 Archive for July, 2007SouthBridge’s fashionable Canal aims for October debutTuesday, July 31st, 2007 by Jess HarterCanal, a new upscale restaurant that will feature a fashion runway, is scheduled to open in October at Scottsdale’s SouthBridge. The restaurant, which will serve brunch, lunch, dinner and a special late-night menu, will be the second of seven to open in the five-acre urban village on the Arizona canal near Scottsdale and Camelback roads. The first, The Foodbar, opened last month. Majerle’s coming to Chandler Fashion Center this fallTuesday, July 31st, 2007 by Jess HarterMajerle’s Sports Grill, the popular sports bar and restaurant in downtown Phoenix, is opening another location at Chandler Fashion Center this fall. Former Phoenix Suns star Dan Majerle is one of several owners of the new venue, which is taking over the building previously occupied by Rockfish Seafood Grill. Look for Majerle’s to open in about 120 days. Union Bar & Grill opens in downtown ScottsdaleTuesday, July 31st, 2007 by Jess Harter
Review: T.C. Eggington’s offers country-style breakfastFriday, July 27th, 2007 by Jess Harter
With its country-kitchen decor, T.C. Eggington’s is the kind of place my grandmothers would love. The chicken-wire-covered menus. The red-and-green plaid tablecloths and matching curtains. The egg-patterned wallpaper. I, on the other hand, am not so enamored of the rural life. Like Eva Gabor, I get allergic smelling hay. When it comes to breakfast places, hold the pastoral embellishments. Just give this city dweller a hearty meal. It’s a few minutes after 9 a.m. when I meet a friend at T.C. Eggington’s, which has been in the same strip mall just south of U.S. 60 on Alma School Road in Mesa since 1985. But I’ve been up since 5 a.m., and I’m hungry. The roomy restaurant is still three-quarters full on this midweek morning, but the breakfast rush is winding down. As expected, the majority of diners falls into the silver-haired demographic, but there are also quite a few professionals and soccer-mom types. We grab a table near the back and begin the arduous process of sorting through T.C. Eggington’s extensive menu, which includes creative takes on omelets and frittatas, muffins, fruit platters, pancakes and even oatmeal. And then there are the “parlour creations,” such as the Hilltop Acres ($7.75), a skillet of garden vegetables and home-style potatoes covered with blended cheeses and basted eggs, or the Crab Stuffed Pastry ($8.25), fresh-baked pastry shells stuffed with artichoke hearts and crabmeat, topped with poached eggs and hollandaise. We decide to start with a pair of omelets: The O’Pear Grenache ($8.25), made with Bosc pear slices, melted havarti cheese, bacon and sliced almonds; and the Roasted Tuscan ($8.15), with fire-roasted eggplant, red pepper, zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese and garlic. The large omelets are perfectly cooked and delicious. Both come with home-style potatoes and English muffin, although our friendly server allows us to make substitutions for a small charge. My friend exchanges his potatoes for a pancake, which proves to be so-so. I strike gold, though, by trading my English muffin for T.C. Eggington’s acclaimed french toast, an inch-thick slice of sweet cinnamon bread dipped in a custard-rich batter and delicately grilled. It practically melts in my mouth. T.C. Eggington’s offers a large selection of juices, teas, coffee, espressos, lattes and cappuccinos, but I opt for one of their “shoogles” ($2.95), an English version of a fruit smoothie, a shake made with bananas, strawberries and yogurt. As we walk out, we’re completely full. But I’m already making a mental list of what dishes — including several on T.C. Eggington’s tempting lunch menu of salads, soups and sandwiches — I plan to try on my next visit. After all, we country types like to be prepared. T.C. Eggington’s 2 for $20: Mesa’s Sluggo’s covers all the burger basesThursday, July 26th, 2007 by Jess Harter
With the professional baseball season just past the halfway point, the pennant races are finally heating up. For guys, is there a better way to spend a lunch hour than watching a ballgame? Tucked away in a small retail complex just north of downtown Mesa, Sluggo’s Sports Grill is best remembered by longtime residents as Harry and Steve’s Chicago Grill, named after former co-owners and Cubs broadcasters Harry Caray and Steve Stone The mood: Other than the name, Sluggo’s hasn’t changed much over the past two decades. It’s still decorated in red, white and blue — team colors of the Cubs — and nearly every square inch of wall space is covered by some type of sports memorabilia, mostly baseball-related. A large, square bar dominates the center of the restaurant, with plenty of tables and booths surrounding it. No matter where you sit, you have a good view of at least one of Sluggo’s many high-definition TVs. The food: Sluggo’s offers a variety of menu options — from tuna-stuffed tomatoes to teriyaki chicken to chimichangas — but burgers and sandwiches are its bread and butter, so to speak. It offers 11 types of the former, 19 of the latter. I consider South of the Border Burger (with jalapeños, guacamole, black olives and green onions) or the 1003 Burger (with Thousand Island dressing and three types of cheese), but ultimately order a basic cheeseburger ($7), which comes with my choice of mozzarella, Swiss or cheddar. My co-worker goes with the French Dip ($7.75), sliced roast beef on a soft hoagie with au jus and horseradish sour cream. Both come with seasoned french fries. Everything is delicious. The drinks: We get a lemonade ($2) and a Coke ($2). The damage: $20.26. We go over our budget by a few cents, but this lunch is definitely a home run. Sluggo’s Sports Grill Review: Flancer’s Cafe in Gilbert is delicious, unpretentiousWednesday, July 25th, 2007 by Jess Harter
Jeff Flancer graduated from New York’s prestigious American Culinary Institute and worked at fine restaurants on both coasts. So when he decided to open an East Valley restaurant in 2000, you might have expected it to be in trendy Scottsdale or on Tempe’s busy Mill Avenue. Instead, Flancer took over a former pizza joint in Gilbert and opened Flancer’s Café, a small eatery that focuses on the basics — sandwiches, pizzas and burgers. A friend and I arrive for a late lunch on a Monday, and Flancer’s — with nine small booths and five two-person tables wedged into its tiny, L-shaped space — is packed. Lucky for us, there’s one table available, allowing us to bypass several parties of three or more people waiting. There’s nothing fancy about Flancer’s decor. Neon signs and classic-rock album covers adorn the walls. Mimbres goat icons are everywhere, a nod to the restaurant’s mascot, whose story is detailed on one wall. We decide to start with an appetizer of homemade chicken strips ($6.75) — not so much because we want chicken strips, but rather to try the accompanying orange cranberry barbecue sauce. It’s an ingredient found throughout Flancer’s menu, from sandwiches to pizzas to wings. We dunk the large strips in the dark orange sauce, expecting it to taste slightly juicy. Instead, we’re surprised by a strong, thick flavor, more orange peel than orange juice, that we enjoy. Our server brings extra plates so we can split an Awesome Balsam salad ($5.99), which features strips of warm balsamic chicken, mushrooms and roasted red peppers. “Warm” accurately describes not only the temperature of the chicken, but also its pleasant seasoning. My friend orders the green chili turkey sandwich ($6.50). No deli meat here — the turkey breast comes straight off the bone. It comes with provolone, tomatoes, romaine and Flancer’s homemade green chili mayonnaise on the restaurant’s freshly baked bread. (Later, while going through some files back in the office, I discover this Flancer’s sandwich won a 2003 Get Out reader contest for best sandwich in the East Valley. It’s easy to understand why.) For my entree, I decide to try one of Flancer’s specialty pizzas, The Roadhouse ($14.50 for a 12-inch). With pepperoni, Italian sausage, cured ham, green bell peppers and red onions on a perfectly cooked crust, it’s delicious. We finish our meal with a large helping of homemade cobbler ($5.75), which on this day is strawberry-apple, with several small scoops of vanilla bean ice cream. Flancer’s may focus on the basics, but its imaginative-yet-unpretentious menu, fresh ingredients and friendly service are a recipe for success. Sometimes, simple can be sensational. Flancer’s Café Review: Chandler’s Serrano’s deserves ‘best quesadilla’ titleFriday, July 20th, 2007 by Jess Harter
Serrano’s lays claim to being the oldest, continuously family-owned business in Chandler, having opened its doors in 1919. Of course, for the first 60 years, Serrano’s only sold clothing. It wasn’t until 1979 that Ernie and Eva Serrano decided to open a small Mexican restaurant. They had no way of knowing that nearly three decades later the family would be out of the clothing business and firmly entrenched in the restaurant business, with seven Serrano’s in the East Valley, plus a Mexican breakfast eatery called Brunchies. Three of us drop in at the original Serrano’s, still fronting Arizona Avenue in downtown Chandler, on a recent weeknight. There’s nothing fancy about Serrano’s. The main dining room features booths and tables, saltillo tile and wrought-iron light fixtures. Other dining rooms, obvious expansions over the years, have carpet and generic-looking tables. We’re seated at one such table along the large windows overlooking Arizona Avenue, and a server immediately brings a basket of warm chips and two dishes, one of salsa and another of Serrano’s famous bean dip. The dark-red salsa is part pico de gallo, part salsa roja with a wonderful spicy-but-too-hot flavor. The bean dip, with chopped onions, is equally tasty. Be warned: It’s far too easy to fill up on this duo of lip-smacking starters. For an appetizer, we decide to try what the restaurant calls Serrano’s Special Quesadilla ($9.25), a large folded tortilla filled with chicken and cheese and cut into four slices. Serrano’s homemade tortillas are moist and flaky — almost like a super-thin pie crust — and the savory chicken is dripping with juice. We agree this is the best quesadilla we’ve ever had. With chips, dips and appetizer behind us, we turn to entrees. First up is Chile Verde a la Mexicana ($9.50), diced pork sauteed with green chilies, onions and tomatoes. Although well-seasoned, some of the pork pieces are a bit tough. Tacos de asada ($10.50), two large flour tortillas filled with grilled chicken, cheese and pico de gallo, also are flavorful, but — unlike every else we try this evening — the tortillas taste like the week-old supermarket variety. The Pollo Fundido ($11.95), a new menu item, is our favorite entree. Tender pieces of marinated chicken are wrapped in tortilla and deep-fried, then topped with spicy cream cheese. It’s slightly zesty, slightly sweet and totally delicious. We finish with a dish of fried ice cream ($3.95) to cool our mouths. Unfortunately, the corn flakes encrusting the cinnamon-swirl ice cream quickly get soggy. Next time we’ll try the new dessert mini-burros filled with cheesecake. That is, if we don’t fill up on chips and sauce and bean dip first. Serrano’s Review: Hotel Valley Ho’s Cafe ZuZu is only so-soWednesday, July 18th, 2007 by Jess Harter
Walking into the Hotel Valley Ho is like going back in time to another era — specifically, the late 1950s, when the legendary Scottsdale resort was a favorite gathering place for Hollywood celebrities and East Valley trendsetters. Nearly a half-century later, having been renovated and reopened in December 2005, the Valley Ho is a restored masterpiece of post-World War II Modernism, and its pool and courtyard again are magnets for the young, beautiful and hip. Just off the courtyard, the resort’s Café ZuZu specializes in American comfort food with a contemporary twist, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to guests and locals alike. After leaving our vehicle with the valet (the front parking lot is closed because of the high-rise condos being built next door), a friend and I are seated in one of the circular booths. True to the resort’s retro motif, the restaurant features a curved lunch counter, a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the courtyard, brown carpet with a pattern of indented circles, large spherical lights suspended from the ceiling, and an orange-and-mustard color scheme. As we look over the lunch menu, I have flashbacks to every motor lodge my family stayed at during vacations in the ’60s. About the only thing that doesn’t fit the era is the clothing of today’s diners and staff. ZuZu’s menu lists a “blue plate special,” but when I ask what the day’s selection is, our server informs us, “Sorry, we don’t have a blue plate special today.” Oh, well. Instead I go with something basic, the Famous ZuZu Burger ($10.50). Topped with bacon, blue cheese and stewed onion, the burger looks great. Unfortunately, it tastes nowhere near as good as it looks. The pungent blue cheese completely overwhelms the otherwise tasteless patty, which quickly falls apart. As I try to spear the marble-sized pieces of hamburger with my fork, they break into even smaller pieces. Eventually, I just give up. My friend is unimpressed with his grilled chicken breast ($14), two pieces of so-so poultry served on a small spinach salad with asparagus and slightly deflated cherry tomatoes. He orders a side of cheesy grits ($3.25), but neither of us can discern any cheesy flavor. The only redeeming part of our meal is a side of tasty onion rings ($4), which come in a paper funnel. For dessert, we get a slice of lemon meringue pie ($5.25) and butterscotch bread pudding ($6), both just average. As we walk out of the Valley Ho, I’m reminded that the knock against mid-century Modernism is that while it may look cool, it ultimately lacks substance. It’s a perfect way to describe our lunch at Café ZuZu. Café ZuZu Review: Yao’s Fine Chinese Cuisine in GilbertFriday, July 13th, 2007 by Jess Harter
We pass them all the time, those generic Chinese restaurants in East Valley strip malls. The “Golden” this, “China” that. Pardon the expression, but after a while don’t they all start to look the same? The truth, of course, is that they can vary widely in quality. For every regular at the bottom of Maricopa County’s health-inspection rankings, there’s another such place that’s a neighborhood treasure. With this in mind, we decide to check out Yao’s Fine Chinese Cuisine in a strip mall on the southeast corner of Gilbert and Williams Field roads in Gilbert. We’ve driven by many times on our way to the Chandler Crossroads Towne Center just two miles south, but this is the first time we stop. There are only two occupied tables when we walk in at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, and the friendly hostess seats us in an immaculately maintained booth and hands us menus. Mere moments later, a server arrives and asks if we’re ready to order. We select our drinks and ask for a few minutes to study the menu. She returns less than a minute later with our beverages, again asking if we’re ready to order — not in a pushy way, but in an extremely eager-to-please manner. We try to ask a few questions, but our server’s English is nearly as nonexistent as our Chinese. Together, though, we manage to place our order. Fewer than five minutes go by before she brings our appetizer: a pu pu plate for two ($7.95). It’s a great sampling of Yao’s appetizers — two each of the egg rolls, fried shrimp, crab puffs, fried wontons, chow beef skewers and paper-wrapped chicken — served on a flaming platter. Everything is delicious. We’re particularly smitten with the paper-wrapped chicken, small pieces of poultry that are soaked in a spicy marinade, wrapped in foil and fried. Opening these little delights leaves marinade and oil running down our fingers. A heaping plate of deep-fried Spicy Honey Chicken ($8.50) is savory, but more tangy than spicy and more citrus sweet than honey-ish. Equally delectable is the Kung Pao Three Flavor ($9.50), a zesty combination of chicken, beef and shrimp with water chestnuts, zucchini, green onions and peanuts. Our favorite entree, though, is the Seafood Delight ($10.95), which includes tender pieces of shrimp, scallops, crab and vegetables in a white sauce. It’s brought cold in a large bowl, then poured on a red-hot cast-iron plate at our table, creating a steamy plume of fresh-cooked flavors. No sooner do we decide we can’t eat another bite of our supersized portions, our server materializes with to-go containers and the check. As we walk out the door, we realize the restaurant is now completely full of boisterous diners, all of whom appear to be regulars. We decide to add ourselves to that list. Yao’s Fine Chinese Cuisine Review: Drift in ScottsdaleWednesday, July 11th, 2007 by Jess Harter
With the East Valley baking in week after week of triple-digit temperatures, who wouldn’t want to take a South Pacific vacation, spending their days sipping mai tais and noshing on pu pu platters while listening to island beats? Unfortunately, most of us don’t have the time or money to indulge in such a getaway. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a taste of the South Seas, at least for a few hours. After a particularly brutal morning in the office, a couple of co-workers and I book lunchtime passage and set sail for Drift, a Polynesian restaurant and tiki lounge in downtown Scottsdale. Entering the thatch-roofed Drift is like walking into a ’60s-era tropical hideaway. Rope-wrapped columns support a bamboo roof and tiki masks decorate the walls. A large fish tank runs along the back of the bar. Retro-looking seating includes cream-and-black, semicircular booths and dark, wood tables with egg-shaped chairs. Songs by Jack Johnson and Bebel Gilberto play over the sound system. We sip nonalcoholic drinks from tall, narrow glasses and decide to start our leisurely lunch with a couple of island-inspired appetizers. A plate of five Polynesian pork pot stickers ($5) is accompanied by a small dish of ponzu sauce for dipping. The citrus flavor of the tart sauce nicely complements the pork. Even tastier is the shaved coconut chicken ($7), three coconut-battered pieces of boneless chicken on skewers artfully stuck into a slab of pineapple. They come with a savory sweet-and-sour sauce. Appetites whetted, we move on to entrees. First up is a bowl of sesame-encrusted steak, fresh veggies and soy sauce with Ramen noodles ($10). The deeper we get into the bowl, the stronger the flavor. The Hawaiian Punch chicken sandwich ($9) is a grilled chicken breast topped with ham, cheese, pineapple and sriracha butter. It tastes like slightly spicy, inside-out chicken cordon bleu. Top prize for the day, however, goes to the luau slow-roasted pork sandwich ($9). Sweetened by mango chutney with Asian demi glaze, the warm, succulent meat is delicious. We finish the meal by sharing a piece of piña colada cheesecake ($6), the closest we will get to a tropical cocktail on this workday. Before leaving, we notice Drift offers happy hour specials from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Beers are $2; mojitos and mai tais are $4. Appetizers are nearly half-price ($3 pot stickers, $5 coconut chicken). There’s even a pu pu platter ($15), an assortment of fruit pieces and Smores to dip in warm, gooey Kahlua chocolate. As we head back to the office, we’re saddened that our mini-vacation is over. But, thanks to Drift, we know our next escape is just a short drive away. Drift |
After a couple weeks of testing with friends and family, the much-anticipated Union Bar & Grill opened to the public Monday on Brown Avenue, just north of Second Street, in downtown Scottsdale. Run by the same people behind Scottsdale’s Rancho Pinot Grill — wine guru Tom Kaufman and (soon-to-be-ex-wife) chef Chrysa Robertson — Union Bar & Grill’s entire menu consists of ‘’small plates” meant to be shared. The menu will change often, but a sample I got my hands on has 18 offerings, including crispy penne with gremolata, chili flakes and pecorino ($6.50), pork and ricotta meatballs with a rustic tomato sauce ($8.50) and white sea bass with grilled corn, house-cured bacon, basil and tomato ($12.50). Wine ranges from $5 to $26 a glass; martinis are $12. Union Bar & Grill, 3815 N. Brown Ave., opens at 4 p.m. daily, with lunch hours planned in the fall. Info: (480) 686-9966.
