The Meatball Shop (crave) - Meridian

A NYC staple for those who like the meatball and all the variations. We sat outside and enjoyed a pleasant evening, decent service, food was predictable and good, I had special pork bbq meatball dish

The Meatball Shop is not a neighborhood personality styled eatery as it would be if you were dining in or ordering out at any of the 6 original locations in NYC neighborhoods for which description as provided by the men who started this endeavor, entrepreneur Michael Chernow and well respected Chef Daniel Holzman, say this: ....each restaurant 's distinct vibe reflects the vibrancy of its specific neighborhood... For the Boise effort, their first on the west coast, food is prepared in a ghost kitchen at the Meridian located Crave Delivery complex. And as most Crave experiences we 've had this one was ho hum. HOW TO ORDER: You 'll need to download the Crave Delivery app, place your Meatball Shop order that way noting there is no way to get additional info about or clarification on the menu options prior to order and then either choose to have your meal delivered via Crave drivers $5 fee plus tip of your choice or pick it up at the Crave ghost complex in Meridian. DELIVERY: We chose delivery for this meal and while Crave 's delivery is often good much better than any of their food options this time it was woeful. We were quoted 30 to 60 minutes and it was ticking at 90 minutes when our doorbell rang. There was no way to contact Crave Delivery to ask what was the status after an hour wait as calls go to voicemail a long time Crave problem is to have them die there . This time we did get a call back but it was after the very late meal was delivered. Our perspective was not helped by driver standing at the door without any apology for the 90 minute delivery time but said, Hope you like the food. We 're busy. OK. Off that soapbox. FOOD CHOICES QUALITY: Chef Holzman 's description for The Meatball Shop eats includes this: ..the best meatballs in the world with a mix and match menu utilizing sustainable and natural ingredients whenever possible. Menu highlights include seasonal veggies, market driven salads, sandwiches, handmade ice cream sandwiches, craft cocktails, and an approachable wine program. But this is not so for Crave 's ghost efforts. Our order was for veggie meatballs w/marinara $9 , polenta $7 , cavatappi w/ with vegetable red sauce $7 which looked and tasted exactly like the marinara so did the ghost kitchen cooks get the order wrong or should we have known that although listed as two different sauces they offer six options they would be exactly the same and a house Italian salad $10 that was tiny and was missing both the artichoke hearts and green olives listed in the description. This is consistent with our experiences for items prepared for any vendor in the ghosts at Crave dishes arrive missing items. So except for that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play for food itself? *Veggie meatballs and marinara could have been tasty we think if they were not so long delayed and although we are not vegetarians we don 't eat beef so it was fun to try this option. *Polenta had flavors to suggest it too would have been good had it not by the time it was delivered cooled to nearly room temp. *Cavatappi still held its ' shape in spite of being closed up in a box for that long time the reason cavatappi is a smart shape for a restaurant for take out is it is sturdy . *The salad dressing was good and greens fresh and had it not been missing elements the salad could have been the hit of the meal were it not for the $10 bucks for teeny size. VALUE: My hubby and I are on the lighter eater side of the scale but we found the portions just shy of moderate see photos . For the meal we ordered with delivery fee, tax and driver tip we were just shy of $50. BOTTOM LINE: If we were in a city where The Meatball Shop had a bricks and mortar eatery with their own cooks in the kitchen this was intriguing enough for us to go in to one of their places. But for now they are only in NYC. They did expand to open an eatery in D.C. in 2018 but closed it September 2019 for not performing as well as they expected. The menu is creative and Chef Holzman who i