The Best Places to Eat in Phoenix, by the Record
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Rank 477. Golden Restaurant & Bakery
Levantine Middle Eastern
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.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Middle Eastern Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Middle Eastern Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Gracie's Tax Bar
Beer Bar
A faded pink building off Seventh Avenue, formerly a tax office, which tracks: there's something a little bureaucratic about a jukebox this good. Inside, the bar is cheap, loose, and happy to stay that way, with Scrabble at the booths and beers that don't require a budget meeting. The patio shifts into DJ territory after dark, and the rotating calendar of themed nights keeps regulars checking Instagram like it's homework.
- Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix
- Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix
- AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix
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Rank 477. Haus Murphy's
German
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.
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- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Libby Lingua
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
- Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix
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Rank 477. Hola Cabrito
Mexican
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.
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Birria · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Irish Wolfhound Pub
Irish British
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.
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Irish Pub · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Japan Express
Japanese
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Rank 477. Joe's Italian Ice
Italian Dessert
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Le Sans Souci
French
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.
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Rank 477. Los Altos Ranch Market
Mexican
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Grocery Store · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Mexican Grocery Store · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Los Milics Vineyards
Wine Bar
A dark, sleek wine bar in Old Town Scottsdale pouring from Arizona's Willcox region, which Wine Enthusiast has been calling the next Napa with a straight face for years. Co-owner Pavle Milic also runs the beverage program at Charleen Badman's FnB, so the pedigree is real. Bar staff are genuinely gregarious about helping you navigate a glass or flight, while regulars who never need to ask fill the other stools.
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Tasting Room · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Mariscos San Diego Bay
seafood Mexican
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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.
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Rank 477. Mi Patio Mexican Food
Mexican
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Cheap Margaritas · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Cheap Margaritas · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Nami
Vegan Dessert
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.
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Rank 477. Original Breakfast House
Californian American
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Sweet-Savory Breakfast: Fried Chicken with Deep-Fried French Toast · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix Magazine Chicken-Fried Chicken with French Toast · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Prosciutto · Best of the Valley
- Phoenix Magazine Charcuterie Board · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona
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Rank 477. Pescada
Coastal Mediterranean
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The meat and cheese counter anchors this Italian deli in West Phoenix, where a full antipasto bar, housemade sauces and dressings, and shelves of pasta and olive oil fill out the rest. Sandwiches are built to order, and the Italian bread carries them better than the alternatives. Homemade lasagna, meatballs, and cannoli round things out for anyone who came in for cold cuts and left with dinner.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Italian Deli · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Italian Deli · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Rosita's Place
Sonoran
Colorful tiles, rough-hewn furniture, and a small waterfall with fish in the pool beneath it set the tone at this Sonoran Mexican spot on McDowell. It's been around forever, and the room has the comfortable confidence of a place that doesn't need to try hard. The chimichangas have taken home Phoenix New Times honors two years running, which tracks for a kitchen where the frijoles alone could change someone's afternoon.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chimichanga · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Chimichangas · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Rough Rider
Cocktail Bar
You reach it by taking the middle elevator in the Ten-0-One Building down to the basement, which sets the tone before the doors even open. Rough Rider is a cocktail bar with a full food menu, done up in dark wood and high ceilings, somewhere between a Victorian gentlemen's club and a downtown Phoenix speakeasy. The drinks lean into the era with names like Happy Birthday Mr. President, and the kitchen sends out a raw bar and a bone-in pork chop that suggest nobody phoned it in.
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Underground Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
- Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix
- Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix
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A wall of more than 60 HD screens anchors the bar area at this sports bar and pizzeria in northwest Phoenix, with another 40 or so scattered through the rest of the room in case you were worried about missing a corner of the game. Pool tables, dart machines, and touch-screen games fill the gaps, and karaoke nights give people somewhere to put all that energy after the final whistle. The pizza is the alibi; the spectacle is the point.
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Rank 477. Scott's Generations
Kosher-style American
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Rank 477. Skysill Rooftop Lounge
Cocktail Bar
Eighteen floors above Mill Avenue, this open-air rooftop bar and pool lounge sits atop The Westin Tempe, claiming the highest perch of any outdoor bar in the Valley. The bar itself is the only covered spot up there, so order first, then wander the full 360 degrees: A Mountain one way, the Mill Avenue Bridge glowing at night the other. Seasonal cocktails and local Arizona beers do the heavy lifting, with flatbreads and tacos for ballast.
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Rooftop Pool · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rooftop Bar · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Stardust Pinbar
Cocktail Bar
You reach this cocktail bar and pinball arcade by yanking open a fake freezer door inside Ziggy's Magic Pizza Shop, which is either the best or worst way to start a night depending on how you feel about commitment. Inside: a glowing dance floor, a disco ball, pinball machines, and a full bar. Post-show crowds spill in from the Van Buren next door, so on any given night the room holds goths, burners, and Disney adults in rough harmony.
- AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Dance Floor · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Sugar Bowl
Dessert
Pink booths, a soda fountain counter, and ice cream sodas that have been drawing Scottsdale families for what feels like forever. This old-school ice cream parlor is better known for sundaes than sandwiches, but the lunch menu holds its own: turkey salad with avocado, tea sandwiches, chili with cheese. The kind of place where saving room for dessert isn't advice so much as the whole point of showing up.
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Rank 477. Taco Viva
Mexican
Murals outside, a fast-moving line inside, and a cook who will ask "con todo" before you can overthink it. Taco Viva is a bright, modern taco shop in the Arcadia area serving tacos, vampiros, tostadas, and carne asada fries that took a Phoenix New Times Best of Phoenix nod in 2025. The orange salsa is genuinely alarming in the best way, and the answer to "con todo" is always yes.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Carne Asada Fries · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Carne Asada Fries · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Taco’s Javi
Mexican
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Rank 477. Tacos Veganos
Vegan Mexican
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Rank 477. Tapas Papa Frita
Spanish
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Rank 477. Taqueria El Fundador
Mexican
The trompo in the window does most of the advertising at this west-side taqueria, shaving al pastor to order in a way that settles the argument before you've even sat down. The menu runs deep: carne asada, spicy chicken, tortas crisped on the flat top, overstuffed quesadillas, and menudo on weekends for the regulars who plan around it. Phoenix New Times named the al pastor among the city's best bites in 2025.
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Al Pastor · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times Tacos al Pastor · The 10 best bites we tasted at Phoenix restaurants
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Rank 477. Tatemados
Sonoran
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Rank 477. The Greedy Hamster
Wine Bar
- Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
- Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Second-Hand Name · Best of the Valley
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Every entree at this old-school Italian chain restaurant comes with bread, soup or salad, coffee or tea, and spumoni ice cream, which makes the price feel almost suspicious. It's casual and family-friendly, the kind of place where portions are generous and no one is pretending otherwise. The Mizithra cheese with browned butter has a following of its own. Phoenix New Times named it the best haunted restaurant, so apparently there's atmosphere in more ways than one.
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- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Outdoor Hangout · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Downtown Hangout · Best of Phoenix
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- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Farmers’ Market · Best of Phoenix
- Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Farmers Market · Best of Phoenix
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Rank 477. Valle Luna
Mexican
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Rank 477. Vincent on Camelback
Southwestern French
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Rank 590. Asi Es La Vida Restaurant
Upscale Mexican
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Rank 590. Caldwell County Mexi-Q
Barbecue
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Rank 590. Casa de Falafel
Middle Eastern
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Rank 590. D & Y Chinese Food
Chinese
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Rank 590. Diego Pops
Mexican
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Rank 590. Fabio On Fire
Italian
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