Urban Picnic

Call ahead to be sure they are still open… they might have become just a catering .for now with light rail construction… BUT DO CALL, NOT IN BUSINESS

The food was good, just be sure to get it to go. Service SUCKS !!! They take the order and disappear into the back. I charged my meal as I only had a 5 on me. Realized I left in car and came back to break and drop a few bucks into tip jar. «Hello…helllo?» No answer. Finished meal, again, no one around. same hello sequence, same results. I know youths need jobs but damn. No wonder this place is empty at 1230 on a Tuesday. Step up the service, your food (turkey wrap) was really good. Your guys working your restaurant stinky tho.

Ok, so I don’t normally do this (update a review for less stars), but I went out of my way to come back to a place that I once loved and it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be!!! The staff is still friendly and the place is still cute, but the food wasn’t where near what I expected it to be when I came all the way from central PHX. The lemonade was wayyy too strong, the pasta salad side was dry, and my sandwich bread was so stale that it literally crumbled in my hand. I still have love for this place, and the concept is still there, but the execution has definitely taken a nosedive. Fail.
Overall, it was better a year+ ago.

I’ve been here several times (but never often enough!) and the food is always amazing! The woman that’s usually at the register is always in a good mood and has a smile on her face. The blue cheese coleslaw is hit or miss but when it’s good, it’s GOOD. Sometimes there’s too much cheese which makes it salty, but I suppose it’s luck of the draw (some scoops are going to have more cheese than others). I haven’t eaten anything there yet that I don’t like. If I had any real complaints it would maybe be that the prices are a bit too high.

Wow such a disappoint. so overpriced for 2 adults and 2 kids it was close to 40 bucks! The young guy who took our order was not friendly not informative, this was my first time there so I had some questions on the menu, it was as if I was totally putting him out and he didn’t have time for us, even though we were the only ones in the café. Then the food arrived, I usually would not be so harsh but seriously nothing was edible… well maybe my son’s grilled cheese but nothing else. The meat had a weird taste to it. My other son had the kids grilled chicken and it I am not even sure it was real chicken, did I mention this lunch as almost 40 $.

I have had sort of mixed experiences here but wanted to write a review because the roast beef sandwich is so damn good. I’ve been here quite a few times and at first, I was trying out the various sandwiches. They were all pretty good but nothing really special. Until I had the roast beef with horseradish, which is amazing. You have to like horseradish but if you do, this sandwich will keep you coming back.

They really put some thought into naming this place. It is literally an urban picnic. The mac & cheese is good, it could be a bigger portion though. The sandwiches are perfect; just classics made into brilliance. The atmosphere is quaint. Could it be bigger? Nah. It’s never busy enough inside. They do delivery and take out which is a added bonus.

I was so excited to try Urban Picnic. I walked in and could tell they were short staffed right away. The girl behind the register was also the runner for the food so she was alternating back and forth. Dark clouds on the horizon.
Constructive criticism: They need to invest in a large version of their menu, simply stapling their paper Togo menu to the wall was confusing and hard to read. Choose a different corner to cut.
I ordered the veggie pressed sandwich and the kids Mac n’ cheese. My friend ordered a salad and a kids meal as well. Her food came out in 20 minutes, and mine was FAR behind. 35 minutes later, my «hot pressed» sandwich came out completely cold in the middle. Disappointing and gross. I went to refill my ice tea, they were out. Bummer. I didn’t even eat the sandwich, and left hungry.
All signs of my experience point to simply being under staffed. I saw a total of three humans trying to man this sinking ship. Based on the previous reviews, it seems like this was a fluke. Hopefully.

So good! Got the California wrap. Has a kick to it, but great flavor! The online menu isn’t up to date they have a lot more. Extremely friendly staff. Highly recommend it!

Tried this place several times and each time it’s been worse and worse. Service is so slow even though they aren’t busy. I swear the staff was all in back smoking pot or something since no one came out for at least 10 minutes and they all seemed spacey. There are lots of gluten free bread options they could purchase and they choose the worst. Place could be great but falls short only saving grace is the lavender lemonade.

Why did I go back here??!
— still overpriced
— I was the only person in the place on a Tuesday and I stood in front of the register for a good 10 minutes before my order was taken.
— The wrap was bland and the side I ordered was $ 4 and came in an itty bitty plastic cup. Thanks for the nibble of your «side.»
–To top it off my wrap came with a hair nestled inside, gag me! The guy who brought it out had longer «skater boy» hair that was not in a hair net or pulled back. My guess is that it was his. Spoiled my lunch.
The place is decorated cute but could stand for major improvement in my opinion.

We called our order ahead and picked it up. My sandwich which was the blue cheese with fig jam and prosciutto was great! But my husband Italian sub was not. The thinnest 3 slices of meat you could possibly put on a sandwich, and they forgot our Mac n cheese for my daughter. My husband was pretty Upset paying 8.50 for this sandwich and 4.00 for Mac that we didn’t receive;so I called and told them the food we received was not worth the price and they forgot my daughters lunch.
The owner was very helpful and concerned; told me they would deliver it right to our door at no extra cost and make his sandwich right. (More meat and not just bread and spinach). That was great of them! Customer service showed me that they cared, and they gave us cookies also.
I would defiantly try them again, the bread on the pressed sandwiches are so crispy and inside is soft and delicious. My sandwich was delicious and I could tell they used high quality meat.

This is an overpriced sandwich shop that is not much better than Subway, but about double the prices and half the menu options.
Waiters were too abrupt and didn’t seem flexible. Coworkers and I left with a bad taste in our mouth.

This place came recommended from a friend. I work near by so I had it delivered. They were spot on with delivery, the driver was friendly and I got a little punch card with my receipt.
I ordered the turkey and stuffing sandwich and when they say its piled high, they are not joking! The sandwich was very filling and yummy. The only thing I would add to it is a side of cranberry sauce. The acidic sweetness would play nicely with the creamy mayo and the herbs in the stuffing.
I ordered a brownie too. That’s was delish!
Well done folks! I’ll be a repeat customer.

Bless the establishments that gave gluten free options! Honestly. That is the #1 thing I look for in a place (being GF for allergy reasons) and it’s great to know that one of my favorites offers gluten-​free options!
And you’ve got to try the lavender lemonade. It’s to die for.

Unilocal hours on Wednesday 20Nov2013 said open at 7am. Went there at 7:10am and it was closed, phone ringing inside. Went to Urban Picnic’s website, no hours were posted, just the address in Mesa. The website re-​routed to a Google Plus profile that stated it was open at 10:30am today!
Not sure what the hours actually are, but just a head’s up to NOT go to this place in the morning if you’re trying to find a new place :/

I really wanted to like this place. The food itself was yummy but the overall experience and pricing for what I got didn’t live up to my expectations. First of all, they were out of 2 out of 4 things we tried to order. Ok… The veggie and goat cheese was delicious! Too bad the veggies were so thinly sliced and sparse. There was literally less than a quarter of a zucchini’s worth of vegetables in it. The sandwich was 95% bread. The honey’s sandwich meat was warm on the edges but cold in the center. Hate that! The sides are also tiny. For $ 9.00 a sandwich, we expected much much more.
A side note: there were several ants (real ones, not the decorations) crawling all over the wall next to the soda machine.

On a recent trip to Mesa, I found myself craving a sammich. Sammiches fill those afternoon spaces in our stomachs that are delightfully craving nutrition by the hand. So off we went to have an urban picnic in the A/​C.
It’s located on Main Street in Mesa, which is under construction right now. That’s probably irrelevant for you, Mr. I’m reading this review a few months from now.” But today it was relevant. There are a few parking places on the street in front of this place, and a parking lot to the west of this row of buildings with parking designated for patrons of this block. Check out the trippy, wavy building art on the side of the building at that parking lot.
In a topsy-​turvy world of commotion and confusion and mess and noise, sometimes it’s a blessed, peaceful, and calm experience to go on a picnic. And that’s what I experienced. It’s clean, mostly white, and the folks here were some of the nicest I’ve met in a while. They were especially understanding and considerate of the two young kids we had, and the boys were definitely digging on the small menu of sammiches.
I got to try the curry chicken on croissant and for myself, ordered the Ruben. Oh Ruben. Stacks of meat, ‘kraut, and a juicy bite. Ya, that’s the bizness. I won the ordering game, if I do say so myself. And I’m not ashamed to say I gobbled it up quick.
One note – they don’t have a restroom. See also: two young boys. That mean me daring out during the meal to run them down to the taco joint on the corner for their potty needs. That was not fun in the heat. But I was delighted to come back to a chocolate shake waiting for me. It was merciful. Beautiful. Kind. And perfect.

What a great find! Don’t get to this side of town much, but now I have a reason to make the trip for sure. :) Urban Picnic is small with a loud shout of character. There is a huge (I mean HUGE) pink plastic overstuffed chair near the front entrance… YOU CAN’T MISS IT. Quirky and I am in love! (Stop by the funky «Eclectic Monkey Emporium» after you dine for some interesting browsing.)
I had the roast beef sandwich with bread so perfectly crisp and the best beef/​horseradish combo I wanna scream! THEN I took the advise of the gal behind the counter and ordered the lavender lemonade so good it isn’t rude to slurp!
So… no it isn’t rude to slurp or scream here in fact I think the owner, who we met, would just smile and be happy you were sitting on the patio.
My next trip I am sure to try the Roasted Turkey and Stuffing sandwich… let the pre-​screaming begin!

While in downtown Mesa on the way to the Arizona Museum for Youth, my daughter and I decided that we’d better grab lunch before we went in. We parked across the street from the museum (in the free three-​hour parking lot), and consulted Unilocal.
Just around the corner sits Urban Picnic. There was a lot of positive buzz surrounding this little sandwich shop, and we thought it sounded like a good place to investigate.
As we walked to the shop (less than five minutes from the parking lot, by the way), we were treated to several different art pieces decorating the sidewalks. It was quite a different scene from many of the other places we’ve seen in Mesa. Even though many of the buildings in the area were vacant, the ones that were still around were very trendy and inviting. Urban Picnic is located right in the heart of it all!
If you’re not familiar with the area, and you’re looking for this place, all you really need to do is look for the PINK chair. It’s seriously HUGE, and it’s right in front of the restaurant. Behind this nifty art piece is the outdoor seating area for the restaurant. Being autumn during our visit, the outdoor seating area looked pretty nice. It’s basically a few decent sized tables out on the sidewalk with oversize umbrellas for shade. However, the umbrellas are the only real protection from the sun. During the summer, I can only imagine how uncomfortably hot it is on the sidewalk right next to the street.
Upon entering the shop, I was a little surprised at how small it was. There are only five tables inside: Three along the far wall, and two in very close proximity in the middle of the dining area. It was a little bit cramped, but it was pretty cool just the same.
Now, the food itself was quite good. My daughter got the kids’ grilled cheese (not listed on the menu, btw, but definitely available), and I got the Italian. Each meal came in a super cool custom Urban Picnic box, the bottom of each box decorated with the classic red/​white checkerboard «picnic blanket» paper. My sandwich came on an incredible baguette, toasted to perfection! I typically don’t get sandwiches that big, so it was almost too much for me to eat in one sitting. Granted, I could have taken what was left home with me, but it was so good, I couldn’t put it down!
Again, being a local place, the prices are slightly higher than most places. But, still… you’re getting SO much food for the money! I think the most expensive sandwich on the menu is $ 8.50. So, my daughter and I ended up spending $ 20 on both sandwiches with drinks for each of us.
The only reason I couldn’t give this place five stars was because of how small the dining room was. But the food is absolutely «as good as it gets».
If you happen to be in Downtown Mesa, do yourself a favor and grab a sandwich from Urban Picnic!