so bad? Not sure…
The service just blew, period, bottom line. I imagined the waitress in the back watching a Lifetime movie or something, she certainly wasn’t paying that much attention to our table. When I was ready to leave, I waited over 10 minutes for the waitress to come from the back & she came out chewing a huge mouthful. As she chewed it, she said «sorry candy» ughh.
I am all for supporting local businesses, but this one needs some serious fixing. Instead of the owners responding by asking people to put up good reviews, maybe try addressing some of the problems. Just saying…

I’m going to give this place just a tad more credit than the other ladies… but it was still pretttty bad.
First of all, the parking situation is not good. The building is really tall, and the 10-​spot parking lot squished in there makes it look like a Monopoly house.
Second, as previously mentioned, the place stinks like farts. I figured that it was just someone around me because it didn’t smell that bad when I first walked in, but when I moved to another seat at the table, it was still there. and perhaps stronger. Either there is a dead rat in the ceiling or someone at our table is a serious crop duster.
Third, the food was a little overpriced and the taste certainly was unjustifiable. The grape leaves came warm. I am no Greek aficionado, but of the numerous times I have had grape leaves, they have never, ever been served warm. The hummus was okay, but the falafel was pretty dry. All and all, the «Veggie Platter» was quite the disappointment, especially for $ 14.95.
Finally, our waitress was extremely attentive in the beginning, but as the night progressed, she seemed to have slacked off and lost interest in our table, despite the fact that there were only a few small tables in the restaurant. I mean, we had 10 or 12 people, you would think that we would have been taken care of!
I did enjoy my vodka tonic. It was a good pour.
The bathroom was clean, but the décor in this place (light colored tiles, high ceilings, kind of reminded me of an unfinished Vegas Hotel Lobby) didn’t exactly match the «Greek» or «Sports Bar» motif, so I was a little confused what they were going for.
Oh well, we tried.

For my first review I’ll be honest…
We’ll start with the positives:
1. The humus was tasty & not too pricy.
2. The drinks were strong!!!
3. It had lots of large T.V.‘s for a sports bar.
Now for the not so positives:
1. The parking lot is ridiculously intsy tiny.
2.We were the biggest table there & the service got progressively worse.
3. My drink was only refilled when I asked.
4. The place kinda smelled like a dirty diaper.
5. It took forever to get our tab.
Overall, I will not be returning to this place unless the serve improves & the parking lot grows!

There really isn’t much more to add– I think everyone has already summed it up perfectly.
Just.Don’t.
It’s stinky pot pie!
Dottsy gave them a HUGE advantage and they blew it. If it wasn’t for the great company, they would have lost me at the parking lot.

I feel bad about writing this review… it was great for to have this get together tonight (and it definitely wasn’t our host’s fault), but there were so many things wrong with this place.
First of all, I will say the positive… AWESOME time with the girls and boys.
Now…I have no idea how I ate my plate of french fries (with feta and olive oil… which I had to tell the waitress about… not her fault) because the whole place smelled like a nasty dirty diaper. Also… could it get an hotter in there? We asked to turn the heat down or air conditioning up… and it just kept on getting hotter and hotter… I was sweating profusely.
Service was meh and my drink had NO VODKA in it… pure grapefruit juice I tell you. And the parking lot? If it was full (there were like 8 parking spots) I would have left.
It was strange seeing a Greek themed restaurant as a Sports Grill. Somehow those two things just don’t go together at all.

On the plus side, you won’t have trouble finding a table. Yours, too, will most likely be vacated before too long.
I had the yogurt and cucumber dip. I was envisioning thick, zesty Greek-​style yogurt with garlic and lemon in the background to compliment the crunchy fresh cucumber. I got plain olé yogurt (does the Dollar Store sell yogurt?) with cucumber. Should have paid attention to the name of the dish.
Also, if something possesses you to actually come here, save yourself the trouble and order a beer. I tried to order two different call drinks from their bar, but they didn’t stock either liquor.