Best Sushi 2012 | Hiro Sushi | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Sushi

Hiro Sushi

Jamie Peachey

No flash and trendiness-free, this cozy, easy-to-love mom-and-pop restaurant in North Scottsdale with a loyal following of regulars specializes in sushi. Order up top-notch selections like mild striped bass, aji nigiri (Spanish mackerel) drizzled with ponzu, uni (sea urchin), or specialty rolls such as the Negi Toro made with fatty tuna and scallions. Better yet, try anything on the get-it-while-you-can specials board behind the sushi bar. There, you might find exotic delights such as geso (squid tentacles), jellyfish, and wasabi octopus, or even the playful Sammy Roll (named for Takashi Saito of the Arizona Diamondbacks) featuring sliced avocado over a lobster and mango roll and topped with a special homemade eel sauce. Don't forget to break up the sushi bites with sips of sake — there's no hurry here.

Best Alternative to Sushi

Gyuniku Tempura Roll at Hana Japanese Eatery

Jacob Tyler Dunn

At some sushi restaurants, you wouldn't dare utter the words "I don't eat fish." But at Lori Hashimoto's Hana, you can feel free to let your non-fish flag fly — you'll even be rewarded. On a recent trip, we happily sampled Hana's veggie rolls while our dining companion scarfed down everything from halibut to octopus, munched on a salad called tori kara age (mixed greens with crispy chicken, topped with Hana's tangy house dressing), and already were feeling stuffed when an off-menu item hit the table. The gyuniku tempura roll was so good we had to ask Hashimoto just what the heck was in it.

Her reply: "It is a thinly sliced rib eye marinated with sake, soy sauce and ginger. It is tempura-battered and deep-fried, then rolled with daikon, red cabbage, carrots, and shiso inside, then topped with sautéed garlic, green onions and tataki sauce."Now this, folks, is Japanese eating at its finest. Our biggest problem: The guy across the table suddenly lost interest in his fishy pursuits, stuck his chopsticks across the table and dug right into our steak roll.

Best French Toast

Caramelized Banana & Pecan Brioche French Toast at Over Easy

Katie Johnson

Chef Aaron May is known around town for over-the-top dishes, like the fried quail and PB&J Foie Gras at his new restaurant Praying Monk, but our very favorite May creation is still the Bananas Foster French Toast served at Over Easy. As seen on the Food Network, this decadent French toast takes soft MJ brioche, bathes it in eggs, cream, and cinnamon, grills it to a golden brown, and then smothers the decadent slices of bread in housemade salted caramel, ripe bananas, and toasted pecans. There's always a weekend wait, but it's worth it for a bite of this famous dish.

Best Sandwich

Pane Bianco

Heather Hoch

Phoenix is full of great places to grab a sandwich, but there is only one Pane Bianco. This CenPho sandwich shop has a minimal menu of just three mainstay sandwiches, three salads, and a rotating market sandwich. We've tried them all and never left disappointed. What sets these sandwiches apart from the competition is Bianco's famous bread, made with flour milled on the premises by Hayden Flour Mill (and grown in Arizona — talk about local). The chewy, wood-fired slices always arrive just slightly charred on the edges and make the perfect vehicle for fresh sandwich ingredients. Try Pane's version of a Caprese sandwich, with fresh pulled mozzarella, thick ripe tomatoes, and fresh basil, or the Sopressata, filled with layers of spicy salami and roasted red peppers. And if you happen to be in the area on a Tuesday, stop by for the delicious market combination of Crow's Dairy goat cheese with roasted ripe tomatoes and peppery arugula.

Best Grilled Cheese

O.H.S.O. Eatery + nanoBrewery

Heather Hoch

Arcadia's number-one neighborhood spot for craft beer drinking also serves up a damn good grilled cheese. No, there aren't massive amounts of exotic cheeses or 10 slices of artisan bread imported from France, and it doesn't have any sort of specialty mustard from a cave in Germany — but it does have two perfectly grilled slices of fresh Italian bread, two types of melty cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and two thick slices of juicy tomatoes. Order it with a side of rich tomato basil soup and a refreshing pint of one of the eatery's 36 craft beers on tap.

Best Fried Chicken

Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles

Timur Guseynov

The secret to amazing fried chicken is big, juicy, meaty chicken pieces, a coating that fries up nice and crispy, a secret recipe from your grandmother who's been making awesome fried chicken for more than half a century, and a whole lot of soul. It doesn't hurt to pair your chicken with a couple crazy-good waffles either. Larry "Lo-Lo" White (grandson of Mrs. White, whose own restaurant gets this year's nod for soul food) has been getting this combination right for the last decade with his addictively good "Southern-style" fried chicken and cinnamon-spiced waffles. Each plate of chicken is cooked to order and always comes out golden brown and crispy, and the waffles are the perfect vehicle for moving the sweet maple syrup into your mouth between crunchy chicken bites. It's about as perfect as fried chicken can get. Plus, Lo-Lo's serves Kool-aid — the essential beverage for your chicken and waffle experience.

Best Hamburger

New York Flavor

How does one pick the best hamburger? With so many good ones in the Valley, it's like choosing a favorite child. But once in a while, a dark horse enters the race and pleasantly jolts you as you consider the possibilities of the Scottsdale/Central Phoenix/Tempe axis. This year, the honor takes us alllll the way up to Surprise (yes, Surprise), where we fell in love with New York Flavor's basil mascarpone burger. With its nicely seasoned and well-prepared handmade beef patty between a grilled soft bun from Tempe's Jonathan Robins Bakery topped with luscious mascarpone, caramelized onions, moist strips of grilled portobello mushrooms, and long, vibrantly flavored ribbons of basil, we were satisfyingly stunned. Sure, there are a lot of other good items on the restaurant's menu, but it's the burger we're thinking about on the long drive home.

Best Hot Dog

Pittsburgh Willy's

For a taste of Pittsburgh by way of the Merchant Square Antique Mall in Chandler, we present the Wild Willy, a glorious gut-buster of a dog courtesy of ex-Pittsburgher Randy Walters. Starting with a quarter-pound, all-beef dog from Nathan's tucked into a sesame bun, chipped ham (a Steel City staple) sautéed in butter is piled on next, with mounds of fresh-grated cheddar cheese to follow for a marvelous mess of deliciousness you'll need a fork to eat.

Best BBQ

Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue

Jamie Peachey

Smoked over pecan wood, Chef Bryan Dooley's first-rate barbecue definitely is worth the drive from just about any locale in the Valley. You can't go wrong with any of the meats on the menu, which doesn't waste time on burgers and other non-essentials — it's all about the 'cue at this small and friendly, counter-service eatery dressed up like an Old West-themed outpost. There's the moist, delicious pulled pork sandwich, topped with Dooley's unique olive-based cole slaw; a smoky brisket with a perfect bark and tender center; slabs of mouthwatering pork ribs; and if you're really hungry, a creation called the Big Pig. Starting with the clang-a-lang of the cashier's cowboy triangle to let everyone in the joint know the beast has been summoned, it features a heaping basket of golden French fries topped with that amazing pulled pork, baked beans, scallions, house-brined jalapeño slices, and sour cream. Forget the fork, this place is finger-lickin' fabulous.

Best Jerk

The Jerk Hut

Jackie+Mercandetti
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Owned by three natives of Jamaica, this tiny but tasty Caribbean eatery knows its jerk. With perfectly prepared and tender chicken, there's a kick from the Scotch bonnet pepper element to be sure, but this jerk's true genius is in its notes of thyme, cinnamon, cloves, and several other flavorful ingredients. The restaurant's tiny menu is all good eatin', but no matter what we try, the jerk chicken is a delicious must-have.

Best Of Phoenix®

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