The Best Restaurants in Scottsdale
Often lumped into the same breath as Phoenix, Scottsdale is a rapidly expanding destination all its own, beloved for its mid-century cool and its exceptional food.
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FnB
Since 2009, Chef Charleen Badman has tirelessly cooked to show off Arizona’s farming and agricultural communities at FnB. In 2019, her efforts were rewarded with a Best Chef Southwest Award from The James Beard Foundation. Meanwhile, co-owner (and Los Milics wine creator) Pavle Milic works the floor to make FnB feel as homey and welcoming as possible. Pro tip: Don’t go here with friends who don’t like sharing, because anything that hits the table is fair game. Badman is a vegetable whisperer and will have you wondering how you ever ate squash without pumpkin seeds, mustard and feta, or why you don’t grill broccoli and serve it with pistachios and meyer lemon aioli more often.
Editor's note: This guide has been updated with the latest information on these restaurants as of July 2021.
Go to: FnB
Fat Ox
The food and vibes feel sexy, modern and fun at Fat Ox, a new(ish) restaurant from Chef Matt Carter, Brian Raab and Mark Drinkwater — names behind places like Zinc Bistro, The Mission and The House Brasserie. An order of house-made pasta should be mandatory. Depending on what the kitchen is turning out, often by hand, you can choose between stuffed caramelle, elegant pappardelle or tubes of garganelli, all paired with seasonal ingredients.Another must: tableside Caesar salad. And save room for the secondi piatti, which include an impressive selection of steaks, as well as branzino. YOLO, baby.
SumoMaya
Toca Madera
Andreoli Italian Grocer
If you’re searching for a place like that gem you found while touring Italy, look no further than Andreoli Italian Grocer in Scottsdale. Grilled calamari, carpaccio and the best porchetta outside of Rome are on the main menu, while daily specials often feature pastas and fish (You should hope they have branzino when you visit.). The dining room doubles as a market for all manner of Italian groceries.
Go to: Andreoli Italian Grocer
Maple & Ash
Although this isn't your grandfather's steakhouse, he'd have the time of his life at Maple & Ash, a Chicago-based concept by superstar chef Danny Grant. Newly opened at the Scottsdale Waterfront, in the heart of Downtown, this high-energy, no-holds-barred steak party greets every dinner guest with a sample shaken cocktail and suggestion you should take: Order the fire-roasted seafood tower because your leftovers become a second course with pasta and butter, mixed right at your table. Ballers, opt for the I DON’T GIVE A F*@K tasting menu.
Citizen Public House
Start with bacon fat popcorn at Citizen Public House. Then get the locally made Noble Bread service with sun-dried tomato tapenade and black-garlic butter. If you haven’t already, try The Original Chopped Salad (a salad so famous, it has its own Facebook page). Then it’s on to entrées like short ribs with cherry BBQ sauce or pan-seared scallops with sweet corn grits.
Go to: Citizen Public House
Toro Latin Restaurant & Rum Bar
Only Chef Richard Sandoval, "the father of Modern Mexican cuisine," could execute a menu this diverse. From sushi and ceviche to wok dishes and char-grilled meats, Toro at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess mixes South American and Chinese-Peruvian influences for flavor combos that transcend logic and taste supreme. Rum-based tiki cocktails and panoramic views of the TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course are on the menu, too.
Postino
Postino is a welcoming wine bar with an all-day happy hour that goes until 5pm and a customizable bruschetta board menu. The idea that launched in an old Arcadia post office in 2001 has now expanded to 16 locations (including 7 in Texas and Colorado), with an especially excellent one at Scottsdale Road and Highland, in an old Valley National Bank branch. The mid-century modern space pays homage to the original architect, Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice Frank Henry, while you pay homage to a $5 glass of bubbles and smoked-salmon bruschetta.
Twisted Grove Parlor + Bar
Twisted Grove is a casual neighborhood restaurant that just so happens to be helmed by a top local chef. Chef Christopher Collins (Grassroots, Wally’s, The Collins) does American fare right with prime rib (a Friday and Saturday night special), upscale sandwiches, salads and a kids’ menu that features mac and cheese so good, it always ends up a "shared plate" for the adults.
Merkin Vineyards
Arizona winemaking (yes, it's a thing) has made great strides over the last few years. Even Maynard James Keenan of Tool is a player on the AZ grape-growing stage, with his Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars. Keenan and crew opened a tasting room and restaurant in the heart of Old Town with a menu of wine-friendly dishes that showcase local meat, bread and vegetables, including some farmed by Keenan’s father, Mike.
Pizzeria Virtù
Certified Pizzaiolo Gio Osso fuses the best of the Southwest and Naples, Italy, at Pizzeria Virtu in Old Town Scottsdale, where he prepares Neapolitan pies using Arizona- and California-sourced produce for combos like the chestnut-honey-topped Milano with pancetta, and the sopressata l andn'duja-spiced Reggio. The Italian cocktails and small plates continue the feeling of escaping to the boot.
T. Cook’s
Lee Hillson is back! The chef most endeared to the hearts of T.Cook’s longtime devotees left in 2012, but he returned home to the Mediterranean grounds of The Royal Palms Resort & Spa. Classic entrées like bucatini bolognese and his affable British sarcastic sense of humor are all back where they should be once again at T. Cook’s. FYI — the iconic pesto and focaccia bread service never left.
Hearth ’61
Order anything that comes out of the stone oven at Hearth ’61, a modern resort restaurant at Mountain Shadows, led by Executive Chef Charles Wiley, a Valley icon. The pleasant kiss of smoke imparted into items cooked in the hearth punches up everything from locally sourced meat and vegetables to an assortment of flatbreads.. Stroll the resort’s art gallery before or after your meal.
ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho
Visually, ZuZu is a modern take on the classic, all-American 1950s hotel restaurant. And then you sit down to eat. Fried chicken banh mi sliders, cherry cola pulled pork, and fiery Alaskan king crab — these are not the mainstays of yesteryear, daddy-o. They’re the culinary creations of talented chef Russell LaCasce, who balances out the bold menu with crowd pleasers like shrimp cocktail and and Caesar salad.
Go to: Zuzu in the Hotel Valley Ho
Zinc Bistro
Little has changed about Zinc Bistro in its two decades, and for good reason. At this authentic French bistro, co-owners Matt Carter and Terry Ellisor (both of The Mission and Fat Ox), strike all the right notes. Sit on the wrap-around patio and imagine Kierland Commons is Boulevard Saint-Germain (it takes a couple glasses of Champagne for this to work), or head through the restaurant to the secluded garden patio. Then dig into Carter’s classic French omelette, chateaubriand for two, soul-satisfying bouillabaisse or a traditional onion soup with bubbling Gruyere. Snag a seat at the raw bar and you’ll be singing oui, oui, oui all the way home.
Go to: Zinc Bistro
The Mission
There are two locations of The Mission — the original in Old Town and a massive homage to tacos and tequila at Kierland Commons. Known just as much for its weekend party atmosphere as its knockout menu of Latin American fare from Chef Matt Carter (Fat Ox, Zinc Bistro), The Mission is well worth a visit for its duck confit empanadas, chicken thigh and ham hock tostadas, and the build-your-own pork-shoulder tacos for two. Tableside guacamole is a must.
Go to: The Mission
Virtù Honest Craft
Chef Gio Osso had an immediate hit when he opened Virtu in a then-unknown boutique hotel called the Bespoke Inn in 2013. Now, he’s practically a household name, as a James Beard Award nominee and frequent local, on-air cooking-segment chef. Start with shareable small bites, before digging into entrées like branzino or chestnut pappardelle. The bisteca tagliata, a 40-ounce tomahawk rib-eye with chimichurri is fun for a couple or a group.
Go to: Virtù Honest Craft
Shinbay
Hush Public House
Cafe Monarch
The old adage you get what you pay for rings true on the highest of ends at Café Monarch, a palatial temple of decadence, and an invitation to live your best life through food and wine. Dinner for two can equal a month’s rent, but you’ll start saving up for the next visit faster than you can say "Hudson Valley foie gras." Do the four-course tasting menu with wine pairings and opt for an add-on like the charred Spanish octopus because, hey, it’s only money.
