The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Phoenix

A three-level, sunlight-flooded cafe in uptown Phoenix that also runs a full cocktail program, which makes the brunch crowd's priorities refreshingly transparent. Provision is a modern coffee shop doing the classics alongside seasonal lattes and mocha with Oreo crumbles, with quiche, pastries, and sandwiches filling out a menu that gives people a reason to stay well past the first cup.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best coffee shops in Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Korean Barbecue · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Korean Barbecue · Best of Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Hen of the Woods Mushroom Tacos · Best Vegan Delight

Two-thirds of this coffee shop's floor space belongs to the roasting operation, not the tables, which tells you everything about where the priorities are. Bags of beans, multiple roasters, all the gear, and baristas who actually want to talk through the difference between a washed process and an unwashed one. The website specifies that specialty coffee newcomers are in a safe place here, and they mean it.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best coffee shops in Phoenix

1. AAA Approved

Globe pendant lights, brass accents, and two misters-in-summer courtyards make this woman-owned taproom on Roosevelt Row feel like the anti-brewery brewery. The flagship pale ale is called Herstory, which tells you everything about the vibe. Rotating experimental brews sit alongside core taps, and if you get hungry, a QR code on the table summons food from nearby spots. Trivia nights and live music fill the calendar, and Phoenix New Times named it one of the city's top 100 bars.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Unusual Beer: Mango Lassi · Best of Phoenix
2. Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix

Wood-paneled walls and a parking lot that fills before most people have checked their phones: Harlow's is an old-school Tempe diner that hasn't felt the need to update anything. Booths pack in early birds and retirees at dawn, then hand off to the hangover crowd around nine. The coffee is black, the burritos are large, and the servers are the kind who remember how you take it. Phoenix New Times named it one of the ten best brunch spots in Phoenix.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Old-School Diner · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix

1. AAA Approved

The bright yellow building in Phoenix's Melrose District is hard to argue with at 7 a.m. Joe's is an old-school diner with booths, round group tables, and road signs on the walls, the kind of place where the coffee is black and nobody's trying to impress you. Weekends bring a line out front, which the regulars seem to take as confirmation rather than inconvenience. The biscuits and gravy and oversized burritos do the heavy lifting.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Classic Diner · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. AAA Approved

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times Chicken Soup en Croute · The 10 best bites we tasted at Phoenix restaurants
3. Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025

A shaded patio tucked behind a corner cafe on Grand Avenue is a good argument for slowing down on a weekday morning. Malegria is an all-day Latin cafe drawing on Mexican, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran cooking, so the coffee comes sweetened with piloncillo or horchata, and the breakfast sandwich arrives on bolillo bread with fried plantains and crema verde. The crowd tends to linger, which the patio quietly encourages.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025

A wood-fired oven big enough to anchor the room sets the tone at this Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Scottsdale, where the dough is certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, which is Naples's way of saying they're watching. The menu fans out across Italian regional cooking, with a lean toward pasta, but the Margherita is the honest measure of the place. Outdoor spaces and a lively room mean the noise level is part of the deal.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza USA Excellent Pizzerias

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AZ Central Best Grand Avenue coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now

The fried chicken biscuit comes with a wooden skewer through it just to hold the whole thing together, which tells you something about the kitchen's ambitions. This Southern-Southwestern brunch spot from the family behind Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles leans into the occasion: tableside bananas Foster, a full cocktail menu you can nurse past noon, and a cheerful indoor-outdoor room that has enough energy to feel like a party without scaring off anyone's parents.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best Uptown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Coronado coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Uptown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Coronado coffee shop for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

Frida Kahlo shares wall space with a pink-legged chameleon and a saguaro the size of a doorway, which tells you a lot about this cheerful Mexican brunch spot in downtown Glendale. Weekend mornings fill with families and kids while the drinks arrive dressed up: horchata in a jar with a peanut dulce de leche rim, cafe de olla in mismatched earthenware. The pambazo, a football-sized sandwich dunked in guajillo chile, is not a thing you order by accident.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix

The cracked-laminate menus at this Vietnamese restaurant in a Phoenix strip mall are entirely on purpose. Fourteen kinds of pho anchor the menu, portions are generous enough to require a to-go container, and the hot coffee with sweetened condensed milk is a good reason to linger. Prices hover around $15, the room is multi-roomed and no-frills, and the com tam dac biet piles broken rice with what feels like the entire menu on one plate.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now

1. AZ Central Best Coronado coffee shop for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best downtown coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

The smoker out back is a salvaged propane tank, and the brisket it produces comes out in thick, wide folds that smell of mesquite and barely hold their shape. Eric's is a cafeteria-style BBQ joint in Avondale where the wood-only smoke method is a point of pride, and the smoked turkey and dry-rubbed ribs carry it through. Sides like cheese-dusted elote keep the backyard cookout spirit intact. Phoenix New Times named it among the top 50 restaurants in the metro.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now

1. AZ Central Best Uptown Phoenix coffee shops for curling up with a book · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best downtown coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shops for curling up with a book · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

The Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale has been filling pints here long enough that it's practically a local institution, and the Mission Revival warehouse it lives in only adds to the effect. Four Peaks is a full-scale brewpub with a cavernous brick interior, a sprawling patio, and a menu that covers wings and nachos but also green chile mac and cheese for anyone who needs more than bar food. Spring training crowds and ASU students pack the place, which tells you most of what you need to know about the vibe.

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2. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best Uptown Phoenix coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Coronado coffee shop for curling up with a book · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best downtown coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

The pastry case sets the pace at this all-day French cafe in Scottsdale: grab a croissant on your way out, or settle into the chic little dining room for a proper quiche with a flaky crust and a side salad dressed in a vinaigrette so good they bottle it for sale. Crepes, eggs Benedict, and omelets round out the menu. French conversation drifts out from the kitchen, which feels less like ambiance and more like a genuine reflex.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best Uptown Phoenix coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now

A Middle Eastern breakfast cafe in the Gilbert suburbs, Rayoog has other locations in Jordan and Iraq, which gives you a sense of what this place is actually for. The move is to come with people willing to share: platters arrive loaded with eggs, hummus, falafel, yogurt, fava beans, and baba ghanoush, and the signature trays stack two metal teapots on top of a ring of small sweet and savory dishes, which is a genuinely dramatic way to start a morning.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best breakfast spots in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best downtown Phoenix coffee shops for curling up with a book · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

Yellow booths, green walls, and neon lighting make Tambayan look like someone decorated with pure enthusiasm, which turns out to be the right call for a Filipino homestyle restaurant that spent years as a pop-up and food truck before landing a permanent spot on Camelback. The halo halo, layered and rainbow-colored, is the dessert equivalent of that same energy. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top Filipino restaurant.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Filipino Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best downtown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

You get in through Crust Pizzeria next door or a utility door out back, which is exactly the kind of entrance a plush Scottsdale speakeasy deserves. Inside, the cocktail list runs from an 1870s Martinez and the hard-to-find Clover Club to moody modern signatures built around bourbon, amaro, and pistachio orgeat. It's part of a small family of animal-named bars, and the Goose is the one that makes you forget you're in a strip mall.

1. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best downtown coffee shops for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

The owl-themed knick-knacks, artwork, and furniture covering every surface are all for sale, which is either charming or a lot to process before coffee. This casual brunch cafe imported its loyal following from Flagstaff, where lines used to stretch down the street on weekends. Giant cinnamon rolls, football-sized burritos, and a full vegan menu cover the table. The Newton location sits conveniently next to Changing Hands Bookstore, for after.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Flagstaff Import · Best of Phoenix

1. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shops for meeting friends or making new ones · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist · Top Chef · David Bowman
2. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: After’Mac’ Mac & Cheese · Best Dish in a Supporting Role

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

Pinball machines and candlelight set the tone at this casual gay cocktail bar on 16th Street, where the vibe leans more neighborhood hangout than high-drama nightclub. Lounge seating, a patio, and daily drink specials keep regulars coming back through the week. The menu covers craft cocktails, bar snacks, and specialty shots, which is all you really need when the room is this relaxed.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Gay Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

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. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

Dollar bills papering the walls floor to ceiling, Christmas lights above, and a stage that gets a rock band most nights of the week: Chopper John's is a dive bar that knows exactly what it is. The black-and-red room off Indian School Road draws regulars who look like they were designed to match the decor. Pool tables, a patio for smokers, and baseball on the TV fill in the gaps between sets.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Dive Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rock Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

A checkerboard dancefloor, light-up floors downstairs, and a patio that sulks attractively outside, all packed into a small downtown nightclub that drew a line around the block on opening night. DJ sets and pop-up food nights keep the calendar full, but the periodic Dance Dance Revolution parties and lube wrestling events are what really set the tone. The crowd is genuinely mixed in the best way, and nobody seems to be here ironically.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Nightclub · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

Gold palm fronds hang over the bar like a permanent vacation has been declared, and the drinks menu at this Cuban cocktail bar treats rum the way a serious wine list treats Burgundy. The daiquiri and mojito get thoughtful treatment alongside wilder tropical builds. The same team runs Pigtails and Rough Rider, so the pedigree tracks. Pink tiles, cozy booths, and food to keep things grounded.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best New Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

Vintage arcade cabinets run on Cobra-stamped tokens, which tells you everything about the vibe before you've touched a joystick. This cocktail bar and arcade in downtown Phoenix covers its walls in local murals, pours signature drinks with names like Garbage Pail Kids and Punch Out, and hosts Valley DJs on weekends. When the crowd hits comic-con density, an anime-themed overflow lounge a few doors down offers Japanese import games and cocktails served in fugu-shaped mugs.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bar Makeover · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

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. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

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. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

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. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

Guinness signs and hand-drawn maps of Ireland cover the walls of this Irish pub and restaurant in the far western suburbs of Phoenix. Fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage, and a full Irish breakfast on weekends anchor the menu. Bartenders know regulars by name, and the event calendar stays busy with live music, karaoke, and trivia nights, which is a lot to offer a neighborhood that doesn't always get this kind of attention.

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Irish Pub · Best of Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

The floor doesn't fill until after midnight, which tells you everything about the kind of night Karamba is built for. It's a Latino gay nightclub where dancers in little more than underwear work elevated platforms while the DJs do the heavy lifting, threading reggaeton into club classics into top 40 without a seam. The pours are generous enough that an Uber home counts as planning ahead, not an afterthought. Phoenix New Times named it the best after-hours dance spot in town.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best After-Hours Dance Spot · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best After-Hours Dance Spot · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

The sour program leans into nostalgic flavors both real and invented, with a pastel blue Star Wars-inspired sipper sitting comfortably beside a margarita sour. This neighborhood craft brewery in northeast Phoenix rotates its taps aggressively, and the owner's laugh tends to reach you before he does. Food trucks cover the kitchen gap while a ramen bar next door remains perpetually forthcoming. A good room for people who treat tap lists the way others treat wine menus.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Take a Geek Who Loves Beer · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix