Careful...I recommend using the terms "Americanized" or "not entirely authentic."

All good in my book too!

Disagree 100%!!! Where are you going?

Not the same place as me and my family.

I see families there all night long and the pizzas are fabulous - the best or one of the best in the valley.

We can agree to disagree, but I believe you have completely mischaracterized the place.

I am shocked nobody mentioned The Parlor, The Grind, or even St. Francis- all very close to the Biltmore. Parlor is literally right down the street. Parlor's pizza destroys Bianco and the food is some of the best in the valley.

What were the issues at Brat Haus?

Yes, we cannot compare to NYC, etc. blah blah blah. Don't despair this is an above average food town as most AZ foodies will attest. The trouble is you need to know where to go and be ready to drive. If you have a rental car, you are all good. There is also Uber, which I'm sure you know of if you are from NYC/Seattle.

I would check the board here as there are great summaries and in most cases I agree with them including ipsedixit's choices below (although lukewarm on FnB).

I would add The Mission, The Parlor, Richardson's, Brat Haus, Crudo, Citizen Public House, Gallo Blanco. I would also recommend trying some of our better Latin American spots for tacos, ceviches, etc. I won't list them here, but you can find them on this board and in other locations.

If you cannot eat well here, then you have a problem.

PS - If you are craving a good steakhouse, Mastro's is my favorite here in town - either location.

Phx CHer flying in Monday for a business trip. We are staying at the Dallas Marriott CityCenter. I need a solid rec on a dinner spot for a group of about 6 guys, all good eaters, no issues with type of food.

Here's the kicker, it is the NCAA basketball championship and we need a place with good TVs to watch the game (we have Michigan grads in the group - Go Blue!). Impossible task?

Thx for the help in advance.

If you want great pizza, Phx is the place. Skip Bianco's as it is overrated IMHO. You have to try the Parlor for the best pizza and a killer menu for everything else.

Also, don't leave out The Mission for dinner or brunch as it is outstanding a really neat place that will impress your whole family.

I agree with the other CHers that Richardson's is great. I would call the resto for a reservation if possible and not to worry too much about getting a table as it shouldn't be a problem.

Not a big fan of T.Cook's, seems like a waste of a meal there and I see you have Cowboy Ciao on the list, so I won't recommend Citizen Public House, however, it is hands down, better and from the original chef of Cowboy Ciao.

Either way, you have a lot of great choices and you can't go wrong.

Thanks, but too far west, looking for something central or east side.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Brat Haus is on my list. Not so much the others.

Spotted Donkey is a nice spot. Soi4 Thai is excellent over in the Gainey Shops. I don't think you can go wrong at Houston's or Veneto Trattoria. There are two excellent pizza spots: Humble Pie and Pomo. Blanco Tacos is a solid choice as well.

Yeah, I hear you- last year I was chilling with SanTan Brewery cans of tasty Devil's Ale. I don't mind paying 3 tix, but Blue Moon is corporate fake out "craft" beer.

Just wanted to get the group's thoughts on this weekend's taco festival. Here are my two cents:

Positives:
Nice sized venue out at Salt River Fields with ample parking and space. I like the fact you could go on two days as we couldn't make it on Saturday, so Sunday was the day.

Distrito, Four Seasons, and the taco ladies with the pink truck with the killer duck tacos were all back in force. Overall, the tacos were solid, nice showing from Tonto Bar and Grill with a killer shrimp taco.

I missed the Mission and didn't see too many local taco shops represented.

Great tents for beer and tequila tastings. Still had the chefs demos and nice to see additional kids activities, although paying extra for them was a little disheartening.

Negatives:
What is with the ridiculously loud music playing from multiple sources? Come on! The live music was solid and should be given the run of the festival. It was hard to have a conversation or chill with all the competing blasting music.

Also, when did the foodie-friendly taco festival become a pub crawl Old Town Scottsdale style? I appreciate that a lot of our bars are taco-friendly spots and appreciate their business and
sponsorship, but I felt the event was too focused on the "party" aspect.
I just missed the foodie feel.

Still, it was fun and the weather was a little cooler, which was nice. I think next year, I will try to go on Saturday as I think a few taco booths were empty due to the second day lag.

Go to the Phx airport - board any flight to NY, Montreal, even Detroit, leave destination airport and go to nearest best deli/bagel shop. Otherwise, you are in Phx, don't eat bagels here - go get killer tamales, tortillas, sopapillas and so on.

We cannot wait...love the recs, of course, and this trip is sans kiddos, so we can really enjoy the drink and apps recs. Take care....

BeachChick-
We will be there end of this month into early October. First time back in 12 years! Super excited! I will put Red Salt on the list. Let me know your favs for brunch, lunch, tacos, sushi...you know my schtick!

Staying at the Grand Hyatt Poipu.

Awesome review...makes me want to put Distrito on my list again. I hope they show up for the upcoming taco fest in October!

Love the banchan...every self respecting Korean place needs to put out a good one.

Ok folks, here is the update:

We had a great trip, as always, and the weather could not have been better. We didn't even have marine layer in the morning most days, so you cannot beat sunrise and sunsets over the ocean!

On to the food, we started off at Casa de Bandini on our first night. I know its not the best Mexican in the overall area, but it is a nice spot with above average food. My fish tacos were fresh and well put together. Nachos, enchiladas, and all the sides were solid as well. Overall, a good start to the trip.

There were plenty of days we packed lunches for picnics or cooked at home, but we did hit Juanitas for some great carne asada tacos, fish tacos, shredded chicken nachos, and a solid carnitas burrito. My wife liked the burrito and carne asada tacos best, however, my little guy loved using the fresh flour tortillas to make tacos for everyone with the fish tacos. My only knock on the spot was the tepid heat in the two fresh salsas in the bottles (green and red), I like a little more heat with mine. Everything was really good and this was one of the best meals of the trip and fueled us up for an afternoon of surfing and fun.

We did it up at Kaito Sushi and it was awesome. I would love to go back and sit at the sushi bar and just let the chef go omakase Tokyo style, but it really didn't matter as the fish was top notch and without any criticism. I like the fact we went on a sleepy Monday night, so we just walked in sat down and ordered.

We hit Pizza Port as is our tradition and it wasn't nearly as crowded or crazy for some reason. Might be we showed up a little later than usual and missed the earlier crowd. The pizza, wings, salads, and brew were as good as ever.

One day we went down to the USS MIdway carrier museum for the afternoon. This was a very neat adventure and we enjoyed the views, the history, and the excellent guided tours. We headed over to the Fish Market restaurant right on the bay to keep the views going and have a quick bite. Yes, it was a bit touristy, but a good meal nonetheless. The clam chowder I would pass on as it didn't have much flavor and tasted like it was out of a can. We had a nice blackened tilapia, simply done and fresh, Louie salad with shrimp and crab, and some sashimi-sushi as well. All were fresh and even though it wasn't exactly chow-craziness, it was good.

We carried in from Tai-Pan for a relatively cheap and easy night in. The food was solid all around. Not the best Thai food, but far from the worst. I was pleased with the lack of onions/green peppers or "BS filler" as I call it in their curries. I would carry out from there again and would recommend it.

We hit Claire's for our big brunch day out and it was excellent. A top spot for brekkie/brunch/lunch. Service was a little shaky as it doesn't appear that the service team communicates well with each other, but otherwise, the place was charming and we had a great experience. We would definitely go back. All dishes were good, with a tasty fresh fruit yogurt parfait, excellent eggs and turkey sausage, good scones, and super fresh fruit. It is so nice to find a place that absolutely puts out great fruit. It is not acceptable in CA to do otherwise!

Last, but not least, we love I Trulli in Encinitas and enjoyed a fabulous meal there on the last night out. All the pastas are so good and the lasagna, ravioli, and bolognese were excellent. We had an out of this world zucchini blossom starter stuffed with goat cheese goodness, a great salmon carpaccio, and their refreshing take on burrata with spinach and tomatoes. My son devoured the tiramisu on his own, so I think it was good.

That is it. We can't wait to go back and hit up a few more taco shops, Blue Ribbon, and a couple of other recs.

That is good to know. My wife is NOT a fan of even the original Barrio, so this will further detract us from going there.

It is so nice to find another "foodie" family that shuns the kids' menus. Most places look at us sideways when we order adult sized meals with the real food for our kids, but my two boys are adventurous and would rather eat the regular menu items.

Cafe Bink and Binkley's, but you need to check to see if they are open due to the summer season as sometimes the Chef closes down when it gets stupid hot like it is now. Also, Spotted Donkey, which is right near your hotel is a good spot. Not too far from there is Mastro's, my favorite Scottsdale steakhouse. I think the Tonto Bar & Grill at the Rancho Manana golf course is close as well. This is a nice place for lunch or dinner. I love the Boulders, super spa and one of my absolutely favorite places to tee it up (1!), although we have avoided it for a few years waiting for them to update the rooms. Let me know if they have done so...

Thanks everyone...I will try and report back!

Thanks, Dapuma. Ended up at the Mission...just loved the Duck empanadas, pork belly pibil, scallop tacos, skirt steak tacos, and pumpkin bread pudding. I also wanted a nice dark chill spot last night. We will get over to Distrito eventually, unless it meets the fate of others in that spot.

Hey folks, I'm looking for an update on both Distrito and Barrio Queen. Thinking about hitting one of them tonight or sometime this week. Is Barrio Queen as good as Barrio? Is Distrito living up to its taco champion status or sinking with all the rest of the spots that inhabit the cursed Saguaro-Mondrian-Theodore space? (I really liked Asia de Cuba BTW).

Or, should I just skip both and head back to my fav - The Mission?

I love this time of year when my family can escape the desert and hit the beach. We are migrating down from Carlsbad after a couple of years, just a little south to Leucadia- Encinitas area and are looking for some great recs. I've read and heard great things about Kaito and Yu Me Ya, so I think we have Japanese/Sushi covered. We are looking for the lowdown on the best recs for the area for other foods (pizza, Italian, burgers, taco stands, and anything else totally chow worthy. We have a lot of meals to cover and a budget that goes from taco stands in between surfing to a couple of nice meals out.

+1 on Pelly's recommendation. Went there last summer and loved the fish tacos, sashimi, etc. Looking forward to trying Yu Me Ya and Kaito on the trip this year.

I smile whenever I see Beach Chick and I've said before we tend to pop up on similar boards and threads. Going to be in Leucadia in two weeks. Really looking forward to it, we are sliding down a little more south from Carlsbad this year. Definitely better restos in the Encinitas-Leucadia, Sol Beach areas.

I can confirm the above, the service and food is just not as good as it used to be.

+1 on SanTan and a big time ++1 on Four Peaks.