Rise Craft Coffee + Eatery

When a beloved coffee house on the Bohemian block of Fifth Street closed a few years ago, many of those skeptical of Roosevelt Row’s changing character lamented the event as just another nail in the neighborhood’s coffin. The outcome hasn’t been nearly as dire as forecast, though. Although it looked like the sun had set on coffee culture at this address, it has come up again with the opening of a new place appropriately and simply named “Rise.” Beyond the rebirth metaphor, Rise has a patio facing east and early morning hours, making it a place to see the actual sunrise. Continue reading “Rise Craft Coffee + Eatery” →

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Rehab Burger Therapy

As the signs outside most McDonald’s franchises say, Americans have eaten billions and billions of hamburgers. A hot sandwich based on a ground beef patty has remained a staple for decades despite nutritional and environmental concerns, but after all those billions, there has to be room for innovation. At Rehab Burger Therapy, the departure from traditions occurs not so much with the patty, but instead in unexpected choices of toppings that fill the space between the bread and the meat, and, in some cases, extend well beyond the boundaries of the bun. Continue reading “Rehab Burger Therapy” →

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Huss Brewing Company

Uptown Plaza, the recently renovated shopping center across from the Central / Camelback light rail station, was first built in 1955. In the Eisenhower era, beer was more regional than it is today, with many brands that no longer exist popular in one place but perhaps unheard of a few states away. After several decades of industry consolidation, the pendulum has swung back towards local favorites with an emphasis on regional craft beer. In that way, Huss Brewing Company, which operates a taproom at Uptown Plaza, recalls the center’s midcentury roots. Continue reading “Huss Brewing Company” →

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Valley Bar

Alleys have a bad reputation. In the north central part of Phoenix, residents have worked with the city to close alleys in residential neighborhoods, where “highways for bad things” are associated with crime. Downtown, however, alleys play a more helpful role in the urban fabric by taking back-of-the-house functions such as trash collection and loading docks off the street and by breaking up blocks to preserve the opportunity for fine-grained development. Alleys can also be a place in which to hide a city’s best secrets, and Valley Bar is one of them. Continue reading “Valley Bar” →

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Centrico

It’s hard to believe, but as recently as a few years ago, it was hard to find a good taco, or any taco at all, in the core downtown business district of Phoenix. Business travelers and convention attendees expected the Southwest’s largest city to offer at least somewhat authentic Mexican food within walking distance of their hotels. Instead, they were directed to options that might be near downtown but not within the walkable core of the city. That sorry state of affairs has begun to change with the recent opening of several new Mexican restaurants, including Centrico. Continue reading “Centrico” →

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Rhema Soul Cuisine

 

It’s a long way from Queen Creek to central Phoenix — just about 30 miles as the crow flies and over 35 miles via the most direct driving route. That distance from exurb to city is a long one, but some of Queen Creek’s culinary contributions are known throughout the metropolitan area. Queen Creek Olive Mill and Schnepf Farms are worth the trek outside the 202 loop, but one Queen Creek establishment, Rhema Soul Cuisine, has made a journey in the other direction — from a strip mall on Ellsworth Road to a new location in the Eastlake Park neighborhood. Continue reading “Rhema Soul Cuisine” →

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Nobuo at Teeter House

It has been just over a decade since Nobuo Fukuda, originally from Tokyo but long situated in Arizona, won the prestigious James Beard award. Since that 2007 accolade, the chef has relocated his kitchen from Old Town Scottsdale to Heritage Square in Phoenix, occupying a city-owned historic home where the chef has pursued his creative vision since 2010. The move was a bit of a shock back then, but the quest for better downtown dining has intensified in the current decade, with the central city no longer content to be eclipsed by its own suburbs. Continue reading “Nobuo at Teeter House” →

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Zookz

There are many different ways to see the distinction between uptown and downtown. Sometimes, it’s a class divide. Billy Joel and countless other songwriters have used the word “uptown” to imply an upscale neighborhood within the city. In other cases, as with the New York City subway system, it’s simply a statement of compass direction with “uptown” meaning north and “downtown” meaning south. In Phoenix, the trains connect the uptown and downtown portions of the city, but many residents remain confused about their boundaries. Continue reading “Zookz” →

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Khai Hoan

In diverse communities like Tempe, it’s not uncommon to have restaurants and grocers of entirely different geographic origins coexisting side-by-side in the same shopping center. Khai Hoan, a small Vietnamese restaurant, occupies a small retail plaza with a Mexican carniceria and a Middle Eastern restaurant as its neighbors. The location is on Apache Boulevard between the Dorsey / Apache and McClintock / Apache light rail stations. Although the restaurant is almost exactly halfway between both platforms, the walk is more pleasant from Dorsey. Continue reading “Khai Hoan” →

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