When I heard Jeff Flancer (pictured below) was opening a second location of his funky little Gilbert café, Flancer’s, in east Mesa, I was excited.

Would the new location, which just opened on the southwest corner of McKellips and Higley roads, be bigger and thus easier to get into during peak hours? Would the menu offer the same great sandwiches and pizzas?

So, even though I reviewed the Gilbert location just a year ago, three friends and I feel compelled to jump on the Loop 202 to check out the new digs. We’re disappointed, but not surprised, to find a dozen people waiting to be seated at 1:15 p.m. on a Friday.

The Mesa strip-mall location indeed is more spacious and more comfortable than the Gilbert original with 12 large booths and seven four-person tables. But there are no two-person tables, so pairs and solo diners take up valuable real estate when the line stretches out the door.

Pistachio-colored walls are covered with dozens of posters for ‘60s and ‘70s rockers, many of whom can be heard over the house sound system. Green-glass light fixtures hang above highly polished, dark wood tables featuring the silhouette of Flancer’s signature goat.

A quick glance confirms the menu, now in full color, is same as the Gilbert location’s.

Flancer’s famous green chili turkey sandwich, voted the best sandwich in the East Valley by Get Out readers a couple years ago, has a new name: the Chile Verde Birdie ($7, pictured above). Loaded with turkey (straight off the bone), provolone and green-chili mayo on a soft hoagie roll, it’s as good as ever.

A ham sandwich with red peppers and basil, now called the I Ham, I Cry ($6.75), also is enjoyable, although it’s a little light on peppers. A bowl of basil pesto pasta ($12.50) has well-cooked fettucine in a subtle garlic cream sauce.

Another favorite, the Roadhouse Pizza ($15.75 for small, pictured at left), easily exceeds the 12-inch diameter listed on the menu. Topped with pepperoni, sausage, ham, green peppers and onions, it reminds me how much my mouth watered while I covered Flancer’s annual pizza-eating contest in April.

Like at the Gilbert location, service is fast and friendly despite the crowd. Our pizza arrives a few minutes after our other three entrees, but a manager notices and comes over to apologize.

Flancer’s prices, not exactly cheap to begin with, have increased a little since my last review. (The turkey sandwich is 50 cents more, and the pizza costs an additional $1.25.)

Still, Flancer’s remains, if necessary, well worth a wait.

Flancer’s
Where: 1902 N. Higley Road, Mesa (southwest corner of Higley and McKellips Road). Other location in Gilbert.
Open: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Prices: Appetizers $4.50-$8.50, salads $3.75-$12.50, sandwiches $6.75-$10.25, pizza $11.25-$24, pasta $10-$14, desserts $1.50-$5.50.
Info: (480) 396-0077 or flancers.com.

First Taste reviews are based on initial visits to new East Valley restaurants. Full reviews are written after multiple visits, usually over a period of several weeks, after the restaurant has been open at least a couple months.

Jeff Flancer graduated from New York’s prestigious American Culinary Institute and worked at fine restaurants on both coasts. So when he decided to open an East Valley restaurant in 2000, you might have expected it to be in trendy Scottsdale or on Tempe’s busy Mill Avenue.

Instead, Flancer took over a former pizza joint in Gilbert and opened Flancer’s Café, a small eatery that focuses on the basics — sandwiches, pizzas and burgers.

A friend and I arrive for a late lunch on a Monday, and Flancer’s — with nine small booths and five two-person tables wedged into its tiny, L-shaped space — is packed. Lucky for us, there’s one table available, allowing us to bypass several parties of three or more people waiting.

There’s nothing fancy about Flancer’s decor. Neon signs and classic-rock album covers adorn the walls. Mimbres goat icons are everywhere, a nod to the restaurant’s mascot, whose story is detailed on one wall.

We decide to start with an appetizer of homemade chicken strips ($6.75) — not so much because we want chicken strips, but rather to try the accompanying orange cranberry barbecue sauce. It’s an ingredient found throughout Flancer’s menu, from sandwiches to pizzas to wings.

We dunk the large strips in the dark orange sauce, expecting it to taste slightly juicy. Instead, we’re surprised by a strong, thick flavor, more orange peel than orange juice, that we enjoy.

Our server brings extra plates so we can split an Awesome Balsam salad ($5.99), which features strips of warm balsamic chicken, mushrooms and roasted red peppers. “Warm” accurately describes not only the temperature of the chicken, but also its pleasant seasoning.

My friend orders the green chili turkey sandwich ($6.50). No deli meat here — the turkey breast comes straight off the bone. It comes with provolone, tomatoes, romaine and Flancer’s homemade green chili mayonnaise on the restaurant’s freshly baked bread.

(Later, while going through some files back in the office, I discover this Flancer’s sandwich won a 2003 Get Out reader contest for best sandwich in the East Valley. It’s easy to understand why.)

For my entree, I decide to try one of Flancer’s specialty pizzas, The Roadhouse ($14.50 for a 12-inch). With pepperoni, Italian sausage, cured ham, green bell peppers and red onions on a perfectly cooked crust, it’s delicious.

We finish our meal with a large helping of homemade cobbler ($5.75), which on this day is strawberry-apple, with several small scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.

Flancer’s may focus on the basics, but its imaginative-yet-unpretentious menu, fresh ingredients and friendly service are a recipe for success. Sometimes, simple can be sensational.

Flancer’s Café
Address: 610 N. Gilbert Road, Gilbert (one-quarter mile south of
Guadalupe Road)
Open: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Prices: Appetizers $4.50-$6.99, salads $3.50-$10.99, sandwiches $6.25-$9.50, burgers $7.50-$8.99, pizzas $9.99-$21.99, pastas $9-$12/50, desserts $1.39-$4.25.
Info: (480) 926-9077 or flancers.com.