Eating and Drinking in Phoenix

The Phoenix Public Market, in downtown Phoenix, features local produce, Arizona wines and craft beers.

Order breakfast, lunch or dinner at the counter, pick up coffee at the Royal Coffee Bar, and claim your seat.

You can start your day with a raw, vegan protein shake or a hearty veggie burrito, made with organic vegetables and cage-free egg whites.

Lunch and dinner feature salads, sandwiches and soups, with plenty of veggie options.

On Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, there is an outdoor farmer's market, and on Food Truck Fridays, you can buy lunch from one of 15 food trucks that parks in the adjacent lot.

Galleries and shops nearby are open late on the First Friday of each month, with live music and crafts for sale.

Open Tuesday - Saturday from 7am - 8pm and till 11pm on First Fridays.

14 East Pierce Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-254-1799

NoRTH, a Sam Fox restaurant, features modern Italian food. Start with a trio of spreads: tapenade, hummus and pesto-goat cheese, with garlic bread. There are also pizzas, including one with fig and goat cheese, and another with wild mushroom and arugula.

Pastas include one with butternut squash and Brussels sprouts and bucatini with braised short ribs.

Try a light drink, a Frizzante, with Prosecco and a fresh fruit puree: peach, berry or passion fruit.

Before or after dinner, walk around Kierland Common, the upscale outdoor shopping area where NoRTH is located. And if NoRTH is full, you can eat California cuisine next door at another Sam Fox place, The Greene House.

Open for lunch daily, 11am - 4:30pm
Dinner,Sunday – Thursday, 4:30pm - 9pm
Friday & Saturday, 4:30pm - 10pm

15024 North Scottsdale Road #160
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
480-948-2055

The Mexican restaurant La Hacienda has Mexican food and a tequila bar with 120 different tequilas. Get to know the difference with a 'snake bite flight' of 3 tequilas, plus a shot of spicy tomato juice to cleanse your palate. The resident 'tequila goddess' explains the different tequilas.

Try a sampling of 3 ceviches or lobster tacos with avocado and chile sauce. There are vegetarian quesadillas and enchiladas filled with chicken, short ribs or crab.

Don't miss the flaming coffee for dessert, entertainment and a sweet treat in one.

Open 5:30 – 9pm Sunday, Tuesday - Thursday
5:30 – 10pm Friday & Saturday

7575 East Princess Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
480-585-4848 ext. 7320

Rustler's Rooste, a steakhouse on a butte in South Mountain, has a dramatic setting. You enter through the bar and can take a slide down to the restaurant.

Steaks, beef ribs and barbecued pork ribs are specialties, and vegetarians can get a veggie burger topped with chili.

Start with spicy wings, onion rings or, if you are brave, fried rattlesnake.

To drink, try the margarita varieties. The Tombstone adds huckleberry juice and the Arizona has prickly pear cactus juice. Both combine well with the tequila.

The restaurant is a couple of minutes from Tempe Diablo Stadium, where the California Angels play spring training games. You can catch a game here in February or March.

The bar opens at 4pm, with dinner service from 5-10pm. Open daily, except Super Bowl Sunday, with live country western music nightly.

8383 South 48th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85044
602-431-6474

The casual Spotted Donkey Cantina has Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. Guacamole is made table side, with as much heat as you want.

Arizona Mac & Cheese tweaks a classic, with green chiles and smoked bacon. A quesadilla combines
portabella mushrooms, sundried tomato, zucchini and goat cheese, and tacos are filled with shrimp, beef or chicken.

The children's menu includes less spicy versions of several main dishes.

Drink the cactus prickly pear margarita or the refreshing gin and cucumber concoction. There are also a number of beers on tap.

Open Monday-Thursday, 11am - 10pm
Friday & Saturday, 11am - 11pm
Sunday, 11am - 9pm

34505 North Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale AZ 85266
480-488-3358

At Pizzeria Bianco, a pizza purist uses a wood-fueled oven to churn out impeccable pizzas and some roasted vegetables.

The restaurant doesn't take reservations and people line up for hours before it opens. The pizza is that good. There is margherita, with fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce, rosa, with red onion, rosemary and pistachios and a white pizza with 3 cheeses and arugula.

A couple of salads round out the choices.

Buy a bottle of wine next door to have with your meal.

Pizzeria Bianco is near the Arizona Science Center, so if you spend the afternoon there, you can walk over and wait for pizza.

Open Tuesday - Saturday, 5pm – 10pm

623 East Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004-2334
602-258-8300