Food & Drink

A few words that stood out out in last month’s county health inspections: “slime,” “cockroaches,” “pants,” and “deteriorating”

Although it’s impossible to capture everything that’s uniquely great about Phoenix food and drink on a list of this size, here are 50 dishes, drinks and experiences that we think everyone should try at least once.

After work on weekend nights, I’d join the waitstaff at afterhours discos. I’d sneak into the men’s room and change out of my three-piece suit and into a pair of Jordache jeans and ankle boots with Cuban heels—this was the late 1970s; if you couldn’t do the Hustle while wearing a shirt made of spun petroleum, you were a loser.

From a spot with cuisine from Belize to a new, kitschy diner in Mesa—the newest restaurants opened in Metro Phoenix in April offer a pretty wide variety.

There isn’t much to this spot, just a counter, a menu, and the mural of a punk chicken spray painting a fence. Chick-In is so new that there is no website, no Facebook page, and no presence on Google Maps.

I was horrified. She didn’t pay, even though she would have received an employee discount. Could I do that?

Since I had grown up a straight-edged kid with a rustic palate, I had little idea what I was serving.

I put on my best corduroy skirt, my Famolare shoes and went down to interview. I was afraid that my lack of restaurant experience would hinder my chances, but I shouldn’t have worried. I was 15, I had just gotten my braces off, and I was a size two. I was qualified.

Have you tried this pizza yet?

When your fake boyfriend shows up at your real workplace.

Nothing is perfect, but these French fries come pretty close.

We’ve got spots left for just a few more dessert chefs and mixologists at the 2017 Sips & Sweets, to be held Saturday, June 17, at the Sheraton Grand Phoenix.

It’s the first restaurant in Mesa’s young Eastmark community.