Margaritaville: When is a margarita not a margarita? That’s the question a United States District Court is soon going to decide. The plaintiff is Heublein, Inc., a giant international player in the wine-and-spirits market. Among its holdings is Jose Cuervo, the best-selling tequila brand in the United States. The defendant…
Hard Rock Cafe, 2621 East Camelback, Phoenix, 956-3669. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight. Today’s multiple-choice quiz: Which statement best explains the phenomenal success of Hard Rock Cafe? a) Hard Rock Cafe celebrates the accomplishments of the…
Get Lost: What were the worst-selling dishes that chefs cooked up last year? Nation’s Restaurant News, an industry journal, recently asked well-known chefs about their biggest 1995 menu flops. Among the specialties that diners rejected: * Veal cheeks. Said the chef: “The dish was wonderful, but it was disastrous. Nobody…
Restaurant Update: Get out your wallets, Phoenix. Morton’s is coming to town. Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris are the two major contenders in the high-end steak-house-chain wars, battling it out in dozens of cities all across America. And now they’re about to duke it out a couple of blocks from each…
Mueller’s Black Forest Inn, 4441 North Buckboard Trail, Scottsdale, 9703504. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5 to 9p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5to 10p.m. Want to see magnificent castles? Go to Eastern Europe. Want to visit the battlefields of World War II? Go to Eastern Europe. Want to study the uneasy…
Steamed Blues, 4843 North Eighth Place, Phoenix, 9662722. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11a.m. to 11 p.m. People frequently ask me, “Where can I get good seafood?” I tell them: San Francisco, New Orleans, New York. You don’t need a…
Food for Thought: You’ve decided to open a restaurant. Which facet of the business gets most of your attention? a) developing a menu b) hiring a chef c) starting a network of suppliers d) training employees e) finding the right location f) designing the restaurant The answer? None of the…
Le Sans Souci, 7030 East Bella Vista Drive, Cave Creek, 488-2856. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 5to 10 p.m. Guys have a hard time dealing with Valentine’s Day. A simple, sincere “I love you,” uttered…
Be My Valentine: If your Valentine requires high-end dining, you have lots of options. Among the best: Chaparral Restaurant (Marriott’s Camelback Inn, 5402 East Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, 948-6644): Like true love, the timeless dishes here also have staying power. Start off with the lobster bisque capped with puff pastry…
Terrace Dining Room, Phoenician resort, 6000 East Camelback, Phoenix, 941-8200. Hours: Breakfast, Monday through Saturday, 6 to 11a.m.; Sunday, 6 to 10 a.m. “And what room shall I charge the meal to?” asked the smiling waitress at the luxurious Valley resort restaurant, as I took my last sip of get-the-blood-stirring…
Sweet Life: O.J. goes free. Bill Bidwill buys out Buddy Ryan’s contract for millions. Shielded by trust funds and a rich wife, Fife Symington may walk away from a mountain of debt. Just “desserts”? These creeps will never get theirs. And we won’t be getting ours, either. That’s because the…
Reviewing the Situation: The proprietor of a Scottsdale restaurant wasn’t too thrilled with my review of his place. He sent me a civil letter assuring me that what I had experienced was “a reflection of what the restaurant was and not what it has become.” Then he went on: “I…
Cozymel’s, 7373 East Shea, Scottsdale, 5962150. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Stick a compass point at the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard. From that center spot, draw a circle with a radius of…
Old Town Tortilla Factory, 6910 East Main, Scottsdale, 9454567. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Dinner, Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. There seem to be two types of restaurantgoers. The first are the restless adventurers–diners who…
Book Notes: Sometimes I think the next best thing to good eating is good reading about eating. If you share that view, you may want to take a look at the current issue of Granta (Winter 1995), called Food: The Vital Stuff. Granta is an English quarterly magazine, packaged as…
Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman: Let’s dip into the mailbag and give the readers their 32 cents worth. One correspondent, a proprietor of a west-side restaurant, thinks I am too hard on that section of town. She was responding to a review I wrote about Sebastian’s, a fine-dining place out…
The Barn Steak House, 6508 West Bell, Glendale, 9795811. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 4p.m. to close. Nature’s ceaseless, unchanging seasonal rhythms bring a welcome predictability to what seems to be a capricious, chaotic world. It’s comforting to remember that each spring, the swallows return to Capistrano; each summer, the…
Centro Cafe & Bakery, 2831 North 24th Street, Phoenix, 224-9235. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 11a.m. to 9 p.m.; Dinner, Saturday, 4 to 9p.m.; closed Sunday. We’re only a few days into 1996, and my resolution to carry out my resolutions is already wearing out. For instance, in…
Just Desserts: If you want to begin the year on a sweet note, I recommend a visit to Global Village Pastries and Java. It’s a small sandwich-and-pastry shop that operates out of a nondescript Bell Road strip-mall storefront. (There’s also a branch in Carefree.) Though the setting is low-powered (at…
The fantasy doesn’t end on December 25. A lot of the holiday spirit spills over into the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Despite the inevitable spats, most families have made it through the annual get-together without bloodshed. At this early date, the bills still haven’t come to spoil…
Weight Watch: During this pre-New Year’s week, masses of people will be making resolutions to go on a diet in 1996. Yes, it’s important not to be grossly overweight. But the mania for counting calories and fat grams is getting out of hand. Especially when we’re eating out. In response…
Our Gang Cafe, 9832 North Seventh Street, Phoenix, 870-4122. Hours: Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4:30 to 11 p.m. Today’s Jeopardy! answer: Sleep ’til noon, whine about boredom and eat a week’s worth of groceries as an afternoon snack. The correct question: What do…
