Whatever Nola Wants: Looks like it’s time to delete permanently the lukewarm review of Nola’s Cocina Mexicana that’s been molding in my computer system. The casually upscale Mexican restaurant has been doing less than stupendous business since it opened last year in glitzy Biltmore Fashion Park’s restaurant row, between high-profile…
R.J.’s Osborn Restaurant, 2333 East Osborn, Phoenix, 956-4420. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. What makes the words “home cooking” so appealing? They conjure up such gauzy, nostalgic visions: Mom working over the stove, lovingly putting together tasty, fresh-baked, steamy-hot, good-for-you meals that fill…
Single Serving: It’s hard being a person with gourmet tastes and no one to share them with. Enjoying great food is a lot like sex: It’s usually better when you have company. A new-to-Phoenix group doesn’t promise to do anything for your libido, but it may make mealtimes more fun…
Royal Taj, 1845 East Broadway, Tempe, 967-5234. Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., seven days a week; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Five questions I get all the time: 1. “Do restaurants know who you are?” (No.) 2. “Where can I find a good vegetarian…
Eire Apparent: Almost 1,600 years ago, Saint Patrick converted Irish heathens to Christianity and drove all the snakes out of Ireland. On Friday, we celebrate that happy event by dressing in green and consuming enormous quantities of alcohol. It doesn’t exactly make sense, but it’s fun. Now, the words “Irish”…
Steak-Out: One of the Valley’s hottest restaurant rumors concerns Morton’s, the upscale Chicago steak house that has been opening branches all over the country the past few years. Phoenix is on the new site list, so I thought I’d get a preview by checking out the fare at Morton’s Las…
Whale and Ale, 1401 East Bell Road, Phoenix, 942-0644. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Even though our ancestors crawled out of the primordial ooze eons ago, a lust for…
Pastrami’s, 5930 West Greenway Road, Glendale, 938-5900. Hours: Breakfast and Lunch, Sunday and Monday, 9 a.m to 2 p.m.; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For all the sophistication and variety on the Valley eating scene, there is still one huge, gaping hole in…
Yanqui, Come Here: What’s pressure for a restaurant critic? It’s having to choose a dinner spot for fussy out-of-town friends. One of my group, having gone through Weight Watchers’ assertiveness training, is notoriously hard to please. Watching her calories on a trip, she once pulled into McDonald’s and ordered a…
Munch a Bagel, 5114 North Seventh Street, Phoenix, 264-1975. Hours: Breakfast and Lunch, Tuesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Are you one of those morning people who wake up at full speed and leap out of bed hungry and rarin’ to go? Do you race to the kitchen…
Trays of Our Lives, Part Deux: Seven Maricopa County employees have passed along their disagreement with my negative assessment of Sutton’s, a downtown cafeteria located at 101 West Jefferson, in the Superior Court building. They write: We are wondering who you think YOU are, and for what purpose do you…
Middle East Shift: One of my favorite mom-and-pop eating and grocery spots, Yusef’s, at 15238 North Cave Creek Road in Phoenix, has changed hands. The former proprietor, sensing the possibility of peace and prosperity, is thinking of returning to his native Jordan. Let’s hope the new owners keep up the…
Pizzeria Bianco, Town & Country Shopping Center, 4709 North 20th Street, Phoenix, 381-1779. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 5:30 to 9 p.m. There’s a tale about an old man, a boy and a donkey that has…
Be My Valentine: If your sweetie requires high-end, high-up dining, you’ve got lots of choices. Among the best: Top of the Rock (the Buttes, 2000 Westcourt Way, Tempe, 225-9000): Dark enough to take the other woman–or man–this circular room furnishes a beautiful, 360-degree view of the Valley. But the food…
Terrace Dining Room, Phoenician resort, 6000 East Camelback, Phoenix, 941-8200. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 6 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 6 to 11 p.m. Guys, let me tell you what your sweetie doesn’t want for Valentine’s Day…
Nogales Nibbles: You can stay north of the border and get in some pretty entertaining noshing and sloshing, too. The sloshing takes place at Arizona Vineyards, a real hoot. The wine masters here eschew noble grapes like Cabernet, Merlot or Pinot Noir–“too expensive,” they say. Instead, they buy table grapes…
“Seftel,” barked my editor, “are you interested in doing some foreign travel and eating?” You bet I was. Visions of wandering about France, Michelin Guide in one hand and thousands of expense-account francs in the other, danced through my head. Or maybe the boss had something more exotic in mind,…
La Locanda, 10201 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 998-2822. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Some scientists speculate that biology is the key to understanding human happiness. Chemical balance, smooth neurological function, even something in our…
Food for Thought: I’ve spent a few days digesting a thoughtful new book about Americans’ attitudes about eating. It’s titled Consumed: Why Americans Love, Hate and Fear Food, by Michelle Stacey (Simon & Schuster, $22). Her conclusion: When it comes to mealtime, most of our notions about what’s on the…
Chevys, 2650 East Camelback, Phoenix, 955-6677. Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Wall Street, they’re called analysts. At the racetrack, they’re called touts. In the business world, they’re called consultants. They’re all people who claim they can make…
The appearance of Chevys on the glitzy Camelback corridor continues a disturbing trend along this high-profile strip. While several glittering, one-of-a-kind restaurants still dot the stretch between 20th and 40th streets–Christopher’s, Vincent’s, RoxSand, the new Tarbell’s–the street seems headed in an increasingly dubious direction. First of all, it’s becoming home…
Fish The tasty, nonthreatening seafood fare at China Legend reminded me of the time I watched a graduate-school pal of mine at Berkeley prepare a Chinese fish dinner. A lanky, Midwestern blonde, Ann had spent years in China, and now was pursuing a Ph.D. in Chinese literature. She had also…
