Best Gourmet Pizza 2014 | La Piazza PHX | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Gourmet Pizza

La Piazza PHX

Sometimes it's hard to know whether what you're ordering is truly "authentic" unless you've traveled to the source and tasted a dish when it was created. Fortunately, that is not the case when you order a Neapolitan pizza at downtown Phoenix's La Piazza PHX. The restaurant, the second from the man behind downtown Glendale's La Piazza al Forno, is certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana, an Italian nonprofit organization that protects the culture of true artisan Neapolitan pizzas around the world. The menu of 16 excellent thin-crust pizzas includes the Regina Margherita D.O.C., made with the highest-quality ingredients money can buy. The flash-baked crust, near-perfect with its blackened crust and chewy interior, comes layered with with San Marzano tomatoes D.O.P., mozzarella di bufala, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh basil to create a pizza unlike any you've had before — at least here in the States.

Best Pizza Slice

Mamma Mia

For more than a decade, this Valley favorite — particularly the original location in Arcadia — has been satisfying our cravings for a quick slice. The homey atmosphere and friendly staff and consistently delicious Italian cuisine are great, but we come here because, instead of offering two or three heat-lamped cheese or pepperoni choices, Mamma Mia features a generous sampling of by-the-slice flavors here. Sticking around for a whole pie isn't a bad idea, either, because Mamma Mia offers pizzas topped with eggplant, broccoli, ricotta — all kinds of rare and delicious stuff you won't find at your chain store. Thank you, Frankie and staff, for elevating a slice to a real meal deal!

Best Cheese

Arizona Cheese Company

Sweet, squeaky cheese curds. We fell in love with Arizona Cheese Co. at first bite. Though there aren't many people making cheese in the Phoenix area right now, Arizona Cheese is representing well with its regular and spicy jalapeño-flecked cheese curds, as well as cheddar, Monterey jack, and pepper jack cheeses. You can find the addicting, eat-the-whole-bag-in-one-sitting jalapeño cheese curds at many local grocers and farmers markets including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Tempe Farmers Market, Old Town Farmers Market, and Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market. But be warned: You will probably find it impossible to stop scarfing cheese curds once you start.

Best Wings

AZ88

Allison Young

From Little Caesar's on up, we can safely say we've tried just about every wing in this town, and our favorite resides at AZ88. The artwork at this Scottsdale mainstay changes often, but the menu has stayed the same for years, and that's just fine with us, particularly if that means we can have our dragon sauce fix. We love Elsa's Chicken, a sandwich topped with the soy/ginger sauce along with pecans and bell pepper. But when we're just in the mood for a nosh, we go for the chicken wings. You can get them hot and spicy or tangy, but we prefer the third option — you guessed it, dragon sauce, the perfect complement to crisp, moist chicken. AZ88 is a little fancy for finger-licking, but we don't care one bit. Just keep those martinis coming so we can wash it all down.

Best Grilled Cheese

Palette at Phoenix Art Museum

Who thinks of a museum cafe as a destination? Only those of us who have eaten a grilled cheese sandwich at Phoenix Art Museum's Palette, one of the city's nicest downtown lunch spots. Hidden away on the "For the Kids" section of a menu full of entrées with groan-inducing names (like the No Salad for Old Men — argh!), the grilled cheese on white sandwich is a delicious guilty pleasure, offering a trio of melted cheeses — Parmesan, Fontina, and goat — on crisp buttered and browned homemade white bread. Heaven.

Best Hot Dog

Hot Dog Stop

Lauren Saria

If you're from the East Coast, then you know what's up with the name Sabrett. It's New York's most widespread brand of hot dog, one you may have eaten under a street vendor's blue-and-yellow-striped umbrella. It's not exactly the kind of food you'd expect to find in a North Scottsdale strip mall, and yet that's where Hot Dog Stop has set up shop. The bright, family-owned restaurant is one of just a few brick-and-mortar places serving Sabrett, and it's got more than 50 varieties to choose from. We like to go with the classic New Yorker Dog, topped with Sabrett red onion sauce, sauerkraut, and mustard. We guarantee you'll recognize the wiener's signature snap as soon as you bite in.

Best Hamburger

Ingo's Tasty Food

Jackie Mercandetti

Visit this new diner just once, and your stomach may begin to growl whenever you near 40th Street ever after. The grass-fed hamburgers at Ingo's Tasty Food, the newest restaurant concept from LGO Hospitality (the folks behind popular Arcadia staples including La Grande Orange grocery, Chelsea's Kitchen, and Grateful Spoon Gelato), are tops.

This gleaming metal-and-brick, single-room cylindrical structure is part burger stand, part theater-in-the-round, with a cool curved counter where diners can watch while Chef Dom Ruggerio and his attractive staff prepare the best burgers in town. Each begins with a thick puck of grass-fed beef, cooked to a pinkish medium rare and seasoned with only salt and pepper. The simple cheddar cheeseburger is moist and chop-house sized, and the Paris Texas Burger, a tangy barbecue sandwich served with smoky-sharp apple barbecue sauce and pancetta, is great, too. The Farmer's Daughter Burger is the real winner, though. A tasty take on the Reuben, with a thick, tightly packed patty of perfectly cooked beef in place of corned beef, housemade Dijon sauce, a slice of Fol Epi cheese, and a pile of wilted sauerkraut under a soft, shiny-crusted poppy seed bun from the LGO Bake Shop. Do you hear growling?

Best Sandwich

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich at Welcome Diner

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

We've been fans of Michael Babcock and Jenn Robinson since before they landed at Welcome Diner. Back in the day, the couple served their über-satisfying Southern fare via food truck under the name Old Dixie's. It's been a good year or so since they settled into the permanent digs, which has allowed them to offer an expanded menu, cocktail program, and special seasonal dishes. This spring, they introduced a handful of new entrées, including the fried green tomato sandwich. It's a simple but memorable dish that features fried green tomatoes, sweet corn ranch, and for a bit of Southwestern twist, a layer of chipotle relish. The buttery toasted sourdough bread between which it all rests is a perfect backdrop for the harmony of sweetness, acidity, and spice.

Best Caesar Salad

Alexi's Grill

Courtesy of Alexi's

The joy in a good Caesar is the combination of texture and taste and, for those of us who love all things salty, the pleasure of eating anchovies with cheese. A well-made Caesar involves whole leaves of romaine dressed with oil, garlic, lemon, anchovy paste (or Worcestershire sauce, made from anchovies), and either raw or coddled egg. The best among them are topped with anchovies, homemade croutons, and one or more grated or shaved hard cheeses, and the best example of this special combination can be found at Alexi. Its dressing is both sweet and tangy with lemon and its cold plate piled high with shiny romaine leaves, drizzled with an anchovy-rich dressing, and showered with Parmesan. And, as with any good Caesar, anchovies are a given — so be sure to tell your waiter if you don't want them.

Best Soup

Chodang Tofu and BBQ

Jackie Mercandetti
Korean cuisine hasn't really taken root in Phoenix yet, but what our Valley does have is Chodang, and that's definitely good enough for us. Located just north of downtown Chandler, chances are you've driven by this spot a few times and never even noticed it. Well, it's time to stop in and be blown away. From the tender, flavorful dry-rubbed BBQ spare ribs to the sizzling bowls of bibimbap, you'll find all the classics accompanied, of course, by small plates of pickled and fermented side dishes called banchan. The real must-try dish at Chodang is the bright red bowl of soft tofu soup, to which you can add seafood, beef, pork, kimchi, and more. More importantly, the egg added tableside perfectly poaches in the bubbling broth, and if that doesn't sell you on Chodang, we don't know what will.

Best Of Phoenix®

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