Oyster Grill, 455 North Third Street (Arizona Center), Phoenix, 252-6767. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. Most people in the Valley have moved here from someplace else. And sometimes they have a hard time letting go of the past. Why else would they…

Sea Fever: Today’s review of Il Pescatore got me thinking about ethnic seafood. If you’re looking to go beyond grilled salmon or sauted scallops for more provocatively prepared ocean fare, check out these places: * C-Fu Gourmet, 6438 South McClintock, Tempe, 831-8899. Perhaps the Queen of Valley ethnic seafood. Most…

China Chow: When I first came to Phoenix, Gourmet House of Hong Kong was the only place in town to get serious, Chinatown-quality Chinese food. Over the next few years, though, worthy competitors started to spring up, like C-Fu Gourmet in Tempe and Big Wong on West Indian School Road…

Backstage Restaurant and Bar, 7373 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, 949-1697. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. What’s the difference between a restaurant run by an individual proprietor and one operated by corporate headquarters? At first glance, none,…

Class Act: Stung by a negative review, restaurant proprietors react the same way most people do when criticized: They get angry, defensive and hostile. Not Derick Macdonald, general manager at Red Lion’s swanky La Posada resort. After I bashed brunch there, Macdonald wrote me a letter responding to the review…

8700, 8700 East Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale, 994-8700. Hours: Dinner, 6 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. It’s not very easy to interest Phoenicians in a July auto trip, unless the car is headed to San Diego. But I just visited a couple of distant north Valley eating spots…

Marco Polo Supper Club, 8608 East Shea, Scottsdale, 483-1900. Hours: Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. When it comes to watching summertime television reruns, you know just what you’re going to see: the exact same show you saw the first time…

High and Mighty: That’s the impression I get from Top of the Rock, the fine-dining restaurant at the Buttes resort, at 2000 Westcourt Way in Tempe. This place continues to deliver one of the best food/setting/view combinations in town. It has a circular room, perched on top of a butte…

Well-Bread: In the old days, you’d walk into a sandwich shop at lunchtime and order a BLT on white toast or a ham and cheese on rye. Not anymore. These days, your sandwich bread is much more likely to come directly out of the oven than out of a Wonder…

George and Dragon, 4240 North Central, Phoenix, 241-0018. Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. If there’s any institution that indisputably proves that humans are social animals, it’s the pub. After all, if the only thing drinkers looked forward to was an alcohol buzz, they…

Franco’s Trattoria, 8120 North Hayden, Scottsdale, 948-6655. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to close. There are more Italian restaurants in the Valley than any other ethnic type, at all points of the price scale. At the upper end, I don’t think any of them is better than Franco’s…

Mexican Temptation: It was Oscar Wilde who said that he could resist everything except temptation. Me, too. That’s why I find myself constantly drawn to the restaurants at the beautiful Scottsdale Princess Resort. It’s impossible to eat here and not have a good time. Foodies know that the featured dining…

Lily’s Cafe, 6706 North 58th Drive, Glendale, 937-7757. Hours: Lunch, Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Breakfast and Lunch, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Wednesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 to 7 p.m. When I get the…

On the Waterfront: A recent family trip north to Lake Powell met just about my every prevacation expectation: squabbling kids, expensive lodgings, gorgeous scenery. But I was pleasantly surprised by the dining room at Wahweap Lodge, the lakefront hotel that was the jumping-off point for our excursions. As a veteran…

Squeeze Me: Everyone knows Phoenix isn’t on the cutting edge of national trends. We get movies six months after they open in Los Angeles, and Howard Stern years after he’s worn out his welcome in other markets. Same with food. Tiramisu still qualifies as an exotic dessert here, and I…

Texaz Grill, 6003 North 16th Street, Phoenix, 248-7827. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m. What’s in a name? Plenty. Yes, it’s true that a rose by any other…

China Gate, 3033 West Peoria Avenue, Phoenix, 944-1982. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. When I plunk down six bucks to see a new Woody Allen…

Homage to Catalonia: What’s the best restaurant in town? Who knows? Tell me your tastes, and I could probably rattle off two dozen potential candidates. What’s my favorite restaurant? That’s a little easier. Depending on my mood, I could draw up several short lists. And Marquesa would be on all…

Eat, Drink and Deduct: A few weeks ago, at income-tax time, I wrote a column about restaurant owners lobbying Congress to restore 100 percent tax deductibility to business-related meals. Currently, businesses can write off only 50 percent of the cost of business meals. Naturally, restaurant owners, who figure to serve…

Lon’s at the Hermosa, Hermosa Inn, 5532 North Palo Cristi, Paradise Valley, 955-7878. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m. Valley hotels and resorts know they can’t do much about marketing their rooms to locals. It doesn’t take a…

Duke’s Place, 7210 East First Avenue, Scottsdale, 970-4484. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Remember the movie The Crying Game? It was basically a formula flick: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. But the…

Triumph of the Grill: Last year, a few months after Rancho Pinot Grill opened, I gave it a rave review. The place hardly needed it. Foodies found out about it quickly enough, and the swamped restaurant soon outgrew its tiny Town & Country Shopping Center storefront. About six months ago,…