The Best Places in Phoenix

Tens of thousands of used books spread across the fairgrounds floor once a year, priced so low it feels like a clerical error. The VNSA Used Book Sale is Phoenix's annual bibliophile free-for-all, run by volunteers and drawing serious collectors alongside people who just need something for the pool. Bring a tote, bring cash, and arrive with a loose plan, because the sheer square footage has a way of dissolving any sense of time or restraint.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Book Sale · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Book Sale · Best of Phoenix

A vintage shop tucked into a North Phoenix strip mall, Wang's moves the kind of T-shirts that make strangers stop you on the street: old Suns gear, beat-up band tees, the Marilyn Manson shirt your mom vetoed. Stock turns over constantly, so regulars follow their Instagram like a dispatch line. Prices run fair to real money depending on the piece, though the Saturday sale bins reliably yield something good for ten dollars.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vintage T-Shirts · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Vintage T-Shirts · Best of Phoenix

A blue-and-gold accent wall is doing a lot of work inside what looks, from the parking lot, like absolutely nothing. This Mexican neveria in a north Phoenix strip mall serves raspados in flavors that run well past the usual strawberry and tamarind, and the horchata version, cold and cinnamony, has a following. Elote bowls round out the menu. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top neveria.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Aguas Frescas · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Neveria · 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

The wooden furniture and décor came over from Ethiopia, and the feel of the room followed. This kitchen and bar on McDowell Road serves Ethiopian combinations the right way, on a wide round plate loaded with stews, greens, and a scoop of homemade cheese that cools things down. The injera does its job as utensil and bread at once. Order for the table and let it fill up; solo dining works, but barely.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Ethiopian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

Somewhere between a liturgical supply house and a very niche gift shop, Autom is the kind of place that sells hanging censers and baptismal fonts alongside saint medallions, garden crosses, and yes, religious-themed Croc charms. The only retail outpost of a catalog operation that ships nationwide, it's been around forever and skews Catholic but has enough for curious shoppers of any tradition or none at all.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Religious Supplies · Best of Phoenix

Those signature mason jars show up in restaurants, corner stores, and gas stations across the Valley, which tells you something about how Phoenix feels about this lemonade brand. Every batch is boiled and hot-filled the old-school way, skipping preservatives entirely. Classic lemonade anchors the lineup, but prickly pear and rotating seasonal flavors keep regulars checking for the next drop. Find it at their Phoenix shop or grab a jar wherever you already are.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Lemonade · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Burger Joint · Best of the Valley

Every October, one wing of this sprawling family nursery quietly transforms into a Christmas wonderland, which says something about how seriously Phoenix takes its holiday seasons. The rest of the year, Berridge is the kind of plant nursery you budget an hour for and leave three hours later, having consulted the staff about desert-hardy options and wandered the greenhouse twice. An old-school Phoenix institution with acres to roam.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Plant Nursery · Best of Phoenix

A zoot suiter painted on the exterior wall does the welcoming at this variety shop on McDowell, where oldies blast and the shelves run deep with lowrider clothing, posters, accessories, and original Homies figurines packed in tight. It's a corner store rooted in Chicano and lowrider culture, the kind of place that feels less like retail and more like dropping in on someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chicano Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Place to Have Quiche for Breakfast · Best of the Valley

The shelves here hold Virgin of Guadalupe candles alongside powders for luck or love, Florida water, and statues of the Seven African Powers, which gives you a sense of the range. This is a Mexican botanica and natural remedies shop serving practitioners of Catholicism, Santería, and a few other traditions, as well as anyone whose lung tea is running low. The staff fields questions without making you feel like an outsider, which helps when you're not sure what you need.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Yerberia · 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

The side-pull tap that delivers a European-style pour with an extra few inches of foam is a good signal of what kind of taproom this is. Catalyst leans into big, playful styles, including sours, imperials, and hoppy IPAs, alongside a rotating cast of more traditional options. An in-house kitchen called S.A.L.T. handles food, and there's a generous patio when the weather cooperates, which in Tempe is most of the year.

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

A foam tube "noodle forest," a pretend grocery store where kids can shop and restock, a tricycle track with a car wash: this children's museum in a beautifully restored old downtown schoolhouse keeps small visitors busy enough that they forget to argue. The oak floors date to the original building, so parents get architecture while their kids get chaos. Plan a few hours; one level is never enough.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Keep a Kid Entertained · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Most Surprising Spot for an Espresso Martini · Best of the Valley

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.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Return · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Sanctuary for Food Nerds · Best of the Valley

A bakery and coffee café where a pastry chef known for laminated doughs and a coffee roaster behind some of the Valley's better seasonal lattes have joined forces, with a bread baker trained at San Francisco's Tartine rounding out the team. The collaboration covers a lot of ground, and the range of talent in one room means you can justify a second order before you've finished the first.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Collaboration · Best of Phoenix

A counter-service wing spot on the west side where the fryer does most of the talking. Wings come out plump and crisp, then get sauced or dry-rubbed, and the curry dry rub has a way of turning fingers an incriminating shade of yellow. The rest of the menu leans into the fryer too, with onion rings, egg rolls, and beignets to round things out. Phoenix New Times named it the best chicken wings in Phoenix in 2025.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chicken Wings · Best of Phoenix

A small-batch ice cream shop inside a converted Quonset hut in Gilbert's Barnone complex, with a rotating handful of flavors that leans toward combinations like date and orange blossom or strawberry and rose water. The menu is short by design, and classics like mint chip share the case with vegan sorbets. You won't find thirty tubs here, which turns out to be beside the point when each one is this carefully made.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Ice Cream · Best of Phoenix

A hot dog shop tucked inside a bar on 16th Street, Der Wurst builds every preservative-free sausage on pretzel buns from a local bakery and links from Schreiner's Fine Sausages down the road. The menu leans into German biergarten energy, loaded dogs pulling from flavors across cultures, with names that will make your grandparents set down their reading glasses. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top spot for hot dogs in 2025.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Hot Dogs · Best of Phoenix

There's no sign out front, which is either a design choice or a test. Dick's Hideaway is a small New Mexican-leaning bar and grill tucked along 16th Street, where seated at the bar you can feel the heat off the open-flame grill. The bloody marys and margaritas have a following, and the green chile burger earns its real estate on the menu. Getting a table for five on a Friday requires more optimism than planning.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Actual Hidden Gem · Best of Phoenix

A bacon-wrapped hot dog forced into a charred, fluffy split-top roll under a parking lot tent, open from six in the evening until two in the morning. This beloved outdoor cart has been a late-night Phoenix institution forever, and the Sonoran hot dog it serves, loaded with beans, grilled onions, guacamole, cotija, and a generous zigzag of mayonnaise, is about as close to an Arizona signature dish as anything gets.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Sonoran Hot Dog · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Sonoran Hot Dog · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Sushi · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Mutant Tacos: Shrimp Tacos · Best of the Valley

A three-tiered cake stand of sandwiches, scones, and petits fours, served on antique bone china, is the move at this afternoon tea room tucked into the small desert town of Carefree. Thirty-plus loose-leaf varieties anchor the menu, and the kitchen also runs a proper lunch of jacket potatoes, smoked salmon quiche, and tea sandwiches. There's even a scaled-down Nursery Tea for children who have outgrown imaginary cups but not PB&J.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Tea Room · Best of Phoenix

A crystal shop tucked inside a warehouse that shares a building with a storage facility, so easy to walk past that finding it feels like half the ritual. Inside, the scale surprises: room after room of crystals, including one dedicated entirely to amethyst. A resident cat roams the floor. Weekly sound healing and yoga sessions run under lighting made entirely of crystals, which is either very on-brand or a fire code conversation waiting to happen.

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

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Workday Lunch Break · Best of the Valley

A tabletop game store that doesn't charge to use its gaming space, which tells you something about the vibe before you even walk in. Funkatronic Rex stocks tabletop, card, miniature, and role-playing games, with a packed event calendar and staff who clearly play everything they sell. The place landed a segment on "Critter Hug," the Critical Role talk show, which tracks. Phoenix New Times named it Best Game Store in 2024.

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

A gelato shop in Old Town Scottsdale where the owner brought recipes from his hometown in southern Italy and hasn't wavered since. The flavors run classic, almond with orange, hazelnut, milk cream, plus dairy-free fruit options, and the affogato is the move if espresso is involved in your afternoon. The crowd is half tourists already pretending they're somewhere else, and the gelato gives them a reasonable case.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Gelato · 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

The flatbread menu alone runs past thirty varieties, which tells you something about priorities at this Levantine restaurant and bakery in Tempe. Manakeesh, slow-cooked meats, hummus, and baba ganoush fill out a menu rooted in the kind of food that takes real patience to make. The kenafa, a cheesy semolina pastry dessert, is the thing people come back for. Casual, inexpensive, and easy to overorder.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Middle Eastern Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Middle Eastern Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

The Stormrider drops you roughly 70 feet into the water, which is one way to spend a Tuesday in Mesa. Golfland Sunsplash is a full-scale water and amusement park with a wave pool holding 450,000 gallons, a raft ride that starts nearly seven stories up, a lazy river, a toddler pool, miniature golf, and an arcade big enough to lose an hour in. Bring the whole chaotic family; the park has something for every age group and nerve tolerance.

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

The faux-elegant dining room sets an ambitious tone for an all-you-can-eat Asian seafood buffet, and Harbor mostly keeps up with it. Fresh oysters, soft-shell crab, rolls, sashimi, and nigiri anchor the spread, while crab rangoon and pork buns handle the comfort-food side. The soft-serve machine is conspicuously absent, but a freezer case of single-serving treats softens the blow. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top Asian buffet in 2025.

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

A one-pound schnitzel is quietly doing a lot of the marketing here. Haus Murphy's is an old-school German restaurant in Glendale that has been around forever, serving bratwurst, sausage samplers, and house-made sauerkraut to a crowd that has clearly memorized the menu. The patio strings up lights and leans into a vaguely Bavarian mood, and the bar stocks the oversized bottled biers to match. Call ahead for a table.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best German Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

A former automotive garage on Grand Avenue that now holds whatever washed up in one retired fire captain's decades of hunting. The category is "industrial vintage," but that undersells the weird old dolls and model airplanes sharing space with vintage photos and art books. It keeps Thursday-through-Saturday hours, so the First and Third Friday artwalks on Grand are a natural excuse to stop in and see what's appeared since last time.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Store Full of Surprises · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Vegan Spread · Best of the Valley

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Secret Spot at Footprint Center · Best of Phoenix

A purple orchid tops every plate, which tells you something about how seriously this Thai street-food truck takes its work. Hiw Kaow roams the Valley without a permanent address, serving pad Thai with a Lao influence, crispy whole chicken wings, and a papaya salad sharp enough to make you check the truck's next location before you've finished eating. Follow its schedule; it moves around.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Food Truck · Best of Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix

The 9-foot bong is reserved for special occasions, and the staff will tell you so with a straight face. This Tempe smoke shop has been around forever, and while the name got a subtle refresh somewhere along the way, the mission hasn't: walls of glass pieces, a deep vape section, grinders, rolling trays, hookah supplies, and a staff that actually knows the inventory. Phoenix New Times named it Best Smoke Shop in 2024.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Smoke Shop · Best of Phoenix

An ice rink in the Sonoran Desert is a bit of a flex, and Ice Den Scottsdale leans into it. Free skate sessions run most days (advance registration required), and lessons are available for anyone still holding the wall. A bar and restaurant called 18 Degrees handles the spectators. When the Phoenix Coyotes development squad uses the ice, you get a side of actual hockey. It is, without question, the coldest place for miles.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Ice-Skating Rink · Best of Phoenix

Five stages, three bars, and over a hundred performers make Jaguars one of the larger adult entertainment clubs in the Southwest. The kitchen runs a full lunch and dinner menu, so you can show up hungry in more than one sense. Rap and pro-athlete sightings raise the energy on big nights, and the annual pole competition draws serious talent from across the region. The Phoenix New Times named it Best Strip Club in 2024.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Strip Club · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Japanese Curry · Best of the Valley

Seven Diamond pool tables anchor this no-frills West Phoenix bar and billiard hall, where draft beer and chips and salsa keep things moving for hours. Darts, UFC nights, and a genuinely laid-back vibe round out the options. The one catch: JJ's hosts tournaments but has no website to post them on, so call ahead before making the trip. The Phoenix New Times named it Best Pool Hall in 2024.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Pool Hall · Best of Phoenix

The vintage gas station theme, complete with retro signage and pedal cars, gives this Tempe Italian ice shop a cheerful reason to walk in. Joe's makes its Philadelphia-style ices in-house from whole fruit, and the difference shows up in every flavor. A drive-thru keeps things moving when the Phoenix heat turns urgent. The lemon is the crowd favorite for good reason, though the menu runs long enough that picking is half the fun.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix

A compact gear shop in north Phoenix run by former Grand Canyon outfitters who wrote the book on rim-to-rim hiking, not metaphorically but as an actual published guide. The selection leans toward boutique and sustainable brands rather than big-box standbys, and the staff will talk you through your next trip with the enthusiasm of people who just got back from one. They also organize group hikes and workshops if you need a push to get outside.

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

A carniceria in a strip mall on Indian School Road that makes its own tortillas and salsa so your carne asada night is genuinely a one-stop situation. Hand-selected cuts run from marinated ranchera to Wagyu, and the cases are kept spotless. Staff can talk you through any of it without skipping a beat. A family-run neighborhood butcher shop that takes the grill seriously.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Carniceria · Best of Phoenix

The floor-to-ceiling rose bouquets here run a hundred stems deep, which is why they photograph better than most wedding venues. La Ocasion is a full-service flower shop with two climate-controlled rooms at the McDowell Road location, where arrangements range from classic long-stems to roses bundled with gold-wrapped Ferrero Rocher. There's also a grand piano and a pool table on site, apparently for scale, or for the photo op.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Massive Bouquets · Best of Phoenix

Eight screens tucked into Scottsdale Quarter, so you can browse a dozen shops, debate dinner, and then settle into a reclining seat for something that might actually be good for you culturally. Landmark leans toward indie and arthouse programming alongside mainstream releases, plus classic film screenings at prices that feel almost apologetic. The sound is solid, the picture sharp, and the crowd skews toward people who checked the reviews before buying the ticket.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Luxury Movie Theater · Best of Phoenix

A cozy, tiled dining room in the Cave Creek hills serving classic French fare across brunch, lunch, and dinner, the kind of place that still does cherries jubilee without irony. The menu runs from croque monsieur to crepes in béchamel, onion soup to crème brûlée, and the whole thing feels like it's been there forever because it has. The drive from Phoenix is real, but so is the feeling that you've wandered somewhere far less frantic.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best French Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

The lounge here is comfortable enough that you could forget there are lanes out back, which is either a design triumph or a problem depending on how serious you are about bowling. This Sunnyslope alley has been independently owned forever, and the bar leans into the Big Lebowski energy hard enough that ordering a White Russian feels basically mandatory. Plush seating, warm lighting, geometric walls, and plenty of beer on tap round it out.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Bowling Alley · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Use of High-Quality Meat Trim: Steak Tartare · Best of the Valley

Nearly two-thirds of the world can't digest lactose, and this funky scoop shop in Uptown Phoenix has quietly built its menu around that fact. Almost everything is lactose- or dairy-free, served in a room full of neon paintings, mannequin heads, and board games that make it feel less like an ice cream shop and more like a very chill art installation. The mango sticky rice sorbet and the Gansito cake-inspired flavor are the ones regulars debate. Pints available for the road.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Tummy-Friendly Ice Cream · Best of Phoenix

Natural fabrics and neutral tones dominate the racks at Local Nomad, a lifestyle boutique tucked into Uptown Plaza that stocks women's clothing, accessories, bath products, home goods, and a small kids' section. The edit skews breezy and warm-weather-ready, which makes sense given the setting. Buy online and pick up in hours if you'd rather not browse in the heat, though the store itself is worth the stop.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Women’s Clothing · Best of Phoenix

Counter service Hawaiian barbecue tucked into the shipping container courtyard at the Churchill, just off Roosevelt Row. The move is a mixed plate piled with kalbi short ribs, kalua pork, and teriyaki chicken, everything sitting on rice with a scoop of mac salad alongside. It's the kind of meal that's better shared, partly for variety and partly because the portions don't encourage restraint. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top Hawaiian restaurant in 2025.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Hawaiian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

A loop trail inside Phoenix city limits that puts you face-first into the sunset if you walk it clockwise. The Lookout Mountain Preserve trailhead sits off 16th Street, and the climb is moderate enough to do on a weeknight after work. The west side of the loop opens onto distant peaks going orange, and the north stretch flattens out into scrubby brush where quail and the occasional roadrunner do their thing. Dogs on leash are welcome.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Sunset Hike · Best of Phoenix

The tortilleria runs all day, turning out fresh corn and flour tortillas while the panaderia stocks pan dulce, bolillos, and pasteles. Los Altos Ranch Market is a full Mexican grocery and mercado, with a butcher counter, seafood section, house-made tamales, and a lunch counter called La Cocina serving cheap tacos and tortas. The stores are massive, the prices are not, and the Phoenix New Times has named it the area's top Mexican grocery store five of the last six years.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Grocery Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Grocery Store · Best of Phoenix

Sixteen floors up in the Omni Tempe Hotel, Lucero puts enough distance between itself and the pool that it actually feels like a rooftop cocktail bar rather than a pool deck with ambitions. Craft cocktails and food, indoors at the bar or outside on couches around fire tables, with views stretching all the way to State Farm Stadium. The Phoenix New Times named it Best Rooftop Bar in 2025, which tracks for a spot this good before an ASU Gammage show.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Rooftop Bar · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Veggie Burger: Hot Juan Black Bean Burger · Best of the Valley

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Molcajetes · Best of Phoenix

The floor bar sits right next to the stage so you never have to choose between a drink and the show. This mid-size live music venue on Mill Avenue holds around a thousand people, which is somehow both big enough to book national touring acts and intimate enough that there isn't a bad spot in the house. A Perfect Circle, Social Distortion, and the Black Keys have all played here, and local showcases keep the calendar full between the headliners.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Reggae Venue · Best of Phoenix

Nearly 180 cars fill a converted big-box store in Glendale, ranging from a 1909 REO touring car to muscle cars that look like they're still angry about the gas crisis. The collection rotates regularly, since the owner keeps classics stashed all over the Valley, so repeat visits turn up something new. A vintage carousel and a 1929 Chevrolet popcorn truck keep younger visitors occupied while the gearheads linger over the Hot Rod back issues.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to See Classic Cars · 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

Over 31,000 acres of Sonoran Desert spread across Scottsdale's northern edge, with trails ranging from gentle wanders to climbs that will remind your calves they exist. The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy runs training and education programs alongside the hiking and biking, so you can leave knowing more than just that saguaros are tall. It reads less like a city park and more like the desert reminding you it was here first.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Reconnect With Our Desert Roots · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Cheap Margaritas · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Cheap Margaritas · Best of Phoenix

A specialty grocery in Mesa stocking Michigan imports that are genuinely hard to find elsewhere in the Valley: Koegel's meats, Amish cheese curds, Mackinac Island fudge, and enough Faygo flavors to fill a Detroit corner store. The staff are Michiganders themselves, so commiserating about the Lions is entirely on the table. If you moved here from the Mitten and have been quietly suffering, this is the place.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Shop If You’re Missin’ the Mitten · Best of Phoenix

Tucked behind a well-known restaurant in the Melrose District, this midcentury antique shop packs teak dining chairs, Eames loungers, boomerang coffee tables, and a rotating cast of kitschy lamps into a showroom that rewards slow laps. Everything is properly restored and priced accordingly, though a more affordable layer of vintage clothing, jewelry, and bric-a-brac runs underneath. Somewhere in there might be a 1970s Thomas electronic organ, unless someone got there first.

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

A century-old Baptist sanctuary that survived a fire, decades of abandonment, and a near demolition date has reopened in downtown Phoenix as an event and wedding venue. The vaulted shell of the place is the draw, and concert promoters are already circling to bring live music into the space. A restaurant is reportedly in the works too, making this one of those rare civic second acts worth watching unfold in real time.

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

The jerk seasoning hits you before you've placed your order at the counter, which tells you most of what you need to know about Ms. Martha's Caribbean Kitchen. This small counter-service spot in a renovated Spanish Colonial building serves oxtails slow-cooked until tender and drenched in savory caramel sauce, wings in a rotating lineup of flavors, and curry goat alongside rice and peas or plantains. A neighborhood lunch crowd that knows exactly what it's doing fills the room fast.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Caribbean Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

A renovated house on North 7th Street is now a vegan ice cream, coffee, and pastry shop where the Tsoynami, a housemade soy-based ice cream in over 20 Blizzard-style flavors, is the thing people come back for. The affogato, ice cream and chocolate syrup drowned in espresso, is a strong supporting argument. Cupcakes, cookies, and rotating daily specials round out the case for plants as dessert.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Vegan Desserts · Best of Phoenix

A small neighborhood Japanese grocery where the edit does the work: one or two quality options per ingredient instead of an aisle of noise. Pantry staples, fresh miso, mackerel, and myoga fill the shelves, and the snack aisle runs deeper than the usual suspects. A rack of Japanese DVDs in the corner handles dramas, anime, and language study for anyone planning a longer project at home.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Japanese Market · Best of Phoenix

The shop stocks tour merch from acts that recently played the Nile Theater down the street, so if you missed the show you can still walk out with the shirt. It's a small record store inside The Greenbelt building, selling vinyl, tapes, CDs, and apparel, with a tightly curated mix of rock, country, punk, indie, and hip-hop. The selection runs new and used, and the rotating band merch gives it a reason to check back in that most shops can't offer.

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

Bike racks out front, canal path out back, and enough cold beer in between to make the math work. OHSO on Central is a casual brewery and pub where cyclists roll in mid-ride for burgers, sandwiches, and whatever's on tap, then roll back out again. The walls are covered in bike decor, the patio is built for lingering, and nobody is keeping score on how long you stay.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Bike-Friendly Brewery · Best of Phoenix

A crepe shop where a slice of choco flan cake sometimes ends up folded inside the crepe, which tells you most of what you need to know about the vibe. Olla Olla runs both sweet and savory, leaning into a Latino-meets-French sensibility that feels natural rather than gimmicky. The parking lot doubles as a venue for live music and markets, so on any given weekend the crowd is half here for breakfast, half for whatever else is happening.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place for Crepes and Community · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Sweet-Savory Breakfast: Fried Chicken with Deep-Fried French Toast · Best of the Valley
2. Phoenix Magazine Chicken-Fried Chicken with French Toast · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona

Sixteen courts, good lights, and lines you can actually see make Pecos Park the default answer when someone in the Phoenix area wants to play pickleball. It's a public park in Ahwatukee, so turnover happens fast even on packed weeknights. The rest of the family has no excuse to stay home, either, since there's a skate plaza, splash pads, a dog park, and courts for basketball, soccer, and volleyball waiting for them.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Public Pickleball Courts · Best of Phoenix

A West Valley brewpub that treats its kitchen with the same seriousness as its taps, Peoria Artisan Brewery makes its bar food from scratch, which is not a given at a place where most people came for the pint. Expect thick Arizona Angus burgers, dry-rubbed wings, and fat pretzels with cheddar fondue. Behind the kitchen, a speakeasy-style chef's table runs a separate, more ambitious menu for nights when a burger won't cut it.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Food at a Brewery · Best of Phoenix

The Lone Tree at the trail's end looks genuinely out of place, a single pine against the bone-dry Superstition Wilderness like someone forgot to finish the landscape. This 5.4-mile out-and-back near Gold Canyon earns its reputation through steep incline and payoff in equal measure, with Weavers Needle, Battleship Mountain, and Canyon Lake all in view. Pack a lunch and hold out for the shade under that tree, or climb the boulders beside it for the full panorama.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Picnic Trail · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Prosciutto · Best of the Valley
2. Phoenix Magazine Charcuterie Board · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Tinned Fish Selection · Best of the Valley

A 4.2-mile out-and-back near Superior with enough cliff scrambling to remind you that your body is mostly just bones. The payoff at the top is a mailbox stuffed with trinkets, letters, and reportedly condoms left by previous hikers, plus sweeping views of the Superstitions. Expect some butt-sliding on the descent, and bring real shoes. Arriving late rewards you with a west-facing sunset over the mountain terrain below.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hike With Views · Best of Phoenix

Pozole comes in red, green, and white here, and the red is the one to get: a steaming bowl big enough to require planning, with chunks of pork and hominy swimming in a broth that actually has some heat to it. Cabbage, avocado, and radish go in, lime and cilantro finish it off, and suddenly whatever was wrong with your day is negotiable. A casual pozoleria on East Van Buren that the Phoenix New Times named best pozole in the city.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Pozole · Best of Phoenix

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The sourdough starter here has a name, Harriet, and she has been busy. Proof is a community bakery that mills its own locally grown heritage grain on-site, which gives the loaves a depth that pre-bagged flour just doesn't reach. Country loaves, English muffins, and twice-baked croissants are the draws, and the lines at Valley farmers markets tell you what to expect before you arrive. Multiple Phoenix-area locations now, with more on the way.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bread · Best of Phoenix

A dog grooming salon where regulars apparently sprint to the front desk on arrival, which tells you something about the vibe. Puff & Fluff has been around forever and now runs eight Valley locations from this uptown Phoenix original. The menu covers everything from baths and nail trims to facials and massages, plus a service listed last on purpose. Monthly memberships exist for the truly devoted pet parent. Cats are also welcome, presumably on their own terms.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Pamper Your Pooch · Best of Phoenix

Indoor putting venue where a laser dot shifts the tee-off position each round so the same 18 holes play differently every time. The smooth, well-graded course runs from forgiving to genuinely tricky, and pros are on hand to fix your stroke without making you feel like a hazard to society. The attached Bar19 does above-average bar food and decent pours, though the signage probably shouldn't need to say "don't overdo it before you putt."

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Place to Learn How to Putt · Best of Phoenix

Redcat Racing builds 1:10 scale radio-controlled lowriders, the kind that bounce, hop, and ride smooth on miniature spoked wheels, no parade permit required. Their Chevy Impala models are the calling card, and an '80s Monte Carlo that lifts and dances via joystick followed close behind. A mini truck with a flopping bed is coming next. Phoenix-area shops AZ Turn and Burn RC and Duncan's RC carry them if you want to see one in person before you commit.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best RC Lowrider Cars · Best of Phoenix

A fair-trade shop in Old Town Scottsdale where every tag carries a story about who made the thing and whether they were paid for it. Clothing, jewelry, home goods, and handbags sit alongside work from local independent artists, all priced without the boutique markup you'd expect. The model is less retail transaction, more ongoing relationship between maker and buyer, which sounds earnest until you see how well it works in practice.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Future of Fashion · Best of Phoenix