Stop No. 4 on the tour of Short Pants Plaza is Village Pita Bakery, a bakery, deli and Mediterranean grocery store which has been around since the late ’70s.
They make fresh and hot pitas, which are sold in bags, and are also used in Lebanese food you don’t really get anywhere else.
Village Pita makes a variation of sfeeha ($3.50), a kind of meat pie that’s usually baked in a pizza dough. The meat pie here is made of ground beef spread inside a crispy, toasted pita. It’s a yummy portable snack with hints of cinnamon and allspice.
We also tried the chicken pocket ($7.99). I hesitate to call it a shawarma even though it’s 95% the same. Stuffed with chicken, tomatoes, pickled turnip, hot peppers, parsley and globs of garlic sauce, it’s a glorious, pungent, messy delight.
The 5% difference is the fresh, toasted pita that forms the crisp base of this chicken pocket, and the wild pickled cucumber that gives it a nice punch.
For those who want to eat-in, there are high stools at a counter facing the window with a view of the parking lot. Otherwise, it’s takeout but not sure if you can make it home before you take a bite of the hot sfeeha. I would advise not tucking into the chicken pocket until you’re somewhere safe and armed with napkins.
The grocery shelves are also filled with inexpensive spices, jars of garlic or stuffed grape leaves, and all sorts of other fun cooking stuff.
Village Pita Bakery, 255-28th St. S.E., Unit 208, Calgary, (403) 273-0330. Open Monday to Saturday 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As the name of my blog suggests, I will pretty much eat anything.
I’m partial to meats but will suffer fruits and vegetables.
I dedicate this to people who love to eat, and find art in their meals. If this blog piques your interest at least once, then I’m happy as a goldfish that eats til it explodes. 
Make sure to put lemon juice & hot sauce on your sfeeha (both are on the counter where people dine in). It makes it that much better just be careful because the hot sauce is HOT.
I love that you are doing a feature on Short Pants Plaza. I work a block away & I love Short Pants plaza!
Merry: Do you have a favourite place, or do you like all of them?
I like all of them. They are all so different that I can’t pick a favorite. My favorite for a bigger lunch is Safari Grille while my favorite when I’m broke is a “meat pie” at Village Pita!
Village Pita – that’s my secret fave place for lunch, the benchmark by which I judge all other lunches in Calgary!! I am hooked on the spinach/feta pita, also not to be attempted without an armload of napkins. Nothing else comes close for price point, freshness, crispness, juiciness. So, Village Pita has virtually no atmosphere! You don’t really want to be seen in public with spinach juice dribbling down your face anyway, so just eat in your car. The za’atar pita rocks too. Good on you to know about Village Pita!