Captain’s Cabin

Next to the entrance of the uptown location of Hula’s Modern Tiki, there’s a second door hiding in plain sight. It looks to be an employee entrance or maybe a storage room. But inside, you’ll find a dark space serving bright cocktails. Tiki drinks in shades of pink and blue come adorned with purple orchids […]

Carbajal’s

Owner Marina Carbajal has taken her family’s Las Cruces recipes and brought them to a strip mall in far east Mesa. The results are superb Sonoran-style Mexican food, all homemade, and some of the best of its kind in the Valley. Top picks include machaca, green chile beef, alb

Carlsbad Tavern and Restaurant

New Mexico-style Mexican food served in a cave-like setting, complete with bats and gushing waterfalls. The kitchen sends out nothing but winners, from traditional favorites like carne adovada and blue corn enchiladas to nifty platters like pork osso bucco and chicken breasts stuffed with sun-dried tomato, spinach, pepper and feta. First-rate margaritas, too. Read our […]

Carmel’s Coffee & Bakery

This Central Phoenix coffee house – located in a vintage 1940s house on Camelback Road in Arcadia – is a favorite for its warm, cozy interior, interesting artwork, and freshly brewed java (using Lux beans). But what has us returning again and again is the full menu of breakfast and lunch items. Carmel’s Coffee and […]

Carolina’s

The Peoria Carolina’s is the third location of this Valley favorite and is just as good as its two siblings. Order anything involving a tortilla, especially the Oaxaca Special, a breakfast-minded mix of chorizo, bean, potato, and cheese, wrapped as a burro. Delicious menudo is sold on weekends, and house-blended chorizo is a specialty here. […]

Carolina’s Mexican Food

This south Phoenix staple is a true come-as-you-are restaurant. It is almost shockingly bare-bones. There’s no decor on the paint-chipped walls, no music. The stark white building’s entrance leads straight to the ordering counter just above a scuffed wall. But those shoe-marked baseboards speak to the many overeager diners running up to place their order. […]

Carolina’s North

A second location of this legendary Valley restaurant, Carolina’s has a cult following for its out-of-this-world homemade tortillas. Folks line up to gorge on green corn tamales, enchiladas, red machaca burros and, on weekends, menudo. Breakfast burros are another delicious treat.

Carry On

Phoenix’s hottest flight isn’t departing from Sky Harbor. Instead, people are lining up, sometimes dressed in vintage togs, to get a seat at Carry On. The immersive cocktail lounge is modeled after the first-class experience of a Mad Men-era flight, complete with martini service. Once flight attendants check you in, you’re whisked aboard the 1970s-inspired […]

Cartel Coffee Lab

If you live in Phoenix and haven’t heard of Cartel Coffee Lab, you’ve probably been living under a Starbucks-shaped rock. Or maybe you just don’t drink java. This local coffee roaster is the best known in the caf

Cartel Coffee Lab

If you live in Phoenix and haven’t heard of Cartel Coffee Lab, you’ve probably been living under a Starbucks-shaped rock. Or maybe you just don’t drink java. This local coffee roaster is the best known in the caf

Cartel Coffee Lab

If you live in Phoenix and haven’t heard of Cartel Coffee Lab, you’ve probably been living under a Starbucks-shaped rock. Or maybe you just don’t drink java. This local coffee roaster is the best known in the café scene, and chances are you’ve sipped their coffee somewhere around town without realizing it, like Jobot Coffee […]