Just back from a conference in Scottsdale …second year held at the Marriott at Camelback Inn and once again stunned by how very bad the food is at their main restaurant and in-room dining. Happily the event is moving to another location next year. The first year was at the Omni and pretty good all the way around. Just a note as it really is surprising to find such bad efforts at basics at a property like this. The service is also below par but was slightly better this year (I got my food in 30 minutes rather than it taking an hour to get a burger and side salad, etc).
This just in…chain hotel food is bad! More at 11…
Dined last night at FNB. We had a table of 12, we had it served family style. I think we had about 10 courses. Really enjoyed the meal, the food was innovative and spanned many different flavor profiles and they met a request of ours to lean towards vegetarian, too. The service was very good and they kept a great eye on us. The wine markup seemed a little high IMO but we managed to make it work with both Villaine Bouzeron and Joquet Varennes.
Awwww Todd, White Castle and Hojo’s normally do just fine for me! ;->
Actually I was just back from that conference when I posted and it made two years in a row when they made a total mess of simple lunch orders … the first year I sent a pic of my salad to my chef daughter so she would feel sorry for me even if I was in 80 degree Scottsdale rather than February Chicago. She did.
Reviving the thread - anything new / old / must eat in the area ? will be there at the end of September!
thanks !
I’ll bite again. Here’s an idea: Postino, on 40th St and Campbell, pretty much in the center of Phoenix. It is a wine bar that serves sandwiches, cheese plates, etc. Not really a full menu; wine is the focus. There is inside and outside seating. Don’t confuse this one with Il Posto on 7th St. Postino is good for a leisurely lunch. Good reviews on Trip Advisor, etc.
thanks!!
Also enjoyed Angel’s Trumpet last night.
Some good beers, decent fish tacos.
Thought the chocolate chip cookies were just ok.
thanks. will be there (in Phoenix) next week!
Anything new in Scottsdale worth a trip?
Stay: Royal Palms
Eat: Steak 44
The end
Great timing for this thread to pop up. We’ll be in Scottsdale next week, staying in old town.
I’ve got rez’s so far at
Citizen’s Public House (cocktails and chopped salad and we will probably move on from there)
The Mission (drinks and guac, and we may or may not move on)
Culinary Dropout (never been)
Mastro’s (a tradition for my gf and me)
Plans are still totally flexible, and I am interested in breakfasty/brunch recs (we ALWAYS go to Snooze a couple times after hiking Camelback, but I would like to mix it up)
If we feel like burgers I could see us walking to Rehab as we have enjoyed their burgers and casual atmosphere
You have a great list to start. Bfast at Matt’s Big Breakfast is really close to Camelback Mountain and worth the (sometimes long) wait. In the same center is Delux, which has great burgers.
City Hall or The one in North Scottsdale?
Love Love Love City Hall
We love CPH. Actually had a holiday dinner there last year at the family table. They had 2013 Rhys Bearwallow for 75$ which I thought was pretty good for restaurant pricing.
City Hall. Should be fun night tomorrow
We ended up having scallops and pork shank (guess the chef is Hungarian) at CPH, in addition to the salad. Their food is pretty damn good.
Last night had guacamole at Mission and burgers at Rehab - burgers were over cooked and a little disappointing- oh well. The guacamole was outstanding at Mission.
Thanks for the thread. I have to be in Phoenix in a few weeks.
Having dinner with some friends at Kai (in my hotel) one night.
But have another night open (likely solo) and will also need to buy a few bottles for a banquet dinner, on a 3rd night. Maybe some chablis and a basic burg or pinot - won’t be sharing w/ actual wine geeks at the banquet, but would like something good to improve my rubber chicken/steak.
I’ll be ubering from Chandler, so i’m looking for a combination wine shop/restaurant to keep it simple. Looks like 2 basic choices?
- Atlas Bistro - AZ Wine Company.
- Tarbells - Tarbells Wine Store
Either restaurant looks fine from Yelp photos, but have really no info either wine store selection.
But then i’m only looking for 2-4 bottles of wine. Thoughts?
Any other options? A better wine store with a very good restaurant within walking distance?
The feedback above points me to Atlas/AZ
Thanks!
If you’ve not been to Kai (or if it’s a return visit) you are in for a treat. It is by far my favorite place in PHX metro for fine dining. I’ve tasted native ingredients there that I just haven’t seen anywhere else. They put a lot of care into their btg pairings too (Kevin Lewis is the somm in charge of that). The onion soup with RWC madeira pairing was stellar last time we went.
Both Atlas/AZ and Tarbell’s are sold choices for both wine and food. Pretty sure those are your only option for decent wine shop with restaurant nearby. If I were to recommend wine shops it would be 1) AZ Wine, 2) Tarbell’s, 3) pretty much screwed…there are a few smaller shops like Bottle Shop 48 that have some nice bottles but they are very niche. This is why most of my wine purchases are mail order.
Tarbell’s wine store is more focused and a bit more pricey with a heavy Eurocentric stock, lots of KLWM labels. The food at Tarbell’s is wonderful, from seafood to meat dishes. They make some crazy good cocktails at the bar as well.
AZ Wine has more variety of interesting (for me) labels and things you don’t find around AZ all that much. Brundlmayer, Lopez de Heredia, to name a couple. The clearance table usually has a couple of things worth picking up. That said, the stock has been reducing over the past year or so, not sure what is going on there. Atlas is BYO and the food is stellar. Much tighter menu (3-4 offerings each of 4 courses) than Tarbell’s but truly well done.
Both are good choices.
Those scallops never disappoint! Bernie’s meatloaf (sometimes duck, sometimes beef) is our go-to comfort food. They have a sister restaurant, The Gladly, across from the Biltmore on Camelback that is equally stellar. Donnie Hawk runs the raw bar at Gladly and always has some interesting/delicious crudo dishes.
Virtu is the best restaurant in Old Town scottsdale