Where: Ocean Blue When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday Dish: Brown Stewed Chicken Price: $9.99 The Setting: Ocean Blue in Chandler is a surprise of a Caribbean restaurant. Featuring Jamaican favorites like ackee and…
Next month the Valley will gain 100,000-square-feet culinary shopping ground when the AZ International Marketplace opens its doors to the public. The gigantic grocery store, located at 1920 West Broadway Road in Mesa, comes from the same owners at Mekong Plaza, the Asian-centric market that opened seven years ago on the…
Earlier this year the owners of Central Bistro, the New American eatery located at 3160 East Camelback Road, sold the restaurant to a new group of owners that includes one of the Valley’s top chefs. Former owner Osio Culinary Group sold the restaurant on January 21, and it has been under…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
Is there any dish more indulgent and seductively rich than a well-made Indian curry, lavished with enough ghee and spice that a bowl of lentils or cauliflower or spinach mysteriously turns into a full-blown gustatory revelation? The traditional cuisine of north India, where layer upon layer of butter and fresh…
The Guilty Pleasure: Booze Burger Where to Get It: Paradise Valley Burger Company Price: $9 What it Really Costs: A food hangover, whose symptoms may include bloating, lethargy, and a compulsive need to count the hours until your next “cheat” day. If you ask food aficionados in North Phoenix where to find a solid…
As of last month, BlueFire Grill at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort has a new look and new executive chef. Chef Patrick Doyle has already introduced a “Southwestern-inspired menu” at the newly remodeled restaurant, 6333 North Scottsdale Road, on Scottsdale Road just south of Lincoln Drive. Doyle’s new menu includes focuses…
Metro Phoenix, it’s been quite a month for restaurant closings. In February, we said goodbye to La Perla in Glendale, a Short Leash Hot Dogs location in Central Phoenix, and Stingray Sushi at Scottsdale Quarter. But February was also a good month for gourmet heavyweights, especially of the burger persuasion,…
For more than a decade, chef Kevin Binkley’s namesake restaurant has been the pinnacle of destination dining in metro Phoenix. With ever-changing, multi-course menus that tend to be as dramatic as they are unforgettably delicious, the chef’s earned nearly a dozen James Beard award nominations for his work at the…
When James Beard Award-winning chef Christopher Gross welcomed us into his home kitchen, we were handed a mug of hot coffee and instantly felt at ease. Gross, chef and owner of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge, is no stranger to hospitality and has designed his home to receive and entertain a…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
For the past three years, the Great Pho King food truck has been a roving source for both traditional and fusion Vietnamese fare, including bowls of noodle soup, pot stickers, and banh mi burritos. Started by owner Mike Baum and chef Eddie Pham, the truck’s become a familiar sight at food…
Every bowl of noodles served at Mesa’s Nan Zhou Noodle House passes through the hands of chef Li Bao Jiang. The restaurant, which opened about a year ago at 111 South Dobson Road, specializes in Lanzhou-style lamian, or noodles made by stretching and pulling dough by hand. According to the restaurant’s…
Where: Tandoori Times 2 5626 West Bell Road, Glendale When: Tuesday-Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (lunch) & 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (dinner) Dish & Price: Chicken Korma ($13.95) and Plain Butter Naan ($2.50) The Setting: Tandoori Times 2 is a brightly decorated eatery; even the industrial-looking air vents are…
Mark your calendars now for Wednesday, March 2 at 6 p.m. because that’s when you’ll be able to see two Valley spots on the Cooking Channel’s Extra Virgin. The series follows actress Debi Mazar and her husband Gabriele Corcos, who will explore the Grand Canyon and two metro Phoenix destinations…
Ramen lovers, rejoice. As of this month, you have a new destination for bowls of noodles and porcine-flavored broth. Welcome Chicken + Donuts, the second restaurant from the Welcome Diner crew, now serves two types of ramen every day the place is open, Tuesday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to…
Metro Phoenix gained a new food truck roundup Sunday, in the form of the Valley Plaza Food Truck Festival. The festival took place in the parking lot of Tempe’s Valley Plaza shopping center, with appearances by some established favorites (Aioli Burger and Cousins Maine Lobster) as well as some relative newcomers,…
Fans of Bobby Q, the longstanding barbecue restaurant in Northwest Phoenix, will soon have another place to get their fix of wood-fired ‘cue and steaks. According to the restaurant’s website, a second location of Bobby Q will open in Mesa this summer. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the plans…
In terms of popularity, the quintessential neighborhood French bistro, a refined but generally unpretentious place with white tablecloths and honest food and wine, has been in steady decline for years. In its place have come gastropubs, ramen bars, and any number of places serving tapas-style small plates paired with local…
In December, I shared 10 wishes for the metro Phoenix food scene, including the wish that someone in town would make chef Christina Tosi’s corn cookies, which she made famous at Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City. These sweet corn cookies are the stuff of desert-lovers’ dreams. So, while…
Last week we told you chef Akos Szabo would be heading up the kitchen at Match Cuisine & Cocktails at the FOUND: RE Phoenix hotel. The chef, who trained at Scottsdale Culinary Institute, has spent time working in top kitchens in Chicago, Boston, and Southern California, but is best known…
Last August the Washington Post ran a story about a national shortage of cooks, pointing to chefs in cities including Chicago, New York, and San Francisco who all confirmed it’s harder than ever to hire good kitchen staff. And based on these answers, it seems most metro Phoenix chefs would agree: Talented…
