Rancho Pinot Grill, Town & Country Shopping Center, 4709 North 20th Street, Phoenix, 468-9463. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Everyone knows that death and taxes are inescapable, though they’d be somewhat easier to bear if they came in that order. But there’s a third inevitability that…

The Write Stuff: How long should a critic wait before reviewing the fare at a new restaurant? Most of my colleagues like to give new places several months’ grace, letting them work out the opening kinks. I’m inclined to be a bit less charitable. When Broadway producers are getting a…

For years, if someone mentioned Asian food, visions of tangerine beef, mee krob or tempura danced through my head. Oriental cuisine always meant dining on Chinese, Thai or Japanese specialties. But two factors are changing the Asian-dining landscape in the Valley. First, diners are growing increasingly bold and sophisticated. After…

Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…

Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…

Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…

Bahia Kino, 24 East Broadway, Phoenix, 243-9684. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Modern technology provides us Valley dwellers with lots of pleasure-enhancing marvels that nature neglected to furnish: cool summer nights, pay-per-view Suns games and an ample supply of seafood. Is…

Romano’s Macaroni Grill, 7245 East Gold Dust, Scottsdale, 596-6676. Hours: Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m. Sometimes, in my blacker moments, I think Holden Caulfield came to an honorable end. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye couldn’t stand the…

Original Pancake House, 6840 East Camelback, Scottsdale, 946-4902. Breakfast hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. All my holiday eating is behind me. Literally. You can’t miss it. Noshing on Chex party mix, gorging on turkey dressing and washing it all down with eggnog is not the way…

El Encanto, 6248 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, 488-0024. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to close, seven days a week. Whenever Rod, my auto mechanic, sees the old jalopy roll in, he can confidently extend his annual South Seas cruise an extra week. During this holiday time, I…

Bssghetti, 1656 South Alma School, Mesa, 820-8080. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m. Uh-oh. It’s Christmas-vacation time. Time for lots of family togetherness. Lots and lots of…

Sam’s Cafe, Arizona Center, 455 North Third Street, Phoenix, 252-3545. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Sophisticated, well-traveled food lovers not only always seem to know where to get a great meal, they also instinctively know where…

Laguna Cafe, 7373 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, 994-5859. Hours: Dinner, 5 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. One of the Valley’s best “good to be alive” urban settings is the mall by Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Here you’ll find soothing fountains, eye-catching sculpture, grass for lounging and walking paths filled…

Chompie’s Restaurant, Deli, Bagel Factory, Bakery and Caterer, 3202 East Greenway Road, Phoenix, 971-8010. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Monday, 6 a.m. to 3…

Lathrops on Central, 5202 North Central, Phoenix, 266-9555. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Even folks without big bucks can occasionally experience the luxuries that daily life ordinarily denies them. Park…

Charlie’s, Crescent Hotel at Koll Center, 2620 West Dunlap, Phoenix, 943-8200. Hours: Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parked along I-17 on an unlovely west-side stretch of Dunlap, the Crescent Hotel hardly merits a second look from a passing car. So I was seriously discombobulated when I sat down…

Shalimar, 616 South Forest, Tempe, 967-8399. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. It’s great to live in a university town. You have access to the wisdom of great minds. The arts flourish. And the presence of thousands of co-eds gives a meaning to…

Italian Oven, 10057 North Metro Parkway East (Metrocenter), Phoenix, 997-0500. 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 real reason the masses flock to chains of every sort? Why will we drive, bleary-eyed, 50 extra miles…

Beef Eaters Restaurant, 300 West Camelback, Phoenix, 264-3838. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday dinner, noon to 8 p.m. America has seen quite a few changes since John F. Kennedy occupied the White House. Back then,…

Coconuts Cafe, 402 East Greenway Parkway, Phoenix, 866-0766. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. The Caribbean hosts an incredible mix of people. Over the past 500 years, native peoples, African slaves,…

Kasha’s Cafe & Grill, 18631 North 19th Avenue, Phoenix, 582-2996. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays. Imagine members of a local bowling team discussing where they should have dinner after a night at…

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Fashion Square, 7014 East Camelback, Scottsdale, 949-2610. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, noon to 11 p.m. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro may be the hottest new dining room in town. It’s so popular that management…