Restaurants

New Times writer Ray Stern has more to say about the arrest of Citrus Cafe owner Andrew Paparella Jr. on the Valley Fever blog today — check it out…

The concept of “rustic French cuisine” with a New Orleans edge has us salivating. In her latest Cafe column, Michele Laudig shares our gluttonous desires, though she points out Metro Brasserie & Bar still has a long way to go to live up to her expectations. Food Critic Michele Laudig…

Everything is relative. Compared to Foodbar, the restaurant that used to occupy the SouthBridge space next door to Digestif in Scottsdale, six-month-old Metro Brasserie is a welcome change. I thought Foodbar was a total dud, with an awkward atmosphere and unimpressive food. Honestly, anything would’ve been an improvement, so when…

CenPho is on a roll, yo. After a revolving door of restaurant concepts that have come and gone at the Clarendon Hotel since the departure of Camus almost two years ago, there’s news that chef Doug Robson will be the owner/operator of a new in-house eatery called Gallo Blanco Cafe,…

April Fool’s Day was a week ago, so I guess the news is no joke: Citrus Cafe’s current owner, Andrew Paparella Jr., was arrested by the Chandler P.D. for allegedly stealing customers’ credit card info to order things online and then re-sell them on eBay, reports The Trib. Un-freaking-believable! Hope you…

    The Rainforest Cafe at Arizona Mills Mall failed its most recent county restaurant inspection — with violiations including one complaint we hadn’t seen before:…

If you live in the vicinity of 16th Street and Bethany Home, I already envy you for living so close to Richardson’s. And now I hear there’s something new on the very same corner: Luci’s Healthy Marketplace. The retro-modern market sells ready-to-eat meals to go, organic groceries, household necessities, beer…

While downtown continues to break ground on a whole slew of new developments, devotees of desserts will have to wave goodbye as Sweet Pea Bakery (www.sweetpeaaz.com, 209 W. Jackson Street, 602-296-4042) closes its doors at the end of April, just weeks after Danielle Librera, chef and owner, celebrated Sweet Pea’s…

Listening to chef Christopher Gross explain the mind- and palate-expanding sensation of eating “miracle fruit,” I can’t help but think of Willy Wonka waxing poetic about Everlasting Gobstoppers. “You can eat a lemon wedge, and it tastes just like a piece of candy!” he tells me. It’s called flavor tripping…

Six months after it closed unexpectedly, downtown Chandler’s 98 South wine bar has reopened under new ownership. It opened its doors last Friday night, just in time to get some attention from folks attending last weekend’s Chandler Jazz Festival. Chef Brian Ferguson tells me that the current menu is extremely…

You knew it couldn’t stay vacant for long. The historic Cavness House, which housed Palatte until about a month ago, is just too inviting a location. Now there’s word on the new place set to open there in the next month or so, Local Breeze, which will serve breakfast, lunch,…

Attention brew bros. and beauties: SanTan Brewing Company is hosting a craft beer tasting tonight at 6:30 p.m. This is the third craft beer tasting in SanTan’s “Tuesday Night Tasting” series which occurs on the second Tuesday of every month and kicked off in February of this year.  Tonight, SanTan Brewing…

This past Saturday, Chef James Porter of Tapino Kitchen & Wine Bar took his popular series of Locavore Dinners one step further by moving from the restaurant kitchen into the great outdoors — specifically, Superstition Farm in East Mesa. When Chef Porter said he wanted to show Phoenix diners where…

  Hospital cafeterias are renowned for serving food that’s not so tasty, but we thought such a place would at least follow the rules. And yet the Arizona Heart Hospital near 19th Street and Thomas hasn’t passed a county restaurant inspection since February 2007! The cafeteria has received failing marks…

So many new restaurants, so little time. But hey, at least I’m trying to keep track of them for you. Here’s a quick cheat sheet on new spots that have opened recently. In Phoenix, there’s Postino Central, Moira Sushi, Scramble, Corona Cantina, Barrio Cantina & Grill, Saito’s Japanese Steakhouse, and…

When was the last time you ate at Top of the Rock, the fine dining spot at The Buttes in Tempe? The place never seems to come up in conversation, but maybe that will change, now that the resort has overhauled the restaurant, hired a new chef, and as of…

Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Happy Hour Deals at Caffe Boa in Tempe Caffiend:…

This week was Prado vs. Prado in the world of restaurant reviews, and this morning, EaterAZ handed me a sweet plug. Thanks, guys!…

Food Critic Michele Laudig has had many great things to say about her reviewed restaurants lately.  Consider that streak finished. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Prado: Ultimately, the lavish surroundings only intensify my disappointment with the dining experience at this pricey eatery. After five months in business, I’d expect a…

Tapino’s Locavore dinners started off as special events at the restaurant, always featuring locally grown produce, ingredients from local purveyors, and Arizona wines. Inevitably, the events would sell out, and they’d have to add new dates. Lately, Tapino has taken things to the next level by going straight to the…

Spring weather hereabouts is famously capricious, and no one knows that better than produce growers and their fans. Right now, we’re sitting smack in the season of dependable year-round crops like tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and citrus. Some farmers have other items at the moment, and some don’t, and it changes…

A couple days ago, I reported that Old Town Scottdale’s Lyte Lounge had just closed, and that a dueling piano might be filling the void. Yep, it’s true. Former Lyte operator Robert Burghart tells me that he’s involved in a joint venture called Howl at the Moon, a “rock and roll…