As early as the late 1800s, Heritage Square — within downtown’s Heritage And Science Park — sits as a reminder of the Valley’s Victorian past. Occupying Block 14 of the original townsite, the Square is home to the Rosson House, annual festivals, and some pretty famous restaurants.
Here’s something of a mini-dining guide to break down the dining destinations of downtown Phoenix’s Heritage Square.
Royal Coffee Bar serves local brew in the 1899 Teeter Carriage House.
Royal Coffee Bar & Roasting Co.
Royal Coffee Bar & Roasting Co.
618 East Adams StreetWas: 1899 Teeter Carriage House
The Heritage Square location of Royal Coffee Bar makes incredible use of a small space. The coffee spot inside the historic 1899 Teeter Carriage House is owned by Hector and Michelle Ruiz, and the two have been roasting small batch coffee since 2008. This little shop’s simple, gnarled wooden tables and unique wall hangings keep coffee drinkers coming back. However, Royal’s roaster takes up a fair amount of the shop, which means interested parties can watch the coffee magic happen.
Lunch
Nobuo at Teeter House
622 East Adams StreetWas: 1899 Bouvier Teeter House
Nobuo Fukuda was born and raised in Tokyo and has worked as a chef in Arizona for more than 30 years. A James Beard Award winner, Fukuda presents a forward-thinking menu, constantly reinventing the classics of his genre. The omakase-style restaurant (housed in a turn-of-the-century wood-floored bungalow) means you can trust the chef to choose your order.
The technical precision and creative use of bespoke ingredients have cemented Nobuo at Teeter House's reputation as a five-star dining experience. Leave your typical sushi expectations behind as you dive into house-cured salmon, warm duck salad, a panko-fried soft-shell crab sandwich, or Dave’s Chicken Katsu Curry. It's open for lunch daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The bar area inside of Bar Bianco is tiny — just five to six stools — but the dining rooms offers dozens of seats.
Shelby Moore
Bar Bianco
609 East Adams StreetWas: 1909 Thomas House
The team behind Bar Bianco wants to make something clear — this is not just a spot for waiting out a table at the neighboring Pizzeria Bianco. It’s as standalone an operation at the historic Thomas House within which it resides. Bar Bianco can pour or whip up anything from seasonal cocktails to impressive wines, craft beers, and artisanal spirits. The bar also offers house-made bar snacks, usually cheese plates, marinated olives, roasted pecans, crostini with goat cheese, and more.
Dinner
Pizzeria Bianco
623 East Adams StreetWas: 1920 Baird Machine Shop
Pizzeria Bianco has become the standard by which every other wood-fired pizza joint in town is measured. “I think so-and-so’s pizza is even better than Bianco’s” is a controversial yet commonplace piece of rhetoric you will sometimes hear people throw around town, in a somewhat desperate effort to drive home a point about how good the pizza they had last night really was.
Even if it’s not your favorite pizzeria in town, it’s hard to argue against the sheer influence that the restaurant has had on the local and national pizza scene. It’s also difficult to argue that a pie like the Marinara is anything but delicious — it achieves a gorgeous richness and depth, especially considering that it’s a cheese-free pie. The Wiseguy, with its classic sausage-and-onion combo, has a smoky, savory allure. And the Rosa, with its ingenious combo of red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, rosemary, and Arizona-grown pistachios, might be the most singular pie in the state.
Dessert
Anhelo Restaurant
628 East Adams StreetWas: 1900 Silva House
For years, the Silva House operated as the Rose & Crown — an English pub and haven for downtown drinkers, college students, and soccer fans — till its closing in 2018. By spring 2019, the house became Anhelo Restaurant (though it was briefly under the name Hidden Kitchen), though the general layout within has been, as the law requires, preserved. This upscale dinner spot with a soft, modern interior is is where chef Ivan Jacobo is operating. And one of his best accomplishments is a dessert here.
Granitas and pavlovas with pickled strawberries rotate in and out by season and whim. They revolve around a menu stalwart: A honey-striped quenelle of salted caramel ice cream pulled in many beautiful directions by caramelized banana, coffee, and chocolate, but most of all by the wildly potent flavor of graham crackers. This staple from chef Jacobo’s pop-up days remains solid.
