The 40 Best Restaurants and Bars in Phoenix
Finding the best restaurant in Phoenix is challenging. Do you read food bloggers? Newspapers? Do you just trust the Yelp Machine? Here’s a new option—the Hall of Yum best places list, which aggregates all the good content available online from places like Phoenix New Times, AZ Central, and the James Beard Foundation, and churns out all-important Yumscores. No subjectivity. No hidden agendas. Just good food (and drinks), right at your fingertips. Eat it up.
The 20 Best Cocktail Bars in Phoenix
Phoenix does a lot of things well, but our claim to fame might very well be cocktails. We have a surprising amount of really good ones, and our top-tier is right up there with any top tier in the country. The only question is, which ones count as the really good ones? That’s what I’m here to find out.
The Best Restaurants and Bars in Mesa
Mesa is somehow the 36th biggest city in the US. Bigger than Miami. Bigger than Atlanta. Bigger than Kansas City. That clearly doesn’t account for metro areas—Mesa doesn’t even have its own metro area—but the stat is still crazy nonetheless. So when you’re looking at food in Mesa, you can’t just look at it like it’s another suburb. Mesa is humongous, and has a downtown that dwarfs pretty much every downtown in the area but Phoenix itself.
The Best Restaurants and Bars in Gilbert / E. Chandler
Gilbert’s my home turf, so I spend a lot of time debating whether or not I’m in a great part of town or a food desert. On one hand, we’re pretty spoiled—I have friends from more typical suburbs that visit and can’t believe how much good stuff we have. But on the other, the good stuff is pretty far apart and tends to be veerrrry busy. What we need is infill. Neighborhood bars and restaurants. Anything walkable. We’re getting there.
Every Good Coffee Shop in Phoenix
Normally I want to find the best of things. What’s the best restaurant? What’s the best cocktail bar? But with coffee, I’ve found that what I really want is the best thing near me, exactly when I need coffee the most. So here, I’m on a quest to map out all the best places in town for anyone who finds themselves away from home base seeking a world-class coffee experience.
The Best Restaurants and Bars in Uptown Phoenix
When I first moved to Phoenix, I started one day in downtown and just drove north on Central til the end. Buildings, shops, neighborhoods, everything. And of all the little segments, the stretch in Uptown always felt the most livable. The trees are bigger, the houses were a little nicer, the pace was still a little bit urban, but the vibe wasn’t as chaotic. It seemed pretty ideal. And now, so many years later, it’s better than ever, with a ton of amazing food options dotting the area.
The Best Restaurants and Bars in Midtown Phoenix
When you fly in to Phoenix, the first thing you notice will probably be the alien communication towers on South Mountain. Then you’ll notice downtown Phoenix. But thennnnn, you’ll notice the weird other downtown running along Central. That’s midtown—well, that, and the neighborhoods surrounding it. And there’s a little bit for everyone—museums, fairgrounds, funky neighborhoods, high-rises, giant parks, and for our purposes, lots and lots of great places to eat and drink.
The Best Restaurants and Bars in Downtown Phoenix
Downtown Phoenix is the cultural center of Phoenix—it’s got tall buildings in the core, the Roosevelt district full of indie restaurants and bars along the northern border, and concert venues, arenas, and hotels spread throughout. It’s got James Beard Award winning restaurants, Spirited Award winning cocktail bars, cheap eats, high-end dining, and everything in-between. If you’re looking for the best of the best, you’re in the right spot.
The 23 Best Places to Eat (and Drink) In Scottsdale
Scottsdale just has all the stuff you want when you just want to forget about real life: fancy resorts, fancy shopping, golf courses, hiking trails, spas—all your bases are covered. From a food standpoint, that means big dollars, not only from tourists, but also from the people who can afford to live like that year-round. And big dollars equals fancy. Sometimes fancy schmancy.
Where to Eat (and Drink) For Every Meal in the East Valley
The East Valley, consisting of Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, and Gilbert, is a practically a metro area in itself with nearly a million residents and seemingly never-ending growth. But until recently, it’s been a bit of a dead spot for memorable food, consisting mostly of national chains and third (or fourth) valley locations. Things are improving rapidly though. It's exciting.