By Benjamin Leatherman They don’t fool you at Z’s Greek, they feed you. The cool thing about having someone of Greek descent as a relative is that you get to chow on a lot of sumptuous Grecian cuisine. And I’ve done just that. My nephew’s half-Greek, which means that family…
By Amy Silverman Sure, everyone has a bad day now and then. But back to back “no award” inspection reports for a restaurant as tony as Chelsea’s Kitchen — the fun and funky casual dining spot on the north bank of the Arizona Canal? Yuck. And even after the inspectors…
By Wynter Holden After visiting two reasonably healthful restaurants at Tempe Marketplace, I thought it would be fun to see how they compare in a Battle of the Bulge. In one corner of the ring, we have Kabuki Japanese Restaurant, weighing in at a hefty couple of brightly-lit rooms and…
By Michele Laudig Although plenty of restaurant openings have been delayed or flat-out nixed (hello, Mexican Standoff, Shell Shock, Leche, REM?), October’s shaping up to be a decent month for new eateries in Scottsdale. The most high-profile among them is The Mission, a Latin-inspired eatery that’s taken over the cozy…
By Eddie Matney People always assume cinnamon is used strictly for dessert and the holiday season. NO! It’s a huge misconception! There are plenty of other great-tasting dishes that use cinnamon, like cinnamon chicken soup and cinnamon chicken gravy. For dessert, we use it for our apple cider, ice cream,…
By Jonathan McNamara Il Terrazzo, the “authentic italian restaurant” occupying the space that used to be The Terrace, opened its doors and its kitchen to hungry members of the press on October 16. See more tasty shots in our Il Terrazzo slideshow…
By Eddie Matney Okay, turns out Chow Bella readers are alright. I had a dozen or so of you over to Eddie’s House for dinner last week to chat about food, families and fly fishing. I expected to get beaten up a little bit. I expected to defend some of…
By Wynter Holden If you haven’t been to the new Hob Nobs (in the old Willow House space on McDowell and 3rd Ave.), it’s definitely worth a visit. The place is adorable, with restored original fireplace and hardwood floors, sunlit rooms and local art decking the walls. Another cute-as-heck thing…
By Jonathan McNamara Ah! Smell that crisp, autumn air! It’s the time of the year that we put our hefeweizens and dust off our appetites for fall seasonal brew. To help you decide which tasty seasonal to push down your gob, we at New Times carried out a complex experiment…
By Jonathan McNamara If you find yourself down in the dumps about the dwindling economy, I have an instant panacea. Find a whole-roasted then smoked pig and eat it. Trust me on this. I found myself in a position to do just that during BLT Steak’s media invite only dinner…
By Amy Silverman A late September inspection at Coach & Willie’s — a bar/restaurant not far from the ballpark in downtown Phoenix — revealed a litany of concerns. The report is pretty straightforward: The cooled chicken wings weren’t cool enough; the bar sink was out of paper towels; the sweet…
By Jay Bennett Times are tough, indeed, but I was surprised to find a really good and relatively inexpensive Thai spot in Tempe to be dead on a recent Saturday night. What gives? Has it gotten to the point where folks can’t drop $10 for an entree anymore? Here’s hoping…
Considering that Arcadia isn’t a mecca for any kind of Asian food, it seemed a shame when Sushi Mishima, a casual Japanese joint, closed its doors last year. No, the place wasn’t destination sushi by anyone’s definition, but it was an affordable and friendly neighborhood spot. But you know what?…
By Michele Laudig If you’re out in the East Valley and hungry for some pizza or a salad, stop by the place that’s getting all the buzz: Liberty Market. It just opened its doors yesterday on the city’s main drag (230 N. Gilbert Rd.), and it promises to be the…
By Michele Laudig Move over Lee Lee’s and Ranch 99 — there’s a gargantuan new Asian supermarket in town. It’s called Mekong Plaza, and it opens this Saturday. The 100,000 square foot market, located at the southwest corner of Main Street and Dobson in Mesa (across from Asian Cafe Express,…
By Michele Laudig For a while, the sign in the window of FOODBAR, at SouthBridge, indicated that it was closed for renovations this summer. But when it finally reopens on Monday, October 20, it’ll be a whole new restaurant: Metro Brasserie, a traditional French brasserie open daily for breakfast, lunch,…
By Amy Silverman I’ll be honest: Raw fish does not pass these lips. But I know enough to know that if you’re going to eat it, you want it to come from a very, very clean place. The Maricopa County restaurant inspectors apparently understand that, too, because they seem to…
The “Kung To-Fuey.” “Vegans are punk as fuck!” My late friend Sean Pettibone was kind of a caustic guy, as you’d probably reckon by the above quote. More opinionated than Henry Rollins (and twice as mouthy), Sean was a funny and whip-smart spitfire of punk ideology who was rock solid…
By Michele Laudig As they say, better late than never — especially in this bizarre economic climate. Fate chef-owner Johnny Chu’s new Asian tapas and sake bar, Sens, was supposed to have opened by now, but like many new restaurants around town, the launch was postponed by a couple of…
By Wynter Holden Could there have been a better weekend to have lunch outdoors in the beautiful, serene park-like oasis that is The Farm at South Mountain? I think not. The temperature was perfect, the setting lovely and the food amazingly fresh and tasty, as always. If you’re on a…
By Michele Laudig It’s still pretty toasty outside, but all it takes is the mere suggestion of fall for me to start craving certain foods that have been on the backburner during the sizzling summer. Like soup. Specifically, tonkotsu ramen at Cherry Blossom. Yes, I’m a bit of a broken…
By Eddie Matney Chef Eddie Matney is the owner of Eddie’s House in Scottsdale…
