The 40 Best Restaurants and Bars in Phoenix

List
Written By Chris Hall
The Phoenix skyline.

Finding the best restaurants 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 Yumpoints (there’s minimal math involved). No subjectivity. No hidden agendas. Just good food (and drinks), right at your fingertips. Eat it up.

And don’t forget to add this list to your maps app of choice. If you’re ever in an unfamiliar spot, you’ll always know where the best food is.

 

SKIP TO: 40-31 • 30-21 • 11-20 • 10-1

 

40-31

 

Pizza / 5 Yumpoints

40. Pomo

When Travel + Leisure declared Phoenix as the best pizza city in the country in 2017, it was largely on the back on Pizzeria Bianco and a handful of other one-off shops dotting downtown. But Pomo, for quite a while now, has been sort of the pizza shop for the people. It’s a little slicker and a little more red-sauce Italian feeling than Bianco, but it’s the slightly shinier corporate polish that just gives some people comfort. I’m not saying it’s goony like Olive Garden or anything, but it’s the kind of place you can take your in-laws to and they’ll just get it. And you’ll like it, too. Don’t worry.

  • Multiple Locations

Mexican / 5 Yumpoints

39. Los Reyes de la Torta

I guess a torta can be a delicate sandwich, but Los Reyes doesn’t mess around with anything remotely delicate. Here’s the rundown of their most popular torta: ham, melted mozzarella, pork sirloin, breaded beef, a sausage-chorizo omelet, tomato, caramelized onions, fresh avocado, and chipotle sauce. You don’t come here for a taste of this or that, and you certainly don’t come here to feel good about your choices. You’re here to feel full in the most delicious way possible.

Italian / 5 Yumpoints

38. Source

When Chef Claudio Urciuoli was up for the 2024 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest, it seemed at first like it was more of a lifetime achievement award situation. He’s been cheffing it up at some of the best places in town for a long time, bringing his delicious-food-for-all mentality everywhere we goes. Pa’la started this way, as a “rustic” Italian spot serving up dishes with high-end Italian grains and beans on paper plates, and now he’s at Source, doing the very same thing. Excellent breads. Simple but outstanding salads. Sandwiches that punch way above their weight. After going, I think I get it. You don’t find places like Source very often. You might leave feeling slightly underwhelmed if your expectations are too high, but I think if you get what Chef Urciuoli is trying to do, it’s kind of amazing.

Mexican / 5 Yumpoints

37. Call Her Martina

Call Her Martina is one of those places that’s really good, but if you know what to get, it can be great. And what you want is the Guacamole + Ribeye Chicharron. It’s got guac, ribeye, pomegranites, and pico—so simple, yet so so good. I don’t know why every place in town isn’t putting cubed ribeye in their guac. It’s phenomenal. Then you have to get a few cocktails, because the drinks are top-tier. Lots of tequila and mezcal, and lots of tropical flavors.

Tacos / 5 Yumpoints

36. Testal

I say this is a taco shop, but it’s not actually a taco shop at all. Testal is all about the rolled burritos you usually find in Northern Mexico. If you’ve never seen one, they’re rolled with open ends on both side, and are small enough to eat without making a big mess (you will make a small mess though). Kind of like the soft-shell tacos your mom used to make. But they’re way better. Better enough to rack up a James Beard Semifinalist nomination in 2023. Better enough to get people to drive way too far to go.

Seafood / 5 Yumpoints

35. Chula Seafood

Look, lots of people joke about how we don’t have water in the desert, so we also can’t get good seafood. But geographically, this isn’t S. Dakota. Sure, we don’t have beachfront property, but the Pacific Ocean is just a short drive away, and that’s how Chula gets it done. It started as a commercial fishing operation in San Diego, then saw a very clear hole in the market in the desert. So they catch it there, bring it here, and voila, now Phoenix has some of the best, freshest fish around. The play, when you go, is just to get whatever the daily special is. It’ll be fresh, and it’ll be awesome.

  • Multiple Locations

Mexican / 5 Yumpoints

34. Espiritu

Espiritu comes from the team behind Bacanora (this one cheffed up by Roberto Centeno, who was a semifinalist for Emerging Chef in the 2024 James Beard Awards), and it feels pretty similar, really. Different menu, and this one’s way more focused on cocktails, but similar vibes. It’s a bit loud, a bit cool, and a bit freewheeling. Like, you could get something on the normal menu, but you really shouldn’t. Instead, just get one of the specials that day, especially if the special is a big hunk of protein. Or I guess a small hunk of protein if it sounds appealing. I really don’t want to tell you how to live your life.

Pastry Shop / 5 Yumpoints

33. JL Patisserie

When you’re in the mood for a croissant, there are only a few places in town that really nail it. If you can find a coffee shop serving Chaconne or La Belle Vie, you’re set. And if you’re at a farmer’s market and find Proof, you’re also set. But if you want a real shop with a giant case full of real magic (butter), nothing beats JL Patisserie. It was a James Beard Semifinalist in 2023, is on all the best-of lists, and has my personal seal of approval. Everything is delicious.

Brewery / 6 Yumpoints

32. Wren House Brewing Co.

Wren House doesn’t make the weirdest beers in town—I think that’d be Arizona Wilderness—but it might very well make the best. I tend to prefer funky, non-hoppy beers, but if you’re an IPA fan, their Spellbinder IPA is one of the few beers in Arizona to take home Gold at the Great American Beer Festival. Now as far as food goes, the Camelback East location is BYO, but the newer Ahwatukee spot (called Südhalle) went full German beer hall, complete with a schnitzel sandwich, a brat burger, and a Friday fish fry.

Tacos / 6 Yumpoints

31. CRUjiente Tacos

It’s hard to pull off a high-end taco shop in a place like Phoenix. For starters, we have a ridiculous amount of casual taco shops that are about as high quality as you can get. Why go sit down at a fancy place when you can get Tacos Chiwas in your sweatpants? But CRUjiente is different. Instead of your normal tacos, we’re looking at things like Korean fried chicken, pork belly, and crunchy lamb. These tacos are fancy, and always feel worth the elevated price point.

 

30-21

 

Mexican / 6 Yumpoints

30. Casa Corazon

Since it opened, Casa Corazon has had the difficult position of being the supposedly good restaurant across the street from Barrio Cafe. Unless you were from the neighborhood, it was hard to make the trip for anything but the classic. But now that Barrio’s closed, people from all over the Valley are discovering what the people in the neighborhood already knew—Corazon is seriously awesome. Over the past few years, Phoenix Magazine has said it has the best mole and enchiladas, and is the best modern and family Mexican spot in town. They looooove it. And you’ll love it, too.

Cocktail Bar / 4 Yumpoints

29. Barcoa Agaveria

Whenever I meet someone who geeks out of tequila, I send them over to Barcoa Agaveria for a real tequila education. They have everything: $200 pours of rare stuff, much cheaper pours of more normal stuff, relatable cocktails like margaritas and Palomas, and some real cocktail wizardry in the basement that’ll push your taste buds a bit. And if you want to get really in the weeds, you can book a private tasting with their agave expert who will walk you through everything agave and agave-adjacent, from tequila to mezcal to sotol.

Cocktail Bar / 4 Yumpoints

28. Bar 1912

There’s nothing more Phoenix than an unassuming bar around back serving up cocktails that, in any other city, would only be served at places with multi-million dollar buildouts. Bar 1912, around back at Valentine, is doing just that, landing with one of Esquire’s 50 best martinis in America, 2023. Everything in 1912 is rooted in Arizona, using ingredients like pine nut orgeat, creosote blossom, and Navajo tea, and everything is super funky. Plus, when you’re done you can head over to Valentine for one of the best meals you’ll ever have. Can’t beat convenience!

Mexican / 5 Yumpoints

27. Chilte

Bacanora is clearly the most lauded restaurant in Arizona right now, but Chilte—which is right down the street—is right there on its heals. While there haven’t been any James Beard nominations yet, it was on Esquire, Mashed, and Bon Appetit’s best new restaurants of 2023 lists, and has been a local critic favorite since it opened. Will it keep up the pace? Will it get even better? Who knows… the best thing to do is check it out for yourself.

Mediterranean / 6 Yumpoints

26. Kabob Grill N' Go

This might seem like a Yelp choice—one of those places that ends up on a top 100 list that’s pretty good, but really doesn’t belong on a best-of list in a big city. Let me assure you it’s not. This kabob shop is unlike other kabob shops. It was on the 2022 New York Times Best Restaurants in America list, gets universal praise from local critics, and yes, has a 4.9 Yelp score (even if you think Yelp scores are silly, it’s crazy that almost every reviewer on the platform has give it 5 stars. It’s that good.

French / 6 Yumpoints

25. Sottise

Years ago, a place opened called Restaurant Progress, and the chef, T.J. Culp, seemed like he was sent over from central casting to be Phoenix’ official cool head chef. I just assumed Progress would be on all the best restaurant lists at some point (and maybe it will be), but today, it’s the sister restaurant, Sottise, that’s getting all the buzz. Not quite national buzz yet (although Liquor.com gave it a nod for the drinks), but the local critics are absolutely in love. It’s won everything in town from best French restaurant to best porch, and should be on your shortlist for your next date night.

Japanese / 6 Yumpoints

24. Hai Noon

Hai Noon is the strange collaboration of Chef Nobuo Fukuda—previously the James Beard winning chef of Nobuo at Teeter House—and Welcome Hospitality, the team behind Welcome Diner. It may seem strange to pair a hipster dive diner with a renowned Japanese chef, but thinking back to when hipsters were top-of-mind, the whole culture was about painstaking labors of handcrafted love. Nothing could be more Japanese. Maybe I should’ve expected this.

Latin Fusion / 9 Yumpoints

23. Vecina

If you read about Vecina, you’re going to read that it’s a Latin-Asiany fusion spot. But it’s not in your face like SumoMaya. And it’s not weird like Chino Bandido. Calling it fusion almost feels disrespectful. Like, is FnB fusion because some of the dishes they roll out have clear Middle Eastern influences. If an “American food” place rolls out an Arab dish, is it fusion or is it just melting-pot American? I guess it doesn’t matter. When you’re at Vecina, you should get the Latin-touched karaage because it’s awesome. And you should get the half chicken in the tomatillo nam prik, because life’s too short not to. But you can also get the non-fusiony elote, which famously has 40 ingredients. It’s all good. I wish I lived closer to it.

Broad / 9 Yumpoints

22. Persepshen

The theme at Persepshen is “I have these ingredients today, and with these ingredients I can cook this pile of awesome shit.” Do brisket burnt ends, carnitas, and Beef Char Siu steam buns sound good tonight? I can promise you it’s all going to be good, and the menu’s changing all the time. What makes it interesting is that they buy whole animals from local butchers and work through them throughout the year, so what you’re seeing on the menu is just where they are on the animal.

French / 10 Yumpoints

21. Christopher’s

Chef Christopher Gross has been chefing it up in the Valley for a long time now—his biggest win being the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest back in 1995 for his restaurant, Christopher’s & Christopher’s Bistro (back when Southwest included Texas, which makes it even more impressive). But the newest iteration of Christopher’s is by far the boldest—it’s his arena rock stadium tour. His ‘A Bigger Bang’. It’s in the Wrigley Mansion with perhaps the best views in town, is more of a prix fixe dining situation, and if the reviews are any indication, is life affirming.

 

20-11

 

Thai / 10 Yumpoints

20. Lom Wong

If you told me a decade ago that Phoenix would have two James Beard nominated Thai chefs at any point in the future, I would’ve laughed. That sounds crazy. But here we are with two of the top restaurants in town, Glai Baan and Lom Wong, both serving up some of the best Thai food in the country. If you’re trying to choose between the two—which is really hard—I’d say that Lom Wong feels a little more foreign. A little less familiar. At Glai Baan, you might find comfort in a Beef Panang or a Pad Thai, but Lom Wong, for me at least, is an entirely new experience. All the flavors are an adventure. And that’s my favorite way to do food.

Sandwiches / 15 Yumpoints

19. Noble Eatery

There’s a lot of bread competition in Phoenix now, but when artisan bread got big a decade or so ago, Noble Bread was supreme. Their farm loaf had that perfectly crispy dough, and the airy-yet-chewy interior you’re looking for in good bread. The better restaurants in town started using their stuff for everything, but it wasn’t until they opened their own shop that people started to see how good a sandwich with their bread could be. It’s really good. Really really good. Peak sandwich? Maybe.

Cocktail Bar / 15 Yumpoints

18. Highball

Highball is the kind of place that’s so unbothered by schtick that it gets overlooked. When you’ve got Platform 18 in a train, Bitter & Twisted with its bonkers menu, and all the Pour Bastards bars being what they are, it’s hard to get attention when you’re just trying to be a supremely excellent cocktail bar. But that’s what it is. The vibe I guess would be considered classy, if a bit moody (they keep the lights real low). The menu is straighforward, but playful in all the right ways. And the cocktails are world class.

Ice Cream / 19 Yumpoints

17. Sweet Republic

It’s hard to believe an ice cream shop is one of the best spots in Phoenix, but it’s true. Sweet Republic is the most incredible ice cream shop I’ve ever been to, and everyone else seems to agree. It’s been the Phoenix New Times best ice cream shop basically since 2008, was featured on Food Network’s ‘Best Thing I Ever Ate’, and in 2009 was on Bon Appetit’s list of 10 best ice cream shops in the country.

Tacos / 19 Yumpoints

16. Tacos Chiwas

Unless you’re deep in the burbs, basically every part of town has a good taco spot. And I’ll be honest, they’re all good. But the most celebrated one at the moment is Tacos Chiwas, which, predictably, is pretty awesome. And you already know what you’re getting—simple but incredible tacos, gorditas, and quesadillas, chill vibes, and a really good Paloma. Head over for lunch or your extra taco meal. You know what I’m talking about.

Native American / 20 Yumpoints

15. Fry Bread House

So if you’ve never had Fry Bread, it’s basically what would happen if a tortilla and funnel cake had a baby. It’s round and can hold things just as a taco would, but it’s fried and a little pillowy, lending itself well to anything that pairs with honey. You’ll find it around town here and there at festivals, but no place (maybe anywhere) is as good as Fry Bread House. And they’ve been doing it here since 1992, racking up a James Beard Classics Award along the way.

Italian / 20 Yumpoints

14. Tratto

When your food is this good, you’ll find an audience no matter where you came from. But you can jumpstart the process when you’re part of the Chris Bianco food empire. Tratto is their full Italian restaurant, and like Pizzeria Bianco, has a slight Arizona bent, and his razor-focused on putting the very best ingredients on your plate. It’s pretty consistently listed as the best Italian place in town (along with Andreoli), although if you’re looking for the more upscale of the two, Tratto is your spot.

Thai / 21 Yumpoints

13. Glai Baan

You might not think of Phoenix as being a good spot for Thai food, but between Glai Baan and Lom Wong, our tippy-top tier is right up there with any city in the country. Glai Baan is in cozy spot in Camelback East serving up what they call street food—if this is what street food in Thailand is like, I don’t know why anyone would ever eat in a sit-down restaurant. It’s been a James Beard semifinalist, a 2024 USA Today best of the year nominee, and got a Liquor.com honorable mention for best restaurant bar. You’re going to like it.

Broad/ 22 Yumpoints

12. Valentine

Restaurants like Valentine aren’t supposed to be this good. When you think of restaurants annually up for James Beard Awards, you think of restaurants with focus. Restaurants that don’t try to do everything, because it’s usually impossible to do everything well. Valentine though… they do do everything well. The pastry chef is annually up for awards, the head chef is annually up for awards, the cocktail program is annually up for awards. Heck, even their hidden bar around back (Bar 1912) is mentioned in national mags. It’s kind of ridiculous, really.

Mexican / 23 Yumpoints

11. Bacanora

Phoenix is a Mexican food town. We might not get the national attention of LA or SF, but as far as quality goes, you can stack the best Mexican food here against the best Mexican food anywhere in the US. But maybe the national attention thing is changing now that Bacanora has arrived. Owner/chef Rene Andrade recently won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southwest, and the restaurant has been featured on national best-of lists in the New York Times, Bon Appetite, and even Liquor.com. If you can get in (reservations are really hard to come by), you have to go.

 

10-1

 

BBQ / 24 Yumpoints

10. Little Miss BBQ

Every major city in the US seems to have a barbecue restaurant that people line up for, day in and day out. Little Miss BBQ is ours, and I’d be willing to say it’d be good enough to make a splash in Texas if it decided to move there tomorrow morning. The meats are great, the sides are great, it’s just a little out of the way from wherever you’re probably going (every good BBQ spot is a little out of the way), and I can’t recommend it enough.

Cocktail Bar / 26 Yumpoints

9. Little Rituals

There’s no better Courtyard by Marriott bar in the world than Little Rituals. No question. I’d be willing to say the gap between it and the next best Courtyard by Marriott bar is wider than the Grand Canyon. Here’s a weirder statement—you could make an argument that one of the, say, 25 best bars in America is in a Downtown Phoenix Courtyard by Marriott. It has the accolades to prove it. The real question for you is whether or not it’s better than its sister bar, Bitter & Twisted, which is right next door. You might have to try both to find out.

Cocktail Bar / 27 Yumpoints

8. Undertow

I try not to inject too many personal feelings into this because the rankings are all determined by aggregated awards and such, but Undertow is my very favorite thing in Phoenix. It’s a tiki bar with the most amazing tiki vibe, complete with port holes on the sides that have screens behind them that make you feel like you’re in a real boat, and the drinks are knockout good. Now as far as locations go, the one in Century Grand is just as good as the Gilbert one, but the Gilbert one is clearly so much better than anything around it that it’s almost unbelievable it’s there. If you’re in the SE Valley, you absolutely must go.

Italian / 27 Yumpoints

7. Andreoli Italian Grocer

Andreoli was around for a long time before I remember anyone considering it one of the best places in town. Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. It’s always been delicious—especially during dinner, which feels more culturally Italian (real Italian, not our normal caricature of Italian) than any other place in town—but it’s suddenly appearing on everyone’s best-of lists. And now that it’s getting James Beard nominations, its status is only growing.

Cocktail Bar / 32 Yumpoints

6. Platform 18 / Century Grand

Century Grand technically contains three concepts, but the one you’re probably looking for is the one that’s made the 50 Best Bars in N. America list for the last two years—Platform 18. It’s in a 1920’s style train car complete with screens in the windows that makes you feel like you’re riding by a New York-style metropolis, and the level of environmental detail (this includes everything in Century Gram), is Disney level. That’s a complement. The lighting is perfect. The sound is perfect. The mood is perfect. It’s all so perfect it’s almost disorienting, especially after you’ve had a couple of cocktails. And speaking of the cocktails, I don't see how they could get much better. This is world-class stuff.

Japanese / 34 Yumpoints

5. Hana Japanese Eatery

Hana isn’t the nicest Japanese spot in town—you could argue that would be Shinbay, Uchi, or maybe Nobu—but there’s a chance it’s the best. At minimum, it’s the most liked, and is the only one in town that’s really built in community around itself. It’s part of the neighborhood in a way that Nobu will never be. Nobu’s just too extravagant. Too much. Hana is very much a neighborhood restaurant, and is on that James Beard Semifinalist level that’ll never just fade away.

Native American / 34 Yumpoints

4. Kai

Sitting in the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Kai isn’t really near any other hotspots, and its Native American tasting menu has no real comps, so we tend not to talk about it. But it’s annually one of the best restaurants in Arizona—the only Forbes 5-star restaurant in the state—maintaining its status through a few head chef changes in the past decade. If you’re looking for a truly unique Arizona experience, Kai has to be on your list.

Pizza / 47 Yumpoints

3. Pizzeria Bianco

Pizzeria Bianco is probably the most important restaurant in Arizona. It certainly gets the most national attention, with Chris Bianco being a minor celebrity at this point (his Chef’s Table episode on Netflix tells the whole tale). It’s won James Beard Awards, has been listed by the New York Times as one of the best shops in the US, and was on the 50 Top Pizzerias in the World list in both 2022 and 2023 (though was mysteriously excluded from even the American list in 2024… I think they were wine drunk). There’s not much else to say about Pizzeria Bianco at this point. If you haven’t been, you need to go.

Broad / 54 Yumpoints

2. FnB

Having FnB this far down the list is purely a product of the timeframe we’re pulling data from. Sure, it still gets love from all the local journalists, but back in 2019, when Charleen Badman won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest, it was everything. And what makes FnB so special is the way they can turn otherwise boring vegetables into stars of whatever dish they’re in. To be clear, FnB isn’t vegan or anything—there’s plenty of meat to be had—but what will impress you most are the veggies. There’s a reason they call Chef Badman the Veggie Whisperer.

Cocktail Bar / 60 Yumpoints

1. Bitter & Twisted

Bitter & Twisted put the Phoenix modern cocktail scene on the map when it opened up in 2014. And since then, it’s won accolades in just about every place you can win an accolade, peaking as the #44 bar in N. America on 50 Best in 2022. Or maybe their recent 2-pin nomination on the Pinnacle Guide (the new drink equivalent of the Michelin Guide) will be their biggest honor once it’s been around for a bit. All I know is that there’s no better (or bigger?) cocktail menu in town, and I’ve never been in the presence of bartenders more focused on the exact amounts of drops obscure ingredients going into each cocktail. For real, sitting at the bar and watching them work is wild.

Chris Hall
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