Best Haunted Restaurant 2024 | The Old Spaghetti Factory | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Haunted Restaurant

The Old Spaghetti Factory

We love a good ghost story almost as much as we love a good meal. The Old Spaghetti Factory on Central Avenue has plenty of both. Stories abound that the building, which was originally constructed as two private residences, was the site of two separate murders and that restaurant staff have reported cold spots, strange sounds, flickering lights, furniture moving and floating apparitions. We've never experienced anything spooky at The Old Spaghetti Factory, just good, solid Italian-American fare. The restaurant is famous for its spaghetti with mizithra cheese and browned butter, but we're also big fans of the crab and ricotta ravioli. If you can snag a table inside the restaurant's trolley car, do it — just keep your eyes peeled for ghosts.

Best Classic Diner

Joe's Diner

Lauren Cusimano

We're pretty sure that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was a marketing slogan intended to sell more cereal, but we can't deny that a solid morning repast always puts us on track for a great day. Which is why we're frequent customers at Joe's Diner, a no-frills joint in the Melrose District. Open since 2010, Joe's serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week. The lunch menu has a solid lineup mostly composed of salads, sandwiches and burgers, but the breakfast fare is usually what we opt for. Biscuits with sausage gravy are substantial without being too heavy, and the green chili pork bowl with scrambled eggs and seasoned potatoes is a great option with Southwestern flair. Our arrival at the diner's bright yellow building always means a great meal is about to begin.

Best Trendy Diner

Sidewinder

How many seats do you need to run a restaurant? Not very many, according to Sidewinder. This tiny diner has just eight. But outside, a sprawling patio has plenty of picnic tables at which customers can sit and chill. Sidewinder is the newest project from restaurant pros TJ Culp and Esther Noh and is the latest concept to occupy the vintage Valentine diner on Roosevelt Street, home of the original Welcome Diner. Sidewinder offers some of the same charms of the neighborhood favorite, with cheap beer, craft cocktails and indulgent eats. Prepare to get messy with Sidewinder's Sloppy Joe, loaded fries or one of the menu's sandwiches doused in barbecue sauce and mayo. Need a bite to eat after partying around the arts district? Sidewinder has you covered.

Best Southern Food

CC's on Central

Dominic Armato

"Southern" is an awfully big tent, and mother and son duo Sharon and Devan Cunningham don't feel compelled to restrict themselves to any particular subgenre. Is this Creole? Soul? Cajun? Southern? Short answer: The Cunninghams serve food that traces its familial roots back to all of the above. Most importantly, their food is delicious. Hidden in a midtown Phoenix office complex, CC's slings a breakfast and lunch menu on weekdays that features dishes such as creamy cheddar grits smothered with sausage-studded collard greens and a tangy potlikker; an atypically soupy shrimp étouffée built on a strong shellfish stock; and some of Devan's wilder breakfast concoctions, such as a Hong Kong-inspired French toast, fried to a deep golden brown and saturated with a praline condensed milk. Devan also is a mad wing scientist, coating them with killer dry rubs, such as dill pickle and his signature "Dankenstein." And the first Sunday of the month is when Sharon takes over with whatever soul food specialty suits her mood, along with a mountain of simple and perfect Southern-style cakes and sweets.

Best New Mexico Cuisine

Richardson's

Even though we're right next door, it's hard to know the true scope of "New Mexico cuisine." (For what it's worth, experts say it's a combination of cooking styles and ingredients from Mexico, Spain and various Indigenous groups.) But what if you thought less about the particulars and more about the delectable end results? Case in point: Richardson's. Opened in 1988, the restaurant — whose ownership group also oversee Rosie's and Rokerij — emphasizes a cozy setting (woven rugs, saltillo tile, etc.), but it's really about how said vibes translate and inform the food. Be it that delectable New Mexican Surf and Turf (with bacon-wrapped jumbo shrimp and chorizo enchiladas), the Chimayo Chicken or the Taos Tenderloin, it's ultimately about great food that blurs all concepts and boundaries for endless comfort, warmth and a down-home feel. Richardson's magic is that its appeal is more about connection and joy than any particular region or influence, and you can engage with this menu in a way that transcends all the buzzwords and gimmicks. Richardson's is truly great food, period.

Best Hawaiian Restaurant

Hapa Food Co.

Dominic Armato

Few things get Phoenicians riled up like a good plate lunch does, which is ironic because most of the plate lunches in Phoenix come from lousy Hawaiian barbecue chains. But that probably explains why Hapa Food Co. is a zoo — a tiny little restaurant that always seems to have a line of customers four or five deep, patiently waiting for crisp fried chicken smothered in a sweet garlic sauce and juicy, smoky kalua pig. The poke is exceptional, a welcome throwback to when poke was poke and not a fast food "concept." And the kalbi — saturated with a deep, sweet soy marinade — is seared on the grill to order, tender and succulent and charred around the edges. Recurring specials such as garlicky hoisin pork ribs or a whole pulehu ribeye are always great, but the biggest draw might be the malasadas — rich, eggy doughnuts fried fresh and filled to order with custard, coconut or neon purple ube. However many you think you're going to eat, double it.

Best British Pub

George & Dragon

Benjamin Leatherman

Nearly 30 years is barely a fly in the king's tea for the British Empire. But for this English pub, it's been a lifetime of fun since George & Dragon raised the Union Jack in central Phoenix and called it home in 1995. Of course, you can get a proper pint in their comfortable environs. But it's a British pub, after all, so one pint won't get you through a Premier League football match on the many TVs plastered on the walls. (Fear not, Phoenix sports fans. They also show Suns games and plenty of American football.) When you want something to soak up your favorite brew, there are many British classics to pick from, including fish and chips, bangers and mash and pasties. (Don't worry, pedestrian American bar-goers. They also serve pub burgers and chicken fingers.) When you want to stretch your legs after sitting in the oversized booths or at the high-top tables, there are pool tables on one side of the bar and a covered patio complete with misters out front. George & Dragon may be a British pub, but it's Phoenix, after all.

Best Irish Pub

Seamus McCaffrey's Irish Pub

Jacob Tyler Dunn

Seamus McCaffrey's is a downtown institution. Since 1991, the Irish pub at the heart of the city has welcomed an eclectic crowd of patrons with a casual, irreverent atmosphere. There's something upfront and nonchalant about the pub, making it easy for anyone to be themself and hang out at Seamus without any pretense. With plenty of beers on draft and no shortage of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, Seamus has a longtime reputation as an essential watering hole for downtown-based service industry workers. It's also known for its crowd-drawing St. Patrick's Day celebration, when it shuts down a portion of Monroe Street for partygoers to revel in the street. This place is the real deal, and its longevity, great vibe and central location make it Phoenix's best Irish pub.

Best Italian Restaurant

Andreoli Italian Grocer

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

Giovanni Scorzo doesn't have time for your bullshit. He hasn't for the past 35 years. The oft-cantankerous teddy bear in disguise who runs this family-style market and trattoria is obsessed with doing Italian food the right way, and if you don't like it, you're wrong, and he'll just keep on doing it the right way until you eventually figure that out. What he won't do is dumb down his food to suit Americans' misconceptions, which is precisely why Andreoli remains such a treasure. Whatever Scorzo and his family can make fresh, they make fresh, from the bread to the charcuterie to the pastries. Whatever they can't, they purchase at great expense from quality suppliers, giving them the necessary raw materials to make their minimal ingredient-focused Italian cuisine sing. The permanent slate of sandwiches and salads is a treat, but the heart of the operation is a tiny white markerboard behind the counter that lists the daily specials. Try anything. All of it is perfect. And stuff yourself with some stellar sweets and an espresso before waddling out the door.

Best French Restaurant

Sottise

Tirion Boan

Sottise effortlessly showcases French brasserie cuisine and culture from its white-washed bungalow-turned-restaurant in downtown's Roosevelt Row. Helmed by restaurateurs Esther Noh and TJ Culp, Sottise's menu vacillates between luxury and comfort. Seafood towers brimming with oysters and caviar can be ordered alongside deviled eggs and boquerones. There are French classics, including escargot and croque madame, as well as playful riffs using traditional ingredients. Take Sottise's duck dish, which is infused with nuance thanks to five-spice, Calvados-infused honey, rich hazelnuts and a fresh pop from grapes. It's a stunning dish that you'll find yourselves passing around the table to share with your dining companions. The bar shines bright at Sottise as well, with a deep list of French wines and a regularly rotating selection of whimsical craft cocktails.

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