Best Place to Eat Before a Glendale Event 2024 | Los Arbolitos de Cajeme | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Place to Eat Before a Glendale Event

Los Arbolitos de Cajeme

If you're looking for culinary excellence at Westgate, the best advice might be to look somewhere else. But if you need to grab a nearby bite before a movie or a game, Los Arbolitos de Cajeme is a surprisingly nice catch in an ocean of mediocre chains. These seafood specialists hail from Sonora, Mexico, and while they might not have the charm of your neighborhood mariscos joint, they sling some very respectable seafood. Raw and citrus-cured concoctions such as ceviche tostadas, fishbowl-sized cocktails and the massive Torre Arbolitos are built with quality seafood and deftly dressed. Giant stone molcajetes teem with complex sauces and ocean critters that — rare for mariscos joints — are perfectly cooked. And the grilled octopus is one of the menu's highlights, perfectly seasoned, tender and juicy, served sizzling with just a splash of smoky house morita chile sauce.

Best Place to Find a Pop-Up

Sauvage Wine Bar and Shop

Geri Koeppel

Sauvage Wine Bar and Shop owner Chris Lingua says he set out to create a space "welcoming in people that do things that make people feel good and sharing them with the community." While, as far as Esquire is concerned, that can mean "natty-wine-fueled dance parties" inside the historic Helen Anderson House, it also is a place that's hosting some of the most interesting dining in the city. Among Sauvage's current rotation of chef-driven pop-ups is Cesar Velasco's wood-fired Otra Pizzeria; sister-owned deli and bakery Sorelle; and Nordborg, helmed by former Bacanora and Huarachis Taqueria chef Derek Christensen. And, you can also see Sauvage in the light of day when Harlem Coffee Co. sets up for morning beverage service. Stay tuned to the wine bar's social media for the latest pop-ups, which can also include one-off events featuring local chefs who have their own restaurants but are changing up venues, and sometimes cuisine.

Best Cook-It-Yourself Restaurant

Mr. Baan's Bar & Mookata

Dominic Armato

How often does Phoenix get to say that it's on the bleeding edge of a dining trend? You can't swing a side of beef without hitting a Korean barbecue or a hot pot joint these days. But until Mr. Baan's popped up last year, your options for mookata were to travel to San Francisco or Thailand, which is mind-boggling, because mookata — Thailand's answer to both styles of dining in one package — couldn't have been better designed to appeal to Phoenix's meaty, cook-it-yourself sensibilities. At the center of the table, over a live coal fire, sits a perforated aluminum grill surrounded by a moat of bubbling pork broth, ready for piles of marinated meats and vegetables. As you grill garlicky pork belly, lemongrass-scented beef and sweet, peppery chicken thighs over the fire, their juices and seasonings drip down into the soup, which is filled to the brim with fresh vegetables, noodles, chunks of tofu and eggs. Throw in a fun outdoor patio and a stellar tropical cocktail menu, and you've got one of the best ways to spend an evening with a bunch of friends.

Best Late-Night Eats

Cornish Pasty Co.

Shelby Moore

The perfect drunk food is a topic debated with the intensity of intergalactic aliens and whatever happened to J. Edgar Hoover. But one item that needs to be a part of the enthusiastic conversation is the humble pasty — specifically those from the local institution that is Cornish Pasty Co. Because it's not enough that several of Cornish's locations are open until 1 a.m. on weekends. It's also that the pasty truly is the perfect drunk food. It's shortcrust pastry (perfect for soaking up an evening's worth of booze) that's tailored to your various drunken cravings. Be it something traditional (The Oggie), a deconstructed hamburger (The Royale with Cheese), more premium tastes like pesto chicken and a Cubano or dessert pasties, Cornish's offerings will meet you where you're at (drunk and ravenous). Plus, there's no need for fancy silverware, and you can keep drinking with a massive Guinness (or two).

Best Underground Restaurant

Rough Rider

Kyla Hein

To get to Rough Rider, you have to take the elevator down from the ground floor — but not just any elevator. It's gotta be the middle one. But once you pass that test, you're in for a treat. That is, if there's space to get a seat. The small, rustic, Teddy Roosevelt-themed space is both parts cozy and bustling, like something out of 1900s New York or Chicago. With wood paneling and dim lighting, the aura is moody and perfect for a date night. And then there are the food and drinks. The restaurant is known for serving oysters and a range of other seafood dishes, as well as chops of meat like ribeye and duck breast. Shareable dishes like salads, baked crab dip and roasted cauliflower make good options for the not-quite-so-hungry. Rough Rider's seasoned bartenders can serve up any drink, but the house specialty is the joint's boozy tea punches. The tasteful libations and soothing ambiance make this the best subterranean spot in the Valley.

Best Authentic Arizona Restaurant

Fry Bread House

Lauren Cusimano

When Cecelia Miller moved to Phoenix, the Tohono O'odham chef realized there were few places to get a good Native American meal. She solved that problem in 1992 by founding Fry Bread House, which has been serving up irresistible Native dishes for three decades. The menu is simple — lots of fry bread and chumuth, red chile beef and some piping hot stews — but the tastes are incredible. Sit at a wooden table in the restaurant's small dining room and enjoy a fry bread taco or a hominy stew. Save room for a sweet fry bread, which you can get drizzled with honey, cinnamon or a combination of chocolate and butter. (Honey and warm fry bread might be the most blessed combination of ingredients in culinary history.) Miller died in 2020, but Fry Bread House more than keeps her legacy alive.

Best Hotel Restaurant

Chilte

Allison Young

Hotel restaurants don't always inspire confidence in diners. The high-volume eateries can sometimes feel like rubber-chicken room service delivered tableside. Not so at Chilte, which has helmed the brick-and-mortar restaurant inside Grand Avenue's Egyptian Motor Hotel since February 2023. Since owners Lawrence "L.T." Smith and Aseret Arroyo threw the doors open, the restaurant has received best new restaurant nods from Esquire and Bon Appetit, and was among New Times' favorite new spots in 2023. Chilte's yucca frites and Black Pink — a chocolate aguachile with shrimp — are perfect bites to kick off the night. Their quesabirria tacos continue to be among our favorites of the style, but don't count out their Mole de la Casa or rotating MSG — chef's choice of meat, sauce and garnish. And, because it's a hotel, Chilte has a taut menu of to-go items, ideal for guests or those hanging out at the Egyptian's outdoor bar and venue.

Best Weekly Specials

Chula Seafood

What started as a tiny Scottsdale fish shop with some poke bowls has evolved into a three-location restaurant group with a really nice fish case. But while the regular menu at Chula Seafood has received plenty of love, you could make the case that the team's best work shows up in the weekend specials. Chef Kyle Kent, along with his head chefs at each location, develop a fresh slate — one special for each restaurant — that goes out via a newsletter every Friday. They've included bangers such as a lusciously complex scallop khao soi (Uptown), crisply fried strips of turmeric-scented salmon belly wrapped up with lettuce and herbs Viet-style (Grayhawk) and a pastrami-spiced scallop sausage Seattle dog with grilled onions and cream cheese (Roosevelt). Every once in a while, a weekend special will find its way onto the regular menu, but for the most part, come Sunday, they're gone. Which makes for an agonizing decision every weekend: choosing a location.

Best Fast Food

Oscar's Pier 83

Oscar's Pier 83 answers a question that nobody asked: What if Long John Silver's were actually pretty good? That might sound like a backhanded compliment, but consider it an acknowledgment that inexpensive, order-at-the-counter fare is a reality of everyday life, and there aren't enough culinary wunderkinder to meticulously handcraft cheap, artsy dinners for everybody in town. Oscar's isn't going to make you feel like you're at a seaside shack in the Keys — this is deep-fried, quick-service fare — but with most meals priced in the teens, it charges just a dollar or two more than the international megachains, and the modest premium is well spent. Choose from half a dozen types of fish for your chippy platter or fishwich, and you'll get tender filets, freshly battered and fried, steaming hot with creamy tartar sauce or a nice cocktail sauce that actually has some kick. Plump fried shrimp are particularly good, hush puppies are well-seasoned, and the clam chowder is the inartfully thick and goopy sort that you hate to admit you kind of love.

Best Happy Hour

Buck & Rider

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

Whoever said you can't find good seafood in a landlocked state has never been to Buck & Rider. It's a stellar showcase of fresh catch flown in daily, and the good folks there spoil us even more with their lively and affordable happy hour. It runs a generous 3 to 7 p.m. (though not in the main dining rooms) and includes oysters with a choice of savory and spicy garnishes for $2.50, plump and sweet Sea of Cortez shrimp for $3 each, a smattering of top-quality dishes at the rock-bottom price of just $10 and dirt-cheap drink specials — even on high-end cocktails. Dishes include sushi rolls du jour and a heaping plate of Baja shrimp ceviche so good you'll think you can walk outside to Médano Beach in Cabo. For that one kooky person in the party who's anti-fish, Edna's Picnic Chicken Snack holds its own against most other fried chicken bites around. And don't miss the creamy smoked trout dip with watermelon radishes and saltines. It's ideally paired with The Direct Martini, served tableside.

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