For the first century after its founding in 1892, Tempe was usually viewed as an inner suburb of Phoenix and a college town. The city was known for its historic flour mill, the walkable business district on Mill Avenue, and the flagship campus of Arizona State University. More recently, Tempe has started to develop another identity as a dense place that sometimes outperforms its bigger neighbor in terms of urban vitality. This could be Tempe’s alter ego, and it seems fitting that a restaurant situated right in the middle of its new downtown skyline is known as Alter Ego.
Alter Ego is the restaurant in Tempe’s Canopy hotel, one of innumerable subtly differentiated brands under the Hilton umbrella. The hotel is itself a modern 14-story building, a height that would have made it stand out a decade or two ago but is now routine in downtown Tempe. The location is on University Drive, roughly equidistant from the A Line stations at Mill Avenue / Third Street and Veterans Way / College Avenue and just two blocks from the Tempe Streetcar. The hotel’s own bike rack is usually full of its own guest bikes, but plenty of others are found nearby.
Situated on the hotel’s ground floor and integrated into its lobby, it’s hard to tell where the restaurant’s exact boundaries lie. If entering from University, just turn right and head towards the tables. There is no host station, but personnel at the bar usually direct customers to choose a seat anywhere they like. The main dining room has an open feel with high ceilings and garage doors that open to a patio along University. A secondary dining area is found towards the back, and some of the prime tables sit across from the open kitchen that connects the two zones.
Speaking of alter egos, hotel restaurants must often negotiate a delicate balance between two competing identities. The first is to feel sufficiently welcoming to all tastes, even unadventurous ones, to keep hungry guests on property, maximizing revenue from those staying upstairs. The second is to have enough external appeal to draw a local clientele to create steady levels of traffic even as hotel occupancy ebbs and flows. With this in mind, Alter Ego has incorporated a slightly east Asian influence that is subtly imprinted on standard hotel fare like steak and pizza.
The approach shows itself among the appetizers, which include items like crisp vegetable pot stickers with ponzu sauce for dipping, fried cauliflower accessorized with gochujang, and bang bang shrimp with a slightly spicy aioli. Salads incorporate ingredient combinations like Brussels sprouts and arugula, fuji apples and watermelon radish, and peanuts with scallions, tomatoes, and an Asian “slaw” primarily of Napa cabbage in a Thai-influenced mix. All of the salads can be enhanced with a choice of protein for an additional cost: shrimp, chicken, steak, salmon, or tofu.
Flatbreads are oblong, thin crust pizzas suitable for sharing. In a departure from much of the menu, these draw primarily from Mediterranean rather than Asian influences. With that in mind, the appropriately named Mediterranean flatbread is full of tart, salty, and umami notes from peppers, artichoke hearts, and roasted tomatoes. Margherita and prosciutto flatbreads are both relatively simple and straightforward while the Calabrian one involves pepperoni and boschetto al tartufo, a semi-soft Tuscan cheese from a blend of pasteurized cow’s and sheep’s milk.
Plated entrees return to a lightly Asian theme with choices like miso salmon and orange ginger chicken. The former is a satisfying slab of fish served over noodles interspersed with slivers of sweet potatoes. The latter is an elevated take on a classic entree from American Chinese restaurant menus with chunks of tender breaded poultry with notes of orange, ginger, garlic throughout. The result is a noticeable but not overwhelming spice level. Brussels sprouts and sliced peppers add some vegetable goodness to the protein placed over the base of rice.
For lunch, most of the dinner entrees are reformatted as bowls with an underlying layer of either sticky rice or chow mein noodles. In addition, there are choices such as a burger and a katsu chicken sandwich. The second item has a panko breading that pairs well with a sriracha honey glaze, a slaw of arugula and apple, and a spicy aioli. Both the burger and the chicken sandwich are paired with a side of crisp fries. For breakfast and weekend brunch, these items are joined on the menu by additional items like Tempe breakfast hash and brioche cinnamon French toast.
Desserts include a variety of flavors of gelato made on site, a New York style cheesecake with a strawberry glaze and fresh berries, and two standout items:. A chocolate coconut cake is labeled as “tres leches,” but staff guide customer expectations away from that menu description in favor of a simpler pairing of flavors that is still effective and pleasing. A St. Louis butter cake has a moist base topped with vanilla gelato and mixed berries, and all the ingredients, both warm and cold, melt into one inviting blend in the small bowl in which they are served.
The bar serves original cocktails like Cry me a River made with Chinese baijiu liquor, pineapple, white miso, and a little lime. The drink is fruit forward but not too sweet. Mocktails are expectedly a bit sweeter with options like Smoky Pineapple adding some foam on top of the zero-proof beverage. Six tap handles all emphasize local draft beers from Arizona breweries. Just as historically suburban Tempe now has its increasingly urban side, the restaurant Alter Ego has its own dual identity to manage as both a hotel restaurant and a dining destination.
108 E University Dr., Tempe AZ 85281
https://alteregotempe.com
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