The Top 100 Restaurants Near Rave Circus
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Rank 1. 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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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Double Burger · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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Rank 3. Taco Chelo
Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
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Rank 4. 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 5. Taco Boys
Mexican
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Rank 8. Pita Jungle
Mediterranean
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Rank 11. Taco Boys
Mexican
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Rank 13. Cocina Chiwas
Mexican
Mesquite and pecan wood smoke drifts out of the open kitchen at this Chihuahuan-rooted restaurant inside Tempe's Culdesac neighborhood, where the grill does serious work on meats, peppers, and open-faced quesadillas. The team behind Tacos Chiwas built something more personal here, moving from taqueria to family table. Moles, micheladas, and brunch dishes like concha French toast fill out a menu that runs morning to night. A James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist in 2024.
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Chiles Rellenos · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Thai Peanut Poke Bowl · Standout Signature Dish
- Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale
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Rank 15. FnB
Sonoran New American
The chef still works the line most nights, which tells you something about a creative restaurant that's been an Old Town Scottsdale fixture long enough to feel inevitable. Vegetables are taken seriously here, pulled from Arizona farms and steered through a menu that drifts from the Sonoran Desert to the Levant without announcing itself. The wine list leans hard into Arizona producers, and the tucked-away bar is a fine place to work through both.
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Rank 16. Old Town Taste
Sichuan
A bright red neon sign marks this Sichuan restaurant tucked into a Tempe strip mall, where turquoise booths and mural-covered walls set the scene for lazy Susans loaded with mapo tofu, braised eggplant, and the Chongqing-style spicy chicken that Phoenix Magazine named one of Arizona's top dishes. The batter is thin and shatters, the peppercorns do their characteristic lip-numbing work, and the portions are large enough to make you reconsider your afternoon plans.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Traditional Chinese Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Exceptional Culinary Experience
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix Magazine Hiramasa Ceviche · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: In-Good Spirits · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Salad: The Original Chopped Salad · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine Lucky 7 Cereal Bowl · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 22. Shaanxi Garden
Northern Chinese
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 23. Mensho Ramen
Noodles
A ramen shop where the broth might arrive laced with matcha or built around five preparations of garlic in a single bowl. Mensho brought its Japanese noodle concept to Arizona with this Mesa outpost, a light-wood room centered on an open kitchen where handmade noodles go into thick, creamy broths. The kind of place where the bowl keeps revealing itself as you eat, which is a polite way of saying you'll want to stay longer than you planned.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Emerging Restaurant of the Year
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Ramen · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 24. 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 25. Citizen Public House
American
The Original Chopped Salad has its own Facebook page, which tells you something about the regulars here. Citizen Public House is a polished American restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale that manages to feel genuinely comfortable despite looking like it shouldn't. Classic dishes get quiet, confident upgrades, the room runs warm without trying too hard, and the kitchen keeps the kind of hours that make it useful for more than just dinner plans.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: In-Good Spirits · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Salad: The Original Chopped Salad · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale
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- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: The Joy Bus · Favorite Local Craft Beer
- Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix
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Rank 28. Hai Noon
Japanese
- Phoenix Magazine Sashimi Spoons · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
- Eater Sashimi Spoons · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix
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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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Rank 30. The Mission
Mexican
Old Town Scottsdale runs heavy on sushi and gourmet burgers, so a candlelit Mexican restaurant with a serious tequila program reads almost as contraband. The Mission leans modern Latin rather than strictly regional, but the street tacos and bacon-wrapped hot dogs hold their own against the fancier plates. The room is dark and unhurried in a way that makes a second round of $15 cocktails feel inevitable.
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Food Pioneer · Matt Carter
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Tequila Selection · Best of Phoenix
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale
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Rank 31. Quiessence At The Farm
Arizonan American
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Rank 33. 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 36. Tacos Chiwas
Chihuahuan Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Gorditas · Best of the Valley
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Rank 37. Haji-Baba
Middle Eastern
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Sundubu jjigae arrives at the table still at a full boil, in a black earthenware bowl that stays screaming hot long after it lands. This Korean tofu house in Mesa's Asian District is the kind of place where a server drops off a raw egg and you crack it straight into the broth. The house-made tofu is silky, the broth is deeply red, and the white-shirt warning is sincere. Bulgogi and bibimbap round out the menu for anyone not ready to commit to the fire.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Korean Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix
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- Eater Date Shake · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine Date Shake · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 40. Mandi House
Yemeni Middle Eastern
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Rank 42. The Dhaba
Punjabi
Named for the roadside pit stops where Indian truck drivers fuel up on cheap, filling food, this casual Punjabi restaurant in Tempe takes the concept seriously: long menu, affordable prices, homemade breads, and tandoori meats that smell like someone's actually cooking back there. The thali is the move if you want the full picture, chai and dessert included. Street snacks, deep-fried things, and curry round out a menu that rewards indecision.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Neighborhood Indian Spot · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Indian restaurants in Phoenix
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A globe-hopping dinner spot in Old Town Scottsdale built as a love letter to Anthony Bourdain, which means handmade pasta shares the menu with egg yolk nigiri and bison ribeye without any of it feeling like a theme park. The warm, conversation-friendly room earns its vibe. The bar team applies something closer to lab technique to the cocktails, and the mocktail program picked up a Phoenix Magazine Best of the Valley nod, which is a sentence Bourdain would have found deeply funny.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Mocktail: Smartest Cocktail in the Room · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale
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Rank 44. 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 45. 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 46. Happy Baos
Northern Chinese
Tucked just off the food court at Mekong Plaza, this Northern Chinese bao shop has outlasted neighbors that came and went while it quietly became a fixture. Handmade dumplings arrive chewy and properly sealed, with steamed buns and xiao long bao filling out the menu. Dan dan noodles and a cucumber salad round things out for anyone who wants something beyond the folded stuff. Phoenix New Times named it the best dumplings in Phoenix.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
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A private cottage across the street from its louder sibling, Reserve runs on dress codes, flickering candles, and soft piano, which tells you exactly what kind of evening this is. The tasting menu leans into caviar, dry-aged duck, and wagyu, while an enormous wine cellar offers options at most price points. The service team controls the pace deliberately, so no one is rushing you anywhere. Note that it operates seasonally.
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- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vegan Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Vegan Burger · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 53. T. Cooks
Mediterranean
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Top Chef · Alex Trujillo
- Phoenix Magazine Carpaccio · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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At Sizzle, the servers run the grill, so you can just sit there looking relaxed and cosmopolitan while someone else does the work. This Korean barbecue spot builds its menu around pork or beef sampler platters, with different cuts arriving in waves alongside banchan, salad, and steamed egg. Soju cocktails filled with fresh fruit handle the drinks side. Phoenix New Times named it the top Korean barbecue in the area.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Korean Barbecue · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Korean Barbecue · Best of Phoenix
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- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chinese Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 62. Indibar
Indian
A banana leaf-wrapped branzino arrives at the table and you unwrap it yourself, releasing a cloud of curry-leaf steam. Indibar is a fine dining modern Indian restaurant, all desert neutrals and Art Deco curves, with the white-glove service of a high-end resort. The kitchen applies globe-spanning fine dining technique to tandoori and regional traditions. A James Beard Best New Restaurant semifinalist in 2026, and named by USA Today among its Restaurants of the Year.
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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Rank 64. 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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Rank 65. Élephante
Mediterranean
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Espresso Martini · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best New Pizza Hot Spot · Best of the Valley
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale
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Rank 66. 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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- Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe
- Phoenix Magazine Curry Lamb Pot Pie · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 69. Taco Boys
Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Horchata · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 70. Drunken Tiger
Korean
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Rank 71. Di Maggio’s
NY Italian
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Bar/Nightlife Experience
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale
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Rank 76. Tacos Veganos
Vegan Mexican
Jackfruit quesabirria tacos with plant-based mozzarella are the headline at this vegan Mexican taco shop in the Arcadia neighborhood, a casual counter-order spot where the menu reads like any solid taqueria, right down to the bucket of Modelos. Burritos come stuffed with rice, beans, fries, and your pick of plant-based protein, which is either very 2010s or exactly what you wanted. The kind of place carnivores get dragged to and then quietly admit was fine.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vegan Mexican Food · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Vegan Tamales · Best of the Valley
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Rank 79. Ban Chan Korean Cuisine
Traditional Korean
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Korean Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 82. 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 83. 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 Magazine 2025 · Upscale/Modern Mexican · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Happy Hour · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 84. 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 2024 · Best Mariscos · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Seafood · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Seafood · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 85. théa
Mediterranean
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Rank 86. Lon's at the Hermosa
Southwestern New American
The broad patio sweeps out from a small turquoise-trimmed adobe inn with the Camelback range as a backdrop, which is doing a lot of work before the food even arrives. Lon's is a white-tablecloth Southwestern restaurant in Paradise Valley, seasonal and quietly inventive, with weekend brunch drawing the kind of crowd that lingers over customizable margaritas and monkey bread loaded with caramel and cream. The bar is serious, the mountain views are free.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Ultimate Patio Atmosphere
- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Sticky Toffee Pudding · Most Delectable Dessert
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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 89. Cala
Mediterranean
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Rank 91. 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 92. Main Burgers
American
White tiles, pastel trim, and a cartoon burger grinning at you from the wall set the tone at this retro counter-service burger joint on downtown Mesa's main drag. The team behind Tacos Chiwas and Espiritu kept things deliberately simple: a short menu of semi-smashed burgers, hot dogs, loaded fries, and aguas frescas. The Sonora burger, stacked with griddled cheese, chiltepin, and bacon, is the one people talk about.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025
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Rank 93. 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 94. 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 95. Francine
Mediterranean French
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Rank 96. Tratto
Italian
Chris Bianco's trattoria keeps a rotating pasta menu built around local flours matched to specific shapes, which sounds precious until you taste it. The kitchen runs classic cacio e pepe alongside whatever Arizona's season hands them, and the drink program goes equally deep into esoteric Italian amari and house-made liqueurs. The New York Times put it on their restaurant list, and the room feels like it earned that quietly.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Food Pioneer · Chris Bianco
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 97. 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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- Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Uniquely Arizona
- Eater Flour Tortillas · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
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The communal high-top near the entrance is the first thing you notice, and on social hour nights it's the last thing you want to leave. Beckett's Table is a neighborhood restaurant in Arcadia doing Southwestern comfort food with the kind of ease that comes from a chef who's been cooking since childhood. The fork-tender short ribs and a fig-and-pecan pie that the city seems to have adopted as its own keep regulars coming back without much deliberation.
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Rank 100. Fat Ox
Italian
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Food Pioneer · Matt Carter
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Italian · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale