Attention, latte-swilling, laptop-gazing CenPho hipsters: Lux Coffeebar is getting ready to accomodate even more of your skinny-jean-wearing asses. Better yet, you’ll soon be able to get buzzed here in an entirely different way. After months of speculation, amiable Lux owners Jeff and Tara Fisher confirm that they’re leaving their long overcrowded digs next…

Dwayne Allen and Danielle Leoni, the folks behind cheerful Jamaican restaurant The Breadfruit, just opened Rum Bar in the space next door to the restaurant, serving nearly 70 kinds of premium rum, from smooth, young spirits to exquisite aged reserve varieties. There are also several kinds of cachaca (Brazil’s answer to…

Leave it to chef Patrick Boll of The Spotted Donkey Cantina II to create a tribute to the Valley’s most iconic hunk o’ beef, Roaring Fork’s Big Ass Burger. Given all the years he worked at Roaring Fork during the Robert McGrath era, I’d say Boll’s earned the right to tweak…

How much are Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s teeth worth? A cool $150K, perhaps. That’s how much the Ohio Congressman is seeking in damages in a lawsuit against a Capitol Hill cafeteria where he suffered “permanent dental and oral injuries” and “loss of enjoyment” in 2008. He bit into a sandwich wrap and unfortunately crunched into an…

As long as people keep making cupcakes this damn adorable, I will always be interested. Sure, there’s plenty of cupcake fatigue as far as food trends go. Cupcakes have beyond jumped the shark. They’ve been done to death. Who cares? Creative pastry chefs are still using the tiny confections as…

​Folks in north Scottsdale have a new breakfast and lunch spot, family-owned Perk Eatery, which opened in December. Owner Pauline Thomas Martinez tells me that everything’s made from scratch and sourced from as many local, organic purveyors as possible, including grass-fed Arizona beef for what she calls “a heck of a burger.” It’s…

Hi. I’d like an order of deep-fried pickles with blue cheese, some fried sweetbreads with green goddess dressing, a Texas beef brisket combo, and a side of cornbread with molasses. However, as much as the brazen phallic reference cracks me up, I’m not sure I want to order The Johnson (a…

If seafood is an aphrodisiac, then Eddie V’s CEO Jim VanDercook announced an excellent date for the new location at Scottsdale Quarter to open to the public: Valentine’s Day. “There’s a seductive quality to the new Eddie V’s,” he said. The 8,800-square-foot eatery seats 275 guests and features an oyster bar, wine…

Tucson’s Boca Tacos y Tequila made national news last week when owner Bryan Mazon announced his plans to serve lion meat street tacos by pre-paid order on February 16. Now, he’s called off his plans after the restaurant, his family members, customers, and vendors received “many threats.” Earlier installments of…

For anyone who scratches their head at the thought of relaxed fine dining spot Noca going all casual and sandwich-centric for its new lunch service, I have two words for you: Lobster roll. It makes perfect sense, actually. The eatery has been doing a clever, upscale version of the classic…

FnB chef Charleen Badman has nothing against mac ‘n cheese. In fact, she claims to make a pretty killer version herself. But when she found out that the gooey comfort food was often the lone “vegetarian” option at a local school cafeteria (or, perhaps, a bagel with cream cheese), she got…

As the brains behind Old Town hotspots Stingray Sushi, Geisha A Go Go, and Jimmy Woo’s, Greg Donnally, Bryan Chittenden and Andrew Nam have set a high-energy pace for Scottsdale nightlife, especially when it comes to food and drink for the clubbing crowd. Now they’re on track to open another…

Meatballs are having a moment. Gourmet versions of the dish were on plenty of year-end trend lists for 2010, so it’s perfect timing for an upcoming event that celebrates the humble meatball by way of a good, old-fashioned smackdown. Heidi Lee from Into the Soup is the brains behind the ACFAZ Fatazz…

​Five months ago, Cafe Provence took over the Anthem space that previously housed Madelyn’s, serving a casual menu of soups, sandwiches, and salads. Now, the restaurant has just branched out to French fine dining in the evenings. It’s a welcome upscale option for the north Valley neighborhood. Owner Sarge Malki, formerly of North…

You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. When East Phoenix fave Don Jose Mexican Food closed its doors in December 2007, locals mourned the loss of an institution, a place where families had enjoyed old school Sonoran Mexican food since 1966. The place sat vacant for the past three…

The buzz for each installment of Ignite Phoenix starts off with a ticket-buying frenzy, and this next round, scheduled for the night of February 11, promises to be no different. Tickets are set to go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., and the only question is, how many minutes will…

There is no science to reviewing restaurants. To the contrary, it’s all about what my gut tells me, based on a series of dining experiences, impressions, and a sense of timing. It’s purely subjective, after all. In a way, I’m trying to read your mind (yes, you: The Reader) and…

Hold your picket signs, people. The folks at Mesa’s Il Vinaio are not serving lion meat again. After last year’s uproar, when owner Cameron Selogie started serving lion burgers as a special for the World Cup (um, do they really even eat lion in South Africa?), the restaurant started getting…

Husband-and-wife team Liam Murtagh and Emily Spetrino-Murtagh tell me that they’ve just decided to close their whimsical candy and record shop, Sweets & Beats, at the end of the month. Blame it on the economy, yet again. It’s the second unique indie business to close in the artsy, downtown section of…

Anise, a stylish Vietnamese restaurant located at one of the Valley’s biggest hubs for Asian cuisine, has closed its doors. Situated near the intersection of Dobson and Warner Roads in Chandler — across from Lee Lee Oriental Grocery Store, catty-corner from Lee’s Sandwiches, and close to C-Fu and Shimogamo — the…

In its roughly year-long existence, The Chef’s Loft was a novel presence in the Valley culinary scene. By day, owner Michael Murray used the 3,300-square foot space (which was located on the second floor at SouthBridge, in the same building as Metro Brasserie and Tapas Papa Frita, and had a full exhibition kitchen)…