The 34 Best Places to Eat and Do in Chandler

Saguaro fruit, tepary beans, and wild sumac foraged from Gila River Community land anchor the tasting menu at this fine-dining room on tribal grounds. The team turns those Sonoran Desert ingredients through a global fine-dining lens, so cactus lime pie and buffalo with saguaro syrup land somewhere genuinely unexpected. It holds a Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamonds, a combination that signals dress-up territory before you've even looked at the menu.

1. AAA Five Diamonds
2. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star
3. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Service · Best of Phoenix

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

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.

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Best World Flavor
2. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Upscale Indian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

The sushi counter is the point here, not the parade of sauce-heavy rolls that crowds the competition. This upscale Chandler sushi restaurant leans traditional, pulling in harder-to-find cuts like escolar and sea urchin alongside the usual nigiri and sashimi spread. A few hot dishes and tempura round things out, but the kitchen knows where its priorities lie. Phoenix New Times has named it the area's top Japanese restaurant.

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Best World Flavors
2. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Sushi · Best of Phoenix

The roaster works in plain sight at the back of this Brazilian crop-to-cup coffee shop, which pulls beans from the Peters family farm in Minas Gerais. No flavored syrups, no blenders, just coffee, milk, and water in various combinations, which sounds austere until you taste it. Pastries come from a local bakery and empanadas round out the food side. A second location sits inside Epicenter at Agritopia.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Coffee Roasters · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Coffee Roasters · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Day Drinker · Favorite Local Craft Beer

1. AAA Approved

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Brunch With a Punch

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Brunch With a Punch

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

The two-level track is lit in multicolored neon, which makes the electric Superkarts feel less like a family outing and more like a fever dream you're steering. This massive indoor entertainment complex near the highway packs in go-karts, arcade games, laser tag, duckpin bowling, VR stations, and a full bar, so pacing yourself is an actual consideration. Tall guests may find the karts a snug fit, but that's part of the negotiation.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Go-Karts · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Go-Karts · Best of Phoenix

The whole roast ducks hanging in the hot deli are your first clue that this is not a routine grocery run. Arizona's only outpost of the pan-Asian supermarket chain stocks an enormous produce section, a serious fresh seafood counter, and an aisle of imported snacks that rewards slow browsing. The bakery near the exit, stocked with egg tarts and milk bread, is the reason most carts get a little heavier on the way out.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Asian Supermarket · Best of Phoenix

A pastel-colored claw machine arcade in Chandler stocked with 24 machines and the kind of prizes collectors actually want: Pop Mart blind boxes, Smiski statues, Sonny Angels. Staff hype up players before every pull, snap a Polaroid when you land something good, and quietly help the kids who keep coming up short. Bring a few dollars more than you plan to spend.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Claw Arcade · Best of Phoenix

A mom-and-daughter herb shop and wellness studio in Chandler where you can buy a chest rub that actually helps you breathe, a bug-repelling oil blend, and teas and lotions from small producers, then come back on a weekend to make chocolate or herbal mocktails from scratch. The classes range from mushroom deep-dives to all-day medicine-making sessions. The whole place smells the way you wish your kitchen did.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Become a Kitchen Witch · Best of Phoenix

A living-history Western town where you can catch a stunt show, ride a train, eat a steak, and watch a parade, all set in a lovingly hokey version of 1889 Arizona. It's unapologetically touristy, which is almost the point. Bring out-of-town visitors who need context for all the cowboy mythology, or return after years away and find it exactly as you left it. The duster is optional but spiritually required.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Tourist Attraction · Best of Phoenix

A dedicated saltwater taffy department is either a sign of a candy superstore done right or a sign your dentist is about to buy a boat. Sweeties is a sprawling bulk-candy shop where nearly everything sells individually or by the pound, the shelves run floor to ceiling, and the childhood nostalgia is stacked as deep as the gumdrops. The staff is genuinely warm, which softens the blow of the inevitable sugar spiral on the drive home.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Candy Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Golf Course · Best of Phoenix

Part antique mall, part haunted house, Terror Trader is a horror-themed marketplace where local vendors fill coffin-shaped cases with slasher memorabilia, VHS tapes, and ceramic human organs. A museum room of real skulls anchors the space, and life-size slasher villains lurk around corners for good measure. Phoenix New Times named it the best place for horror buffs two years running. The crowd, predictably, does not shop in beige.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place for Horror Buffs · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Store for Horror Buffs · Best of Phoenix

Trays of loose bricks sorted by color and size sit open on the floor so you can hunt down that one piece you've been missing since 2009. Arizona Brick Co. is a family-run LEGO shop carrying new sets, used sets, individual minifigures, and the kind of loose-brick selection that serves both the casual builder and the person who considers this a lifestyle. Price points range enough that you don't have to be a completionist to leave with something.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best LEGO Store · Best of Phoenix

Floor-to-ceiling windows that actually let daylight in make this casino feel less like a submarine than what you're used to. The outdoor gardens drive the point home. Inside, there's a large sportsbook with a long LED wall, 800-plus slots, table games, and 40 craft beer taps. Honey & Vine handles sit-down dining. Don't skip the perimeter walk: the walls display artwork by Gila River Indian Community members, and it's worth the detour.

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

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

1. Phoenix Magazine Honey Bee Pizza · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona

The Japanese discount chain beloved on the West Coast landed its first Arizona outpost next to 99 Ranch Market, and Phoenix has been restocking its kitchens ever since. Nearly everything rings up under five dollars, which makes it easy to load a basket with bento supplies, Sanrio goods, craft materials, and seasonal decor without doing math in your head. The selection turns over constantly, so repeat visits feel like a different store.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Retail Import · Best of Phoenix

An outdoor outlet mall on the Gila River Indian Community, Phoenix Premium Outlets trades indoor air conditioning for open-air discount hunting across a solid spread of name brands. Coach, Kate Spade, Nike, Adidas, and a Saks OFF Fifth anchor the handbag and sneaker heavy lineup, with factory stores for Banana Republic, Gap, and Columbia filling out the rest. It won't be confused with Scottsdale Fashion Square, but the prices will remind you that's fine.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mall · Best of Phoenix

A low-ABV cocktail bar tucked inside an actual house in downtown Chandler, where the default is a sherry or vermouth base rather than something that'll flatten you by nine. The menu runs from a gentle negroni to a spritzy Cappelletti situation to a vermouth margarita with heat, and coffee rounds things out if you'd rather not drink at all. The nooks and the porch invite lingering, which seems to be the whole point.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Non-Alcoholic Drink Options · Best of Phoenix