City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 374-2294

Address: 9832 N. 7th St.

Description: Breakfast and lunch are served daily at this locally owned, reclaimed corner of a Sunnyslope strip mall. The ingredients are as fresh and local as possible, and guests are encouraged not to tip unless they are totally satisfied. Signature dishes include the Brizza, a breakfast pizza with hollandaise, scrambled eggs, cheese, sausage, veggies, and bacon, on hand-tossed dough. Scramble also serves its unique versions of steak and eggs and breakfast burritos. It’s unpretentious, innovative, and far enough out of downtown to still be relatively unknown.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 955-0011

Address: 2119 E. Camelback Rd.

Description: There are few Cajun dining options in the Valley, so this place does consistent business with its traditional shrimp and crawfish etouffees, hushpuppies, ribs, and crawdaddies. Baby Kay’s is easy to find in the Town & Country Shopping Center. Former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley used to hang out in the restaurant to satisfy his Southern-born palate. On weekends, just listen for the guitarist playing blues. Outdoor seating on the mall’s redbrick plaza is available.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 522-2344

Address: 2502 E. Camelback Rd.

Description: The popular restaurant and lounge at Biltmore Fashion Park is led by James Beard Award-winning chef Christopher Gross and sommelier Paola Embry. Seating includes a “kitchen bar,” which gives guests the feeling of being at home for a private demonstration. Other dining areas feel like an upscale French bistro. The widely raved-about dishes include salad and pizza prepared with duck confit, smoked truffle-infused filet mignon, lobster pot pie, and scallops prepared differently almost daily.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 440-3166

Address: 122 N. 2nd St.

Description: This revolving “casual upscale” restaurant atop the 24-story Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix is an excellent choice for those wanting to complement a night on the town with a memorable meal. The Herberger and Orpheum theaters and Symphony Hall are within walking distance. The view from the Compass, which makes one clockwise rotation every hour, is an incredible way to see the city. Brass plaques on the windows point out some of the city landmarks. Entrees include veal porterhouse with a spicy salsa and pan-seared snapper with cippolini tomato relish. The Compass is known as a romantic spot with exceptional service.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 866-6350

Address: 11111 N. 7th St.

Description: The hilltop dining room provides far-reaching sunset views. This restaurant at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort has a terraced design, allowing every table to experience the panoramic glance at Phoenix below. The chef offers a $19 per-person, 5-course tasting menu. Top entrees include filet mignon with pancetta and sautéed crimini mushrooms and some unique takes on lobster (served with crispy seared herb parmesan risotto torte) and veal (a rosemary port wine braised milk-fed shank served with maple reduction and chervil toasted garlic gremolata). You can sit outside by the fire pit, which is a fantastic spot to enjoy a glass of wine and dessert with a view of the lit-up city.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 264-5967

Address: 2611 N. Central Ave.

Description: Durant’s is like fine dining in a classic Phoenix supper club, with its sexy dark interior and shiny red leather booths. The food and service are anything but trapped in the 1950s, however. Downtown businessmen still hit Durant’s for cocktails and steaks. Young foodies know its reputation and head there for classic dishes like Australian lobster tail, slow-roasted prime rib, and fresh oysters. Durant’s serves a consistently solid martini and wines by the glass. It’s open for lunch, as well. The Central Avenue location makes it easily accessible on light rail.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 808-0766

Address: 5200 E. Camelback Rd.

Insider Pick:

Description: This hotel restaurant is known as one of the best restaurants of any kind in Phoenix. The warm and inviting dining room, complete with hand-painted Italian frescoes, has palm trees shooting out of the floor and through the ceiling. T. Cook’s fits the Royal Palms, yet it has its own distinct character. Guests rave about the garlic cream carbonara, paella with lobster, and pan-roasted sole stuffed with onion marmalade over potato rosti and sautéed artichoke hearts. The restaurant’s separate lunch and lounge menus are equally innovative. The lounge menu, for example, serves an outstanding poutine covered in shredded beef short ribs and fried shrimp ravioli with a spicy soy dipping sauce, among other upscale bar food. (See Close-up on Royal Palms in the Resorts chapter.)

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Address: 3930 E. Camelback Rd.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 265-8454

Address: 4700 N. Central Ave.

Description: Hula’s has a great bar, and an awesome happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays, but the food is better. Take fish, for example. You can order your choice of ahi, mahi, butterfish, or hapu cooked any one of multiple ways, such as blackened wasabi style with wok-seared shiitake mushrooms. The barbecue pork, black bean burger, and Jamaican jerk chicken are outstanding options. Hula’s serves brunch on weekends, and it’s also a great lunch stop. It’s become a trendy place to hang out for cocktails or a fun meal. Plus, it’s just a quick light rail stop away from downtown and some of the best central Phoenix bars.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 441-2697

Address: 603 N. 5th Ave.

Description: Set in a renovated 1913 bungalow, the restaurant is one of the best places in Arizona for an artisan pizza and glass of wine. Some regulars herald the menu as far superior to the more widely recognized Pizzeria Bianco on the other side of downtown Phoenix. Cibo uses only meats and cheeses imported from Italy. The pizza is wood-fired in an oven. The salad and antipasto are served simply with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon—nothing too fancy. The ingredients and craftsmanship of the pizza carry themselves. It’s worth the wait sitting in the heat on the furniture on the shaded front lawn. If you’re going, make sure to save room for the Nutella and mascarpone crepe.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 840-7777

Address: 4410 N. 40th St.

Description: Locals recognize La Grande Orange for its upscale neighborhood pizza parlor vibe. The restaurant is next to a gelato spot, wine bar, and cozy grocery/deli. It’s a great place to spend a few hours between the different hangouts. But the pizza is the main draw. Specialty pies include those with avocado, goat cheese, and local Schreiner’s sausage. Aside from the pizza, there are only a few other menu items, but even those (shrimp ceviche, green chile burger) are fresh and worth ordering in the pizza-centric restaurant. Try The Rocket Man pizza with fresh spicy Fresno chiles, broccolini, roasted peppers, garlic, and oven-dried tomatoes.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 248-2480

Address: 1916 E. Camelback Rd.

Description: It’s not just another fancy pizza joint. The Parlor is set in a comfortably modern dining space, and the patio seating is a great way to enjoy the evening before heading out to a show or drinks. All Parlor pizzas are served with a house blend of cheeses. The signature combos include smoked prosciutto and olive tapenade, and roasted potato with pancetta, leeks, and Gorgonzola. Pasta, salad, and sandwiches are also on the menu. The Parlor Happy Hour is 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. Closed Sun.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 262-9999

Address: 2336 W. Thomas Rd.

Description: If you’re from the East Coast, it’s hard to find decent pizza that reminds you of back home. The top places are all about hand-crafted and wood-fired. The more casual places and to-go joints can seem like awful imposters. Pizza A Metro is like a back-home neighborhood style that’s fast and consistently excellent. The restaurant serves Bolognese meat sauce pizza, meatball pizza, and a full menu with entrees like homemade pasta, salads, and shellfish. The delivery service can get really busy.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 258-8300

Address: 623 E. Adams St.

Description: The restaurant on the east end of downtown Phoenix is known as one of the best pizza places in the US. Chef and owner Chris Bianco has won much acclaim for his Neapolitan-style pizza made in wood-fired ovens with toppings such as wood-roasted onion and homemade fennel sausage. Individually sized pizzas, inventive salads, and sandwiches make this a great dinner spot, although you’ll have to wait in hour-long lines with the Phoenix residents who flock here—but you can always stop at the wine bar next door. The pizzeria is in a historic building that’s part of Heritage Square, next to the Arizona Science Center. The farmer’s market salad is a nice complement to a Bianco pizza.

City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (602) 216-0336

Address: 7575 N. 16th St.

Description: Expect a classic Italian meal served with care. The service is typically outstanding, and the dishes are consistently original, yet true to the basics your Nana believed in. The 16th Street location is the original, though Tutti Santi has multiple Valley locations. Seating at the original site is like eating in a big house, and the patio seating is also relaxing. Private dining rooms are available upon request. One of the best dishes is linguine served with clams, mussels, and calamari. A house chicken is served with prosciutto, fontina cheese, and a brandy cream sauce.