Reviewing the Situation: Even though I’ve been writing the Cafe column for more than two years, I’m continually astonished by the number of people–readers, restaurant owners, publicists–who still don’t understand the two guiding principles of restaurant reviewing. First, no review can be credible if the restaurant knows a critic is…
Rancho Pinot Grill, Town & Country Shopping Center, 4709 North 20th Street, Phoenix, 468-9463. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Everyone knows that death and taxes are inescapable, though they’d be somewhat easier to bear if they came in that order. But there’s a third inevitability that…
Be My Valentine: If your sweetie requires high-end, high-up dining, the Valley offers plenty of choices. Among the best: Top of the Rock (the Buttes, 225-9000): This beautiful room provides a 360-degree panoramic view of the Valley. The Southwestern-themed food looks just as good. If the lobster Napoleon is on…
For years, if someone mentioned Asian food, visions of tangerine beef, mee krob or tempura danced through my head. Oriental cuisine always meant dining on Chinese, Thai or Japanese specialties. But two factors are changing the Asian-dining landscape in the Valley. First, diners are growing increasingly bold and sophisticated. After…
The Write Stuff: How long should a critic wait before reviewing the fare at a new restaurant? Most of my colleagues like to give new places several months’ grace, letting them work out the opening kinks. I’m inclined to be a bit less charitable. When Broadway producers are getting a…
Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…
Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…
Wagon Yard Steakhouse, 2625 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 992-6860. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. January, in the Valley of the Sun: Snowbirds, in recreational vehicles large enough to have their own zip code, drive 20…
Bahia Kino, 24 East Broadway, Phoenix, 243-9684. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Modern technology provides us Valley dwellers with lots of pleasure-enhancing marvels that nature neglected to furnish: cool summer nights, pay-per-view Suns games and an ample supply of seafood. Is…
Romano’s Macaroni Grill, 7245 East Gold Dust, Scottsdale, 596-6676. Hours: Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m. Sometimes, in my blacker moments, I think Holden Caulfield came to an honorable end. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye couldn’t stand the…
Original Pancake House, 6840 East Camelback, Scottsdale, 946-4902. Breakfast hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. All my holiday eating is behind me. Literally. You can’t miss it. Noshing on Chex party mix, gorging on turkey dressing and washing it all down with eggnog is not the way…
El Encanto, 6248 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, 488-0024. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to close, seven days a week. Whenever Rod, my auto mechanic, sees the old jalopy roll in, he can confidently extend his annual South Seas cruise an extra week. During this holiday time, I…
Bssghetti, 1656 South Alma School, Mesa, 820-8080. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m. Uh-oh. It’s Christmas-vacation time. Time for lots of family togetherness. Lots and lots of…
Sam’s Cafe, Arizona Center, 455 North Third Street, Phoenix, 252-3545. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Sophisticated, well-traveled food lovers not only always seem to know where to get a great meal, they also instinctively know where…
Laguna Cafe, 7373 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, 994-5859. Hours: Dinner, 5 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. One of the Valley’s best “good to be alive” urban settings is the mall by Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Here you’ll find soothing fountains, eye-catching sculpture, grass for lounging and walking paths filled…
Chompie’s Restaurant, Deli, Bagel Factory, Bakery and Caterer, 3202 East Greenway Road, Phoenix, 971-8010. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Monday, 6 a.m. to 3…
Lathrops on Central, 5202 North Central, Phoenix, 266-9555. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Even folks without big bucks can occasionally experience the luxuries that daily life ordinarily denies them. Park…
Charlie’s, Crescent Hotel at Koll Center, 2620 West Dunlap, Phoenix, 943-8200. Hours: Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parked along I-17 on an unlovely west-side stretch of Dunlap, the Crescent Hotel hardly merits a second look from a passing car. So I was seriously discombobulated when I sat down…
Shalimar, 616 South Forest, Tempe, 967-8399. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. It’s great to live in a university town. You have access to the wisdom of great minds. The arts flourish. And the presence of thousands of co-eds gives a meaning to…
Italian Oven, 10057 North Metro Parkway East (Metrocenter), Phoenix, 997-0500. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. What’s the real reason the masses flock to chains of every sort? Why will we drive, bleary-eyed, 50 extra miles…
Beef Eaters Restaurant, 300 West Camelback, Phoenix, 264-3838. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday dinner, noon to 8 p.m. America has seen quite a few changes since John F. Kennedy occupied the White House. Back then,…
Notebook: Last year was fun. It was full of constant surprises. There were miraculous shots that won games. Almost every night at America West Arena was a combination of Christmas and the Fourth of July. When Charles Barkley wasn’t dominating the backboards, he was stealing balls and thundering three-quarters of…
