The Vig to Open Third Location in Downtown Phoenix

Gettin’ Vig-gy with it (sorry) in the downtown area might be a reality in the next several months for the popular upscale tavern The Vig. See also: Cupcake Love-In Founder Opens Coffee Shop Inside Her Scottsdale Bakery and Jobot Duo to Open Vegan/Vegetarian Diner in Bragg’s Pie Factory Celebrating six…

Five Things to Eat and Drink this Weekend in Metro Phoenix

Looking for something to put in your mouth this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out what’s on our plate. See Also: Gilbert Food Truck Court to Re-Launch This Friday, Jan. 18 AZ Cocktail Week Kicks Off Feb. 16: Expect a Carnival, Competition and Seminars. Better Line Up a Designated…

Laura Hahnefeld’s Phoenix Food Manifesto

In early 2012, Chow Bella’s sister arts blog, Jackalope Ranch, began inviting creative types around town to write a manifesto — a personal list of 10 hard-and-fast rules of life or pieces of advice. Each manifesto was paired with a local designer who illustrated one lesson/rule in poster form. We…

The Impossible and Dinner at My Mom’s Thai Kitchen

While a jumbo tub of hot buttered popcorn is one of our most frequently indulged guilty pleasures, we think a good movie deserves a little better company than junk food. Try out our movie and meal pairings for yourself or feel free to suggest one of your own favorites in…

Growing Pains at Macayo’s Family’s Milagro Grill in Arcadia

Milagro Grill is a new take on Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen from a new generation of Johnsons, the family who’s been running the Arizona-based chain of Mexican eats since Grandpa Woody Johnson and wife Victoria founded the family business in 1945. See also: – Angels Trumpet Ale House Nails Beer, Fails…

Gilbert Food Truck Court to Re-Launch This Friday, Jan. 18

East Valley street food aficionados may have been missing their regular fix of late. If you made it out to last weekend’s Street Eats Food Truck Festival you know what we’re talking about. Well, Gilbert-ites, there’s hope for you yet. The Gilbert Food Truck Court will re-launch this Friday -…

Milagro Grill Still Going Through Growing Pains in Arcadia

If Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen is the Valley’s popular party girl, than Milagro Grill is her sophisticated older sister. Inside her small, laid-back pad in Arcadia, she’s swapped out Macayo’s festive, bright surfaces for more refined textures of polished wood, brick, and metal under low lights; traded the booming dance tunes…

3 Hot (Literally) Cocktails in Downtown Phoenix

When temperatures in Phoenix are lower than they are in Anchorage, Alaska – you know it’s time for a drink. Fortunately, these three Phoenix based bars are serving up drinks both hot and heavy – perfect for the over 21 in need of a solution to the under 21 (well,…

Chili Challenge: TexAZ Grill vs. Matt’s Big Breakfast

When the temperatures turn arctic, there’s only one way to do the math: chilly = chili. And because cold snaps are few and far between here in the land of eternal sunshine, this is chili-eating weather as we seldom see it. See also: – 10 Favorite Soup & Sandwich Spots…

Ward Off the Flu with Fire Cider

Everywhere I turn, there’s talk of the flu. Since I follow a bunch of natural health junkies on Pinterest, I can’t get away from it there either, with everyone pinning different home remedies. While I’ve managed to keep away from the illness so far, I decided to make a good-sized…

Is Yelp Fair to Restaurants?

Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Last December, when Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern called Yelp a “forum for uninformed morons”…

Phoenix Cold Snap Closes Quiessence Tonight

Customers planning a cozy farm-to-table supper at Quiessence tonight will be frozen out, thanks to temperamental pipes and a water heater that just couldn’t hack the unusually cold weather. As reported on Facebook, the restaurant will be closed for business this evening so that problems related to the cold snap…