Roman Holiday: There’s no shortage of Italian restaurants in the Valley. Local folklore says there are more Italian places here than any other ethnic variety, including Mexican. But there’s not necessarily strength in numbers. Most of these restaurants are serviceable, but few are memorable. However, I’ve just come back from…
Desert Princess, Pleasant Harbor Marina, Lake Pleasant, 230-7600. Hours: Lunch cruise, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner cruise, Friday, 7 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Flower-shop owners look forward to Valentine’s Day. The airline industry can’t wait for the day before Thanksgiving…
Buddy, Can You Spare $250,000? If there’s a venture capitalist out there looking to invest some big bucks in the restaurant business, I’ve got some ideas. Despite this town’s phenomenal restaurant growth, there are three niches that could use filling. First: an upscale, gringo-friendly Mexican seafood restaurant. This concept has…
Menu Blues: A few weeks ago, I received a call from someone complaining about a dish he’d had at Citrus Cafe, a wonderful French restaurant out in the wilds of Chandler. What was the problem? He didn’t like his steak. This got me thinking about something I see plenty of:…
Ventura Grill, 8380 East Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, 922-1500. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. No industry launches a new product these days without doing lots of homework: Bean counters analyze the hard financial data; engineers perfect…
Tutto, 7020 East Third Avenue, Scottsdale, 949-9101. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Somewhere in Phoenix, gathering dust in a warehouse, are the remains of an ancient Italian-restaurant civilization. Look:…
Let Them Eat Cake? Here’s a story I heard a few weeks ago. Put yourself in both the customers’ and restaurant manager’s shoes. What would you do? Employees order a fancy, expensive dessert cake to celebrate a special occasion at their company’s headquarters. They order it from a well-known restaurant…
Timothy’s, 6335 North 16th Street, Phoenix, 277-7634. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, 5 p.m. to midnight, seven days a week. What’s one difference between people and animals? Animals feed; humans dine. When my family sits down for dinner, I like to think that we’ve…
How the Southwest Was Won: Tucson’s Cafe Terra Cotta has been reveling in national attention for years. But diners at the Valley branch of the restaurant could have been forgiven for wondering about the hype. Yes, the Southwestern-themed food has been first-rate since the local Cafe Terra Cotta opened a…
Deli Lama: The Valley has been enjoying a spectacular restaurant boom for several years. These days, you can get almost any type of cuisine; some of it good enough to compete with the fare in America’s gastronomic capitals. But, as I’ve noted more than once, we don’t have any decent…
Ah-So, 6033 West Bell, Glendale, 978-1177. Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., seven days a week; Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Is Phoenix a big-league city? You can use all sorts of yardsticks to measure. Is there a symphony…
Gut Reaction: According to a Gallup poll, more than half of all Americans say they suffer occasionally from some form of gastrointestinal distress. Help for these folks may be on the way. No, it’s not a pill. It’s a book with a punchy, no-nonsense title: Be Good to Your Gut:…
The Copper Club Restaurant, America West Arena, 201 East Jefferson, Phoenix, 379-7777. Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11a.m. to 2 p.m. Today’s quiz: Choose the statement that best describes your downtown-job situation. 1. When you arrive at work, you pull into a parking spot with a) your name on it; b)…
Razz’s Restaurant and Bar, 10321 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 905-1308. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. About six years ago, Erasmo “Razz” Kamnitzer came on board as chef at Different Pointe of View, the swanky dining room at the Pointe at Tapatio Cliffs. Soon after, the Hilton…
Light My Fire: Remember the woman who sued McDonald’s for big bucks after spilling hot coffee on her lap? Although her award was later reduced significantly, her legal victory has restaurant owners more worried than ever about getting hit with negligence suits. A recent case in Louisiana, reported in Nation’s…
Mulligan’s Pub and Grill, 8809 East Mountain View, Scottsdale, 314-5475. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Faith and begorra, lassie, yer as pretty as a milkmaid’s shamrock. May the Blarney Stone kiss…
Butt Out: In a couple of weeks, citizens of Mesa get to vote on the most sweeping municipal nonsmoking measure ever proposed in this state. The ordinance would forbid smoking just about everywhere designated as a “public place.” That means workplaces, stadiums, retail stores, waiting rooms, schools, hospitals, child-care centers,…
Nola’s Cocina Mexicana, Biltmore Fashion Park, 24th Street and Camelback, Phoenix, 957-8393. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9p.m. Does anyone really believe there’s such a thingas complete objectivity? I know judges…
Margaritaville: When is a margarita not a margarita? That’s the question a United States District Court is soon going to decide. The plaintiff is Heublein, Inc., a giant international player in the wine-and-spirits market. Among its holdings is Jose Cuervo, the best-selling tequila brand in the United States. The defendant…
Hard Rock Cafe, 2621 East Camelback, Phoenix, 956-3669. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight. Today’s multiple-choice quiz: Which statement best explains the phenomenal success of Hard Rock Cafe? a) Hard Rock Cafe celebrates the accomplishments of the…
Get Lost: What were the worst-selling dishes that chefs cooked up last year? Nation’s Restaurant News, an industry journal, recently asked well-known chefs about their biggest 1995 menu flops. Among the specialties that diners rejected: * Veal cheeks. Said the chef: “The dish was wonderful, but it was disastrous. Nobody…
Restaurant Update: Get out your wallets, Phoenix. Morton’s is coming to town. Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris are the two major contenders in the high-end steak-house-chain wars, battling it out in dozens of cities all across America. And now they’re about to duke it out a couple of blocks from each…
