Best Wings 2012 | Teakwoods Chandler | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Wings

Teakwoods Chandler

Longtime Phoenicians know that the very best place for wings back in the day was Long Wong's on Mill — but Long Wong's has been a parking lot for more than seven years, so it's time to get over it and move on. Ever since our favorite spot was turned into a giant waste of space, we've been seeking wing solace in the low-lit rooms of Chandler's Teakwoods. Big, juicy wings are golden-fried and tossed in variety of sauces from your traditional hot to more unique flavors like Thai Cina, Mandarin Orange, and our favorite, the El Heffe, with a touch of cilantro, garlic, and suicide sauce. Wash 'em down with a cold beer, and if you're really hungry, try the beer-battered onion rings.

Best Fried Food

Zaidi's Grill

Name a Phoenician's favorite snack, and a fritter found across South Asia probably doesn't make the list. That is, until you've had the pakora from this family-owned Indo-Pak restaurant in Scottsdale. Worthy of a menu spot at any sports bar, this creation features spinach and jalapeños dipped in batter and deep-fried until they're ready to be served up as a tangled, fried mass of tasty with a capital T. And if the crunchy, spicy flavor isn't enough, the pakora is served up with a mint-heavy and zesty dippin' sauce to elevate the overall flavor. Sorry, onion rings, you've been replaced.

Best Mac 'n' Cheese

Bacon & Caramelized Onion Mac & Cheese at Cheuvront

Cheuvront may be known for its impressive wine selection and epic cheese boards, but back in the kitchen, executive chef Ryan Rivera and team are whipping up savory bowls of al dente noodles coated in tangy cheese sauce. The dish comes in five flavors — traditional, blue cheese, pesto and spinach, chorizo and peppers, and our very favorite, bacon and caramelized onions. The tender noodles are draped in rich cheese and tossed with savory caramelized red onions and crispy pancetta bacon. All five varieties are great, but this combo is the best.

Best Crepes

The Crepe Bar

Tempe diners (and the rest of us) should thank their lucky stars that Jeff Kraus, the man behind ++Experience++ and the currently defunct Truckin' Good Food truck is putting his innovative spin on French cuisine in the form of crepes — those luscious thin pancakes with various toppings or fillings — at this strip-mall eatery on the northwest corner of Elliot and Rural roads. Done differently (and deliciously), Kraus' stellar sweet and savory crepe creations, made with locally and regionally sourced ingredients, are featured on a small, daily changing menu along with a few sides as well as coffee and tea selections. We especially like the artfully plated sweet crepe with vanilla custard, strawberries, and caramel; and the crepe version of the breakfast burrito packed with egg, bacon, queso, and a delectable avocado salsa. Getting our crepe on never tasted so good.

Best Use of PB&J

Peanut Butter and Jelly Foie Gras at The Praying Monk

We're not going to get into an ethics debate about foie gras, but we will say that we're happy that it's not banned in the Valley of the Sun. If the French duck liver treat couldn't make its way into our cactus-studded desert, then we wouldn't have culinary gems like the one found at Aaron May's newest Old Town Scottsdale eatery, The Praying Monk. On the appetizer side of the industrial chic spot's menu, you'll find a curious dish that incorporates peanut butter with its usual sidekick jelly and a new friend — foie gras. The trio comes in a small jar with toast points to be used for shoveling the concoction in your mouth. The flavor is like nothing you've ever tried before — and it's surely not for everyone — but whether you're into trying new things or a lover of fatty duck liver, this is a real treat.

Best Bagels

New York Bagels 'N Bialys

Many a doubting East Coast transplant has been dragged to this cheery little Scottsdale eatery only to become a believer in its real-deal New York bagels. Since 1987 and with roots in its original locations in Chicago (Touhy Ave.) and New York (Jerome Ave.), the restaurant's family recipes have been the foundation to making bagels the old-fashioned way: boiling the dough before baking it, which means a thick, sturdy crust, a dense, doughy middle, and true bagel bliss. Enjoy the classic version — preferably toasted and with a schmear — or bite into flavors like Asiago, garlic, and jalapeño. And for those who want to chase their bagel down with a bit of booze, there's the restaurant's odd addition of a fully stocked bar. Who says bagels don't know how to party?

Best Bread

Timo

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Baked fresh every morning in a wood-fired oven (the only means of cooking that this wine bar and restaurant of Italian-inspired fare in Sunnyslope employs), Timo's bread is golden and crusty and full of flavor. And it can be had in slices; torn from an evenly round and brown loaf and slathered with pesto or sweet apple butter; heartily crunched as foundations for bruschetta, flatbreads, and sandwiches; or used as warm, moist chunks for soaking juices from savored meals that ended too soon. Enjoy this centuries-old symbol of sanctity and nourishment on the flora-filled patio or inside, where the fiery flames from the oven add to the intimacy of a snug but stylish interior, but always with an accompanying glass of wine from a stellar collection.

Best Bread Pudding

Southern Bread Pudding with Kentucky Bourbon Sauce at Tarbell's

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

Bread pudding has become a dessert staple on many of the menus around town — most likely because restaurants have a lot of leftover bread. Even with all the fancy-pants versions laced with marshmallow, bacon, and candied unicorn horns, we're still smitten with Tarbell's traditional take on the classic dessert. Tarbell's takes its house-baked bread and bakes it with a rich egg and cream mixture. Once the dessert is cooked to a soft custard, it's cut into generous slices and soaked in the restaurant's signature bourbon sauce. The sweet bread balances out the fragrant booze-filled sauce, making it a perfect specimen of exactly how bread pudding is suppose to be.

Best Doughnuts

Fu-Fu Cuisine

Ever had a Nigerian doughnut? Neither had we until we popped into this comfortable west-side restaurant of African eats headed up by Nigerian-born chef Esther Mbaikambey. Called pof-pofs, these fun-to-say fried treats are the size of baseballs with a lightly sweet taste like a dense doughnut hole. Made to order and using simple ingredients — flour, sugar, butter, and nutmeg — Mbaikambey deep fries them into sizeable, delicious dumplings of goodness. Seriously addictive, pof-pofs can be ordered as an appetizer or dessert. Or, as Mbaikambey suggests, taken home and drizzled with honey or chocolate syrup. 'Nuff said.

Best Cookie

Salted Chocolate Chip at La Grande Orange

Courtesy of La Grande Orange

What's better than a giant chocolate chip cookie with a slightly under-cooked center and tons of big chocolate chips? That same cookie with salt crystals the size of small diamonds sprinkled on top. LGO's massive half-pound cookies are baked in-house using only the best ingredients. The fat cookies are best eaten with a friend or three or in small bites over the course of a week. It's tempting to eat the whole thing in one sitting because they are that good, but you must resist! Devouring the entire cookie will only lead to regret and a possible chocolate overdose. Plus, the cookie will stay good for almost a week in your pantry, so you're in no hurry to rush through the thing.

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