5 Ways to Experience Arizona, Agri-Tourism Style

Arizona is not just a barren, dust-covered state. Take some time this summer to check out all the bounty our state has to offer. From lettuce and peaches to goat’s milk and grass-fed beef . . . This state can be delicious. Agri-tourism is on the rise, and visiting farms…

7 Things to Eat and Drink in Flagstaff

This time of year, conversations at Chow Bella staff meetings tend to turn to who’s eaten what and where. With the summer travel season in full swing, we bring you Food Tours, our writers’ suggestions of what to eat and drink out of town. Raise your hand if you’ve already…

Wendy Porter’s 5 Best Egg Rolls in Metro Phoenix

The countdown to Best of Phoenix is on. Mark your calendar: This year’s issue will be on newsstands September 26. What better way to warm up than by asking some local “experts” to list their own personal bests? This week Petite Maison co-owner Wendy Porter shares where she gets her…

Second Arizona Portillo’s On Its Way to Tempe Marketplace

It seems like only yesterday (okay, it was February) when Portillo’s, the Illinois restaurant chain beloved by Chicago transplants throughout the Valley, first brought its Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, hamburgers, and cake shakes to Scottsdale. See also: – Top Ten Hot Dogs in Greater Phoenix – Best Hot Dog…

Rocket Burger Does Burgers New York Style

When you arrive at Rocket Burger and Subs, you’ll probably wonder whether you have the right place. But as the saying goes, “It’s not about the beauty on the outside, it’s about how good it is on the inside.” Located in a run-down strip mall on the southwest corner of…

Picture Cook: A Graphic Cookbook

Tired of the boring ol’ cookbook format with lists of ingredients to measure, cut-and-dried directions to follow to the letter, and not nearly enough pictures? So is Katie Shelly, author of Picture Cook: See. Make Eat. to be released in October. See also: – Pickled Jalapeños: Homemade Spice Straight Out…

Doug Robson Nails It Again at Otro Cafe

Like a beautiful woman, the mole negro at Otro Cafe is stunning enough to silence your inner monologue. Richly intense yet delicately sweet, deeply comforting yet smoky and spicy, its seamless blend of dozens of blended, ground, roasted, and slow-cooked ingredients — chocolate, several kinds of chiles, nuts, onions, garlic…

Taco Street Fight: Tacos Atoyac vs. Gallo Blanco

How could any one food be more simple and perfect than the street taco? Marinated meat with some sort of veg and salsa, all wrapped up in a warm corn tortilla or two, and there you have it. Though we typically can chow down on only about three of these…

CLOSING: Downtown’s Uno Mas Mex1can Grill on June 27

After Thursday, June 27, visitors and business types can scratch one less Mexican eatery from downtown Phoenix. Uno Mas Mex1can Grill is shuttering. See also: – CLOSED: Big Earl’s BBQ in Scottsdale – May Restaurant Openings and Closings in Metro Phoenix Lasting less than a year, the fast-casual Mexican restaurant,…

CLOSED: Big Earl’s BBQ in Scottsdale

Looks like the smoke’s gone out at Big Earl’s BBQ. The home of “old school ‘Q'” in Old Town Scottsdale has shuttered. See also: – May Restaurant Openings and Closings in Metro Phoenix – CLOSED: Sam Fox’s Modern Steak in Scottsdale Opened in January 2011 in a standalone white brick…