Mancuso’s, 6166 North Scottsdale Road (The Borgata), Scottsdale, 948-9988. Hours: Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Arizona has its share of ancient wonders: the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater. I suppose you could add Mancuso’s to the list. After all, it’s nearly as old. When…

Recipe for Disaster: If you want to start a restaurant chain these days, it’s absolutely necessary to have a “hook.” Theme-restaurant pioneers Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood were among the first to figure this out. They in turn spawned successful copycats like Rainforest Cafe and Harley-Davidson Cafe. But themes…

Tijuana Country Club, 3820 East Ray, Ahwatukee, 704-0881. Hours: Dinner, 3 p.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. For the past 25 years, a generation of Americans has been pounded with messages about the evils of red meat in general, and beef in particular. Consider the production side of…

Restaurant Update: Ever since it opened, Gregory’s Grill has been one of this town’s best restaurants. If a fabulous recent meal there is any indication, the food can’t get much better. So chef/proprietor Gregory Casale is doing the next best thing: He’s making the place bigger. The restaurant currently occupies…

Silver Dragon, 8946 North 19th Avenue, Phoenix, 674-0151. Hours: Sunday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m. Silver Dragon’s employees have their marching orders: Gweilos to the right! That’s where all the non-Chinese “foreigners” are herded once they come through the door. In that room,…

Milanos, 16 West Monroe (San Carlos Hotel), 258-1600. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. The Jeopardy! category–Geography. The answer, for $500: The lunar surface, the ocean floor and downtown Phoenix. Ten years ago, if you buzzed in and said, “What are three locations…

‘Cue Tips: Nobody likes criticism. And not too many of us accept it with class and good grace. Two who do are Joe Johnston and Tim Peelen. They’re proprietors of Joe’s Real BBQ, at 301 North Gilbert Road, 503-3805, in “downtown” Gilbert. A few weeks back, I reviewed their new…

Piatti, 7704 East Doubletree Ranch Road, Scottsdale, 951-1199. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Why is it that food sophisticates–and I cheerfully admit I’m one of them–turn up their noses at chain restaurants? We elitists can offer…

Subsidized Dining: Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But the National Restaurant Association, an industry trade group, thinks there should be. And if the group gets its way, guess who’ll be picking up the tab for this “free” meal? You guessed it–the American taxpayer. A little…

Winger’s, 3247 East Bell, Phoenix, 787-1732. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. When, exactly, were “the good old days”? Nobody seems to know for sure, except they were sometime in…

High and Mighty: From its Camelback Mountain perch at the swanky Phoenician resort, Mary Elaine’s offers a stunning view of the twinkling Valley below. But the view isn’t the only riveting sight this restaurant delivers. Take a look at your plate: Mary Elaine’s is putting out some extraordinary gourmet fare…

Market Watch: Attention, shoppers! One of the nation’s leading upscale food markets, Whole Foods, has come to the Valley, poised to compete with AJ’s and Wild Oats for your disposable-income food dollars. The company started out almost 20 years ago, in Austin, Texas. Now it’s the largest natural-foods operation in…

Meza Luna, 4240 North Winfield Scott Plaza, Scottsdale, 947-9500. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Dinner, Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. In 1915, French psychologist Emile Coue developed a mantra, which he encouraged people to chant 20 times a day: “Every day, in…

Restaurant News: The local restaurant gold rush shows no sign of slowing down. Here are some dining spots I’ll be checking out: * Rodizio Grill: Looking to fill up on meat? This Brazilian restaurant will give you a powerful animal-protein boost. It will offer multicourse dinners, at one set price,…

Haus Murphy’s, 5819 West Glendale Avenue, Glendale, 939-2480. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the past 20 years, Americans have been wrestling with their principles: how to balance a strong commitment to ethnic diversity with an equally…

Hail to the Chef: Chef Christopher Gross left Christopher’s last December, after an acrimonious split with partner Guy Coscas. Since then, Gross has been anxious to get back into the restaurant game. He’s been scouting for investors and checking into locations. Now, the scouting and checking are over. Although all…

Lib’s Ribs, 2545 North 32nd Street, Phoenix, 508-8220. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. When you come from a tightknit religious family in New York, as I did, you have two options growing up. You can…

Mommy Dearest: Candy makers can’t wait for Halloween. Florists celebrate Valentine’s Day. Retailers circle the calendar on the day after Thanksgiving. Restaurant owners live for Mother’s Day. On that holiday, it seems as if half the population is tying up phone lines trying to talk with Mom. The other half…

Bistro 24, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 2401 East Camelback, Phoenix, 468-0700. Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are three places from which you can get a profound insight into human nature: a foxhole, Wrigley Field and an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch. In a foxhole, you can observe soldiers waging an elemental…

Roy’s, Scottsdale Seville, 7001 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 905-1155. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Looking for signs that the Valley has joined the urban big leagues? We’ve got teams in…

Polishing the Big Apple: If you’re a Muslim, you’re required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. If you’re Catholic, the height of devotion is attending a Papal mass at St. Peter’s. If you’re a foodie, you’ll try to have dinner at the James Beard House. Beard was one of America’s…

I’ve got some marvelous summer adventures planned. Among my ideas: 1) Hiking Squaw Peak during an electrical storm with a copper helmet strapped to my head; 2) Supplementing my income selling authentic Apache earmuffs at freeway off-ramps; 3) Checking with the IRS to see if I can continue writing off…