No one likes waiting in line for a table. While standing around aimlessly, guzzling pre-dinner drinks and staring intently at your personal homing device (a.k.a. the annoying beeper thingy they give you at certain mid-grade eateries), you can’t help but ponder the question, “why, oh why, didn’t I make reservations?” Wasteland…
At Wright on Main (on Main Street in Mesa), Maricopa County restaurant inspectors recently found something rare — at least, it hasn’t turned up in dozens of inspection reports reviewed in the last few months. Mice. And roaches. Also “excessive” droppings from both. (What would qualify as non-excessive, one wonders?) Food…
As a waiter, Manuel was a marvel. While reciting specials and fielding menu questions, he dispensed information with the rote confidence of a Rhodes Scholar. When it came to taking orders and delivering the goods, he neither wrote things down nor screwed things up. It was at a chain Mexican…
It happened as swiftly as dominoes fall. Just days after the late August closing of Katz Deli, a Phoenix institution on Central Avenue, Craig and Kris DeMarco snatched up the early ’60s building and got crackin’ on their plans to turn it into a second outpost of their popular wine bar,…
Here’s something you don’t see very often, if ever — a special event at the highly acclaimed Binkley’s. On Monday, March 23, the Cave Creek fine dining destination will be hosting a six-course winemaker dinner to showcase Frank Family Vineyards, a boutique winery in Napa Valley. AZ Wines Company’s Carefree location is also involved in…
It takes a lot to gross me out. Or so I thought. While filleting an Artic Char, one of other students decided to play bio lab and began investigating the fish’s eyeball and how it was attached. He poked, prodded, pushed and punctured. I was sneaking a glance in his…
Lola Tapas owner Daniel Wayne — who founded the ultra-hip Lux Coffeebar, then sold it and opened the tapas joint four years ago — is getting back into the coffee game. He tells me he just signed a lease on a 1200-square-foot space on Central Avenue, just south of Camelback (4700 N…
If you eat at Efes Turkish Cuisine in Tempe (in the same strip mall as Changing Hands Bookstore, southwest corner of Guadalupe and McClintock), chances are, you’ll be doing some naval gazing. The restaurant often features belly dancing. But you might be better off checking out the cooks’ fingernails. A recent…
I got word last night that Palatte, the popular downtown brunch spot known for its eclectic menu and relaxed historic-house setting, just closed yesterday. Supposedly the restaurant was still doing a bangin’ business on the weekends, when people would line up for frittatas, scrambled egg “mishmashes,” and roasted sweet potato pancakes,…
Walking in to The Great Arizona Beer Festival on Saturday, we promised ourselves that we would not stumble out like blithering idiots. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. So once again, the Brew Review team broke free from our office shackles and breathed in the sweet…
You know an energy drink is “extreme” when more than half the label is filled with warnings in .3 font. An eight ounce bottle of Red Line Xtreme gives a litany of cautions: “Do not consume Red Line on an empty stomach,” “Do not exceed recommended serving,” “Do not use…
We’ve already reported on the delicious meals and bread to be had at Il Terrazzo Restaurant located at The Phoenician Resort. What if we told you that this Italian eatery also has a new selection of top quality tequila? Surprised? So were we when we sat down at a press…
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: Roka Akor Gets a National Nod Brilliant Blog: This…
Food poisoning isn’t always the unfortunate result of eating at dives. The recent closure of England’s famed Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck, run by cutting-edge chef Heston Blumenthal, shows that even the world’s poshest dining destinations can have a really bad bout of bad luck. According to CNN, possibly 400 customers…
Did I live in Chicago in a former life? Because the thought of a good Italian beef sandwich, drenched in meaty juice, sounds insanely appealing right now. A Chicago-style hot dog with the works sounds good, too. I’m getting all hungry at the thought of a brand-new Luke’s of Chicago opening…
One dollar for a full lunch? Consider it food for thought. A mere buck is the farmers’ and ranchers’ share of the cost of the ingredients that go into the meal served at the annual Arizona Agricultural Day, which takes place this Saturday, March 7, at Superstition Farm in Mesa…
Helen Yung and Jan Wichayanuparp have pretty sweet lives. First, they were savvy enough to open the super stylish Sweet Republic (9160 E. Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, 480-248-6979, www.sweetrepublic.com), where ingenious ice cream flavors like Salted Butter Caramel Swirl are the order of the day. Second, they were smart enough to…
This week’s Cafe column ventures into the food Mecca that is Scottsdale and discovers an eatery that is as delicious as it is economical: Daily Dose. Food critic Michele Laudig on Daily Dose: Sometimes good food is all the reason I need to get excited about a restaurant. At Daily…
If you’re in the habit of getting your Indian food fix at Tandoori Times’ Old Town Scottsdale location (there’s also one in Glendale), you’ll have to get used to driving a little further north. The restaurant is currently in the midst of vacating its 5th Avenue digs and heading up…
No wonder there were rumors. A couple months ago, I’d heard that the acclaimed Barrio Cafe was moving to Paradise Valley, and I just wasn’t buying it. Come on — can you see chef-owner Silvana Salcido Esparza, a pierced and tattooed CenPho gal, leaving her 16th Street digs? Nuh uh. She…
The Mesa Community Farmers’ Market takes place every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 260 North Center Street, just north of downtown Mesa. John Scott of One Windmill Farm, one of the market’s produce vendors, says he’s been getting a lot of love for his cucumbers. Get your…
Funny how as St. Patrick’s Day approaches, it forces aspiring pub owners to pick up the slack and get their doors open in time for the beer-centric holiday. For example, consider last week’s timely opening of The Turf downtown. Another new place just might be open for St. Patty’s, too…
