The Pita House

Opening a restaurant in Fountain Hills was no easy decision for Elvis Kelechian and his family.

The Kelechians own the Pita House in Old Town Scottsdale. Customers from the Northeast Valley have traveled to the Scottsdale restaurant, and many have been asking the family to open a restaurant closer to this side of town.

“This wasn’t an easy decision to open a second restaurant,” Kelechian said. “We want to make sure we maintain the consistency of great food before we go out on the limb to open a brand new store.”

The Kelechians have operated The Pita House in Scottsdale since 1998. Offering Mediterranean cuisine in a comfortable environment is important to the strategy of the Scottsdale store, and now the Fountain Hills establishment.

“Good, freshly-made food is what we serve,” Kelechian said. “We use my mother’s recipes. She takes her food seriously. She loves people to love her food. She lives for people to be happy with what we serve.”

Kelechian is responsible for marketing and operations. His mother, Claire, provides the product.

“Without my mother, I would be nothing,” he said. “She is the heart and soul of the restaurant.”

Kelechian said the concept of the Pita House is to provide great quality food but at a fast pace.

“A lot of Middle Eastern fine dining restaurants have come and gone,” he said. “They just don’t survive. We introduced a different concept, and it was a hit in Scottsdale. We are blessed to have opened a restaurant and to be successful.”

Kelechian said the Fountain Hills business will follow the Scottsdale model.

“We have a loyal following,” he said. “As we have been preparing to open the restaurant in Fountain Hills, I have been shocked at the number of people who have been coming to the Scottsdale location stop in and say they are looking forward to having us in their hometown.”

Kelechian said business primarily is takeout, although the Fountain Hills establishment is larger than the Scottsdale store. There is seating for 36 in the Fountain Hills restaurant, plus a small outdoor patio.

Part of the reason Kelechian has patio seating is for the business’s unusual hookah offerings.

Smoking a hookah pipe, is common in the Middle East as a social activity. Hookahs were introduced at the Scottsdale store two years ago, and Kelechian said the popularity just grows and grows.

“The hookah definitely is a cultural thing,” he said. “But people around the world enjoy it.”

Hookahs are vase-like devices filled with liquid – traditionally water is used, but today many other liquids fill the jug, including whiskey and milk. The pipe portion of the device has flavored tobacco.

“There is every flavor imaginable,” Kelechian said. “We have banana, strawberry, mint, apple, grape and others.”

The tobacco is filtered through the liquid. People from the old country inhale the smoke, but the tobacco is stronger even than cigar tobacco.

“You really don’t want to inhale it,” Kelechian said. “It is very, very strong.”

Kelechian said smoking a hookah generally is done at the end of a meal.

“It is kind of dessert,” he said.

While the hookah has become a popular tradition at the Scottsdale location, and it may catch on in Fountain Hills as well, Kelechian said the food is the reason people keep coming back.

The menu features a full array of familiar Mediterranean food such as falafel, hummus, babghanouj and tabbouleh. Because the family is from the Middle East (Elvis was born in Damascus, Syria; his mother is Syrian and his father is Lebanese), they have a strong attachment to making the food authentic.

They serve gyros, kabobs and salads to appeal to every taste.

The restaurant is located at 14835 E. Shea Blvd., in the Fry’s Shopping Center. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

For information or to order, call (480) 836-7482. Online ordering also is available by logging on to www.pitahouseonline.com.

This story was featured June 2006.