Archive for the 'Valleywide' Category
November 17th, 2009, 12:26 pm by Jess Harter
A week after announcing Chandler’s Kai was the only Arizona restaurant to earn its prestigious Five Diamond rating for 2010, AAA has announced its Four Diamond winners, which include 18 more Valley restaurants.
Those honorees: Latilla, Arizona Kitchen, Red’s Steakhouse, Elements, Lon’s, Different Pointe of View, Ristorante Tuscany, Wright’s, T. Cook’s, Deseo, Palm Court, Asia de Cuba, Il Terrazzo, Bourbon Steak, Talavera, BLT Steak, J&G Steakhouse and Sassi.
Sassi is the only non-resort restaurant on the Arizona list. The north Scottsdale restaurant joins BLT Steak and J&G Steakhouse as newcomers in the auto club’s rankings.
Four restaurants from the 2009 list are gone: La Hacienda (closed), Mosaic (closed), Windows on the Green (temporarily closed) and Alchemy (about to reopen).
Posted in: Valleywide | 1 Comment »
November 12th, 2009, 5:04 pm by Jess Harter
The culinary festival season is in full swing, and this weekend offers something for everyone from chocolate lovers to beer drinkers. Here are seven events to check out:
Corks & Cactus: This annual 21-and-over event will allow people to sample more than 80 boutique wines from around the world along with hors d’oeuvres and desserts 6 to 9 p.m. at the Desert Botanical Garden. There also will be live music and talks by winery reps. Tickets ($80) must be purchased in advance. 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, (480) 481-8188.
Festival of Pig: North Scottsdale restaurant Sassi celebrates its annual Festa del Maiale, a traditional feast of the pig, with a special five-course dinner for $55 Friday through Sunday. Choices range from suckling pig stuffed with pork shoulder to pork meatballs and sausages to bacon gelato and chocolate-dipped bacon. 10455 E. Pinnacle Peak Parkway, Scottsdale, (480) 502-9095, sassi.biz.
The Big Pour: Hundreds of beers will be available for sampling 4 to 11 p.m. Friday ($10 ticket includes eight pours), but the three-day beer festival’s main action is noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, when former “Cheers” star George Wendt will sign his new book, “Drinking with George,“ and Everclear will headline the stage acts ($35 ticket includes 15 pours). Scottsdale Waterfront and SouthBridge.
Chiles & Chocolate: Vendors will be handing out free samples of spicy salsas and gourmet chocolates, which will be available for purchase, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Desert Botanical Garden. Cooking demostrations and flamenco dancing lessons also will take place. Free with garden admission. 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, (480) 941-1225.
First Press Grand Tasting: Samples of more than 100 award-winning wines and a cooking showdown between chefs Eddie Matney (pictured above) of Eddie’s House and Michael DeMaria of Heirloom highlight the eighth annual event 7 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Hotel Valley Ho. Tickets are $95 to $125. 6850 E. Main St., Scottsdale, (480) 774-8466.
Mill Avenue Farmers Market: Although it had a soft opening two weeks ago, this Sixth Street Park market (east of Mill) officially celebrates its grand opening from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Vendors will include Queen Creek Olive Mill, Arizona Bread Company, Boxed Greens and Bobbie’s Flowers.
Grill in the Grove: The Valley’s only working olive mill hosts another of its outdoor events 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday with grilled Italian sausages topped with tapenades, chicken and vegetarian kabobs and kids’ hot dog meals. Four Peaks beers, wine and champagne also will be for sale. Free admission. 25062 S. Meridian Road, Queen Creek, (480) 888-9290.
Posted in: Paradise Valley • Valleywide | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2009, 3:56 pm by Jess Harter
The country pauses Wednesday to honor all its military veterans, and East Valley restaurants are no exception. Here are five places that are celebrating Veterans Day by giving free meals to veterans (plus another offering free food Monday). Most require proof of service, such as military ID card, picture in uniform or wearing of uniform.
 NYPD Pizza: All retired or active military employees receive two free slices or a slice
with a small house or Caesar salad and soft drink from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. 221 E. Warner Road, Gilbert, (480) 632-6973; 2743 S. Market St., Gilbert, (480) 782-6973; 2580 W. Chandler Road, Chandler, (480) 722-0898; other Valley locations.
Sassi: Veterans and members of the U.S. military get a free three-course dinner plus non-alcoholic drinks Wednesday. Offerings
include manicotti with four
Italian cheeses or organic chicken breast with chicken sausage. 10455 Pinnacle Peak Parkway, Scottsdale, (480) 502-9095.
Outback Steakhouse: Veterans and active-duty military get a free Bloomin’ Onion and beverage of choice — either one non-alcoholic drink or one draft Anheuser Busch — Wednesday. Five locations in Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert, plus other Valley cities.
Applebee’s: All veterans and active-duty military personnel are invited to enjoy one of six free entrees, such as three-cheese chicken penne, bacon cheeseburger or seven-ounce sirloin, Wednesday. Numerous locations in Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and other Valley cities.
Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que: After handing out free meals to active-duty military for Armed Services Day in May, the chain is now offering a free entree to all veterans from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday. 3250 W. Frye Road, Chandler, (480) 782-1212; 1011 N. Dobson Road, Mesa, (480) 615-1444.
Golden Corral: Free buffet meals, including beverage and dessert, will be given to current military and vets from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday. The chain makes the offer on Monday so it doesn’t interfere with Veterans Day activities. 1318 N. Cooper Road, Gilbert, (480) 507-3331; 1868 N. Power Road, Mesa, (480) 985-6793.
Posted in: Valleywide | Post a Comment »
October 1st, 2009, 3:11 pm by Jess Harter
Queen Creek isn’t known as a dining destination, and this isn’t going to help its image: One of the town’s longtime institutions, the Queen Creek Café, is the Valley’s worst offender in the latest round of Maricopa County restaurant inspections.
A routine inspection of the café, 22002 S. Ellsworth, on Sept. 11 resulted in 11 major violations. The inspector noted:
• “Walls, floors, ceilings & shelving in the kitchen & walk-in units are heavily soiled with food debris, grease/oil buildup, etc.”
• “Various containers of gravy, cooked beef and chicken and prepared over 24 to 48 hours ago not date marked.”
• “Metal container of chicken salad in the wait station upright reach-in cooler found with a date mark of 9-1-09.”
• Only “15 out of 27 food service workers have obtained food handler cards.”
Other East Valley dishonors for the week go to Red Dragon in Chandler and Golden Egg Roll in Tempe (7 major violations apiece), La Parilla Suiza in Mesa (6), and Café Michelle in Mesa, Chompies Deli in Scottsdale and Dunkin Donuts in Ahwatukee (5 apiece).
For more info, go to restaurant ratings.
Posted in: Valleywide • Dirty Dining • Queen Creek Cafe | Post a Comment »
September 28th, 2009, 4:01 pm by Jess Harter
Congratulations to Higley High School grad Julie Fiedler (right) and her International Culinary School classmates at the Art Institute of Phoenix, Katelyn Remick and Tyler Burke.
The trio may have lost their culinary battle against Michael Symon on the Food Network’s popular “Iron Chef America” Sunday, but the magnanimous Iron Chef offered them a sweet consolation prize: internships at his prestigious Cleveland restaurant Lola.
Sunday’s battle marked the first time culinary students had competed against an Iron Chef on the TV show. The featured ingredient was balsamic vinegar.
You can catch repeats of the hour-long episode featuring Fiedler, who also attended the East Valley Institute of Technology, and her teammates at 8 p.m. Thursday, 3 a.m. Friday, 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday on the Food Network.
Posted in: Valleywide • International Culinary School | Post a Comment »
September 21st, 2009, 5:54 pm by Jess Harter
If the recession is hurting the Valley’s restaurant industry, it’s not readily apparent at Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert.
More than a dozen customers are standing in line to place their orders at the window of the retro-looking burger stand on Wednesday night.
Outside on the grassy grounds, picnic tables are filled with families devouring hamburgers, hot dogs and milkshakes.
“We’re sometimes surprised there’s a recession because we see so many people eating out at restaurants,” says Kristina, a 30-something mother of two who declined to give her last name.
Read the rest of this story on EastValleyTribune.com
Posted in: Valleywide • Cork • Joe's Farm Grill • Joe's Real BBQ • Liberty Market • The Deli | 1 Comment »
September 2nd, 2009, 11:16 am by Jess Harter
NYPD Pizza will celebrate National Cheese Pizza Day on Saturday by selling $1 slices of cheese pizza from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The offer is good for dine-in or takeout at all 10 Valley locations.
Posted in: Valleywide • NYPD Pizza | Post a Comment »
August 10th, 2009, 6:10 pm by Jess Harter
Bashas’ announced plans Monday to close another 14 grocery stores, including 10 in the Valley, following the closure of 10 such stores last month.
While the media have focused on the effect on grocery shoppers, this also is very bad news for some restaurants. In most cases, Bashas’ stores are the anchors of shopping centers that have eateries and other small businesses already battling the worst recession in the state’s history.
 For example, last month’s closing of the Bashas’ at Ray and Cooper roads in Chandler left a huge, empty parking lot in front of Taiko Japanese Restaurant. A couple miles away, the newly targeted Bashas’ at McQueen and Pecos roads is the main neighbor of Venezia’s New York Style Pizza.
Perhaps most discouraging is Bashas’ plan to close the AJ’s Fine Foods at Alma School and Chandler Heights roads in south Chandler, leaving the fledging Cork, the southeast Valley’s finest restaurant, in a mostly empty shopping center.
It’s time for Valley developers to reconsider the wisdom of putting shopping centers anchored by a big-box retailer, home-improvement center or grocery store on every corner. When these anchors go out of business, the over-sized spaces often sit empty for years.
In the meantime, if a Bashas’ (or any other anchor store) goes out of business in your neighborhood, please don’t forget to support the worthwhile restaurants that are left in its wake.
Posted in: Valleywide • Bashas' | 1 Comment »
August 7th, 2009, 6:50 am by Jess Harter
“Julie & Julia” is actually two movies in one. The first is the story of famed chef Julia Child. The other is the story of blogger Julie Powell.
Much like a parent who makes a child eat his or her vegetables before getting dessert, writer-director Nora Ephron makes moviegoers sit through the Powell portions in order to savor the Child portions.
Not that it’s altogether unpleasant trade-off. Powell’s story isn’t exactly liver and onions. It’s more like, say, meatloaf — OK, but nothing to get too excited about.
The allure of the film, though, unquestionably resides with Child, brilliantly portrayed in all her teetering, warble-voiced splendor by Meryl Streep.
“Julie & Julia” begins with Child and her diplomat-husband Paul (the ever-solid Stanley Tucci) moving to Paris in 1949. It’s in the City of Light that Child experiences a culinary revelation, prompting her to enroll in the city’s famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
 Powell’s story, which takes place a half-century later, is full of parallels. Both Child and Powell had government jobs. Both were searching for something meaningful to do with their lives. Both found salvation in cooking.
For Powell (Amy Adams, pictured at right), the result was a popular blog, “The Julie/Julia Project,” in which the Queens, N.Y., resident attempted to cook all 524 recipes in Child’s landmark “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in one year.
(The two women’s lives never intersect. Powell, who began her blog in 2002, never met Child, who died in 2004.)
Ephron, whose chick-flick pedigree includes “When Harry Met Sally …” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” deftly interweaves the two women’s stories into 123 minutes, but fails to capture the humor and soul of Powell’s writing, leaving a depressing after-taste with her half of the tale.
Streep, on the other hand, channels all the vivaciousness and swagger of the 6-foot-2 Child, even displaying a bawdiness that occasionally stretches the film’s PG-13 rating.
And to her credit, Ephron does a masterful job of portraying the passionate relationship between Child and her husband, as well as the frustration of the chef’s decade-long struggle to publish her groundbreaking cookbook.
By the time “Julie & Julia” ends — with the publication of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in 1961 — you’ve pretty much had your fill of Powell’s story.
But you sure wish you could have another helping of dessert.
Posted in: Valleywide • Movie reviews | 1 Comment »
July 30th, 2009, 11:58 am by Jess Harter
Native New Yorker is celebrating its 30th anniversary today by giving away free chicken wings: Stop in any of its 24 Valley locations to get six free wings with the purchase of any beverage.
The offer is dine-in only — no to-go orders.
Posted in: Paradise Valley • Valleywide • Native New Yorker | 1 Comment »
July 29th, 2009, 9:06 am by Jess Harter
It’s been a tough year for restaurants. Now we know how tough.
According to a report from the NPD Group, a leading market research company, there are 4,000 fewer restaurants in the United States than a year ago.
Fine dining was the segment hit hardest, and almost all the category’s losses were among independent fine-dining restaurants.You could see it play out locally with the closings of such indies as Tapino, Sea Saw, Fine’s Cellar and, most recently, Canal.
Fine-dining chains, on the other hand, actually saw fairly nice increases.
The other big category loser over the past year was family restaurants, especially small (50-99 restaurants) and mid-size (100-499 restaurants) chains.
The number of diners with children, a demo that makes up a third of the restaurant industry’s traffic, has dropped for three consecutive quarters.
Posted in: Valleywide | Post a Comment »
July 20th, 2009, 7:20 pm by Jess Harter
Starbucks is promoting its new line of pastries by giving customers a free pastry Tuesday. All you have to do is buy any beverage and download this coupon. (You don’t even need to print it out; just show it to the barista on your PDA or smartphone.) The offer is good until 10:30 a.m.
Posted in: Valleywide • Starbucks | Post a Comment »
July 17th, 2009, 11:24 am by Jess Harter
For years, Valley diners wondered why Arizona didn’t have a restaurant week promotion like those popular in dozens of large cities across the country.
Suddenly, we have two.
Fifteen Valley restaurants are participating in Yelp Eats!, which starts Monday. For seven days, the restaurants will offer special three-course menus — most typically a choice of an appetizer, entrée and dessert — for a set price of $25.
It’s similar in concept to Arizona Restaurant Week, which debuted last fall and returns Sept. 19-26.
This month’s promotion is sponsored by Yelp, a user review Web site of local businesses. The San Francisco-based site features nearly seven million reviews, about a third of them restaurants.
Yelp employs “community managers” in approximately 25 cities who are tasked with coming up with promotions tailored to their respective markets. Last year, Yelp Eats! was introduced in Chicago.
 “Hearing about Chicago’s success with its restaurant week, it seemed like a good fit for the Valley,” says Gabi Kepes, who’s been Yelp’s community manager in Phoenix since November 2007.
Kepes contacted a number of Valley restaurants, and the event was limited to the first 15 to sign up.
“We wanted to keep it small since it was the first time,” Kepes says, adding the week, if successful, may be expanded next year.
The initial participants include some of the Valley’s most highly regarded restaurants, such as The Mission, Roaring Fork, Roka Akor and Digestif.
Digestif, which recently closed to move into a new location, will re-open Wednesday to take part.
Kepes says Yelp’s promotion isn’t meant to compete with the much larger Arizona Restaurant Week, which will feature more than 150 restaurants offering three-course menus for $29.
“We actually tried to work to work with them last year, but it didn’t come to fruition,” she says.
 The Yelp Eats! deals will be available to anyone, not just those people (known as “Yelpers”) who post reviews on the Web site. The $25 price does not include tax or tip. Reservations are recommended but not required.
For Yelp, which had 22 million unique users in June, such events are a way of building its brand and increasing its user audience.
“The Phoenix community has grown nine-fold since Gabi was hired,” says Stephanie Ichinose, Yelp’s director of communications. “More than 13,000 reviews of Valley businesses have been posted so far.”
Yelp Eats! participating restaurants
Atlas Bistro, 2515 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 990-2433
Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar, 1326 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, (602) 307-0022
Coup des Tartes, 4626 N. 16th St., Phoenix, (602) 212-1082
Digestif, 7133 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, (480) 425-9463
Eddie’s House, 7042 E. Indian School Road, Scottsdale, (480) 946-1622
Metro Brasserie, 7114 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, (480) 994-3663
Pasta Brioni, 4416 N. Miller Road, Scottsdale, (480) 994-0028
Roaring Fork, 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 947-0795
Roka Akor, 7299 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 306-8800
San Gabriel Mexican Café, 7000 N. 16th St., Phoenix, (602) 371-0111
Sol y Sombra, 20707 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale, (480) 443-5399
The Mission, 3815 N. Brown Ave., Scottsdale, (480) 636-5005
The Vig, 4041 N. 40th St., Phoenix, (602) 553-7227
Un Bacio, 7704 E. Doubletree Ranch, Scottsdale, (480) 609-6969
Z’Tejas, Valley locations in Chandler, Tempe, Scottdale and Phoenix
See all the $25 Yelp Eats! menus here.
Posted in: Valleywide | 5 Comments »
July 14th, 2009, 3:59 pm by Jess Harter
Jack in the Box has introduced a new combo meal: A cheeseburger, a taco, small fries and a small drink for just $2.99.
If memory serves, this resurrects a deal Jack in the Box offered several years ago, although back then I think it was $1.99.
Still, the $2.99 price undoubtedly will appeal to the same diners who’ve made McDonald’s $1 Menu such a huge success in recent years.
Posted in: Valleywide • Jack in the Box | 1 Comment »
July 14th, 2009, 8:32 am by Jess Harter
Short on cash today? That’s no impediment to getting something to eat:
• Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que’s Mesa Riverview location continues its summer promotion sending its four catering trucks out to the streets of south Scottsdale to hand out free BBQ sandwiches between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today.
• Wienerschnitzel is celebrating National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free chili dog or a free Tastee Freez cone from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at its restaurants in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.
• Long John Silver’s, which introduced a 99-cent Baja Fish Taco three weeks ago, promotes its new menu item by giving away the tacos (one per person) after 2:30 p.m. today.
Posted in: Valleywide | 2 Comments »
June 29th, 2009, 5:58 pm by Jess Harter
If you’re a member of Fox Restaurant Concepts‘ VIP club, you can get 25 percent off your bill (including alcohol) at most Fox restaurants Saturday.
Participating eateries are Blanco, Bloom, The Greene House, North in Scottsdale, Olive & Ivy, True Food Kitchen and all Sauce locations except Chandler.
To join the VIP club, which is free, go to foxrc.com and click on “ENews.” An e-mail will be sent out Thursday to registered users explaining how to get your discount.
Posted in: Valleywide | Post a Comment »
June 29th, 2009, 8:52 am by Jess Harter
Chick-fil-A restaurants across the Valley are celebrating breakfast this week by giving away a free menu item each morning until 10:30. Today, you can get a free order of three Chick-n-Minis.
The rest of the week’s giveaways: sausage biscuits on Tuesday, chicken breakfast burritos on Wednesday, chicken biscuits on Thursday and Chick-n-Minis again on Friday.
No other purchase is necessary, but there’s a limit of one item per person per day.
Posted in: Valleywide • Chick-fil-A | Post a Comment »
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