Pickup is the “eating out” dining of choice these days, but some fast-food concepts were founded on healthful take-out options from the get-go. NOTE: Call for hours during COVID-19 shutdown. d’Lite Healthy On The Go Founded by a Valley couple more than a decade ago to marry healthful ingredients and preparation with convenience. Menu caters to a full range of dietary needs … [More]
The Dressing Room: Food with a Taste of History
All the wonderful things that deserve to be told about this enticing eatery in the trending Roosevelt Row area of Downtown Phoenix will be shared as soon as we all get our lives back into our familiar patterns. At this time, however, the story is all about great food and great service. Pivoting at this time of uncertainty to address the needs of a public who want to enjoy … [More]
Running Late
Some of our favorite lunch stops are open only to 2 or 2:30. And then there’s that long pause until fine dining opens at 5. How about some great mid-afternoon lunching? Taco Guild Unique historic setting with many of the former church’s beautiful architectural elements. Mon. – Thurs.: 11a – 11p; Fri.: 11a – midnight; Sat.: 10a – midnight; Sun.: 10a – 10p 546 E. … [More]
PHX Beer Co: Tapping into Greatness
When PHX Beer Co’s owners set out to augment their excellent brewery and taproom, they put the same care into developing a unique restaurant experience, which starts at the front door crafted for PHX Beer Co incorporating kegs and styled steel hardware. An idyllic location on the lake in the back of the Mercado del Lago shopping center provides an enjoyable setting, whether … [More]
Pomelo’s Welcoming ‘Home’
Pomelo is the fine dining element on the property of Luci’s at the Orchard. Nestled into the residential community on 12th Street just north of Glendale Avenue in Phoenix, Luci’s is an unobtrusive destination — which is exactly what owners Jerry Mansoor and Ken and Lucia Schnitzer intended. To catch people’s eyes, “we have a water tower instead of intrusive signage on the … [More]
Restaurants Take Girl Scout Cookie Dessert Challenge
Too many people equate “Girl Scouts” with “ Girl Scout cookies.” The program is far more comprehensive and defies a simple summary, but it’s true that the cookie sales program keeps Girl Scouts in the public eye. Girl Scout cookies have come a long way from when, baked at home by the Girl Scouts themselves for fundraising, they were also evidence of culinary skills. Local … [More]
OEB Breakfast Co. Raises the Bar for Breakfast – and Lunch
Breakfast is more than a meal as OEB Breakfast Co. serves it up — it’s an experience. And that is exactly what Chef Mauro Martina intended when he launched his concept in Canada in 2009. This past holiday season, he ventured out of Canada to bring OEB to Scottsdale, having fallen in love with this area over the course of many visits to the annual Barrett-Jackson Car Auction in … [More]
Agave del Scottsdale Celebrates Southern Mexican
Mexico boasts a variety of cuisines that go farther “south of the border” than cheese-drenched enchiladas and fried street tacos. Delivering that broader culinary experience is the mission of the restaurateurs behind Agave del Scottsdale, where the dishes reflect flavor traditions of areas from Mexico City south. Several ceviche dishes offer many flavors “del mar” such as … [More]
Local Restaurateurs Put Meatballs on Top
Two of our Valley’s favorite restaurateurs have taken what used to be just an add-on to a spaghetti dish and made meatballs a culinary category of their own. The Sicilian Butcher From The Maggiore Group – which opened its first restaurant, Tomaso’s Italian Restaurant, in Phoenix in 1977 – is this build-your-own meal experience that puts an emphasis on craft meatballs. … [More]
Jazzin’ It Up at Voodoo Daddy’s
Laissez les bons temps rouler! That phrase (“Let the good times roll!”) is nearly synonymous with “New Orleans.” And while that city is geographically a ways away from us in Metro Phoenix, restaurateur Ron Lynch strove to give us a taste of its atmosphere through Voodoo Daddy’s Steam Kitchen’s décor and menu. A mural dominates the dining room, depicting vividly garbed jazz … [More]
Sushi Unbarred
There are a lot of sushi restaurants that declare themselves with the word a prominent part of their name. But there is good sushi to be found at other dining establishments. Here are three that offer great sushi as part of a broader menu. HILLSTONE Subdued dining room or friendly bar. 2650 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix (602) 957-9700 AJ’S FINE FOODS Hardly a … [More]
Galeto Brazilian Steakhouse: Carving a Tableside Experience
The brightly colored painting of a South American urban landscape of houses and rooftops — even more striking within the décor of dark woods and black slate tile floor — welcomes guests to the unique culinary experience created by Galeto founders to celebrate and share their cultural traditions. The bar area includes a peaceful brick-walled patio, but the main attraction is … [More]
In the Wake of Guy Fieri
“As seen on TV” is a phrase that often goes with a “wink, wink” and less than positive expectations. Not so with restaurants showcased on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives," where the attraction is not just the celebrity of having been on TV, but is, first, the food that got them there. Here are three in Metro Phoenix that rated a visit from traveling gourmand Guy … [More]
OBON: Sushi and Serenity
Dozens of gilt-colored cat figurines wave a choreographed greeting to patrons at OBON Sushi + Bar + Ramen, which recently added another Scottsdale location in McCormick Ranch. The décor otherwise is the epitome of simplicity, geometric lines from the table arrangement to chairs, along with chromatic neutrality of dark grey tiles and light woods, creating a sense of calm. … [More]
Vintage Atmosphere
Food is only one part of the dining experience. The restaurant’s atmosphere enhances the menu. Here are three In Business Magazine favorites. BOBBY-Q Nationally recognized by barbecue aficionados, Bobby-Q offers a vintage countrified setting featuring reclaimed woodwork and antique gas lamp. The ribs are the star attraction here, slow cooked over almond and mesquite wood … [More]
Taco Guild – Where Past Is Present
The wonderful thing about the adaptive reuse project that produced the Taco Guild is, it left much more intact than just the structure. The building’s previous lives as a Methodist Church — institutionalized in the cornerstone dated 1893 (before Arizona was even a state) and another from its renewal in 1955 after a few decades of disuse following a fire in 1911 — are … [More]
Menu for Hot Times
Phoenix’s sizzling summers give us more than hot temperatures; they give us some cool new dishes at many of our favorite restaurants. Pita Jungle and Mora Italian are among those that have rolled out a selection of special summer offerings. Mora Italian Celebrity chef Scott Conant gives his Italian cuisine a modern touch throughout his full menu that goes well beyond pizza … [More]
Toro: Fiery Flavors in a Peaceful Setting
Toro’s easy access of the Loop 101 freeway, convenient ample parking and the freeing feeling of wide-open spaces would make this restaurant attractive even if the food were only so-so. But the food is superb, flavors wonderfully blended in dishes uniquely crafted to celebrate Latin — notably, Peruvian — cuisines. The restaurant describes its menu as a signature “Suviche” … [More]
