Best Weekly Specials 2024 | Chula Seafood | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Weekly Specials

Chula Seafood

What started as a tiny Scottsdale fish shop with some poke bowls has evolved into a three-location restaurant group with a really nice fish case. But while the regular menu at Chula Seafood has received plenty of love, you could make the case that the team's best work shows up in the weekend specials. Chef Kyle Kent, along with his head chefs at each location, develop a fresh slate — one special for each restaurant — that goes out via a newsletter every Friday. They've included bangers such as a lusciously complex scallop khao soi (Uptown), crisply fried strips of turmeric-scented salmon belly wrapped up with lettuce and herbs Viet-style (Grayhawk) and a pastrami-spiced scallop sausage Seattle dog with grilled onions and cream cheese (Roosevelt). Every once in a while, a weekend special will find its way onto the regular menu, but for the most part, come Sunday, they're gone. Which makes for an agonizing decision every weekend: choosing a location.

Best Fast Food

Oscar's Pier 83

Oscar's Pier 83 answers a question that nobody asked: What if Long John Silver's were actually pretty good? That might sound like a backhanded compliment, but consider it an acknowledgment that inexpensive, order-at-the-counter fare is a reality of everyday life, and there aren't enough culinary wunderkinder to meticulously handcraft cheap, artsy dinners for everybody in town. Oscar's isn't going to make you feel like you're at a seaside shack in the Keys — this is deep-fried, quick-service fare — but with most meals priced in the teens, it charges just a dollar or two more than the international megachains, and the modest premium is well spent. Choose from half a dozen types of fish for your chippy platter or fishwich, and you'll get tender filets, freshly battered and fried, steaming hot with creamy tartar sauce or a nice cocktail sauce that actually has some kick. Plump fried shrimp are particularly good, hush puppies are well-seasoned, and the clam chowder is the inartfully thick and goopy sort that you hate to admit you kind of love.

Best Happy Hour

Buck & Rider

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

Whoever said you can't find good seafood in a landlocked state has never been to Buck & Rider. It's a stellar showcase of fresh catch flown in daily, and the good folks there spoil us even more with their lively and affordable happy hour. It runs a generous 3 to 7 p.m. (though not in the main dining rooms) and includes oysters with a choice of savory and spicy garnishes for $2.50, plump and sweet Sea of Cortez shrimp for $3 each, a smattering of top-quality dishes at the rock-bottom price of just $10 and dirt-cheap drink specials — even on high-end cocktails. Dishes include sushi rolls du jour and a heaping plate of Baja shrimp ceviche so good you'll think you can walk outside to Médano Beach in Cabo. For that one kooky person in the party who's anti-fish, Edna's Picnic Chicken Snack holds its own against most other fried chicken bites around. And don't miss the creamy smoked trout dip with watermelon radishes and saltines. It's ideally paired with The Direct Martini, served tableside.

Best Breakfast

Fàme Caffe

Jackie Mercandetti

People have been lining up for Fàme Caffe's breakfast since opening its doors on Central Avenue in 2015. The midtown counter-service cafe has a farmhouse aesthetic that's cozy and comfortable. The eatery has been a perennial favorite thanks to a menu that seamlessly incorporates American, Mexican and French options. Fuel up with a breakfast sandwich of egg, bacon, cheddar and tomato on a buttermilk bun. Shake a few drops of housemade hot sauce onto chilaquiles. Or, find a seat at the broad community table and make plans to linger over pain perdu-style Frenchie Toast and a mimosa. No breakfast is complete without coffee; try Fàme's horchata latte, a cinnamon-forward espresso drink made with house horchata.

Best Brunch

SugarJam The Southern Kitchen

Tirion Boan

Chef Dana Dumas started serving at her North Scottsdale brunch restaurant in 2022. And while many brunch spots have opened around the Valley since then, no one can touch her French toast. Along with egg and cinnamon, the bread gets a dunk in Grand Marnier, which caramelizes into a crackly crust when it hits the griddle. Served with rum pecan syrup, this is the best French toast in town. But Dumas doesn't stop at sweets. Try her buttery grits topped with giant shrimp or flavorful fried catfish. The menu is rounded out with eggs and bacon brunch staples along with cocktails and mimosas. On the weekends, DJs make the brunch experience into a party. Quieter weekday mornings are perfect for savoring the delights from the kitchen.

Best Restaurant Patio

Cibo

Jacob Tyler Dunn

In a city like Phoenix, patio season is brief, a delightful sliver of time between months of oppressive heat and those couple of weeks in winter when it's actually too cold to sit outside. Therefore, we want our outdoor dining time — while it lasts — to be on a patio that's worth the wait. For almost 20 years, Cibo has boasted one of the best patios in town. The Italian eatery set in a 1913 bungalow in downtown Phoenix has a courtyard filled with trees, string lights and cozy tables. It's the perfect backdrop for one of Cibo's artisanal pizzas (we're partial to the Da Vinci, which is topped with burrata, basil and pecorino Romano cheese) or perhaps a warm bowl of gnocchi in a fontina cream sauce. And of course, we never leave without ending our meal with the Nutella crepe. At Cibo, the food and the patio atmosphere team up, making every visit a feast for the senses.

Best Secret Patio

The Churchill

The Churchill

Hemmed in by multiple restaurants and bars, the courtyard at The Churchill is often a busy place to be. During popular hours, tables and chairs become a hot commodity, and even standing room can be hard to find. But there's an additional area that few seem to know about, and it provides the best seats in the house. After grabbing a beer at The Brill Line and snagging a burger at Stoop Kid, head toward the north end of the building. To the right, you'll find the restrooms, but to the left, there's a staircase leading to a hidden rooftop. One floor up, you can leave the loud crowds down below and enjoy a view looking out over downtown Phoenix. Watch as the nightlife scene picks up for the evening while you enjoy your dinner and drinks in a much more peaceful environment.

Best Restaurant Views

Christopher's at Wrigley Mansion

Consider it providence that some of the city's most stunning views can be found at a restaurant that happens to craft some of Phoenix's most vibrant and striking fine dining fare. That isn't a given. We won't name names, but expensive restaurants with a view often take their customers for granted, knowing the food merely has to be good enough not to drive starry-eyed couples away. Not so at Christopher's, where local legend and heavily decorated veteran of fine French cuisine Christopher Gross maintains this sleek, razor-sharp modern addition to the elegant, classical Wrigley Mansion. The food is stunning, both visually and on the palate. The staff glides around with tick-tock precision, exuding an atypical (for Phoenix) brand of smooth, professional warmth. And that view — a floor-to-ceiling glass wall is all that stands between you and the Valley, shimmering below in the balmy heat of a desert evening.

Best Takeout

Kabob Grill N' Go

Kabob Grill N Go

Quick service is a hallmark of Kabob Grill N' Go's specialty, but that doesn't mean taste is compromised. It's a family-owned restaurant, so you'll likely be greeted by Hasmik Chilingaryan, who makes everything fresh. The combos are large and include basmati rice, grilled vegetables and choice of meat (either chicken, beef or lamb) and dips. Most customers, including us, rave about the chicken and praise the generous portions. You'll likely have leftovers even if you share a plate. For vegetarians, there is eggplant salad, grilled vegetables, warm pita and shirazi salad — chopped cucumber, tomato, red onion, parsley, lime juice and olive oil dressing.

Best Bar Food

Bar Cena

Look, nobody — least of all us — is taking shots at buffalo wings and fried cheese. But bar food can be an elegant affair, too, can't it? The latest offering from chef Dom Ruggiero of Hush Public House and Fire at Will is a swanky little number that's part bar, part restaurant, part lounge. But whichever style of seating suits you, the menu's the same, and it features the kind of bold, crisply executed Euro-American fare that has become Ruggiero's signature. A toasty popover is so flaky and hot that it instantly melts the cacio e pepe butter you slather all over it. Chilled poached mussels are joined by a perky pickled vegetable escabeche and smoky grilled Noble toast. The house pate en croute, set with port gelee and served with a swipe of mustard, is the pinnacle of the form. And if you really need to scratch the itch for fried cheese, the muffuletta croquettes — crispy, sesame-studded puffs of potato and provolone buried in a spicy fennel onion salad — is a mighty refined way to do it.

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