It was tempting enough to take frequent jaunts to the East Valley when Wisconsin-based Culver’s debuted in Mesa a couple years ago, but now the Midwestern favorite is heading to Central Phoenix, bringing its famous ButterBurgers to a stretch of the city that’s surprisingly sparse when it comes to fast food burger chains…
With the recent resurgence of “classic” drinks, it’s nice to see a relative newbie that combines tradition with innovation like St-Germain, an artisanal French liqueur made from handpicked elderflower blossoms found in the foothills of the Alps…
One of Restaurant Business Magazine’s 50 Great Ideas for 2009 comes from Petite Maison, one of my favorite new restaurants in the Valley. Wendy Goldman, the restaurant’s marketing gal, says their Staff Meals were featured in the January issue. Available only between 10 p.m. and midnight, Thursday through Saturday, the bargain-priced…
For this Monday Night Martha, we did something decidedly un-Martha. We baked Sticky Toffee Pudding while still wearing our pajamas. Yeah, that’s right. We were in our pajamas past noon. It’s hard for us to imagine the super-achieving, real Martha cooking in her pajamas. And even if she did, we’re…
It was probably inevitable. In light of the excitement generated by deliciously bad-for-you deep-fried goodies traditionally found at the fair and at festivals, now there’s a new restaurant called Festival Foods Services, dishing up said naughty treats all the time. And not ironically, it’s in the Arizona Mills Mall food court, which…
A lemon is a lemon, right? That’s what we thought when our high school chorus instructor told us to suck on cut lemons before a performance. Or when granny used to prescribe lemon wedges for cold and sore throat relief. If only we’d been older and wiser and known about Meyer Lemons, the delicious…
January evenings are chilly in Phoenix; not exactly ear muff weather, but certainly cold enough to justify a hot drink with a little kick. A Hot Toddy is a warm drink usually made with bourbon or scotch and a varying combination of sweeteners and spices. The Hot Toddy was believed…
It’s not likely to snow any time soon in these parts — and the holidays are long gone — but if you’re still fighting the post-Xmas blues, like we are, check out the cavitity-inducing sweetness over at www.bakerella.com, a super-cute blog we just discovered. Talk about eye candy. And hey,…
Bomberos Cafe and Wine Bar is easy to find — the fire station-turned-hip eatery sits on Central, just a block south of Dunlap in Sunnyslope. The joint is a great place to start one’s day, as the breakfast menu includes a variety of omelettes and breakfast wraps, as well as…
Last week we identified the top ten food trends of the 2000’s. Today we’re looking ahead to toward new culinary adventures. If we were alloted five wishes to change the way America eats in the next year and beyond, these would be them. Asian Ice Overthrows Fro-yo – We’re big…
That’s the message Dole wants to convey. The company recently launched a “banana diet” plan that includes lots of consumption of the yellow fruit in hopes of trimming down waistlines of consumers. According to www.dolebananadiet.com, bananas are high in resistant starch, which boosts fat burning and calcium absorption. They also…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Dirty Blonde Cocktails Hit Scottsdale and Tempe Resolve to…
Today Elvis Presley would have celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday and thousands of fans will gather to spend the weekend honoring the Rock and Roll music legend at his home in Memphis. Even if you don’t consider yourself a fan, there is no denying that Elvis Presley’s contribution to music was…
Last week: Jalapeño Inferno in Scottsdale…
There was already plenty of excitement about the opening of FnB, a collaboration between Pavle Milic, Peter Kasperski, and chef Charleen Badman, since it opened in Scottsdale a little over a month ago. Now, they’re keeping up the momentum with a revised menu and an attention-getting wine list featuring all Arizona…
How many times has Ty Largo made me smile or flat-out laugh my ass off? Too many times to count. Between food news-and-gossip-fueled email exchanges (he does marketing for local fave Quiessence, as well as various foodie events around town) and his ever-clever quips on Twitter (@juxtapalate), he’s been cracking…
Everyone around us seems to be sniffling, sneezing or coughing these days. Right before the holidays, we were standing on a long, seeming never-ending line at the post office behind a woman who kept hacking up a lung in our direction. “I’m not contagious,” she kept assuring. Uh-huh. Two days…
If you’re looking to score some free food and check out live music in the meantime, The Compound Grill is offering all its “Tweeps” free appetizers when they first start following the bar on Twitter. Follow @LiveAtCompound, and the north Scottsdale eatery, which features live music every night Tuesday through…
Fandom has its privileges, even if you’re a bandwagoneer. So just in time for the NFL playoffs, it’s smart to be an Arizona Cardinals fan if only for the free and cheap eats it’ll get you. The better the team does, the more of these deals we’ll likely see. At Rubio’s…
Originality and tuna sandwiches don’t always go together, but that hasn’t stopped me from keeping an eye out for new takes on a lunchtime favorite. Zinc Bistro does an interesting and tasty version, piling up smoked tuna salad on crisp toasts. Capers and dill keep the smokiness in check, and…
Bike to downtown Phoenix’s Royal Coffee Bar, and get a 50 percent discount on drinks through the month of January. The little shop’s selection’s grand, ranging from espresso to chai tea to Italian soda. We’d happily bust out our 15-year-old purple Huffy for a yummy Cafe Mocha–even though we live…
Lets be honest: we’ve all done the ‘ol “vodka in the water bottle” or “beer in the cargo pocket” routine from time to time (because the real crime is charging $10 for a watered down cocktail, or (gasp!) not allowing alcohol on the premises at all, right?). Turns out drinking…
