Pita Pit serves it up fresh in Moses Lake
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake Pita Pit at 324 W. Broadway is open for business. Employees include Brooke Myers, from left, Trinidy Valencia, owner Pam Leseman, Morgan Yamane and Elly Johnson.
The Pita Pit Corporation has a cookie-cutter approach, if you will, creating its restaurants with similar design and business format. But owner Pam Leseman says her operations in Ephrata and now Moses Lake have their own unique style.
Pita Pit at 324 W. Broadway Ave. is open and ready for business, serving a variety of fresh pitas, as well as offering a catering service.
“My store in Ephrata has totally different decor than this one in Moses Lake. But it’s still the same menu with fresh vegetables prepared every day,” said Leseman, who employees 18 people in Moses Lake. “I like the idea that the Pita Pit is a healthy food choice. We serve vegetarian pitas. We also have beef, chicken, ham, turkey and bacon.
“Our gyros are lamb or beef, so there’s a wide variety.”
She said she likes to buy her produce from local markets as much as possible to ensure freshness and help the local economy.
“In the summertime, all of our vegetables are purchased local. I get a lot of stuff from Mission Farms,” she said. “It’s a veteran’s family farm and I do a lot of business with them.
“I’m from Ephrata, so it means a lot to me to business locally. We need each other’s support and the support of the community.”
The corporate office helped find the location and helped with setup and a business plan, doing some of the heavy lifting, Leseman said. But when it comes right down to it, it’s all about providing a healthy lifestyle option to her friends and neighbors. Moses Lake is a little bigger than Ephrata, but she still likes that hometown aspect getting to know everybody that stops by.
She trains her staff right on site, anywhere from pita preparation to service. The veggies are prepped fresh every day.
“We teach our employees about the produce. We learn everything,” Leseman said. “They learn how to do the sales. They learn how to do the grill, how to roll the pitas. We prep veggies for a couple of hours every day.
“It’s important to have a knowledgeable staff that can help a customer with their choices and be helpful in what we have to offer.”