The Best Places in Old Town Scottsdale

A Havana-via-Hemingway resort sitting just off Scottsdale's main drag, where the whole premise is that you're not in the Arizona desert, even when the Arizona desert is right there. Eight acres of hammocks and two pools, one with a sandy beach, do a lot of convincing. Rooms run Art Deco and mid-century, heavy on walnut and brass. The on-site restaurant serves Cuban-American food, and yes, craft cocktails arrive in pineapples.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. AAA Three Diamonds
3. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Brunch With a Punch
3. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale

Retro doorknob tassels stand in for standard "do not disturb" signs, which tells you pretty much everything about the vibe here. The REMI. is a hotel in North Scottsdale built for the kind of people who consider the pool deck a social obligation. Rockwell Group did the interiors, all leather headboards and powder-blue velvet, and the Allegra rooftop bar pulls sunset crowds on the 12th floor. Kauboi's yakitori-meets-sushi terrace and the F-16 diner round out a property that locals treat like a neighborhood.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

Élephante lets you print a photo on top of your espresso martini, which is either the future of cocktails or a sign we've collectively lost the plot, possibly both. This lively Mediterranean restaurant on the sixth floor of Scottsdale Fashion Square draws a crowd that skews festive and photograph-ready. The espresso martini comes with a choice of vodka, mezcal, or tequila as the base, and the mocha variation leans into creme de cacao and vanilla.

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Espresso Martini · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best New Pizza Hot Spot · Best of the Valley

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

A steak-and-sushi restaurant inside Scottsdale Fashion Square, which tells you exactly who the room is built for. The menu runs from raw fish and specialty rolls through wagyu and pasta, so you can arrive with shopping bags and leave with a bill to match. The herb-roasted branzino, served over lemon rice, has drawn particular attention from local critics. Not cheap, but the kitchen takes the food more seriously than the setting might suggest.

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3. Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale

Turquoise booths and a menu that hasn't needed rethinking in decades: this Scottsdale franchise of the national pancake-house chain has been the neighborhood's default breakfast spot for a long time. The Dutch Baby, finished with lemon and whipped butter, is the order that regulars treat as non-negotiable. Griddle-focused, diner-priced, and reliably packed on weekend mornings with people who had the good sense to arrive early.

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High ceilings, gold cocktail shakers, and a rack of lamb that belongs nowhere near a mall, yet here we are at Scottsdale Fashion Square. Francine is a Mediterranean-French restaurant with the polish of a countryside manor and the energy of a room where people came dressed to be seen. The bar pulls its own weight if you're not staying for dinner, and the wine list gives everyone a reason to linger.

1. Phoenix New Times The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale
2. Phoenix New Times Delicious dozen: The 12 best restaurants in Scottsdale

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale

Din Tai Fung is a dressy dumpling house at Scottsdale Fashion Square, where a glass window lets passersby watch the kitchen staff fold each dumpling by hand. Inside, a bonsai-style tree anchors the dining room, and nearly every table has a silver steamer of soup dumplings and a diner learning about molten broth the hard way. Reservations are less a suggestion than a survival strategy, and 2:30 on a Tuesday is a fine time to eat.

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2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Mall · Best of Phoenix

Reclining seats, genuine leg room, and a full bar serving cocktails make this Scottsdale multiplex feel less like a trip to the cinema and more like a minor lifestyle upgrade. Harkins Camelview 14 runs blockbusters alongside art house titles, and the outdoor patio pulls double duty as a pre-show gathering spot and, during cooler months, an actual screening venue. Phoenix New Times named it the valley's top luxury movie theater in 2025.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Luxury Movie Theater · Best of Phoenix

Neon, glitz, and gold cover every surface of this 3,500-square-foot Scottsdale nightclub, which has been an anchor of the entertainment district long enough to feel like a local institution. The format is straightforward: drinking and dancing, with aerialists and guest DJ sets keeping things from going stale. Expect a line out front and a crowd dressed accordingly.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Nightclub · Best of Phoenix

A 17,600-square-foot pool area anchors this sprawling dayclub and nightclub on Scottsdale's main party corridor, where the outdoor scene runs on cabanas, three bars, and a taco stand beneath what's reportedly the Valley's largest LED video wall. When the sun goes down, the indoor club takes over with a vortex-shaped dance floor and the kind of bottle service that keeps the staff very busy. The crowd skews young, attractive, and aware of both facts.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Bar for Bachelor Parties · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Cold Brew: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shaker · Best of the Valley

The pepper grinder is a yard long and bright red, which tells you everything you need to know about the vibe here. Sexy Roman is a hotel restaurant inside the W Scottsdale that has fully committed to the bit: espresso martinis arrive with gold-dusted beans, the seafood tower exhales cold smoke, and a drink cart appears when you flip your table light from white to red. It's theatrical on purpose, and the room plays along.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Pepper Grinder · Best of Phoenix

Every Wednesday night at The Hot Chick, a drag queen named Barbra Seville calls bingo numbers with enough side commentary to make ten rounds feel short. It's a weekly event, not a bar night, so come ready: prizes range from gift cards to air fryers to things that would embarrass your mother. Half-off wine bottles and $8 High Noon seltzers run all night, happy hour starts at three, and a DJ keeps things going after the last card is called.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Drag Bingo · Best of Phoenix

A black-and-white dining room tucked into the Scottsdale Waterfront strip mall, where the guacamole arrives studded with pomegranate seeds and warm steak cubes, which sounds like a gimmick until it doesn't. This modern Mexican restaurant runs from quesabirria tacos to charred octopus, and the cocktails come dressed with flower petals and charred cinnamon sticks, because subtlety is apparently optional. The flan, cracked with caramel shards, lands the ending.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Guacamole · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Guacamole · Best of Phoenix