206 FOOD & DRINK BEST HOTEL RESTAURANT CHILTE 765 GRAND AVE. 602-807-5226 CHILTEPHX.COM Venture along the eclectic core of Grand Avenue and you’ll find the unique Egyptian Motor Hotel, which opened its colorful doors in 2023. When it did, Lawrence “L.T.” Smith and Asseret Arroyo took their talents from their food truck to a brick-and-mortar location. Along the way, Chilte has earned recognition from Esquire and Bon Appetit magazines, while Food and Wine named Smith — a former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver — among the best new chefs in America in 2024. In Phoenix, you’ll find no better dining option at a hotel (or motel, in this case). Chilte’s bold, inventive menu rotates seasonally, exciting diners with dishes such as a tomato tostada and lamb flautas. Chilte goes mano a mano with the glamour of Phoenix’s five-star resorts. Only here, you don’t have to take out a small loan to settle your bill. i i i BEST DOWNTOWN LUNCH TACO CHELO 501 E. ROOSEVELT ST. 602-368-5316 TACOCHELO.COM When you’re grabbing lunch downtown, speed and ease matter. Taco Chelo delivers on those fronts — something the casual Sonoran-style taqueria has done since it opened on Roosevelt Row in 2018. Even when people jam into the modern counter- service shop, its cooks and bar crew put tacos and drinks on the table quickly. From the counter, you’ll see them finish meats on the grill, then tuck them into housemade tortillas. Our lunch order always includes a combination of a Sonoran beef taco with red and avocado salsas, beer-battered fish and the sleeper vegetarian option with roasted sweet potatoes, feta and a vibrant romesco sauce. On Wednesdays, don’t skip Taco Chelo’s al pastor. You’ll be in and out and spend less than $20. Taco Chelo also has leisurely lunchers covered: When the afternoon calls for a cocktail, order the sweet-smoky mezcal and pineapple sipper, Pica Piña. i i i BEST DINER WELCOME DINER 929 E. PIERCE ST. 602-495-1111 WELCOMEDINER.NET/HOME Welcome Diner is the diner you go to when you want a low-key but still trendy night out, or when the post-bar munchies have hit and Denny’s just won’t do. Located in the historic Garfield neighborhood and tucked away on a tree-lined street shielded from the bustle of downtown Phoenix, its menu offers elevated versions of diner classics like pancakes, biscuits and gravy, patty melts and grilled cheeses. Burger-lovers and fried chicken fiends will fall for the Big Jim fried chicken biscuit sandwich, which at this point has joined the pantheon of classic Phoenix dishes. If you’re not in the mood for food but still want the joie de diner, have no fear, they serve booze and coffee too. i i i BEST FARM-TO-TABLE RESTAURANT QUIESSENCE 6106 S. 32ND ST. 602-276-0601 QATTHEFARM.COM There are meals made from local ingredients, and then there’s dinner at Quiessence. As the waiter sat our strawberry watermelon margarita on the table, he pointed out the window to a spot a couple hundred feet away: “We grow the watermelons over there.” “Farm-to-table” is no mere buzzword at this South Phoenix fine-dining establishment on the grounds of The Farm at South Mountain. What can be produced on-site is. Other ingre- dients come from sources as close as possible: never-frozen salmon from Chula Seafood, porcini mushrooms grown near Flagstaff. It comes together in elegant, ever-changing tasting menus served in a setting so bucolic, you’d swear you weren’t in Phoenix. When the weather behaves, we recommend dining on the patio under strings of lights on Quies- sence’s lush, green grounds. i i i BEST UPSCALE COMFORT FOOD BECKETT’S TABLE 3717 E. INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD 602-954-1700 BECKETTSTABLE.COM Since 2010, chef Justin Beckett has deftly sidestepped manic trends (Calabrian chiles, gochujang, harissa and hot honey do not need to be on everything) to focus on upscale comfort food that is sane but never boring. The standard at Beckett’s Table: expert execution, attention to sourcing and frequent menu updates. Dinner here should start with deviled eggs that transcend the genre — there’s always a thoughtful, not trite, twist on the garnish, like a topping of beet tartare or salami and giardiniera. Then go with your gut. Consider the crisp, classic iceberg wedge (with a heady blue cheese dressing), signature jambalaya and seasonal veg plate, roasted just right. When Beckett does a fusion, you get the likes of a decadent beef bourguignon shep- herd’s pie with the planet’s creamiest mashed potatoes. The chill vibe and impeccable service — including setting out “happy birthday” or “happy anniversary” signs because they noticed in OpenTable, even if you didn’t tell them — is another reason this class act has been a mainstay in the business for a generation. i i i BEST RESTAURANT THAT EXCEEDS THE HYPE KABOB GRILL N’ GO 3050 N. 16TH ST. 602-607-5272 KABOBGRILLNGO.COM Guy Fieri has featured them. The New York Times declared them one of America’s best restaurants. Husband-and-wife team Tony and Hasmik Chilingaryan’s tiny takeout spot, Kabob Grill N’ Go, has racked up high praise in the culinary world. But in a time of food influencer hyperbole, where everything is “fire,” even savvy food critics are guilty of inflating diner expectations. Rest assured: Kabob Grill N’ Go blows the doors off your idea of what meat on a stick can be. Can you compare them to anything else? There are no words in the English language to explain how sublime the Beef Barg and Koobideh are with their crisp sear, juicy beef and Persian-meets- Sonoran spices. We pay homage to the glorious chicken thighs, slathered in sauce with smoky kisses of char, crisped around their edges, piled upon a delicate bed of golden saffron basmati rice and nestled against a heap of grilled tomatoes, peppers and onions. It’s primal, beautiful stuff. i i i BEST STEAKHOUSE DURANT’S 2611 N. CENTRAL AVE. 602-264-5967 DURANTSAZ.COM Our hopes were high last year when the Prime Steak Concepts team, who are respon- sible for the likes of Steak 44 and Dominick’s, bought the iconic Durant’s. Would they revive the food quality, which had declined of late? Would the restaurant, beloved for its entrance through the kitchen and lush red interior, retain its vintage cool? As it turns out, yes and yes. The new Durant’s is like a Scottsdale cougar with a really good plastic surgeon: After getting some work done, she still looks like herself, just a little fresher and shinier. And the menu, which now closely mirrors Prime’s other concepts, fires on all cylinders. Steaks are seasoned and seared to perfection, bookended by tantalizing appe- tizers and decadent sides. Whatever hunk of meat you choose, we recommend pairing it with an enormous baked potato and a sweet- tart blood orange martini that goes down oh-so-smoothly. i i i BEST BREAKFAST THE ELEANOR 3207 N. HAYDEN ROAD, SCOTTSDALE 480-685-2525 THEELEANORAZ.COM There’s a vintage polish to The Eleanor, whose midcentury modern accents, down to the terrazzo floors, imbue the restaurant with nostalgic diner energy. But no greasy spoon here: You’ll find light, fluffy pancakes topped with a jammy blueberry compote and a craveable velvety maple butter. Chefs stack the savory Chutzpah Pita with latkes, a folded egg, avocado and drizzles of herba- ceous, zesty zhug. From the bar, you’ll see baristas pulling espresso shots and frothing milk for honey lavender lattes. The Eleanor is primed for a fun, chic brunch, but its team also understands that not everyone sleeps in. The restaurant crew pulls open the mint- hued double doors at 7 a.m. each day. Early risers can linger over a Buddha bowl, cortado and a good book or flit in to grab a coffee and burrito for the road long before the brunch crowd has crawled out of bed.