Three ASU grads opened the first Pita Jungle in Tempe in 1994 and had Arizona eating hummus years before the national fast-casual chains caught on. The Shea Boulevard location is Scottsdale’s standby: quick, bright, fairly priced, and the rare place a carnivore and a vegan can order without negotiation.
The menu sprawls, but the core is short — the chicken shawarma pita or a crackly lavosh from the wood-fired oven, with the hummus that built the brand on the side.
When to go: off-peak. Weekday noon turns it into the neighborhood’s unofficial lunch cafeteria.