Essential Phoenix dining: 10 Phoenix restaurants you shouldn't miss (2024)

Durant's has been a staple on Central Avenue for decades. The secret of its success is simple enough: perfect martinis, fantastic steaks, and incomparable service have made this steakhouse a popular local haunt. Dark wood, leather booths, and flocked wallpaper hark back to earlier days, but the 48-oz. mesquite-broiled porterhouse and the 20-oz. Delmonico are absolutely fresh. Prime rib, crab cakes, broiled scallops, calf's liver, and lamb chops also give diners delicious pause. Great wines and pungent garlic bread are a way of life here, and if you park in back, don't hesitate to come in through the kitchen, as everyone else does. Bustling after-work bar scene too.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Durant's might be Phoenix's most storied restaurant, but it's also a perennial favorite for great steak dishes.

Patricia's expert tip: Come here for a unique and iconic Phoenix steakhouse. Park in the back parking lot and head in through the kitchen. You will feel like you are acting out Goodfellas.

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Since its debut in the spring of 2016, Tacos Chiwas has become the darling of the local Phoenix Mexican food scene. You can thank the restaurant's tight, focused menu, which specializes in the soulful cooking of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Come here for tacos built on freshly-pressed tortillas —" highlights here include the Lengua (tongue) and tripas (tripe) tacos. You'll also want to try the homemade gorditas, especially stuffed with something like rajas, the restaurants medley of fire-roasted peppers, which are blended with melted queso asadero and a smear of refried beans. Speaking of beans, don't miss the restaurant's homemade bean stew, served with sliced-up hot dogs and perfumed with cilantro.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Tacos Chiwas imbues classic northern Mexican comfort food with craft and soul.

Patricia's expert tip: Try the homemade and expertly stuffed gorditas. It is like the taco sandwich you never know you needed.

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A Different Pointe of View stands out as one of the most distinctive Phoenix fine dining destinations. The restaurant is situated atop a mountain in north-central Phoenix and offers incredible city and desert views. Diners sit nestled around floor-to-ceiling windows, where at night, city lights twinkle below. Thankfully, the menu lives up to the ambiance. For starters, the risotto is excellent. The savory and slightly soupy rice features slices of Perigord truffles, fresh-made Hollandaise, a poached farm fresh egg and a drizzle of watercress puree. Entrees include a savory and rich lemon butter-poached Maine lobster. Another stand-out is the grilled piquillo pesto-scented shrimp.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: A Different Pointe of View serves excellent New American fare in a stunning fine dining room poised 1,800 feet above the Valley of the Sun.

Patricia's expert tip: The 3 course prix fixe menu at A Different Pointe of View offers good value. A starter, entree and dessert for the just about the cost of a starter and entree.

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Quiessence at The Farm at South Mountain offers a unique fine dining experience in a bucolic slice of South Phoenix. The restaurant, located inside a historic home at the end of a pecan tree-lined path at The Farm, features excellent farm-to-table fare in a relaxed yet lovely dining room. Many of the dishes feature ingredients hand-picked steps away from the kitchen at Maya's Garden. The menu is constantly changing, but expect seasonal New American fare tinged with exotic ingredients and unexpected flavor pairings. One of the best ways to experience Quiessence is by enjoying Chef Dustin Christofolo's six-course tasting menu.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Quiessence is a popular destination for farm-to-table foodies, special occasions and anyone seeking quality fare in a unique dining room.

Patricia's expert tip: The tasting menu at Quiessence is a popular option, offering tasty highlights from across the menu.

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Ocotillo is a bonafide food and drink compound in central Phoenix, with a sprawling, ambitious menu of New American eats. Here, "New American" means everything from big plates of gorgeously burnished roasted chicken, enormous falafel burgers, or perhaps a small plate of roasted cauliflower that's almost as appetizing and richly flavored as a slab of steak. For dinner, the menu offers a selection of vegetable and meat small plates, house-made pasta dishes, and entrees. For lunch, feast on big, fresh gourmet salads, sandwiches, roasted chicken dishes, pasta, or put together your dream meal with various small plates. The restaurant is also home to an outdoor beer garden, a swanky indoor bar, an extensive wine list, and a popular weekend brunch.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: With great options for large groups and intimate settings you can find room and well thought out dishes to enjoy.

Patricia's expert tip: Reservations are highly recommended, especially if you're angling to come for the weekend brunch.

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Little Miss BBQ isn't located in one of Phoenix's hottest dining districts â€" the barbecue destination is located on an industrial stretch of University Drive on the Phoenix-Tempe border. But just because it's not in a trendy dining corridor doesn't mean that it's a hidden gem. Plenty of people have discovered the pleasures of Little Miss BBQ, particularly the pleasures of the excellent, Central Texas-style barbecue, which is cooked using Arizona oak and pecan wood. Don't miss the beef brisket, although the ribs, turkey, pulled pork and sausage are all pretty great, too. Whatever you do, though, come prepared to stand in line. It's all part of the experience of eating at Little Miss BBQ.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Barbecue doesn't get much better in metro Phoenix than the carefully-prepared smoked meats at Little Miss BBQ.

Patricia's expert tip: The wait time at Little Miss can be famously long. Be prepared to wait at least a half an hour for your barbecue. Come early to be sure you get what you want, if not it may be sold out.

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This Japanese-inspired restaurant was an immediate sensation at its debut back in 2010, famous for the artistic sensibilities of local James Beard Award-winning chef Nobuo f*ckuda. The chef-artist is a critical darling for his iconoclastic take on traditional Japanese cuisine. By day, nosh on the elegant small plates and light, impeccably constructed salads, sandwiches and bowls. In the evening, the dinner menu is divided between appetizers, cold dishes and warm dishes, all featuring seasonal ingredients, fresh fish and always-unexpected pairings. The real star of the show at Nobuo is the omakase (chef's choice) menu, extravagant, reservations-only multi-course affairs that take place on the weekends.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Nobuo is a stately Asian-style teahouse serving artful, traditional Japanese cuisine.

Patricia's expert tip: If you can't make it for dinner, drop by for Nobuo's small but uniformly terrific lunch menu.

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Chris Bianco's celebrated pizza evokes memories of Naples. A wood-fired brick oven and a passion for quality make Bianco's traditional Neapolitan pizza crust a work of art. The restaurant was famously short-listed by New York critics as one of the best pizza destinations in the country. Each and every one of the masterpieces served is made from scratch with the finest ingredients. The only drawback? You may have to wait for a great pizza because the place is no secret. Reservations accepted only for parties of six or more. The good news is that Bianco and company recently opened up a second location at the Town & Country Shopping Center.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Pizzeria Bianco serves arguably the best pizza in the country. Not to be missed when you're in town.

Patricia's expert tip: Try the Rosa pizza, featuring Arizona-grown pistachios.

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Photo courtesy of Binkley's Restaurant

Fine dining in Phoenix doesn't get much more interesting, creative and unforgettable than a night at Binkley's Restaurant, the latest endeavor from James Beard Award-nominated chef Kevin Binkley. The restaurant is located in a charming historic home in midtown Phoenix (in the former home of Bink's Midtown), offering a menu format focused exclusively on an always-changing multi-course tasting menu. Set aside at least three hours for a night at Binkley's, where you are treated to more than 20 courses. Diner starts on the patio, and then moves into the bar area, finishing up in the hospitable, quietly refined dining room, which offers full views of the open kitchen. Diners can watch Binkley and his staff works their magic with a modern, seasonal American menu rooted in French technique and tradition.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Binkley's Restaurant is home to one of the most creative tasting menus around town, with dishes that always bear the mark of chef Kevin Binkley.

Patricia's expert tip: Set aside at least three hours or so for dinner at Binkley's Restaurant.

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Kai is noteworthy on so many levels that it's difficult to know where to start when describing it. The esteemed crew includes Consulting Chef Janos Wilder, Executive Chef Michael O'Dowd, and Chef de Cuisine Jack Strong. They have devised a menu of incredible food using ingredients grown on local tribal farms in dishes with a definite Native American slant, such as seared prairie squab and oxtail-merguez sausage frittata with cuitlacoche sauce and charred tomato crema, and grilled buffalo tenderloin with smoked corn puree, scarlet runner beans, saguaro blossom syrup and cholla buds. A tasting menu is also available, with or without wine pairings. The ideal spot to enjoy such earthy-yet-ethereal food is Kai's patio, with a view out over the Estrella Mountains. With a prickly pear margarita in hand.

Recommended for Best Restaurants because: Only in Arizona will you savor the creative, refined cuisine at Kai, which offers Native American-inspired fine dining.

Patricia's expert tip: Start your dining experience with one of the signature martinis in the restaurant's small but comfortable lounge.

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