From the Top 100: Splurge-worthy fine dining restaurants in Phoenix

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct address of Geordie's at Wrigley Mansion.

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Each year, we roll out a refreshed list of the Top 100 Restaurants in Phoenix. With quite so many to choose from, the list encompasses all genres and styles of food from fancy to fun and everything in between.

If date night is calling, check out our list of romantic restaurants sure to impress.

But if you are looking to experience the very top end of the Phoenix food scene, these five fine dining destinations have got you covered. Whether a $250 per person omakase menu sounds good or you're looking to embark on a 20-course eating adventure, these Valley restaurants offer fine dining at its best. 

If you'd like to put on a helmet and launch yourself to the outer possibilities of eating in Phoenix, book a reservation at Binkley's. Entering Binkley's is like entering Rivendell. Your meal unfolds in a house on Osborn Road, the 20-plus courses and river of beer, wine, and sake steadily flowing into the night, mimicking the rhythm of a dinner party.

From the first bite, all your personal troubles (and those of the wider world) begin to feel remote. Everything stills, and you're in the gentle palm of a master: Kevin Binkley, who's handily one of the very best chefs in Phoenix. The playfulness, technique, seasonality, ingenuity, and ultimately the flavor of his food says this loudly and clearly to all those who take a seat on the patio, nibbling those first bits of Hokkaido scallop cooked for 38 seconds, those fermented cucumbers with polenta chips.

After the first five or so courses, diners move to the house's pub room for riffs on bar food: Wagyu roast beef slider, kabob with octopus and lamb loin. Tunes flow. Drinks bubble, fizz, and — thanks to the skill of Amy Binkley — entwine harmonically with the food. Next, the meal moves into the dining room for a long, rich, mesmerizing finish. At that point, if you want, you can wander into the kitchen and watch Kevin Binkley cook and create, a maestro of meals that feel as brilliant and considered as a sculpture or painting. Reservations are required and can be made via the Binkley's website. 

Many of the Valley's finest restaurants are hidden among the suites of strip malls or inside concentrated dining hubs. Not Geordie's. Guests dine at one of Phoenix's most stunning and historic sites: Wrigley Mansion, the 1932-built home of the gum tycoon William Wrigley Jr.

The manse is also home to the James Beard Award-winning chef Christopher Gross, who leads an experienced culinary team at the mansion's restaurants. At Geordie's, the kitchen is helmed by Chef David Brito and the extensive wine list offers more than 12,000 bottles. Also on the grounds are five private dining rooms, a cocktail lounge, and the exquisite Jamie's Wine Bar. But the best feature of Geordie's is the view. Wrigley Mansion sits atop a 100-foot hill, offering guests unmatched looks at midtown, downtown, Camelback Mountain, and Piestewa Peak. 

Those wishing to experience the finest of what the Sonoran Desert has to offer — the native saguaro fruit and wolfberries, the tepary beans and wild sumac — would be wise to throw down for an upscale evening at Kai Restaurant.

For roughly two decades, Kai has taken the best of what the Gila River Community can grow and forage (the tribe owns the restaurant, which is on its grounds) and put those quintessential Sonoran ingredients through global, fine-dining filters. Dishes have included cactus key lime pie. Buffalo steak with saguaro syrup. Posole with Ramona Farms corn. Wolfberry vinegar. Chiltepin froth. A circus of beautiful desert ingredients carried to new places.

In 2022, Chef Drew Anderson took over from former head chef Ryan Swanson to lead Kai's efforts. Kai remains as intimate a place-rooted experience as you'll find in metro Phoenix, and, even after all these years, is a thoughtful and thrilling place to eat. 

Not long ago, our food critic declared the best sushi in town to be found at ShinBay — the third incarnation of the omakase-style sushi place, now set in Old Town Scottsdale. Executive chef Shinji Kurita has made his home here, slicing and calculating near the 13-seat L-shaped bar.

ShinBay hosts two seatings a night (at 5:45 and 8 p.m.) at $250 a ride. His omakase creations include Japanese eggplant with miso and bonito shavings, slices of halibut cured with kombu, chopped Hokkaido scallops with yuzu-miso, sashimi, and nigiri.

The drink menu offers everything from a high-end sake bottle for $2,700 to rare (but less expensive) Japanese beers. It ain't cheap, and diners are asked to allow approximately two hours for the dining experience. But the experience is well worth it. Reservations remain required and can be made via OpenTable.

Mark Tarbell is one of those classic Phoenix chefs who has transcended his kitchen role and become something of a minor celebrity. That is partly due to his Iron Chef America appearance and his smiling persona on his former show, Arizona PBS's Plate & Pour, which followed Tarbell into kitchens and bars across the Valley. It's also due to the food at his still-great restaurant.

Tarbell cooked in France and Amsterdam, giving him the kind of classical chops that are becoming increasingly rare among the younger generation of chefs. His menu is threaded with touches of 20th-century opulence, such as caviar and wine-braised escargot. What makes Tarbell's memorable, though, are the creative flavor combinations and non-French influences that Tarbell deftly incorporates. Smoked apple and pear jam sidekicks mozzarella. Scallop crudo is jolted with pomegranate consommé. Some of the heartier old-school dishes sing just as loudly, like a Scotch beef with plainly cooked vegetables and mashed potatoes.

The wine game at Tarbell's is formidable, and the cocktail program has kept pace as the bar has been raised for mixed drinks across the Valley. Not all classic restaurants in Phoenix have aged gracefully. This one has — and learned some new tricks over time. Reservations are encouraged and can be made along with wine store orders online.