After months of waiting, the meatballs, schnitzels, and cured fish are back -- Beaver-style.
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Beaver Choice, the quirky restaurant of seriously delicious Polish, Canadian, and Swedish food, is scheduled to open today at its new and larger location in Mesa (in the former Ripe Tomato Cafe on Baseline Road between Alma School Road and Country Club Drive).
And along with the bigger Beaver digs come some Beaver bonuses.
Hanna Gabrielsson, who owns and operates Beaver Choice with her family, made the decision to move her restaurant to a bigger space last year when the original location, located in Tempe and opened in late 2010, was unable to accommodate the number of guests coming through the door.
The Mesa Beaver Choice is around three times the size of the original 20-seat space, includes a patio, and will offer table service instead of having customers order at the counter as they did at the tiny Tempe location. Plus, the new location will have a bar stocked with wine as well as Swedish, Polish, and Canadian beers.
The menu, a lunch and dinner selection of primarily Swedish dishes along with a few Polish and Canadian entries, will keep fan favorites like Swedish meatballs, gravlax, and schnitzels but will expand to include an appetizer section and new entrees such as the traditional Swedish beef dish skomakarlåda, scallops, and even elk.
"We know not to mess with something that is not broken," Gabrielsson says.
On the dessert side, Gabrielsson has kept her popular and meringue-y Beaver Supreme and has added new sweet selections such as crepes with fresh lingonberries and Scandinavian apple pie.
The new Beaver Choice in Mesa opens today. Reservations are recommended. To make them, call 480-921-3137.
Beaver Choice 745 West Baseline Road, Mesa 480-921-3137 www.beaverchoice.com
