By Amy Silverman Is there a curse at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix? I’m starting to wonder. I’ve had more bad Asian meals than I can count from a grouping of businesses that should be the best in town, given the billing. I’d about sworn off the CCC entirely…
By Amy Silverman There seem to be some storage problems at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara in Chandler. A recent inspection revealed a first aid kit stored on top of tortillas, and a hat on top of the potatoes. Raw chicken was stored above “ready to eat items” — a big “no…
By Amy Silverman OK, so after today’s financial news, you might not be in the market for a mansion. But if you are, you’re in luck! An ad in yesterday’s Arizona Republic announced that on October 25, the “former home of Sen. John & Cindy McCain” will be auctioned. It’s…
By Amy Silverman If you were a teenage girl in Phoenix in the 1980s, chances are that you indulged more than once in Tokyo Express. The whole notion of (relatively) healthy fast food was a novelty at the time — except for the baked potato at Wendy’s, everything quick and…
By Amy Silverman I’ve always said that it’s nice to be invited to the party, even if you don’t want to attend — but really, this is ridiculous. I get a lot of strange e-mails, but few as unexpected as the one that popped into my New Times in box…
By Amy Silverman And now we bring you a Special Election Edition of Gross Out! For years, the west Phoenix restaurant Pho Bang has touted itself as John McCain’s favorite Vietnamese joint. So we decided to research health inspections at Pho Bang and see if we can recommend it. Um,…
By Amy Silverman Okay, I’m back to the whole glove thing. I stand by my previously stated opinion: Gloved hands do not equal clean hands. Consider these notes from a recent county inspection at Steamers, the sorta-hoity-toity seafood restaurant at the Biltmore Fashion Park: EMPLOYEE BREADING FISH WITH GLOVES THEN…
By Amy Silverman If Tom Fitzpatrick were alive today, the guy wouldn’t believe his eyes. In 1991, the late New Times columnist devoted one of his classic diatribes to the notion that no one would ever forget the role Arizona’s U.S. senators, John McCain and Dennis DeConcini, had played as…
By Amy Silverman Bad electricity karma, perhaps? The light in the women’s room was burned out when county restaurant inspectors visited Honey Bear’s BBQ on Van Buren Street on August 31, but that wasn’t the worst electrical failure. The place might not have passed muster to begin with: inspectors noted…
By Amy Silverman There are certain rites of passage, I’ve learned, for the Gross Out Girl. Like the first time I read about slimy mold build-up in an ice machine, or my first dead roaches on the floor of an ice cream shop. Blood in the aisles at a dollar…
By Amy Silverman Tom Gosinski has surfaced. The guy who blew the whistle to New Times on Cindy McCain’s prescription drug theft surfaced this week at a Holiday Inn in the Washington, D.C. area, telling his story again. Here’s our original story, published in 1994. I spoke briefly to Gosinski…
A couple of Fridays ago, I woke up, staggered into the kitchen for my morning Diet Coke, and found myself to the right of Sarah Palin. It was unfamiliar territory, to say the least. “Guess who McCain picked?” my husband asked. I guessed Lieberman, then Hutchison, then I stopped in…
By Amy Silverman There were dents in the cans of diced peppers and hominy at Arriba Mexican Grill, 4649 E. Chandler Blvd, silverware “soiled with organic debris” and fundito sauce in the walk-in cooler for more than 24 hours. But the violation that stopped me was the following — particularly…
By Amy Silverman They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but maybe not this time. Remember a local new wave/punk band from the 80s called Liquid Visual? Then the name George Maestri might ring a bell. We hear his sister, Jane Smith, was a fairly well-known performance artist/amateur…
By Amy Silverman A reader just called me out on my Sprinkles “Gross Out” from last week, asking how would I feel if I knew the employee who touched my cupcake with bare hands had just picked her nose. Touche. In fact, dear reader, you should know that my own…
During the memorial slide show, but before the actual service began at Stacey Pawlowski’s funeral, a lobbyist leaned over and handed his business card to a city councilman. “Call me. I want to talk to you about your campaign,” he said. The councilman nodded, and everyone in earshot tittered, because…
By Amy Silverman She’s from a different “A” state, but turns out, Sarah Palin has a big Arizona connection — and I’m not talking about John McCain. Matthew Scully — Arizona State University grad, one-time writer for Dan Quayle and also George W. — is writing tonight’s speech. Scully is…
By Amy Silverman Sounds like things are a bit too wild, over at Wild West Cowboy Steakhouse Mexican at 104 E. Monroe Street in Phoenix. An inspection last month revealed some relatively minor concerns — like an improperly stored ice scoop, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol next to the…
By Amy Silverman I admit it, I’m shallow. About as deep as a cupcake, as long as it’s a super-cute, tasty one. Which is a good part of why I’m willing to pooh-pooh the county’s most recent inspection report of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the boutique confectionary that finally opened earlier this…
These days, a mom can scrapbook the remnants of her baby’s umbilical cord or blog about her teenager’s period, and no one will bat an eye. But there’s still one place where maternal (or paternal) documentation is sometimes considered an over-share: nude photos of the kids. Particularly when they’re hanging…
I once stood in John McCain’s kitchen and watched Cindy cook eggs for their kids. It was still dark outside when I arrived at the McCains’ north-central Phoenix house on a winter day in early 1994. I remember terra cotta tile and overstuffed plaid couches and wondering whether Mrs. McCain…
By Amy Silverman This one makes me sad. I love Cyclo, the innovative, funky Vietnamese restaurant in Chandler. Apparently the Maricopa County restaurant inspectors didn’t love it so much, during their most recent inspection, July 17. (It should be noted that this was the only “no award” inspection online for…
