Muy Gigante: La Merced Supersizes It in Mesa

To understand La Merced, a Mexico City-style restaurant in Mesa, you could start with its flautas, a dish that challenges the notion that good things have to come in small packages. Nearly double the size of those you might find elsewhere in the Valley, the flour tortillas, full of moist…

Daily Dose MidTown: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Daily Dose MidTown, 1928 East Highland Avenue, Suite F-107, 602-274-0334, www.dailydosegrill.com. See Also: – 1130 the Restaurant: Happy Hour Report Card – Old Town’s Daily Dose Opening Second Location – Sam Fox’s The Yard, Featuring Culinary Dropout, to Open February 11: Think Live Music, Tetherball, and (Later) Oysters…

Great Shakes at Bertie’s in Arcadia: Get. In. The Car. Now.

The Guilty Pleasure: The entire store. But mostly the milkshakes. Where To Get It: Bertie’s Vintage, 4041 East Thomas Road (at 40th Street) The Price: $5.25 What It Really Costs: Just went up a size from all the decadence? You’re in luck: They have swell clothes for sale, too. I…

Beer Stew and Gluten-Free Love

Chow Bella has a valentine for you. For the rest of February, we’re handing out Candy Hearts — stories of food and love from some of our favorite writers. Enjoy. When I met my husband, Tom, in grad school in Tucson, he was cooking on a two-burner hotplate in his…

Second Location of Essence Bakery Coming to Phoenix This Summer

What’s going on in East Phoenix these days? A better question might be: What isn’t? See also: – Sam Fox Wants Us to Start Preparing for a “Life-Changing Food Experience” – New Restaurants in the Works for Arcadia’s La Grande Orange From sushi to two new La Grande Orange concepts…

Cat Cafes Migrate to UK

London is poised for the opening of its very first cat cafe in the coming months. Modeled on the cat cafes in Tokyo and Taipei, Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium is a coffee shop with a wait staff that includes a clowder of cats. See Also: –The Grumpy Cat Tattoo (It…

The Flavor of Death

Chow Bella has a valentine for you. For the rest of February, we’re handing out Candy Hearts — stories of food and love from some of our favorite writers. Enjoy. Nearly 10 years ago, my wife and I had our second date at Hiro Sushi, an authentic Japanese restaurant in…

Dearest Taco, We’re Over.

Dearest Taco: I’m sorry, but we have to break up. No, it isn’t me; it’s you. You’ve changed. You’re not the same robust, cheap, and juicy meal you used to be. You used to be as big as my hand, now you’re the length of my index finger. I thought…

New Restaurants in the Works for Arcadia’s La Grande Orange

Since notable sweets maker Tammie Coe pulled her pastries out of La Grande Orange (LGO) last August, news of the popular grocery and pizzeria in Arcadia (which since has expanded its in-house pastry department) has been whisper-quiet. Perhaps because it has a couple of secrets under way. See also: -…

World’s Most Expensive Starbucks Drink Costs $47.30

Meet the Quadriginoctuple Frap, possibly the most expensive drink you can order from Starbucks. This is a drink that started life as 48 shots of espresso and somehow managed to cram two bananas, matcha powder, and pretty much everything Starbucks is authorized to drizzle on your beverage. Final damage? $47.30…

Top Five Phoenix Food and Restaurant News Stories of the Week

Every week, there’s a cornucopia of Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you’re like most people, you probably just don’t have the time to get to all of it. It’s kind of like those burgers at Old Town Whiskey; it just won’t all…