Franco’s Trattoria, 8120 North Hayden, Scottsdale, 948-6655. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to close. There are more Italian restaurants in the Valley than any other ethnic type, at all points of the price scale. At the upper end, I don’t think any of them is better than Franco’s…
My wife, Paola, and I rarely get to dine out together. Since we spend the vast majority of our time in the restaurant, that’s where we dine most often. But when we do dine away from the restaurant, we don’t go to critique. Rather, we always search out a place…
On the Waterfront: A recent family trip north to Lake Powell met just about my every prevacation expectation: squabbling kids, expensive lodgings, gorgeous scenery. But I was pleasantly surprised by the dining room at Wahweap Lodge, the lakefront hotel that was the jumping-off point for our excursions. As a veteran…
Lily’s Cafe, 6706 North 58th Drive, Glendale, 937-7757. Hours: Lunch, Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Breakfast and Lunch, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Wednesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 to 7 p.m. When I get the…
Texaz Grill, 6003 North 16th Street, Phoenix, 248-7827. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m. What’s in a name? Plenty. Yes, it’s true that a rose by any other…
Squeeze Me: Everyone knows Phoenix isn’t on the cutting edge of national trends. We get movies six months after they open in Los Angeles, and Howard Stern years after he’s worn out his welcome in other markets. Same with food. Tiramisu still qualifies as an exotic dessert here, and I…
Homage to Catalonia: What’s the best restaurant in town? Who knows? Tell me your tastes, and I could probably rattle off two dozen potential candidates. What’s my favorite restaurant? That’s a little easier. Depending on my mood, I could draw up several short lists. And Marquesa would be on all…
China Gate, 3033 West Peoria Avenue, Phoenix, 944-1982. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. When I plunk down six bucks to see a new Woody Allen…
Lon’s at the Hermosa, Hermosa Inn, 5532 North Palo Cristi, Paradise Valley, 955-7878. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m. Valley hotels and resorts know they can’t do much about marketing their rooms to locals. It doesn’t take a…
Eat, Drink and Deduct: A few weeks ago, at income-tax time, I wrote a column about restaurant owners lobbying Congress to restore 100 percent tax deductibility to business-related meals. Currently, businesses can write off only 50 percent of the cost of business meals. Naturally, restaurant owners, who figure to serve…
Triumph of the Grill: Last year, a few months after Rancho Pinot Grill opened, I gave it a rave review. The place hardly needed it. Foodies found out about it quickly enough, and the swamped restaurant soon outgrew its tiny Town & Country Shopping Center storefront. About six months ago,…
Duke’s Place, 7210 East First Avenue, Scottsdale, 970-4484. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Remember the movie The Crying Game? It was basically a formula flick: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. But the…
Brunch Tips: The Valley’s high number of world-class resorts makes this one of the country’s great brunch sites. If Etienne’s is booked for Mother’s Day, here are some first-rate alternatives that combine magnificent settings with magnificent fare: Terrace Dining Room (Phoenician resort, 941-8200): Maybe the Valley’s most lavish spread, and…
Etienne’s Different Pointe of View, Pointe Hilton at Tapatio Cliffs, 11111 North Seventh Street, Phoenix, 863-0912. Brunch hours: Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For flower shops, it’s Valentine’s Day. For airlines, it’s the day before Thanksgiving. For department stores, it’s the day after Christmas. And for restaurants, it’s Mother’s…
Flying Crane, 730 East Brown, Mesa, 835-6073. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5 to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 8:30 p.m. For a guy who used to believe that onion rings, jelly doughnuts, pizza and corned beef made up…
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: A friend of mine recounted this weird tale of a recent Saturday-night meal at a lively north central Southwestern-food hot spot. Between the appetizer and entree courses, a dazed dog wandered in from the street, staggered over to my friend’s group’s table and collapsed by its…
Cafe Brazil, 3239 East Indian School, Phoenix, 955-0060. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Wednesday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10:30 p.m. Phoenix certainly has no shortage of south-of-the-border restaurants. Most of them, though,…
Food for Thought: It sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? Restaurant News, an industry trade paper, reports that a New York hunger-relief agency has opened up the city’s first, and only, full-service restaurant that accepts food stamps. One City Cafe, a nonprofit venture operated by the Food and Hunger…
Harvest Restaurant, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, 17 miles west of I-10, exit 162A, Maricopa Road, 1-800-427-7247. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Five hundred years ago, the European invaders came and stole their land. Then, the white men drove them from their ancestral…
Hap’s Real Pit BBQ, 101 South 24th Street, Phoenix, 267-0181. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Sunday. American pork producers have spent a fortune promoting their product as “the other white meat.” If you believe the advertising,…
The Triumph of the Grill: It looks like barbecue fans are in for a mighty swine time this week. The Great Arizona Rib Roundup kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday. Rib houses from around the country are displaying their bones downtown at Civic Plaza, between Second and Third streets…
ACG (Arizona Cafe and Grill), 3113 East Lincoln, Phoenix, 957-0777. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Over the past couple of months, the Valley’s restaurant buzz has been swirling around two new, flashy, instantly trendy spots. Both ACG…
