Fresh and fast at Pita Pit in Collegetown

This week the 14850 Dining Report is visiting Pita Pit in Collegetown. This quick eatery on Dryden Road makes hot and cold sandwiches to order in white or whole wheat pitas, with your choice of a whole host of veggies.

Start with your choice of ham, turkey, tuna, or maybe go vegetarian with falafel or hummus. Get chicken teriyaki or souvlaki, and your food will be heated up first on the grill. While the filling's grilling, pick out your toppings from an impressive selection, and Pita Pit's friendly crew will fill your pita layer by layer.

We're always glad to see real leaf lettuce as opposed to shredded iceberg, but they don't stop there. Pick fresh spinach for a serious boost of iron, calcium, and antioxidants, and leave the can to Popeye. Slices of tomato will go well with a handful of alfalfa sprouts, add mushrooms and black olives, and maybe even hot peppers for some zing and pineapple to cool things down. Choose from American, cheddar, or feta cheese and pick a sauce, including some creative ones beyond ranch and honey mustard, like Greek-style tzatziki sauce.

The vegetables, sauces, and cheese are all included, but you can also spend a little bit more to get hummus or baba ganoush added to any sandwich, or avocado or bacon.

Pita Pit even has breakfast pitas, featuring scrambled eggs mixed with hash brown potatoes, cheese, onions, peppers, and ham, bacon, or crumbled Italian sausage. (Of course, you can skip the meat.) We suggest salsa as the dressing for the breakfast pitas; somehow vinaigrette doesn't seem right. The eggs are pre-scrambled, but come out OK reheated on the grill just as the other sandwich fillings are.

It's easy for vegetarians and carnivores alike to find something to enjoy here. (If you're a strict vegetarian, the Pita Pit folks will gladly microwave your falafel or other hot veggie item, instead of tossing it on the grill near someone else's gyro meat or chicken.)

Plan on spending six to ten bucks on a meal, but watch for the five-dollar daily pita and a drink special. Find Pita Pit at 143 Dryden Road or pitapit.com, order at campusfood.com or call 277-8748 and tell them you heard about them here.