Arizona is a big state with big gaps between towns, so it helps to know where a meal is worth planning around. These thirteen restaurants are all in our directory. They are grouped by area, with the dish or detail that earns each a spot.
Southern Arizona: Tucson and Bisbee
Silver Saddle Steakhouse has fed Tucson since the early 1980s in a building that began as the Pickwick Inn. The kitchen grills over mesquite and does not season steaks unless you ask. The menu centers on a 24-ounce Porter House and prime rib, and a children's menu makes it workable for families.
Bread & Butter Cafe is a fast-paced, home-style diner on East 22nd Street. Biscuits, bread and cinnamon rolls are made from scratch, and about 15 pie flavors are available by the slice each day, including a Prickly Pear Meringue. Whole pies need at least 24 hours' notice.
Bisbee's Table sits at Copper Queen Plaza at the top of Main Street in Bisbee, in a 95-seat room that works as both a restaurant and a bar. The house-made meatloaf with a red wine reduction is the dish most often singled out, and hand-tossed pizzas, pastas and seafood round out the menu. A small enclosed sidewalk area is pet-friendly.
Phoenix and the Valley
San Tan Flat in Queen Creek opened on November 1, 2005, styled like an old western mining camp. A courtyard open to the sky, campfires and a covered stage for country music define it, and the owner won a court fight with Pinal County over letting customers dance.
Olive & Ivy in Scottsdale serves breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner from one Mediterranean-inspired kitchen, with wood-fired flatbreads, seafood and a deep wine list.
Bobby-Q in Phoenix opened in 2005 and offers St. Louis, baby back and Texas beef ribs. Meals start with homemade cornbread and end with freshly fried donuts.
Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert occupies a 1929 building that has been a grocery, a movie theater, a lamp factory and a church. Pecan-smoked brisket, pit ham and a turkey-jalapeño sausage are the notable orders.
Casey Moore's Oyster House in Tempe sits in a house built in 1910, converted to a restaurant in 1973. Oysters are the namesake and the patio is the popular place to sit.
Alebrijes Cafe & Grill in Litchfield Park opened in 2021 and focuses on Oaxacan-style cooking, with black and red mole and pozole.
Central and northern Arizona
Rock Springs Café in Black Canyon City began in 1918 as a general store and sells around 100,000 pies a year, with Jack Daniel's pecan as the signature.
Calavera Bar & Grill in Cottonwood has a dining room decorated with Día de los Muertos artwork and serves dishes such as Navajo tacos, mango fish tacos and pozole.
Three Bear's Cafe in Heber-Overgaard is a family-owned breakfast cafe in the White Mountains; its breakfast pot pie and monthly-changing pancake flavors are the draws.
Amigo Cafe in Kayenta, on the way to Monument Valley, opened in 1983 and mixes Mexican, Native American and American food, with a Three Sisters Burrito and hot fry bread.
How to plan a trip
- Tucson weekend: Bread & Butter for breakfast, Silver Saddle for dinner.
- Valley day: Joe's Real BBQ for lunch in Gilbert, San Tan Flat for an evening with music.
- Road trip north: Rock Springs for pie on Interstate 17, Cottonwood for dinner, Kayenta if Monument Valley is on the list.
Hours, menus and prices change. Each restaurant page lists the phone number we have; call ahead before a long drive, especially on holidays.