O’Kelley’s Sports Bar & Grill

A touch of the Irish in south Mesa, O’Kelley’s is a dark-wooden pub that boasts 50-plus televisions, a regular gaggle of bar patrons, a pool table, darts, golf arcade, and full menu. It also hosts local rock bands on Fridays and Saturdays and karaoke on Mondays and Thursdays. Craft beer and poker are the way […]

Okra

Okra Cookhouse & Cocktails is the sophomore effort from Chef Cullen Campbell, wife and co-owner Maureen McGrath-Campbell and co-owner/mixologist Micah Olson, the team behind Phoenix’s beloved Crudo. The menu delivers modern updates of classic Southern dishes, with the occasional Italian flair. Small plate highlights include the fried chicken skins, crispy bites slathered in an irresistibly […]

Old Dixie’s Southern Kitchen

Killer Southern-style eats in the form of sandwiches and sides made with locally sourced ingredients. Because of Old Dixie’s home in the Welcome Diner in Central Phoenix, there are burgers, too — one even topped with peanut butter — but they are not why you come here. You come here for chef Michael Babcock’s fried […]

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Even budget-minded diners get the real deal at this downtown mainstay: All of OSF’s entrees come with hot, fresh-baked bread; soup or salad; coffee or tea, and authentic spumoni ice cream for dessert. Match that generous rule with your choice of classic pastas, and top it with one of several delicious sauces, and you’ve got […]

Old Station Sub Shop

The walls are lined with Phoenix memorabilia, license plates, and old-timey shop signs, but we go here for the shocking variety of subs, soups, salads, fruit bowls, and desserts (speaking of which, don’t miss the Rice Krispie Treat-just like Mom used to make!). Subs are enormous, jammed with fresh ingredients and wonderful with the soup […]

Caffe Sarajevo

This hidden gem of Bosnian food tucked into an aging strip mall on the city’s west side comes courtesy of Bosnian-born owner and chef Seida Turulja, who makes some of the best lepinja (housemade Bosnian bread) in the Valley. Featuring a small and affordable selection of some of the country’s favorites (nothing on the menu […]

Old Town Taste

We’ve described Old Town Taste as a strip mall Chinese restaurant – easily spotted by the bright-red neon sign when cruising through Tempe – with a Sichuan bent. Inside the mural-walled dining room with turquoise booths, menus promise some exciting dishes, including the braised eggplant, Ma Po tofu and Szechuan-style blood curd. One of our […]

Old Town Tortilla Factory

Gorgeous, Southwestern-themed hacienda-like restaurant featuring a tequileria with more than 100 types of distilled agave juice, and a vast, elegant patio with a captivating, flame-spitting waterfall. The food ain’t too shabby, either. The gourmet, house-made tortillas are some of the best in the Valley, and there are various, mouth-watering items on the bill of fare, […]

Old Town Whiskey

Celebrity chef Jose Garces’s upscale saloon inside The Saguaro hotel in Old Town Scottsdale is a perfect pairing of hard pours and satisfying tavern fare. Inside a cozy and dim, wood-covered interior with caramel-colored leather couches and glass jar lights, a small but tight menu of upscale bar snacks, housemade pickled seasonal vegetables, and burgers […]

Ole Brass Rail

This east Phoenix dive, located on Thomas Road across from perhaps the most chaotic Walmart in the Valley, opens at 6 a.m. and possesses many of the qualities one associates with a tavern that caters to morning drinkers. The crowd is casual bordering on haggard. The bar serves what we’ve come to call “personal pitchers” […]

Olive & Ivy Restaurant & Marketplace

Talk about sensory overload. At this Scottsdale Waterfront hot spot, you’ll find a crowded bar and lounge area, an airy main dining room, a lush outdoor patio, and smaller dining rooms as well. At lunch, menu options range from a cool Greek salad to a rich pulled-pork sandwich. For a casual weekend brunch, try the […]

Ollie Vaughn’s

It’s far too easy to get lost in the pastry case at Ollie Vaughn’s. If the sky-high slab of peanut butter cheesecake drizzled in chocolate doesn’t get you, the caramel-drenched pecan sticky bun or powdered sugar-dusted lemon bar on buttery shortbread will. So many choices. But beyond the beckoning display, owner Lindsay Magee has created […]