The pandemic took a bat to the kneecaps of Phoenix's late-night dining scene, and it still hasn't fully recovered. But Korean has proven to be one of late-night's most resilient subgenres, and it's often your best bet for grabbing something better than a 'Bertos. Korean anju (booze food) is ascendant, and Drunken Tiger remains our favorite purveyor thereof. Justin Jin Park's buzzy little pub slings soju and sustenance past midnight on the weekends, and you can stuff yourself silly with Korean fried chicken, tteokbokki, corn cheese and the like. This is the kind of brash, aggressive cuisine that's a religious experience when you're smashed, but unlike a lot of similar joints, Park's food tastes just as sharp when you're sober. The padak is crisp and craggy, the barbecue sizzles, and the fire chicken brings some serious flavor to back up its punishing heat.

Plant-based mac and cheese, meat-free Buffalo chick'n sandwiches and much more can be found at this vegan drive-thru that operates "on the lowdown" from 7-11 p.m. Monday through Friday out of Froth Coffee Roasters after the daytime business closes. This is vegan food so tasty it could convert even the most vehement carnivores. Co-owners Theron Evans and Jai Jones eschew plant-based burgers, which are widely available elsewhere, in favor of specialties that are mostly made in-house. Jones developed a faux cheese sauce from potatoes that may fool anyone not in the know, as would her ranch dressing. Even the mock chicken patties are remarkably meat-like, but the clincher is the homemade Buffalo sauce that, against all conventional wisdom, tastes as good or better than the version with real butter. The first vegan fast-food joint in the state, Lowdown is also speedy. It offers online ordering in advance but can whip up meals in five minutes or less if you decide to swing by on the fly, so vegan eaters in a hurry no longer have to settle for the boring no-cheese bean burrito or wait half an hour for their