The 26 Best Restaurants in Mesa

1. AAA Approved
2. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
3. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group
2. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Genuine Concepts · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept

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.

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hawaiian Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Korean Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
2. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix

The banchan arrives before you've ordered anything, which tells you what kind of place this is. Ban Chan is a small, grandma-style Korean restaurant in Mesa where the menu leans hard into soups, stews, and hot pots built for sharing. The chef has been running Korean restaurants since forever, and that depth shows in broths that take time. A new generation found it recently, but the regulars who've been coming for years never left.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Korean Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
2. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Winner: Barrio Blonde · Favorite Local Craft Beer

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

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 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Dumplings · Best of Phoenix

1. AAA Approved

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

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

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

The lazy Susans are built into the tables, which tells you this is a big, convivial Chinese restaurant in Mesa that expects you to arrive hungry and in numbers. The menu swings wide, from Hunan-style heat and dry pot to roasted duck and dumplings, with enough Americanized classics to keep the table's one holdout happy. The takeout bags flying out the door suggest the neighborhood has already figured this place out.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chinese Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix

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

1. Eater Navajo Taco · The Most Iconic Dishes in Phoenix

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.

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

The house margarita comes classic or customized with a rotating cast of infusions, watermelon and mezcal being a popular pairing. This Jalisco Mexican restaurant on Main Street splits its attention evenly between the kitchen and the bar, with a cocktail program run by a veteran Valley bartender. The food leans into both traditional plates and the occasional fusion detour, and the whole thing has a chic, polished room that feels a little more considered than your average neighborhood spot.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Margaritas · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix Magazine Street Corn Queso · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vietnamese Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

The food court inside this sprawling Korean supermarket runs from fried pork belly to bulgogi risotto to French-inspired desserts, which tells you something about the ambition of the place. H Mart is the kind of grocery store where you come in for kimchi and leave with Hello Kitty sake and a skincare regimen. The seafood section alone could occupy a long afternoon, and the ready-to-eat station in back earns its own trip.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Asian Grocery Store · Best of Phoenix

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.

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