226 FOOD & DRINK BEST CAESAR SALAD SAINT PASTA 100 W. PORTLAND ST. 480-803-1981 SAINTPASTA.COM There’s plenty to love at this downtown foul-mouthed, “Sopranos”-playing pasta joint, but there’s one dish that’s a must- order with every visit. Saint Pasta first captured the hearts of Valley residents as a food truck, where its Caesar salad hadn’t made the menu yet. When it opened its brick-and-mortar near Roosevelt Row, the salad quickly became a fan favorite. Dubbed the “Saint Caesar,” this impressively high salad has iceberg lettuce tossed in the restaurant’s house dressing, smothered in crushed-up breadcrumbs and doused in grated Parmesan. The house dressing, with its balanced anchovy umami, really makes the dish stand out. Just don’t ask for the dressing on the side or any modifications. They may just kick your ass for that. i i i BEST FRENCH FRIES NIGHT OWL PIZZA & DRINKS 1645 N. HAYDEN ROAD, SCOTTSDALE 480-687-1827 2700 S. MILL AVE., TEMPE 480-681-7781 NIGHTOWLAZ.COM If you like your fries extra-crispy and loaded with flavor, run, don’t walk to Night Owl Pizza & Drinks and grab an order of their Wise Fries. Topped with a heap of garlic and Parmesan, each batch is fried to golden perfection, delivering the crunch- iest, flavor-packed bite you can find in the Valley. If you’re a vampire, or just not a huge fan of garlic, Night Owl also offers Pizza Fries (tossed with marinara, mozzarella and pepperoni) and Buffalo chicken fries (pretty self-explanatory). They’re great on their own or as an accompaniment to a plate of wings and a slice of pizza. We recom- mend washing it down with a Saguaro Slammer, a bright and fruity cocktail served in a cactus glass that counteracts the piping- hot food. i i i BEST SEAFOOD CHULA SEAFOOD 8015 E. ROOSEVELT ST., SCOTTSDALE 480-621-5121 100 E. CAMELBACK ROAD, #172 602-354-3599 AND OTHER VALLEY LOCATIONS CHULASEAFOOD.COM Finding fresh seafood in the desert hasn’t felt like such a quixotic quest since Chula Seafood came on the scene in 2015. The seafood shop and restaurant stocks just- caught fish, including from its own boat on the Pacific Ocean. Pick up fish to cook at home, or let Chula do the work at one of its four Valley locations. During happy hour, feast on $1 oysters and discounts on seafood tacos. Or go bigger with Hawaiian-style poke with ahi tuna, a California burrito stacked with grilled shrimp or the savory Southwestern rendition of a classic tuna melt stuffed with green chiles and Oaxacan cheese and served with a side of herbaceous chimichurri. Get on their email list — Chula frequently offers limited-time special dishes that are too good to miss. i i i BEST SUSHI SUSHI FRIEND 8727 N. CENTRAL AVE. 602-345-1312 YOURSUSHIFRIEND.COM Ten toes down, the top sushi in the Valley (and, according to Yelp, perhaps the country) is Sunnyslope’s Sushi Friend. Founder and chef Kevin Min has created the antithesis to the pretentiousness of the “elite” sushi scene by stripping down the genre to the studs (or in this case, an inti- mate industrial chic) and focusing on fresh- ness, precision and skill. Your food arrives made-to-order on takeout trays, with specialty rolls that highlight Min’s earnest creativity. The specialty roll combo is among the most affordable and accessible “fine dining” bites for the $33 price point. In the seared salmon roll, the sweet brine of the kanikama balances cool cucumber and spicy mayo against the flame-kissed salmon and dyno and unagi sauces. Pair it with the punchy aguachile roll ( jicama, spicy crab, avocado, kanpachi, aguachile and pickled red onion), a side of real wasabi to take it up another notch, and finish with an order of the ube cheesecake. One trip to Sushi Friend and you’ll understand why Min and his team are the Valley’s sushi besties. i i i BEST DUMPLINGS HAPPY BAO’S 66 S. DOBSON ROAD, #112, MESA 480-912-1207 HAPPYBAOS.COM 4330 W. UNION HILLS DRIVE, SUITE B011, GLENDALE 602-781-6763 HAPPYBAOSGLENDALE.COM A certain worldwide restaurant chain famous for its dumplings opened in the Valley this year, complete with impossible- to-get reservations, hour-long waits and high prices. The food is good, but we’ll stick to our favorite dumpling joint in the Valley. Local chain Happy Bao’s keeps our love for meat in dough sated with several varieties of fresh, handmade xiao long bao, spicy chile dump- lings and crispy-bottomed sheng jian bao. The Mesa location is hopping even on week- nights as takeout customers flit amid families chowing down at tables full of plates. Late last year, Happy Bao’s added a northwest Phoenix location, allowing even more people to get in on the action. See what the buzz is about, then take home some frozen dump- lings to enjoy whenever. i i i BEST DIM SUM GREAT WALL CUISINE 3446 W. CAMELBACK ROAD, #155 602-973-1112 GREATWALLCUISINEAZ.NET Since 1992, the Hong Kong-style dim sum at Great Wall Cuisine has ranked among Phoe- nix’s rare institutional dining experiences. And the crowds know it. Just getting a table on a bustling weekend feels like a raffle drawing. Your party takes a number from the host. Eventually you hear your number over a loudspeaker that echoes across the unas- suming strip mall. Your prize? A table in the banquet-hall-esque restaurant where fami- lies pack booths and Kansas-sized tables are tiled with plates of dumplings, stir-fries, noodles and rice, delivered by an efficient crew who push metal carts brimming with treasures: sweet shrimp dumplings in a nearly translucent, pleated wrapper; massive, meatball-like shumai stuffed with pork and shrimp; comforting baked buns filled with barbecue pork. This dim sum is worth setting your alarm for — the early bird gets the prime selections from each cart. i i i BEST BREAD CHACÓNNE PATISSERIE 8119 E. ROOSEVELT ST., SCOTTSDALE 602-587-2623 821 N. FOURTH ST., #120 602-334-5788 CHACONNEPATISSERIE.COM When one of the Valley’s best bakeries announced they were adding a bread program in 2025, we were floored. Chacónne Patisserie owner Mark Chacón doesn’t do anything halfway. He tapped Nick Beitcher, a Tartine Bakery alum, to start Chacónne’s bread-making operation. For the uninitiated, the San Francisco-based James Beard Award-winning Tartine Bakery led the sour- dough renaissance in America. Chacóne’s operation has blossomed over the past year to produce an array of refreshingly tangy country loaves, crusty baguettes, springy milk bread and other naturally leavened breads. Take a loaf home to turn it into the sandwich of your dreams or have the team at Chacónne’s downtown patisserie put together a loaded toast, panini or breakfast sando. Even more exciting, in Scottsdale, the patisserie preps dough for weekend pizza nights. In a city with a rising bread culture, the Chacónne team is thinking beyond the typical loaf. i i i BEST BAGELS BONGIORNO BAGELS 3107 S. GILBERT ROAD, #101, GILBERT 480-588-8222 BONGIORNOBAGELS.COM Mediocre bagels are a dime a baker’s dozen, but a poppyseed with schmear so authentic you’d swear you were on the Lower East Side? We’ll be there in a New York minute. Bongiorno Bagels in Gilbert was founded nearly a decade ago by a man and his father- in-law who got tired of hauling bagels back to the desert from Manhattan. Using a filtration system that replicates New York City water, Bongiorno delivers crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside creations. That first bite of a Fireman — scallion cream cheese, lox, red onion, tomato and capers on an everything bagel — hits hard every time we order it (and we order it often), but even a simple sliced bagel piled high with house-made schmear is worth the drive to the East Valley. i i i BEST BREAKFAST SANDWICH VALLEY COFFEE CO. 100 W. PORTLAND ST., #108 602-734-5550 VALLEY-COFFEE.COM This Roosevelt Row-area coffee shop has a great selection of mouthwatering breakfast sandwiches. Choose from a variety of English muffin-based options filled with your choice of turkey, bacon or ham, plus egg and cheddar cheese. These tinfoil- wrapped, no-nonsense sandwiches make for a moist, flavorful breakfast option that isn’t too heavy, while still being filling. The vegetarian sandwich, with tomato and avocado, is likewise a standout. Get yours with Valley Coffee Co.’s chipotle aioli — the spicy, messy sauce is a great finish. If you’re ever having a rough morning after, these make for a great hangover cure.
