The Top 37 Places to Eat in Mesa
The best places to eat in Mesa, by the professional record: Foodist Awards, AZ Central, and Phoenix Magazine have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Tacos Chiwas comes out on top.
Mekong Palace Restaurant and Shaanxi Garden hold the next two places. Phoenix New Times shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with AZ Central next.
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Rank 1. 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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- AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
- Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix
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Rank 2. 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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- Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
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- Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Top Arizona Brewery, Winery, or Distillery Experience
- Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Mango Foxtrot · Favorite Local Craft Beer
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: American Pie · Favorite Local Craft Beer
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Rank 5. 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 7. Espiritu
Mexican Cocktail Bar
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in America
- AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Roberto Centeno
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Rank 9. 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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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 11. 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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Rank 11. Don Guerra's Barrio Bagel & Slice
Sonoran Bakery
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Tucson Import · Best of Phoenix
- Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona
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Rank 14. 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 Sonora Burger · The 10 best bites we tasted at Phoenix restaurants
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Rank 17. 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 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 18. 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 18. 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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Rank 20. Drunken Tiger
Korean
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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 26. Dutch Donut Factory
Bakery
The glazed donuts here come out warm if you time the drive to east Mesa right, and that detail explains most of what you need to know about this family-owned donut shop. The menu stays classic on purpose: pillowy raised donuts, apple fritters, old-fashioned buttermilk bars. No novelty toppings, no Instagram bait. Phoenix New Times named it Best Doughnuts in 2024, and the regulars in line at opening would find that completely unsurprising.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Doughnuts · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley
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Rank 26. Outcast Doughnuts
Dessert
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Rank 26. Proof Artisan Bread
Sourdough Bakery
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Rank 32. All Pierogi Kitchen
Eastern European
The attached market selling frozen pierogi and chilled soups to go tells you everything about the vibe here. This casual Ukrainian family restaurant in Mesa treats borders as a loose suggestion, pulling in beef goulash, plov over cumin-scented rice, pork schnitzel, and thick, buttery pierogi that pair well with griddled sausage. The chicken Kiev arrives loaded with dill and herb butter. Unpretentious, generous portions, and priced like someone actually wants you to come back.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Eastern European Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Eastern European Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 33. Guadalupe On Main
Jalisco Mexican
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Margaritas · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine Street Corn Queso · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 34. Roosters Country
Beer Bar
The 12 tap handles are mounted in a repurposed fire truck behind the bar, which tells you everything you need to know about the vibe. Roosters is a country bar that's been an East Valley institution forever, with a red-and-black checkered dance floor, pool tables, live music most nights, open mics, and karaoke. A second stage and beer tubs sit out on the smoking patio. Strangers introduce you to their friends before the first round is done.
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Bar for Country Music · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
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Rank 35. Com Tam Thuan Kieu
Vietnamese
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Rank 37. Tumi 2.0
Peruvian
Peruvian cooking has always been a quiet argument that fusion was never a modern invention, and this Mesa restaurant makes that case across a menu that moves from Japanese-inflected ceviche to Chinese-Peruvian lomo saltado to chicken stew finished with Parmesan. The chef behind it has opened more Peruvian spots around Phoenix than anyone, and calls this one his last. The spit-roasted chicken, served with fried yuca, tends to do the convincing.