As holidays go, I love Thanksgiving. There are no gifts, no decorations, and unlike those Sunday holidays (thank you not, Easter), I get a day off from work. And like a lot of folks, I enjoy Thanksgiving food. So much, in fact, I find it a shame that it only…

If you have heard Korean boy-band Super Junior’s Eun Hyuk promoting japchae or Park Myeong-su and Jessica of the Korean girl group Girls’ Generation sing “Naengmyeon,” then you have a fairly good idea of how inspiring Korean food can be. And so it was with me, recently, on a trip…

The details are fuzzy, but I believe I spent most of a recent long weekend in L.A.’s Koreatown. What I do remember, in between rock ‘n’ roll and drinking beer from a cooler, is making my way into the vibrant neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles on several occasions in search…

Because there’s room in its push-up bra for everyone, Twin Peaks, the Dallas-based “breastaurant” chain (an actual term used to describe restaurants that employ scantily clad women as waitresses) is busting out with some news that it will put one of its franchises in Tucson. But before that happens, it…

When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…

Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here. When it comes to food, everyone has their vices. But…

On the heels of opening a new concept and acquiring a majority interest in True Food Kitchen,, Scottsdale-based P.F. Chang’s announced today it is selling more than spicy chicken and wontons…

It seems as if Arizona hasn’t had its fill of chain restaurants just yet — even if they come in the form of anniversary presents. Togo’s Eateries, a chain of fast casual sandwich shops based in San Jose, California (once owned by the same parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and…

Today’s culinary travelogue takes us into tall-tale land, at least for this dish’s most unusual name. The story goes that a very poor man whose family was going to his home for dinner could not buy enough food to feed them. So he went to his closet, gathered some old…

When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…

In February, chef Johnny Chu, whose former restaurants included Lucky Dragon in Tempe and Fate in downtown’s Roosevelt Row district, told me that Sens, his chic Asian small-plate restaurant and lounge located on the periphery of downtown’s bustling core, has seen a drop in business. Then, earlier this month, Chu,…

With the flood of new restaurants opening up in Phoenix, restaurateurs Robert and Linda Gabrick of Carefree Station, the upscale, North Valley eatery featuring a massive patio and American-Southwestern cuisine (including the hell-hot Desert Tears), are planning to take their next venture elsewhere. Elsewhere as in Prescott…

Since it opened earlier this month, Crudo, chef Cullen Campbell’s establishment serving inventive raw seafood, handmade pasta dishes, and signature mozzarella, has been waiting on the completion of its bar area to give guests the total restaurant package. But starting today, Crudo fans wanting a libation or two before dinner…

This summer, north Valley residents in search of Italian flavor without the guilt may want to get into the kitchen — you know, the thin Italian one. The Skinny Italian Kitchen, a new concept from Mancuso Restaurants Inc. (led by New York native and longtime Valley restaurateur Bobby Mancuso, who…

They roll up to hungry lunch crowds on Food Truck Friday at the Downtown Phoenix Market and into the New Times parking lot at 12th Street and Jefferson on the same day — but who said the mobile kitchen lunch bunch should stop there? From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m…

In January, I reported that Fox Restaurant Concepts had plans to open a second Arizona location of its trendy Scottsdale gastropub, Culinary Dropout, in Central Phoenix (another location in Las Vegas was announced earlier this month.) Located at 5632 North Seventh Street (between Camelback and Bethany Home Roads), the restaurant…

When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…

The molcajete, the Mexican version of the mortar and pestle, isn’t particularly rare. For thousands of years, the three-legged round bowl, made from a single piece of rough, gray volcanic rock, has been used for making guacamole and salsas and for grinding spices. But at La Barquita, a Mexican restaurant…

Hey, remember those pizzas with the crusts stuffed with cheeseburgers and chicken tenders you were asking about? They’re here. Yup. Congratulations. Pizza Hut must have received all your heartfelt letters and phone calls because they’re doing it. They’re really, really doing it. This is totally going to change the way…