The Top 100 Restaurants Near Salt River Tubing
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A strip-mall address in Scottsdale is doing its best to throw you off, but step inside Course and it's a full tasting-menu restaurant, white-tablecloth intentions and all. The kitchen runs a rotating seasonal menu, five courses on weeknights and eight on weekends, with a James Beard semifinalist nomination for the chef and another for pastry. The Pinnacle Guide awarded it one Pin for 2026.
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner · Emerging Restaurant of the Year
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Rank 2. 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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Rank 3. 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 4. 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 5. Andreoli Italian Grocer
Italian
The shelves of imported flour, olive oil, and canned goods are the first thing you navigate on the way to ordering lunch, which about sums up what Andreoli is: a north Scottsdale Italian grocer where the sit-down dining room is just as serious as the pantry. The chef hails from Calabria but ranges freely across the regions, and the whiteboard specials tend toward the kind of dishes that take some explaining. A James Beard nominee.
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Southwest · Giovanni Scorzo
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 6. 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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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Thai Peanut Poke Bowl · Standout Signature Dish
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale
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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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Rank 10. 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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Rank 11. Hush Public House
American
The oxtail Italian beef sandwich, melting with cheese and spiked with giardiniera, tells you right away what kind of chef is running this upscale New American kitchen. Hush is an intimate room in a Scottsdale strip mall, open kitchen sending smells out front, nostalgic rock at a volume that invites conversation. The menu shifts often, but the kitchen's touch with vegetables, fish, and meat stays constant. Reservations through Tock are a smart move.
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Cast Iron Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
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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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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
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Rank 14. 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: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
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Rank 16. 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
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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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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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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Rank 20. 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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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in 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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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 26. 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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- 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 29. 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 30. 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 31. Board & Batten
Modern New American
String lights, a sprawling patio, and a wedding venue next door set the tone at this cozy modern bistro tucked behind an office park in Mesa. It reads like an elegant garden party that wandered off and found a better location. The menu rotates with the seasons, leaning toward steaks, fresh seafood, and handmade pasta, with shareable starters and a dessert list worth saving room for. A Phoenix New Times top 50 pick.
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Rank 35. Hapa Food
Hawaiian
The lines at this Mesa plate lunch counter are long because the menu is short and the food moves. Hapa is one of the few independent Hawaiian spots holding its own against the chains in Phoenix, and it earned a Phoenix New Times Best Hawaiian Restaurant nod for the effort. Check their Instagram before you go since daily specials rotate fast. Save room for the malasadas, fried to order and stuffed with vanilla custard or ube cream.
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hawaiian Restaurant · Best of 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 37. 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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Rank 38. Taco Chelo
Mexican
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
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Rank 39. 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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Rank 42. 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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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Cast Iron Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: Hush Burger · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Hush Burger · Standout Signature Dish
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Rank 44. 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 45. T. Cooks
Mediterranean
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Rank 46. Persian Room
Persian
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix Magazine Kash O'Bademjan · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Voodoo Fried Rice · Best Dish in a Supporting Role
- Phoenix Magazine New Orleans Shrimp and Grits · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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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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Rank 49. 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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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Exceptional Culinary Experience
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Christopher Gross
- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
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Rank 52. Zinc Bistro
French
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Food Pioneer · Matt Carter
- Phoenix Magazine Dungeness Crab Salad · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 53. Hai Noon
Japanese
- Eater Sashimi Spoons · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine Sashimi Spoons · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 55. 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 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025
- Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Top Chef · Alex Trujillo
- Phoenix Magazine Carpaccio · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- Phoenix Magazine Date Shake · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
- Eater Date Shake · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix
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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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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
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Rank 64. 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 66. Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine
Modern Indian
The name means "foreigner," which sets the tone for a modern Indian restaurant that treats the cuisine as a starting point rather than a finish line. Tucked into a Chandler strip mall, it runs cocktails spiked with masala chai vodka or ghee-washed whiskey alongside small plates, large plates, and pani puri worth sharing around the table. The room skews upscale without being stiff about it.
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Best World Flavor
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Upscale Indian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 68. La Zozzona
Italian
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Rank 69. Maeva
Fine dining French
Dark walls, checkerboard tile, and a four-course French tasting menu in a Gilbert strip suite, which is not a sentence anyone expected to write. Maeva runs all day, so you can stop in for a lavender latte in the morning and then come back dressed up for dinner. The kitchen does a la carte too, but the tasting menu is the main event, with servers who steer the pairings and explain each plate without making you feel like you're being graded.
- Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
- Phoenix New Times Chicken Soup en Croute · The 10 best bites we tasted at Phoenix restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025
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Rank 71. théa
Mediterranean
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- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Voodoo Fried Rice · Best Dish in a Supporting Role
- Phoenix Magazine New Orleans Shrimp and Grits · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: Beef Rendang · Standout Signature Dish
- Phoenix Magazine Chili Crab · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 75. Que Chevere
Venezuelan Caribbean
Thick griddled corn arepas, stuffed or served alongside shredded beef and rice, are the spine of this Venezuelan Caribbean restaurant in downtown Mesa. The team graduated from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar, and the kitchen still rolls out hot cheese sticks every morning. The patacon swaps buns for fried plantains, and the cachapa, a sweet corn pancake, earns its own detour. A bar handles tropical drinks.
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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 78. 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 2025 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
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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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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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Rank 83. Taco Boys
Mexican
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Rank 84. 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 86. Taco Boys
Mexican
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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 95. Lujos Cocina Mexicana
Mexican
A strip mall Mexican restaurant where everything, walls, floors, booths, even the plates, is painted black so the food glows against it like a still life. The brothers who run Lujos took over their parents' spot and rebuilt it almost entirely. The regular menu covers tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but there's a permanent off-menu section worth asking about, including birria enchiladas drowning in red sauce with crema and guacamole. Wash it down with the horchata.
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Rank 96. Pita Jungle
Mediterranean
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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 100. 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 2025 · Best Vegan Mexican Food · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Vegan Mexican Food · Best of Phoenix