Q.What’s happening with the new Richardson’s place you mentioned, the Rokery? A. It’s still coming, from Richardson Browne, owner of Richardson’s and Dick’s Hideaway in Phoenix. The smokehouse at 16th Street and Maryland will focus on steaks and fish (full meals, not à la carte) with meats from the same…
Last week, the Cactus League got off to a soggy start, and so did my efforts to find decent eats near one of the meccas of springtime desert baseball, the Peoria Sports Complex. The results, you’ll know if you’ve been paying attention, were disappointing: Despite a superabundance of eateries near…
Urchins, octopus and eel, oh my! Bite Me shore do love her some sushi. But such was not always the case. She’s only taken to it in the last few years. Prior to that, the idea of chomping on raw fish didn’t do much for her. Now that she’s been…
For the first time in my life, I’m wishing that I adored baseball. Specifically, baseball as played by two teams: the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. Because then I could be as excited as the rest of the world seems to be over the new, improved northwest Valley,…
Salsa. Oh, how I remember it. Not the condiment. The dance. Salsa, disco, no matter what kind of music – there was a time when I always had a dance partner. But it’s funny how time passes and things change. Butts get bigger, tits sag and going out dancing becomes…
Bite Me nearly wet herself the first time she heard one of her new Phoenix pals say – with a straight face, even – that the traffic around here bummed him out. When her nose had stopped running and the laugh-shakes had finally settled down to small convulsions, your ever-lovin’…
When I was a little girl, my family would take monthly trips to Tijuana, and my mouth would water the entire trip in anticipation of the culinary treat I was about to enjoy. As soon as we crossed the border, the Salcido family would be in an eating frenzy over…
Bite Me’s been encouraged to check out Hamburger Mary’s since she pulled into town. The gay joint on North Seventh Street is supposed to have amazing food and the most delicious atmosphere ever. So she decided to see what all the fuss was about and attended Gong Show Karaoke night…
The morons who built my backyard fire pit had everything figured out to the last detail, except for one thing. They forgot that fire – a critical component of any fire pit, I would think – is hot. The first time I used the contraption, it collapsed. The weak concrete…
Q. I’m looking for teppanyaki in Chandler, preferably near the new mall. A. The new Hon macHi Grill (yes, that’s its name) is just north of Chandler Fashion Center at 3450 West Chandler Boulevard. The chefs fire up the teppanyaki tables for dinner, with choices like calamari, chicken, shrimp and…
When my mother was alive, we would take weekend trips to Tijuana for eating binges that I still remember fondly. You know what I’m talking about food so good that you can’t stop eating it. A food-a-thon so out of control that it requires you to undo the top button…
Bite Me has come to count on Portland’s downtown for its delectable desserts, chicken Caesar topped with epic black bread croutons, and sinful duck breast. She had no idea, however, that the place also served Raging Lunatic Pork Belly. Let Bite Me explain. Portland’s had recently started a wine-tasting night…
Imagine chef Vincent Guerithault as cafeteria server, ladle in hand. Or Christopher Gross behind the counter at a 400-seat hotel coffee shop, cranking out breakfast, lunch and dinner in a never-ending blur. Or picture Eddie Matney’s uniquely eccentric cooking style repackaged for vending machines across the nation. It just doesn’t…
Once, I was just like most people. My thinking was that all Mexicans ate the same. How ignorant I was. Now, I’ve done extensive traveling and studied Mexican cuisine from all aspects and regions. And here’s the skinny: The perception that all Mexicans eat their food muy picante screaming hot…
Too many people I’ve met wrinkle their noses at the prospect of joining me for a Vietnamese meal. I can’t get them to seek out delicacies like pho bo vien, a magical masterpiece of soup that’s rich and complex with slender rice noodles, beef meatballs, bean sprouts and a flurry…
Q. Where’s a good place for Middle Eastern food and entertainment? A. Shake your stuff with the belly dancers at Sinbad Restaurant on the northwest corner of Price and Baseline in Tempe. Professional troupes perform for diners seated under a Bedouin tent. Get stuffed with tasty favorites like hummus, tabbouleh,…
“Good Morning, Arizona!” Bite Me about leapt out of her Lucky Jeans when she was rudely awakened by some loud-ass morning DJ’s cock-a-doodle declaration that the dawn had indeed arrived. Let’s catch y’all up. See, your ever-perky host had spent the previous afternoon at the Fox Sports Grill soaking up…
It’s amazing how different you feel when you cross over the imaginary line dividing Mexico and the U.S. You go south, for example, and suddenly the Coca-Cola is a beverage worth drinking. Unlike the bland American version, Mexican Cokes come in slender glass bottles and go down hard — just…
I remember with remarkable clarity the first time I realized that fish wasn’t just something you ate breaded, deep-fried and dipped in tartar sauce. Oh, I’d seen real seafood, and I was suspicious. That stuff that grown-ups ate was weird, flat and slimy, and it smelled like old sweat. The…
Bite Me’s been blowin’ in the wind since hittin’ Phoenix from Lotusland. Cruising up and down Camelback, Central and Scottsdale Road, looking for hot restaurant spots — the kind that will let her accost diners as they emerge from their repasts. (Look, you idiots, it’s free publicity for your divine…
Like all good addictions, it started small really small. Just a little one to try it out. Then, slowly, I found myself spending nights fixated on how it would feel to have more. Yes, I wanted more. I had to have it. “Just one more,” I would tell myself, as…
Sometimes I think I’ll go nuts if I’m faced with another plate of ho-hum restaurant chicken-and-vegetables, steak-and-potatoes, or fish-and-pasta. So the opportunity to try something new – and not just a new restaurant, but a new style of cooking altogether – has me champing at the bit. I can’t wait…
