February Restaurant Openings and Closings

After our super busy January, the restaurant world seems to have slowed down a bit in February. We still added a few new spots to our growing restaurant scene, and luckily we only had to check a couple off the roster. February 2012 OpeningsPho Cao, TempeFritz’s Footlongs, MesaHow Do You…

Is Disney’s Princess Candy Packaging Insensitive?

Remember two and half years ago or so when Disney released “The Princess and The Frog”? It starred the company’s very first black princess, Tiana, and it was relatively successful despite the controversy over the princess’s original name and occupation. (They were all set to name her Maddy and have…

Guess Where I’m Eating and Win A Prize!

It’s not exactly pretty but I can’t indulge in champagne brunches every weekend — sometime a girl has to slum it up with a greasy plate of bacon, hash browns and eggs, a side of Grand Marnier-soaked French toast and a bottle of Coors Original. A friend from out of…

Three Four Things to Eat, Drink, and Bake This Weekend

Caramelpalooza is tonight in the Smeeks parking lot at 7 p.m. sharp. Again, that’s TONIGHT! Yours truly will be there judging all 18 (hopefully) delicious treats and you should probably show up, too, because there is going to be a ton of caramel and it’s free. And that’s all I…

Watch This: The Story of Sushi

The Story of Sushi from Bamboo Sushi on Vimeo. Clear four minutes of your day and hit play on this amazing little video. The Story of Sushi tells a sad tale of the sushi industry and the future of our oceans if we continue on the same commercial fishing path…

Nestle is Making Thin Mint Cookie Candy Bars. Yes Please!

We need about 100 of these sent to the New Times office like right now (attn: Shannon Armour, please). We don’t even care if it’s an “Unholy Union” between the Girl Scouts and Nestle or if the Girl Scouts are “selling out,” we just want to get our hands on…

BoSa Donuts to Open Another Mesa Location

Good news Mesa! You’re getting another BoSa Donuts! If only BoSa could take over all of the empty fast food buildings in town (including one somewhere near the New Times building) — then we could be constantly surrounded by their melt-in-your-mouth glazed goodies. We would be oh-so happy. Until then…

Drew Barrymore Jumps on Celebrity Alcohol Bandwagon — Shocking.

Not really. Drew kinda seems like the white wine swilling type. Actress, producer, director, Covergirl, Playboy model, Drew Barrymore, known for her role in movie classics such as E.T., Firestarter, Boys on the Side,  50 First Dates, and as Brian the Dog’s girlfriend on the animated television series Family Guy, has…

Ten Favorite Metro Phoenix Craft Beer Bars

We’re not just talking about one or two handles here. We’re taking about the bars that have devoted just about every handle to the art of craft beer; the folks that know that power of a freshly tapped keg of Hopslam and who would sell a large part of their…

Free Pancakes Tomorrow at IHOP

Do you like pancakes? What about free pancakes? It’s IHOP’s 7th Annual National Pancake Day and, for 15 hours only, IHOP will be giving away free short stacks of their “famous” (their words, not ours) buttermilk pancakes…

Everything’s Coming Up … Bacon?

Bacon pizza, bacon candles, chocolate covered bacon, bacon cupcakes, bacon scarves, bacon jewelry, bacon ornaments, bacon wrapped EVERYTHING, bacon salad bowls, bacon on your dog, bacon sleeping bags, bacon vodka, felt bacon, bacon wallpaper, bacon wrapping paper, keep calm and eat bacon, maple bacon ale, bacon donuts, bacon salt, candied…

Guess Where I’m Eating and Win A Prize

Please excuse this picture of a sandwich with a bite out of it. After waiting for a table in the beautiful new dining room of this Central Phoenix eatery, I was so hungry I almost forgot to snap a picture before I pretty much inhaled the layers of fresh baked…

Three Things to Eat, Drink, and Make This Weekend

It’s another busy, beautiful weekend. Spring is in the air and festival season is almost in full force. This weekend, get out of the house and enjoy what our lovely city has to offer! Eat This: Japanese Food at the Arizona Matsuri Festival — Three stages full of live Japanese…

A Sneak Peek at Wolfgang Puck’s Oscar Party Buffet

This Sunday, the celebrities will be hittin’ the red carpet for the 84th Annual Acadamy Awards — and they’ll also be hitting the after parties. One particularly popular event is the Governors Ball. Wolfgang Puck will be the head chef for the event but instead of the typical extravagant celebrity…

Lola Coffee Midtown is Now Citizen Espresso Bar

It’s official — the lovely Lola Coffee on Central just south of Camelback (4700 N. Central Ave.) has been sold. It shall now be referred to as Citizen Espresso Bar.  Don’t worry loyal Lola fans, long time employee Tiffany Dew bought the place and she’s still going to be serving…

Strong Beer Fest 2012: Totally Worth the Wait

By the looks of the lines, the fact that Tops Liquor went through 5000 bottles of water, and the throbbing pain in my forehead, I’d say the 2012 Strong Beer Fest was a success. Check out our slideshow here, and read on for details of the best — and not-so-best — beers…

Guess Where I’m Eating and Win A Prize

I absolutely adore this quaint Vietnamese restaurant off 7th Street because sometimes I want my bowl of Pho served with a classy cocktail and a smile. On my latest visit, I skipped the pho and went for the Ahi Tuna Salad. The melt-in-your-mouth seared tuna was accompanied by fresh avocado,…

Our 21 Top Picks for Arizona Beer Week

Arizona Beer week starts Saturday and we are so freakin’ excited! After spending hours looking at each and every of the more than 150 events that will take place between Saturday, February 18th and Saturday, February 25th we have come up with a list of our favorites. We tried to…