“ We heard about this place from a friend and made a point of visiting them during our trip. This is a casual eating place. Furnitures are bare and the place is small. The service is okay. The food is great. They use quality ingredients and do not mask the tastes with lots of salt. We had chicken and meat kebabs and both were great. I specially like the chicken kebab with garlic sauce. Highly recommended. ”

“ If you enjoy Mediterranean this should be your next place to try. It's a small A+ rated restaurant. Very clean, and very friendly service, I ordered a Gyro to go. It was by far the best I have had in a very long time. ”

“ James Beard folks know a thing or two about food eh? I had a single chicken skewer, yogurt with shallots, baklava and Turkish coffee. The chicken was seriously possibly the most moist tender tasty chicken I've ever eaten. Served on yummy seeded bread. Yogurt was also served with bread and everyone at the table agreed it too was delicious. I think one of my goals in life is to compare baklavas to those I had in Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue and this is hands down the best I've had west of the Mississippi (most are too dry and sometimes too sweet) There were a couple of vegetarians in our party and while the seasonal salad looked good I would respectfully suggest that they consider adding one more vegetarian option? If they don't, add one of the yogurts or hummus both of which are served with bread and i imagine you'll be a happy veggie. ”

“ Found ourselves in Deer Valley area today. Ate at AVA Bakery -a James Beard Semifinalist. It was dead at 1pm on a Saturday which doesn't bode well & a google search told me they're looking for a new owner. The food was very good. The kabob wrap, chicken wrap & Bandari were great but I preferred the kabob wrap (we went halfsies in the pic with kabob & bandari). We also had the Barbari bread-this was meh (no oil, topping etc so just dry bread but kid ate it)...couldn't figure out what the James Beard people had tried that led it to Semi final status but flavors were on point. ”

“ Amazing Persian breakfast!! The traditional omelette and sangak reminded me of the Persian omelettes my dad used to make me when I was a child. I will definitely be back! 10/10 recommend! ”

“ We've been meaning to try Ava Bakery for a while. I love Mediterranean food! We ordered food to go - it was all delicious! They bake own bread and it's delicious. Ground kebob, chicken and veal stew were very flavorful. Portions are good although the veal stew didn't have a lot of meat. Tried their cakes too - chocolate, almond, carrot cake and baklava. Baklava was light and not overwhelmingly sweet. Otherwise carrot cake was our favorite. Service was very friendly and courteous. ”

“ I found out about this place from the latest James Beard Award nominate list and Ava Bakery was the only one that got nominated under the "Best Restaurant" list this year. Since we don't have a Michelin guide in AZ, this is the next best thing and it really is a big deal. I've never been truly disappointed when I follow the James Beard list. Even if they don't actually win, being nominated is a huge deal for restaurants. It's quite far for me if I wanted to go here from my home which's about an hour away, but I happened to be in the neighborhood so I decided that this was a good chance to go and try. The location is inside of an unassuming strip mall that gives off a 80's vibe. The mall itself needs a lot of facelift. I entered the restaurant and there were couple of occupied tables and I could've ate there, but decided to take the food to-go. A nice lady stepped out of the kitchen and took my order. What I ate: -Tongue sandwich. I usually like the texture of a whole tongue and that's the reason why I order it, but this was more of a shredded version of tongue. However, it was pretty tasty with onions, basils, and other herbs. -Kabab plate: came with their whole wheat bread which is like a flat pita bread, but very chewy, soft, and more moist than pita. The plate came with charred roasted tomato, basil, and onions. I love love koobideh and this was one of the better ones I've had and I loved the fact that they weren't overly salty like most places. The meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful. Their bread is worth buying some extra so that you can bring home and eat with hummus. -Saffron rice pudding: not too sweet and rice were slightly undercooked just like how I like. -baklava: again the theme of this place is subtlety. I don't like over seasoned food, but I prefer my baklava more syrupy and sweet. Their baklava were neither. However they were delicious with a cup of tea after my meal. 4 items plus bottle of water came to $52. Overall I really liked their food and I would definitely return again when I'm in the neighborhood. ”

“ Great food, great people, must have every day :) The owner make you feel right at home. It worth every penny you pay. JUST LOVE IT !!! ”

“ I recently visited Ava bakery and was impressed with the quality of their halim. The flavor was rich and the texture was just right - not too soft and not too chewy. However, I do have to say that the prices for their halim were a bit steep. While I understand that good quality ingredients come at a cost, I couldn't help feeling like I was paying a premium for the convenience of being able to purchase halim in AZ. Despite the higher prices, I would still recommend Ava bakery for their delicious halim. Just be prepared to pay a little bit more than you might at other places. Overall, I had a great experience at Ava bakery and would visit again. Seating areas are very limited so keep in mind to make a reservation a head of time! ”