The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Hola Cabrito
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Rank 1. JL Smokehouse
Barbecue
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Rank 2. Lom Wong
Thai
A black bungalow in downtown Phoenix that turns out northern Thai food rooted in Chiang Rai, where the chef grew up cooking alongside her mother and grandmother. The menu is built to share, the flavors run deep, and the cocktails are doing interesting things with fish sauce and fresh coconut cream. Yotaka Martin took the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2025, which in Phoenix is basically a neighborhood fact at this point.
- Food & Wine Yotaka Martin · Best New Chefs
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Best Chef: Southwest · Yotaka Martin
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: Yam Mamuang Boran · Best Dish in a Supporting Role
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Rank 3. Hola Cabrito
Mexican
While the internet fell for drip-cheese quesabirria, the regulars in South Phoenix kept quietly lining up for goat. This South Phoenix Mexican spot has been doing birria de chivo the old way, slow-roasted in banana leaves with an adobo that gives the meat a gentle gaminess you don't find in the viral stuff. Order it in consommé, on fresh-pressed tortillas, or as birria tatemada, pressed on the griddle with fat skimmed off the broth until it crisps.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 4. Bacanora
Mexican, Regional Cuisine
Rene Andrade runs a short, rotating menu over a mesquite grill in a small, triangular room, and the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest followed. This Sonoran Mexican restaurant in Phoenix trades in carne asada, caramelos built on crisp flour tortillas, and beans that make you reconsider how seriously you've been taking beans. The menu is a handful of items on any given night, many of them changing, all of them smelling like fire.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Best Chef: Southwest · Rene Andrade
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: Tomahawk Steak · Standout Signature Dish
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Moises Castro
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Rank 5. Pizzeria Bianco
Pizza
Chris Bianco is the Bronx-born pizzaiolo who convinced the rest of the country that Phoenix belongs in the pizza conversation, and this snug 42-seat brick room in Heritage Square is where it started. Wood-fired Neapolitan pies come out of an oven that has been running for decades, drawing lines that have shown no signs of shortening. Bianco holds two James Beard Awards, which is two more than most people who make pizza for a living.
- 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza USA Excellent Pizzerias
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Food Pioneer · Chris Bianco
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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- Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Low-Key Cocktail Menu · Best of the Valley
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Rank 8. Latha
African, Caribbean
Latha means "flavor" in Swahili, which the kitchen takes as a brief. Housed in the bungalow-style Silva House in Heritage Square, this downtown Phoenix restaurant traces the food of the African diaspora through Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the American South, on both prix fixe and à la carte menus. The cooking has range, from piri piri chicken over jollof rice to Southern pound cake finished with tropical marmalade. A Michelin Selected restaurant.
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Best World Flavor
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Emerging Restaurant of the Year
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 9. Bad Jimmy's
American
Glowing red neon and a tight menu of smash burgers and waffle fries in a downtown Phoenix storefront that used to pour rum cocktails. Bad Jimmy's is a casual burger shop that moonlights as a cocktail bar, which explains why half the room looks like they just escaped a nearby venue. The rotating specials reward repeat visits, and vanilla soft serve finished with olive oil is the kind of thing that sounds wrong until it doesn't. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top smashburger spot.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Double Burger · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 10. Chilte
Modern Mexican
The restaurant's unofficial motto translates roughly to "I don't give a damn," which is a curious thing to post when your birria arrives in hand-pressed squid ink tortillas with miso consommé. Chilte is a modern Mexican restaurant and bar in a revamped motor hotel on Grand Avenue, and Food & Wine named the chef one of its Best New Chefs. The seasonal menu shifts often, and the team pulls in guest chefs regularly, so the room rewards repeat visits.
- Food & Wine Best New Chefs · Lawrence "LT" Smith
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Emerging Restaurant of the Year
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 11. Tacos Chiwas
Chihuahua-style Mexican
Chihuahua-style street food is the whole point here, counter-service and no-frills, with a menu tight enough that everything on it earns its spot. The gorditas have won over Phoenix two years running, and the tacos, barbacoa through lengua, hold up across multiple locations without the usual chain drift. A James Beard semifinalist, which for a fast-casual taco spot is its own kind of statement. Patio seating available if the line moves fast enough.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
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Rank 12. Huarachis Taqueria
Mexican
The electric pink neon sign is your landmark, and the shareable platters are the reason you came. This Sonoran taqueria from James Beard Award winner Rene Andrade runs on big, festive plates of ribeye or carnitas surrounded by beans, elote, and salsas, all meant to be wrapped into soft tortillas at the table. The cocktail program runs wilder than you'd expect from a taqueria. Bring people; the portions assume you did.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
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Rank 13. Taco Chelo
Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
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Rank 14. Quiessence At The Farm
Arizonan American
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Rank 15. Stoop Kid
American
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hamburgers · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 16. Ollie Vaughn's
Bakery
Specials scrawled on brown paper rolls and a pastry case worth a long look set the tone at this low-key bakery and brunch cafe on McDowell Road. The kitchen leans on local ingredients, and the menu changes with what's good, so regulars learn to check the case before committing. Patio seating in the Phoenix sunshine makes the wait easier. Easy to miss from the street, which keeps it mercifully manageable on a weekend morning.
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Roosevelt Row gets a proper grown-up restaurant in Pretty Penny, where every table starts with a complimentary pour of bubbles and the kitchen sends out housemade pastas, bold proteins, and an octopus tostada that earned a spot on Phoenix Magazine's top dishes list. The forest-green room is sleek without being stiff, and the bar program holds its own, landing in the Spirited Awards' regional top ten for best new cocktail bar.
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Brenon Stuart
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Menus written entirely in Spanish set the tone at this all-white coffee shop in downtown Phoenix, where the minimalism stops at the decor. The drinks lean on flavors from the chef's Mexican childhood: sweetened condensed milk and piloncillo folded into espresso, cafe de olla fragrant with cinnamon and anise, horchata made with wild rice and almond milk. It's a quiet, unhurried room that draws people who plan to stay a while.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Third Space · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best coffee shops in Phoenix
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Rank 19. First & Last
New American
High ceilings and big windows flood this New American neighborhood restaurant with afternoon light, and candlelit booths handle the evening shift. The rotating dinner menu runs from clams to pasta to brick chicken, and the bar pours cocktails serious enough to justify a second round. Lunch added focaccia sandwiches and grandma-style pizza slices, which turned a quietly beloved dinner spot into something the whole city suddenly had opinions about.
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Emerging Restaurant of the Year
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 20. Sottise
French
A white bungalow on a quiet stretch of Second Street, with string lights on the porch and climbing plants inside, that happens to be one of Phoenix's better French brasseries. Marble tables, exposed brick, and a vinyl record spinning somewhere set the mood for oysters on the patio or baked brie and beef tartare by candlelight. The wine list pulls from around the world, which keeps the date-night crowd very happy and very unhurried.
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best French Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Top Chef · Ivan Gonzalez
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Beef Wellington · Standout Signature Dish
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Most Creative Handcrafted Cocktail
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- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Uniquely Arizona
- Eater Flour Tortillas · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
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Rank 23. Sidewinder
Diner American
Palomas come in tajín-rimmed Jarritos bottles here, and the bartender's expression suggests you should feel lucky to have one. Sidewinder is a diner-bar in Garfield that leans hard into the dingy-vintage aesthetic, the kind of place where a $3 Bud Heavy and a sloppy joe feel like the whole point. It was opened by the team behind an upscale French bistro, which explains nothing and everything at once.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Trendy Diner · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Trendy Diner · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 24. The Vig
Beer Bar
The bocce court beside the patio gives away what kind of place this is before you even order. The Vig is a gastropub with a long tap list, a solid wine selection, and a food menu with enough vegetarian options to keep everyone at the table happy. The sprawling patio has its own outdoor bar, which cuts down on excuses to go back inside. Local acts and DJs show up on weekends, and the crowd skews toward people who planned to stay for one drink.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Daily Specials · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 25. Saint Pasta
Italian
A neon sign behind the open kitchen reads "Al Dente or Die," which tells you most of what you need to know about this downtown Phoenix pasta joint. Frank Ocean plays where Sinatra might, and "The Sopranos" loops on the wall behind the bar. The vodka sauce built a cult following when the place was a food truck, and the no-reservations line outside suggests that reputation held. Craft cocktails and low-intervention wines round things out.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Sauce · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 26. Melindas Alley
Cocktail Bar
A chalkboard of rotating cocktail specials and a basement bathed so completely in red light that no other color survives the trip down. This speakeasy-style cocktail bar is tucked beneath the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, behind a mural and open only two nights a week, which is exactly the energy. Vintage velvet chairs and low tables give it the feel of a sitting room someone forgot to leave, and the drinks arrive in coupes and crystal-cut rocks glasses.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Top Mixologist/Bartender · PJ Vader Baron
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Speakeasy · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 27. Barcoa Agaveria
Mexican Cocktail Bar
Two bars for the price of one obsession: an energetic street-level cantina with patio and a reservation-only basement room for quieter, deeper agave rabbit-holing. A food truck parks outside when hunger arrives. The agave selection runs wide enough that the bartenders will happily guide you in, and the cocktails, like a mezcal-and-pistachio-milk situation, suggest this is not your average tequila shelf.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Bar/Nightlife Experience
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Most Creative Handcrafted Cocktail Program
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Agave-Based Cocktails · Best of Phoenix
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- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Get Coffee and Flowers · Best of Phoenix
- AZ Central Best downtown Phoenix coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Peonies and Pick-Me-Ups · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 29. Gallo Blanco
Mexican
A Mexican restaurant in a converted brick building in Garfield, where the large windows keep things bright enough that you don't feel like you're day-drinking when you order a Paloma at noon. Gallo Blanco runs all three meals, so the crowd shifts from coffee-and-eggs regulars to the burrito-and-margarita contingent by midday. The guacamole and chips make a persuasive case for arriving hungry and starting slow.
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Paloma · Best of Phoenix
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Phoenix
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Rank 30. Mariscos Playa Hermosa
Sinaloan seafood Mexican
The dining room is painted in every color someone could fit on a wall, which turns out to be solid preparation for the menu that follows. This Sinaloan seafood restaurant in Phoenix runs a multi-page spread of aguachiles, whole fried fish, grilled shrimp Micheladas, and molcajetes loaded with carne asada alongside whatever came out of the ocean. A serrano margarita handles the heat. Families book out the patio on weekends, so call ahead if you're bringing a crowd.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Seafood · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Seafood · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Mariscos · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 31. Glai Baan
Thai
The name means "far from home," which tells you something about what the chef is doing here. This central Phoenix Thai restaurant draws on Bangkok street food and the cooking of the Isan region, with a tight menu of small plates, noodles, and skewers that reads like a personal dispatch rather than a crowd-pleasing survey. The cocktail program is serious enough to make parking on this stretch of Osborn Road feel like a design choice. A James Beard semifinalist, 2024.
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Best World Flavors
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Mango Sticky Rice · Most Delectable Dessert
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Rank 32. Lovebite Dumpling
Chinese
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Affordable Downtown Lunch · Best of Phoenix
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Phoenix
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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix Magazine Tiradito · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 34. The Stockyards
Western Steakhouse
The 1889 Saloon inside is supposedly designed by the cattle baron's wife, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes this old-school Phoenix steakhouse feel like it earned its spurs. Corn-fed aged beef and prime rib anchor the menu, alongside bison meatloaf and baking soda biscuits that haven't changed much since the place opened. The Western décor leans hard into its ranching roots, and nobody seems to mind.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Historic Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Restaurants In Phoenix
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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The outdoor bar lives inside a repurposed shipping container, which tells you something about this brewpub's sensibility. Arizona Wilderness pours a rotating slate of seasonal ales alongside house classics, and the kitchen keeps pace with oversized burgers, an Arizonan hot fried chicken sandwich, and duck fat fries that have developed their own following. The vegan options are less afterthought than actual draw. Bench seating, a beer garden, and desert weather do the rest.
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Vegan Bahn Mi · Best Vegan Delight
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Refuge IPA · Favorite Local Craft Beer
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Birthday Beer Deal · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 36. Marisco Boys
Seafood
A Modelo in a champagne chiller tells you everything about the vibe here. From the team behind Taco Boys, this seafood restaurant on North 7th is the dressed-up counterpoint to a casual taqueria, built for date night rather than a paper-plate lunch. The menu runs from a cold bar and ceviches to tacos and things grilled over mesquite charcoal, and the molcajete arrives with shrimp and octopus in hot or cold form.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Mexican Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 37. Testal Mexican Kitchen
Chihuahuan Mexican
The burritos here come open at both ends, more like fat rolled tacos than anything you'd expect, and ordering one is a mistake because you'll immediately want another. Testal is a casual counter-service taco shop on Grand Avenue doing Chihuahuan cooking, a regional tradition that gets less attention than it deserves in Phoenix. The rajas, spicy and cheesy with roasted poblano, are a reason to make the trip on their own.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chihuahuan Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 38. Wren House Brewing
Beer Bar
Plastic dinosaurs lined up on the ledge, a letterboard menu that changes whenever it feels like it, and a taproom that still reads as someone's living room because it used to be one. This community-focused brewpub in Green Gables pours the Spellbinder hazy IPA alongside a rotating cast of fruit-forward beers, and food trucks regularly pull up out front to fill the gap. Small, friendly, and a little cluttered in the best way.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Spellbinder · Favorite Local Craft Beer
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Brewery · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Brewery · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 39. Casa Corazon Restaurant
Southern Mexican
The salsa bar alone could justify a visit: nearly a dozen house-made salsas, each in its own small cup, running from tangy pineapple to smoky morita to a bracingly fresh serrano. Casa Corazon is a gourmet Southern Mexican restaurant tucked into a small red building on Phoenix's 16th Street corridor, where the menu leans into regional dishes and pairs naturally with Mexican wine or a fresh-fruit margarita. Eater counts it among Phoenix's best.
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Happy Hour · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Upscale/Modern Mexican · Best of the Valley
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- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Coffeehouse · Best of Phoenix
- AZ Central Best downtown coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes
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A red-brick building with white trim and a weathervane off Central Avenue that reads more Boston than Phoenix, until the palm trees remind you where you are. This outdoor coffee shop serves espresso drinks, cold brew, and specialty lattes through a window, with fresh-griddled waffles and Bagelfelds bagels to go alongside. Bring a book and a jacket in winter; in summer, you're in the sun.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best New Coffeehouse · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
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Rank 42. Cibo Pizzeria
Wood-fired Pizza
A wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria tucked inside an old downtown bungalow, with exposed brick, creaky hardwood floors, and a garden patio strung with lights that makes a Phoenix evening feel almost unfair. The team also turns out house-made pasta, burrata, and limoncello from a family recipe. Weekends book up fast, which tells you something without anyone having to say it.
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Restaurant Patio · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Restaurant Patio · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 43. Harumi Sushi Bar
Modern Sushi
The rice comes out burgundy, not white, because Harumi uses Forbidden black rice, and that detail alone tells you this is a modern sushi spot with a point of view. It sits in downtown Phoenix, small and lively, with an omakase option that won't require a financial intervention. The fish is clean and familiar rather than obscure, which suits the pre-show crowd it draws. Phoenix New Times named it a top pick for eating before a downtown event.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Eat Before a Downtown Event · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times Our top 12 favorite sushi restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 44. Cocina Madrigal
Mexican
The green chile enchiladas arrive with a tight zigzag of crema piped over the top, which tells you something about how seriously this neighborhood Mexican spot takes even the modest stuff. Chef Leo Madrigal slow-cooks the pork barbacoa-style until it's yielding enough to disappear into the green chile sauce. Corn tortillas, beans, pico-topped rice, melted cheese, the whole plate quietly assembled and not trying to impress anyone, which is exactly why it does.
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Rank 45. pa'la wood-fired cooking
Wood-fired Mediterranean
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Exceptional Culinary Experience
- Phoenix Magazine Navarro Grain Bowl · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix
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- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Top Chef · Jason Alford
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Exceptional Culinary Experience
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Vegan Bahn Mi · Best Vegan Delight
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Refuge IPA · Favorite Local Craft Beer
- AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix
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Rank 48. Cafe Lalibela
Ethiopian
The injera arrives with every order, a spongy sourdough flatbread that doubles as plate and utensil, and first-timers get a menu with a glossary to help them figure out what they've just ordered. This Ethiopian restaurant has been an ASU rite of passage for what feels like forever, a family-run strip mall spot that leans hard into vegetarian dishes and fragrant stews. The dining room is cozy and carpeted, and the coffee ceremony is not decorative.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe
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Rank 49. Kabob Grill N' Go
Armenian Middle Eastern
Marinated skewers sit in the case waiting their turn over live coals, and a haze of mesquite smoke follows the grill man out of the kitchen on a good night. This Armenian kabob counter on 16th Street landed on the New York Times restaurant list and keeps turning up on every Phoenix rundown worth reading. Combos come with enough meat, basmati, and Shirazi salad to feed two people, and regulars treat first-timers like a conversion project.
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 50. Mis Raices Café
Mexican Coffee Shop
- AZ Central Best Grand Avenue coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Coffee Shop · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 51. Bagelfeld's
NY-Style Bakery
- Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bagels · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 52. Baja Roots AZ
Baja Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Best Food Truck Experience
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Food Truck · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Late-Night Mexican Food · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 53. Best Donuts
Dessert
A cash-only donut shop in South Phoenix with a name that sets expectations high and a vanilla-glazed old-fashioned that does not blink. The craggy cake ring stays light enough that the glaze is doing structural work, which is either alarming or impressive depending on your engineering background. The butterfly, a folded cinnamon roll under glaze and buttery crumble, gives you something to do while you think about ordering another old-fashioned.
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Rank 56. CC's On Central
Cajun & Creole
A mother-and-son Cajun and soul food restaurant where the menu shifts with the day of the week: catfish on Fridays, wings on Wednesdays, Sharon's soul food the first Sunday of the month. Their Louisiana and Mississippi roots show in a shrimp étouffée that's lighter and brighter than you'd expect, and a beef debris over grits that rewards patience. Hong Kong-style praline French toast with cardamom and fennel is either the strangest thing on the menu or the most logical.
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Southern Food · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Southern Food · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 57. Taco Boys
Mexican
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Rank 58. El Horseshoe Restaurant
Mexican
Sandwiched between carburetor and machine shops on Buckeye Road, this cash-and-linoleum Mexican diner has been feeding the neighborhood long before the concept of "hole-in-the-wall chic" existed. Breakfast is the reason to show up: chilaquiles drowning in red or green salsa, Sunday menudo, and hearty caldo stews that have no interest in being photogenic. Phoenix New Times has named it Best Mexican Diner, and Eater flagged the machaca as one of Phoenix's most iconic dishes.
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Chilaquiles · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Mexican Diner · Best of Phoenix
- Eater Machaca · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Thai Restaurant · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix Magazine Khao Soi · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 60. Valentine
American, Regional Cuisine
A churro waffle with a cult following and a soft pretzel served with butter blended from guinea hen fat says about everything you need to know about Valentine's priorities. This all-day cafe and restaurant in the Melrose District does wood-fired Sonoran cooking with Arizona ingredients treated like the whole point, not a talking point. The chef is a James Beard semifinalist, and the elote pasta has its own fan club. The vintage furniture store in the back is not a joke.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Crystal Kass
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Crystal Kass
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 62. Los Dos Molinos
Mexican
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Double Burger · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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The Kothu Parotta, a pan-grilled flatbread shredded and tossed with spicy vegetables and your choice of protein, is the kind of dish that makes a strip-mall address irrelevant. This casual Indian restaurant started as a food truck and found a permanent home on Thomas Road, where the booths fill fast with regulars who already know to ask the server what to order. The dal makhni and tikka masala pull their weight too.
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Neighborhood Indian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Indian restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 68. Asadero Norte De Sonora
Sonoran
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Rank 69. Killer Whale Sex Club
Cocktail Bar
The walls at this dim Roosevelt Row cocktail lounge are lined with polaroids of patrons who've shed a little more than their inhibitions, all tasteful enough that you'd call it art if pressed. The drinks from the veteran team change often and lean experimental, which pairs nicely with the dark, slightly conspiratorial atmosphere. Named a Regional Top 10 Honoree at the Spirited Awards, it earns the recognition without trying too hard to.
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Brenon Stuart
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Cocktails With a Side of Tasteful Nudity · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
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Rank 80. Creampuff
Bakery
The team behind downtown's cocktail bars Wren & Wolf and Carry On pivoted to daytime, and the result is a doughnut shop tucked into the warehouse district just south of Phoenix, connected to a church in a pairing no one planned but somehow makes sense. Brioche rounds and tall, croissant-style hybrids share the menu, with creative coffee alongside. The crowd skews early and purposeful, the way people get when pastries are involved.
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Rank 81. Malegria Latin Cafe
Central American Mexican Coffee Shop
A shaded patio tucked behind a corner cafe on Grand Avenue is a good argument for slowing down on a weekday morning. Malegria is an all-day Latin cafe drawing on Mexican, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran cooking, so the coffee comes sweetened with piloncillo or horchata, and the breakfast sandwich arrives on bolillo bread with fried plantains and crema verde. The crowd tends to linger, which the patio quietly encourages.
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Rank 84. The Chuckbox
Southwestern American
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: The Great One · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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Rank 87. The Stand
American
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Milkshakes · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 88. Jewel's Bakery And Cafe
Gluten-Free Bakery
The entire menu is gluten-free, which sounds like a warning but reads more like a dare. Jewel's is a breakfast and brunch cafe on the east side of Phoenix where the doughnut holes are light, the tortillas stretch properly, and the waffles hold up under chicken and spicy bacon without apology. Dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian options run alongside bottomless mimosas and locally roasted coffee. Nothing on the plate telegraphs its constraints.
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix
- Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona
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Rank 94. Vovomeena
New American
A pastry case you have to walk past before you even reach the counter is a clever design choice for a breakfast spot. Vovomeena runs a casual line-order setup near downtown Phoenix with a genuinely neighborhood feel, leaning on local suppliers for eggs, sausage, and coffee. The Pain Perdu swaps bread for banana bread pudding, and the chile-corn Johnnycakes remind you this is the Southwest.
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Rank 95. Carry On
Cocktail Bar
The cabin is dressed in burnt orange and warm walnut, the windows show a looping blue-yonder reel, and a flight attendant is rolling the beverage cart your way. Carry On is an immersive cocktail lounge built around the first-class, Mad Men-era flight fantasy, preflight announcements and all. Reservations drop weekly and go fast, so plan accordingly. The Spirited Awards named it a Top 10 U.S. Nominee for Best New Cocktail Bar.
- 50 Best Best Bar Design Award
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Bar · Best of Phoenix
- Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix
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Rank 99. Mister Pio
Peruvian
The rotisserie smoke reaches you before you open the door, which is either a warning or a promise. This counter-service Peruvian chicken shop on East Thomas keeps things focused: whole or half birds off a hulking oven, Peruvian sauces on the side, and thick-cut fries that Phoenix New Times handed a Best of Phoenix nod to. Wash it down with an Inca Kola and you're done. Eater named it one of the best new restaurants in America in 2025.
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in America
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 100. Casey Moore's Oyster House
Seafood Cocktail Bar
An old house in Tempe that may or may not be haunted, depending on how many drinks in you are. Casey Moore's is a seafood and oyster bar that's been around forever, and it draws the full cross-section of college town life, from freshmen to people who were freshmen here decades ago. The patio, the well-priced drinks, and the raw bar keep everyone coexisting peacefully, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Neighborhood Bar · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Neighborhood Bar · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Bar · Best of Phoenix