Markets & Restaurants >>

• Readers Choice
  BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT Salt Cellar Restaurant 550 North Hayden, Scottsdale 480-947-1963 BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT P.F. Chang's China Bistro several Valley locations BEST FRENCH RESTAURANT Sophie's French Bistro 2320 East Osborn 602-956-8897 BEST MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT The Persian... More >>
• Best Superhero Restaurant
  Cafe ah Pwah
  The fact that Cafe ah Pwah boasts a beautiful, contemporary European menu in a charming, cozy bistro setting is deserving of an award in itself. The fact that its owner Karen Kapraszewski was brave enough to set it in the tiny country center of main street Gilbert makes her our restaurant... More >>
• Best Steak House
  The Grill
  Beef. It's what's for dinner. Particularly if it's dinner at The Grill, the Valley's shrine to prime, dry-aged meat. The restaurant is part of an AAA Five Diamond Resort, and looks it, complete with breathtaking views of the 18th hole of the emerald green Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale... More >>
• Best Cowboy Steak House
  The Horny Toad
  The story of the Horny Toad is pure cowboy yarn: "Sometime during the last century, an old prospector working the area a few miles northeast of the little town of Phoenix, Arizona, came upon a small watering hole. He thought to himself that this here was mighty purty scenery and he'd bet them... More >>
• Best Cult Restaurant
  The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association Vegetarian House
  She is the Supreme Master Ching Hai, a self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus and Buddha, and millions around the world believe her. Phoenix is just one of many cities where the Master's faux-meat recipes satisfy hungry vegetarians who clamor for soy chicken, duck or lobster, brought to your... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Restaurant
  Desert Greens Cafe
  Desert Greens' menu insists that it creates "gourmet culinary creations for your heart and soul." We believe them. Who'd have thought that the dread term "vegetarian" (or, scarier, "vegan") could be so satisfying? We'd eat this stuff even if it weren't good for us. Oh, the herb polenta grilled... More >>
• Best Gourmet Restaurant
  Gregory's World Bistro
  Gourmet is much more than complicated, expensive food. It's a symphony of spectacular ingredients, carefully selected and matched for a "wow, what is this gorgeous thing" dish. It's a compound effect, where each course builds on another, like rising drama of theater. That having some knowledge... More >>
• Best French Restaurant
  Christopher's Fermier Brasserie
  Christopher's has racked up the awards since opening in 1998 (James Beard, even!). The bistro is a little lower-profile these days, but still a model for magical, traditional, ooh-la-la-inspiring French cuisine. Adding flair is a huge collection of wines, thoughtfully paired with dishes and... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant
  Acqua e Sale
  The only thing we've got more of than so-so Italian restaurants in this town is mediocre Mexican. Yet until someone can come up with the incredible Italian cuisine that is the baby of Acqua e Sale owner Daniel Malventano, we're just chalking up those other Italian places as average shops hawking... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Italian Restaurant
  La Famiglia
  Every city needs a little pizza and pasta place to call its own -- a hole in the wall where people can cozy up with a masterful meatball, a magical marinara, a perfect penne, a ravishing ravioli, a stunning Sicilian sausage pie. Friendly, robust conversation with the owners and with fellow... More >>
• Best Thai Restaurant
  Touch of Thai
  Thai food is all about dynamic flavors -- spice, seasonings, sizzle. And Touch of Thai puts much more than just a touch of that into its dishes. This place is nuts for the fiery chile peppers, but in a very, very good way. The taste always shines through its veil of flame. We're not looking... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant
  Gourmet House of Hong Kong
  It's faded powder blue paint on the outside and cotton candy pink on the inside, but all over, it's the most authentic Chinese anywhere in town. Keep in mind that authentic means adventurous, with dishes like duck feet with greens. The menu of more than 400 items can be intimidating. But order... More >>
• Best Vietnamese Restaurant
  Pho Bang
  We're nothing if not completely dedicated to preserving the integrity of our Best of Phoenix picks. Day in and day out, we're pounding the streets, scouting, sampling, checking once and checking twice to make sure our selections are, indeed, the very best. Consider Pho Bang. We check on this... More >>
• Best Japanese Restaurant
  Sushi on Shea
  There are only, like, a gazillion Japanese restaurants in the Valley these days. But as many new, exciting places open up, we find ourselves returning each time to Sushi on Shea. We've been darkening its doors since it first opened in 1994, and have yet to find anything but a perfect... More >>
• Best Korean Restaurant
  Tabletop Grill & Sushi
  We love taking newbies to Korean restaurants. It's so fun to casually mention that Korean cuisine contains pickles. Then to watch our guests' eyes bug out when, like at Tabletop, some 13 little plates arrive, each bearing a different type of vegetable, marinated and spiced to varying heat levels... More >>
• Best Indian Restaurant
  Maharaja Palace
  If a food has thrived for some 5,000 years like Indian cuisine has, we've got to believe there's something pretty special about it. For proof, all we have to do is stop in at Maharaja Palace, home to the Valley's most exciting display of what makes Indian so interesting. Here, we find how... More >>
• Best New Restaurant
  Atlas Bistro
  The past 12 months have seen the introduction of not just one incredible destination, but several. What happened? Did serious chefs finally wake up and realize how many Valley folks have lots of cash to spend on their evenings out (not us, but we've heard of such people)? For once, it was hard... More >>
• Best New American Restaurant
  House of Tricks
  What do we love best about House of Tricks? It must be the setting, a small 1920s cottage with just 12 tables and an old river rock fireplace. Or maybe it's the patio, feeling like someone's front porch under a canopy of grapevines. Even as the restaurant has grown -- the property now includes a... More >>
• Best Mediterranean Restaurant
  Marquesa
  We're not the only ones enchanted with this amazing experience -- the resort's signature restaurant is rated AAA Five Diamond and Mobil Four Star. The decor alone is mouth-watering, rich in the colors of the Mediterranean region with polished marble, soft leather and 16th- and 17th-century... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Restaurant
  Sabuddy Israeli Restaurant
  Sabuddy is well-versed in the art of Middle Eastern cooking. There's a little bit of everything European on this lengthy menu -- baba ghanouj, chicken liver pâté, Russian potato salad, matbuha (North African tomato salad), shish kebabs, schnitzel and goulash. No matter what we... More >>
• Best Seafood Restaurant
  C-Fu Gourmet
  In Manhattan's or San Francisco's Chinatown, our criterion for selecting a seafood restaurant is simple. It must have live fish, and lots of it, on display. While the Valley lacks a Chinatown, we've found the fresh fish alive and swimming at C-Fu. The choices change with the seasons, but we can... More >>
• Best Old Valley Charm
  El Chorro Lodge
  In this town, "old" is anything predating the '80s. But when we say old, we mean ancient. Such as the heritage of El Chorro, a local landmark since 1937. Very little has changed over the years at this adobe building, formerly Judson School for Girls and later a restaurant frequented by such... More >>
• Best New Valley Charm
  Paisley Violin
  It was just seven years ago that downtown Phoenix welcomed its first McDonald's. Given the frenzy stirred up by the media, we must have thought we'd finally joined the ranks of downtown Manhattan or Los Angeles. How embarrassing. Then, last year, there came Paisley Violin. And finally, we wiped... More >>
• Best Fusion Restaurant
  Eddie Matney's
  Back in the '80s, fusion cuisine was the hottest thing around. Folks marveled over this mix-and-match approach to cooking. It was like a Reese's peanut butter cup commercial -- hey, your foie gras got in my kung pao! Today, nobody keeps the fad as fresh as Eddie Matney's, with a menu that's... More >>
• Best Southwestern Restaurant
  Medizona
  For a place that's about as Southwestern as they come, the Valley sure doesn't have a lot in the way of Southwestern cuisine. Yet when we've got Southwestern along the lines of Medizona, we don't really need any more restaurants than this one. Medizona is where we send every single visitor we... More >>
• Best Restaurant To Impress A Client
  The Latilla Room
  Just tell that client -- the one who controls whether you make your mortgage -- that you're taking him or her to your favorite little hole in the wall. Actually, it's more like a hole-in-the-rock, tucked into the Sonoran Desert foothills that make up the fabulous Boulders resort, surrounded by... More >>
• Best Patio Dining
  The Farm Kitchen
  When we want to unwind, we head to south Phoenix and park our posteriors at the Farm Kitchen, a bucolic hideaway that operates first as an organic farm, second as a restaurant celebrating the great outdoors. After passing through the ordering line, we sprawl in the rosy sun on a lawn dotted with... More >>
• Best Place To Hide In The Dark At Lunch
  Bosnian Atmosphere Cafe
  When it's time to escape to another world, there's no finer midday dark retreat than Bosnian Atmosphere Cafe. There's nothing fancy here, and we're happy to lounge on scuffed purple fabric chairs, taking it slow under wobbly ceiling fans. The windows are blacked out; we first guessed it was a... More >>
• Best Place To Go In De-Nile
  Blue Nile Cafe
  Sometimes we enjoy escaping daily craziness to this charming little cafe stuffing ourselves with delightful kik alitcha (warm yellow split peas simmered in a mild sauce of onion, herbs and spices), and tebbs (tender sautéed chopped beef in a sauce flavored with onion, tomatoes, green... More >>
• Best Place To Make An Ass Of Yourself
  Bare Buns Bistro
  Yes, folks, it's Arizona's first and only nudist restaurant, parked, appropriately enough, in a nudist resort. Here, bellying up to the bar takes on a new meaning, with men, women, and even children lounging for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the altogether. Chair seats are fabric, but out of... More >>
• Best Cheap Date
  L'Academie
  We're the first to admit that dating sucks. Usually it's a waste of time; almost always it's a waste of money when we find out the person across the table from us at dinner should have warned us he or she was a vegetable, not a vegetarian. There are several reasons we like to test our... More >>
• Best Place To Satisfy Ilks Like Elk
  Cowboy Ciao
  Like all our great Valley restaurants, Cowboy Ciao changes its menu on a regular basis, all the better to keep us interested in its creative cuisine: modern American food influenced by the flavors of Italy, the Southwest and Mexico. But we can always count on something special, manly and cowboy... More >>
• Best Kids' Meal
  Pei Wei
  Why anyone would want to ruin an evening out by bringing along screaming little monsters who appreciate good food only if they can throw it, we'll never know. Haven't these people heard of baby sitters, or at least closets with locks? Which is why, if kids must be part of the equation, we... More >>
• Best 24-Hour Restaurant
  Hap's Real Pit BBQ
  We've been fans of Hap's slow-smoked 'cue for more than a decade, since the place started as a cart in front of a family car dealership in south Phoenix (the smoker was the frame from an old GMC truck). This has been a long love affair for us, drawn in by meat that's meltingly tender. This comes... More >>
• Best Place To Learn German
  Shar's Bosch Kitchen Center
  Not the language, but the cuisine. Sure, we could be cynical and say that the classes are basically infomercials to promote Bosch kitchen appliances. But who cares? The seminars are free (periodically there's a small fee, like $5), and the information is valuable. Their lesson plans span the... More >>
• Best Place To Buy Aardvark To Zebra
  Daniel's Prime Meats & Seafood
  Who wants to eat hamburger every day? There's a big, exciting world of exotic animals out there, just begging to become part of our dinner. Antelope, rattlesnake, alligator, zebra and lion we've heard of people eating before, but since when did species like giraffe, beaver and kangaroo become... More >>
• Best Classy Convenience Store
  Grocery Station/La Crème Deli
  We wish Circle K could catch up with the times. Sure, once we convenience shoppers were a crowd craving beef jerky, soda and slushies, maybe a six-pack of Schlitz. But these days, we'd rather spend some extra time going into a real store for real quality deli noshes, fine wines and service from... More >>
• Best Gourmet Groceries On A Tight Budget
  Trader Joe's
  Imagine being in a grocery store check-out line with a cart chock-full of fancy-schmancy foods: a chunk of French cheese, a bag of exotic baby greens, some imported olive oil, a fresh slab of herb focaccia, Belgian chocolates and an assortment of attractively packaged, luxurious and completely... More >>
• Best Tea House
  Akbar's Finest Teas
  Long considered by Asia to be a boon from the gods, tea is now supposedly being recognized by modern science to contain a treasure trove of health-giving and health-maintaining properties. So says Akbar's promotional literature. What do we know, except that it's what we love to drink crystal... More >>
• Best Wine Store
  AZ Wine Co.
  AZ Wine Co. is one of our favorite places to explore wines. With some 20,000 bottles, it's the largest wine shop in Arizona, but the folks here aren't hung up on snobbery. Here, the attitude is relaxed, and the wines remarkably well-priced. We never feel intimidated as we wander concrete floors... More >>
• Best Bread Bakery
  Willo Baking Company
  If the bread for the bread and water diet being served to Sheriff Joe's unruly inmates comes from Willo, we'll be the first ones leading riots in Tent City. The bakery cranks out these miracle loaves seven days a week, and they're outrageous. So good, so golden crusted, they're almost worth... More >>
• Best Italian Market
  Guido's Chicago Meats & Deli
  Sometimes we go into Guido's and just stare. Even if we're not hungry (a rare occurrence) or if we have no money (way too frequent an occurrence), we just love to look around, sniff, and imagine the many flavors on our mind's tongue. The only thing small about this place is the shop. It's... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Grocery
  Middle Eastern Bakery & Deli
  Middle Eastern eats are so outrageously delicious they transcend any culture. We still remember that first time we popped a dolmade in our mouth, relishing the tart grape leaf against strident beef, lamb, rice and spices. We shudder happily in the memory of when we first ventured in to try... More >>
• Best Asian Market
  Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket
  We recently needed a water dish for our goats. It had to be plastic, so it wouldn't heat in hot weather. It had to be big, so the goats couldn't tip it over. It had to be cheap, because it's for, well, goats. We found the perfect thing at Lee Lee, in the form of a $4 wading pool, bright blue and... More >>
• Best Coffee House
  LUX
  Husband-and-wife team Daniel Wayne and Felicia Ruiz-Wayne have got a great gimmick. Don't spend any money on decor, just focus on premium coffees, sweet snacks and way cool reading material (funky magazines, art books, trendy tabloids). And don't hesitate to charge the big bucks for the... More >>
• Best Caterer
  Dad's Catering Service
  We interviewed a dozen different caterers, in search of one who would handle every last detail of a casual Sunday night cocktail-and-hors d'oeuvres party for 90 people. Then we remembered the chic buffet dinner we'd enjoyed at a friend's wedding, catered by Dad's. The chefs had fused Italian... More >>
• Best Farmers' Market
  La Grande Orange
  Typically, our farmers' markets are a collection of locally grown produce, maybe some kettle corn, perhaps some bottled salsas and honey lined up on tables under a tent in the park. We've usually got to plan our weekend around them, since they're open intermittent Saturdays, depending on the... More >>