Photo by Jake Johnson Roast beef sandwich with mushroom soup

9. The Deli
18914 E. San Tan Blvd., Queen Creek
480-279-3546
thedeliqc.com

Cuisine: American

Price: $$-$$$

Atmosphere: Casual and cheery. The Mastyk family, which owns and operates The Deli, wisely included comfort settings with the restaurant’s quality comfort food. Abundant sunshine flows in from numerous windows, lighting up the upscale-country interior. Knotty pine tables are covered with butcher paper, and the rustic wine shelves lining the dining area are made of the same material. Chalkboards feature specials and the latest batch of homemade ice cream. “We’re an East Coast deli with a West Coast feel,” Nicole Mastyk says.

Outdoor seating: Yes

Key players: Blake and Nicole Mastyk (chef/owners); Barry and Brenda Mastyk (co-owners); Barry Mastyk Jr. (co-owner and soup chef)

Why we love it: Because we love Napa and Sonoma, and what’s not to love about having a piece of that here in the Valley? The food is tasty, simple and all natural, thanks to the Mastyks’ emphasis on using locally grown produce for nearly all of the restaurant’s needs and using no more than five ingredients in any ice cream recipe. Plus, it’s family owned, so there’s no formulaic franchise menu here. The items change monthly, offering simple food in complicated times.

Must try menu items: tomato and French onion soup ($4 cup, $5.50 bowl); prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella balls ($4.50); roast beef sandwich ($9); turkey sandwich with homemade sauerkraut ($8.50); orange roughy with herb butter sauce ($18); homemade ice cream (any kind, $2 per scoop)

Drink to die for: house sangria (white or red), $6 per glass and $17 per carafe; Grey Goose vodka with ginger ale, cucumber and lime ($7)

Secret of the House: The Mastyks make as much stuff from scratch as possible, and that includes the artwork and menus. To wit: They etched the restaurant logo into the wooden menu holders themselves, and Nicole tirelessly clipped photos of good-looking grub from various magazines to create the collages on the walls.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday

Happy hour/specials: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily, every drink is half off; two weekly dinner specials, $16 to $20; third Wednesday of every month features three-course dinner with wine pairings, $29.50 to $39.50

Takes reservations: Yes, for parties of six or more

Photo by David Moore

10. District American Kitchen and Wine Bar
320 N. Third St., PHOENIX (Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel)
602-817-5400
districtrestaurant.com

Cuisine: New American

Price: $$-$$$

Atmosphere: Sleek but not cheeky, the spacious environs of this hip new restaurant include tiger eye-striped marble table tops in the bar area and earth-toned color schemes throughout. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out on the corner of Third and Van Buren streets; in the cooler months, these become high-tops for better people-watching opportunities. The setting is perfect for a date, breakfast with the parents or post-game libations.

Outdoor seating: Yes

Key players: Chefs Nate Crouser and Frank Belosic; General Manager Heinrich Stasiuk

Why we love it: District touches all the bases. It offers weekly live music in the lounge, craft brews on tap and mouth-watering entrées for under $25. It also proudly supports the local produce scene by incorporating it into tasty versions of American classics. In fact, it’s all American. Try to order a Grey Goose vodka tonic here and you’ll be steered toward niche American labels (although the hotel staff are happy to oblige special requests). These traits make District more like a standalone restaurant, not some stale fixture inside a 1,000-room hotel. Its new menu comes out in October and will feature more sustainable and organic ingredients.

Must-try menu items: If they still grace the menu come fall, don’t miss the eggs Benedict ($16); Oak Creek Nut Brown Ale short ribs ($23); blackened gulf halibut steak with blue crab fondue and hush puppies ($21); and the whoopie pies paired with a bourbon malt shake ($8).

Drink to die for: Down a District 320, made with Rogue gin, sparkling wine and lemon juice ($12).

Secret of the house: Chefs set aside produce scraps for composting uses at a local produce farm in Scottsdale, which then uses the compost to grow produce for the restaurant. The farmer also helped them plant a garden on the hotel’s fourth floor.

Hours: breakfast, lunch and dinner daily

Happy hour/specials: Monday through Saturday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; half-priced wine on Sundays; more ridiculous specials if you follow Chef Crouser on Twitter

Takes reservations: Yes

Photo by David Moore Heirloom chefs sketch future menu options

11. Heirloom
20775 N. Pima Road,
Scottsdale
(Market Street at DC Ranch)
480-515-2575
mculinary.com/heirloom

Cuisine: American

Price: $$$

Atmosphere: Your friendly neighborhood bistro: burgundy- and butter-colored walls, wine racks galore, gorgeous stonework and breadstick bouquets. The jeans-clad waitstaff and hip soundtrack de-emphasize the white tablecloth aesthetic.

Outdoor Seating: No

Key Players: Chef/owner Michael DeMaria of Michael’s at the Citadel and M Catering; Chef de Cuisine Taylor Domet

Why we love it: DeMaria and Domet breathe life into American cuisine, creating imaginative dishes that intrigue without seeming contrived. They’ve forged relationships with local farmers to serve up fresh, seasonal fare, and the menu changes monthly, highlighting the current harvest and even giving a sneak preview of the following month’s crop to whet our appetites. The fish is sustainable, the beef is Arizonan or Nebraskan, and all the items (with the exception of a few international wines) are American. But all that would mean nothing if the food weren’t so fabulous.

Must-try menu items: Start with the swoonworthy handmade cavatelli with calamari and white bean-tomato-shrimp ragu ($14). The butterfish is a must – crisp on the outside, buttery inside and drizzled with a pitch-perfect tarragon pistou ($18). Diver scallops ($22) are wrapped in a wisp of bacon and served on a crab bolognaise that jets you to the Jersey shore with its sea-meets-Sopranos flavors (the recipe comes courtesy of DeMaria’s New Jersey Italian Uncle Ray). Plump, juicy grilled prawns share a plate with a silky zucchini-eggplant-red pepper terrine stuffed with lashings of Parmesan. In the playful “Pork and Beans,” ($19) melt-in-your-mouth, no-knife-necessary Kurobuta pork cheek replaces the humble hot dog. And if the mark of a great dessert is its addictiveness, we defy you to take “just a bite” of the compulsively yummy custard-filled donuts on sublime lemon chiffon ($7).

Drink to die for: Their by-the-glass selection includes Silver Oak, recently named the country’s most popular cabernet by Wine & Spirits magazine and typically sold only by the bottle.

Secret of the house: Reserve the intimate chef’s table for a view of the kitchen; seatings are at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in winter, anytime in summer.

Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday

Happy hour/specials: No

Takes reservations: Yes

Photo by David Moore Rib-eye steak

12. J&G Steakhouse
6000 E. Camelback Road,
Scottsdale (the phoenician)
480-214-8000,
jgsteakhousescottsdale.com

Cuisine: Steak/Seafood

Price: $$$-$$$$

Atmosphere: Back in the day, this spot was occupied by the venerable Mary Elaine’s. The décor has changed, but the views are still stellar. A color scheme that includes purple, charcoal gray and sand meets materials like glass, wood and leather. The lighting is subtle and ornate, but the linens have given way to butcher paper. In other words, it’s perfect for that romantic date without some of the pretentiousness formerly delivered by Mary Elaine’s.

Outdoor seating: Yes

Key players: Owner/corporate chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten;  Executive Chef Jacques Qualin; General Manager Michael Shapiro

Why we love it: It’s a meat lover’s delight with prime, top-shelf cuts of filet mignon and rib eye. The smoky chile dipping sauce is excellent, as is the caramelized and rare yellowfin tuna and the deliciously creamy potato gratin. On the drinks side, we love J&G’s comprehensive wine list and its lineup of after-dinner concoctions. They feature obscure and tasty ingredients such as black walnut liqueur and two kinds of armagnac (brandy from southwest France) and calvados (apple brandy from northwest France).

Must-try menu items: chilled lobster ($19); foie gras ($18); Caesar salad ($10); heirloom tomato salad ($12); filet mignon ($28 and $36); rib eye ($48 and $80); J&G burger ($16); short ribs ($24)

Drink to die for: The Amelia (Russian vodka, St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, blackberry purée, fresh lemon juice and a mint leaf, $11)
Secret of the house: Even though it’s a steakhouse, J&G flies fresh Dover sole in three times a week from the English Channel.

Hours: lounge opens at 4 p.m. daily; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday

Happy hour/specials: There’s no happy hour to speak of, but there is a three-course, $35 prix fixe menu that can’t be missed.

Takes reservations: Yes

Photo by Richard Maack Metro Brasserie

13. Metro Brasserie
7114 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale
480-994-3663
metrosouthbridge.com

Cuisine: Country French/American South

Price: $$-$$$

Atmosphere: A long hallway patterned with colorful floor tiles separates a row of street-view tables from the kitchen. Wood-paneled walls are adorned with unique streetscape photos that are seemingly etched in brushed steel, which hang below exposed rafters. The outside patio looks out on a small courtyard, with Waterfront condos rising nearby. The tables feature simple wicker chairs and white-linen tablecloths covered with butcher paper.

Outdoor seating: Yes

Key players: Bill DeGroot (idea), Fred and Jennifer Unger (owners), Matthew Taylor (executive chef)

Why we love it: This Old Town restaurant gives diners a taste of French cuisine while remaining unpretentious. The décor is slick, and all of the seating offers great people-watching opportunities. Executive Chef Matthew Taylor was previously an understudy to James Beard Award-winning chef John Bech of Louisiana, so he has the right stuff.

Must-try menu items: oysters on the half shell (6 for $12), fried oysters ($12), onion tart ($8), endive salad ($9), moules frites ($15), tagliatelle ($17), cassoulet for two, pork cheeks for two ($42); any dessert ($7)

Drink to die for: It may sound simple, but the gin and juice here is anything but boring. It’s made with watermelon Hendrick’s gin, Campari and mint ($10).

Secret of the house: The kitchen actually likes cooking for vegans and vegetarians despite a menu that favors meat, so just ask. Vegans take note: Everything fried is dipped in egg whites first.

Hours: 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Wednesday; 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., Thursday through Sunday

Happy hour/specials: No happy hour; try the late-night burger plus an imported beer for $10.

Takes reservations: Yes, for parties of six or more

Photo by David Moore The Mission

14. The Mission
3815 N. Brown Ave., Scottsdale
480-636-5005
themissionaz.com

Cuisine: Latin

Price: $$-$$$

Atmosphere: Who needs designer pantalones at this fiesta? Come in jeans and a bedazzled T and feast your eyes on the eye candy around you. Softly glowing chandeliers, candles and salt rocks ooze comfort from the ceiling and wall. Servers mix guacamole tableside. If El Guapo and his banditos had this kind of treatment, they would have left the good people of Santo Poco alone.

Outdoor seating: Yes

Key players: Brian Raab (partner/GM), Terry Ellsor (partner/CFO), Matt Carter (chef)

Why we love it: Chef Matt Carter offers a spicy spin on Latin dishes. Starters such as tableside guacamole and smoky flavored salsa warm up the belly; entrées feature spicy, hard-to-get peppers from Peru. The kitchen can still deliver with traditional items like chilaquiles while doing amazing things with succulent, spiced up pork. The sangria is some of the best in town. The Mission’s one-year anniversary is coming up (October 15), so check for specials (such as four-course, off-the-menu meals with a tasting of three tequilas plus a cocktail for $65).

Must-try menu items: short ribs ($25), pork shoulder ($32), scallops ($28), tableside guacamole ($12), roasted five-chile pepper soup ($9), pork shoulder tacos ($10), fried bananas ($7)

Drink to die for: Primarita (fresh lime juice, splash of agave nectar, Partida tequila, splash of water – watch for the mojito version soon, $13)

Secret of the house: Peruvian peppers come in through customs daily and require two months lead time. Chefs actually confit pork in duck fat.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily (kitchen hours)

Happy hour/specials: No daily happy hour, but bottles of wine, mimosas, Bloody Marys and Tecate beers are half off all day on
Sunday.

Takes reservations: Yes

Photo by David Moore Funghi (mushroom) pizza topped with truffle oil and goat cheese

15. The Parlor
1916 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
602-248-2480
theparlor.us

Cuisine: Pizza/Italian

Price: $-$$$

Atmosphere: Airy, bustling and always abuzz, The Parlor is better for friends and family than first dates. Blond wood tables, scored cement floors, chalkboard menus, an open kitchen and full windows shaded by star-shaped cement blocks add up to a casual-chic vibe befitting its CenPho setting. The space was previously the Salon de Venus beauty parlor (hence the name) and retains a few touches like retro paintings of coiffed women and a salon chair with blow dryer. In fact, much of Parlor is reclaimed or recycled: The table wood is from the roof, the wine rack is a repurposed sprinkler system, and some of the building materials came from nearby houses. (In addition to the eco-deco, the water is heated by solar power, and the bar reduces its glass waste by not serving bottled beers.)

Outdoor Seating: Yes, in a shaded, plant-filled patio complete with fireplace.

Key Players: Aric Mei, whose parents own Nello’s Pizza in Ahwatukee

Why we love it: Numerous elements go into making a pizza restaurant, but let’s face it, only one thing matters: the crust. At Parlor, it’s perfect – crispy, bubbly and slightly blackened on the outside, chewy-soft within, and not soggy in the center. We also appreciate the make-your-own pizza menu, where you can choose everything from the cheese to the sprinkling of herbs (we’re partial to homemade mozzarella, olives, fresh arugula and dried oregano). Even the “set” menu is hardly that: Salads, pastas and pizzas all can be ordered in different sizes – perfect for mixing and matching courses.

Must-try menu items: Though the menu has a fairly extensive selection of pastas, salads and sandwiches, it’s really about pizza. The Yukon Gold potato pizza ($10/$14) is the dark horse here: exquisitely flavored, with not too much starch despite the potatoes, and a subtle mélange of Gorgonzola, pancetta and leeks. Ask them to put an egg on top and you’ll be in breakfast-meets-dinner bliss. Mushroom lovers will go wild over the funghi pizza ($10/$14), topped with earthy truffle oil and tart goat cheese.

Drink to die for: Start with a Garden Mojito ($9), which gets Italianized with basil and cucumber. And nothing pairs better with your pizza than a glass of the Cannonball cabernet ($8).

Secret of the house: Sit at the pizza bar and you might be served some complimentary pizza-related appetizers.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday through Saturday

Happy hour/specials: Monday through Saturday, 3 p.m. to
6 p.m., all beers $3; wines $2 off.

Takes reservations: No

Photo by Eric Casse: models provided by the Leighton Agency; hair and makeup by Elise Welsh; clothing provided by Joy Li Studio PastaBar

16. PastaBar
705 N. First St., Ste. 110, Phoenix
602-687-8704
pastabaraz.com

Cuisine: Italian

Price: $-$$$

Atmosphere: After holding court at multimillion-dollar Tuscan villa-slash-restaurant Sassi, Wade Moises and Nick Gentry wanted this Downtown venture to have an approachable, urban feel – like a hip Milanese enoteca. The skinny red-and-white space is lit by bare lights and dosed with deviance in the form of a portrait lineup of controversial characters including Jim Jones, Rasputin and David Koresh. (Gentry insists they’re not trying to make a statement; it’s just some art their painter friend Luigi Venditti had lying around the house.)

Outdoor Seating: No

Key Players: Chefs Wade Moises and Nick Gentry, formerly of Sassi

Why we love it: Two words: handmade pasta. Once you’ve tasted these eggy, velvety noodles, you’ll never look at dried the same way again. This is the type of food that makes eating out worthwhile – because seriously, do you really want to source Italian flour and local, farm-fresh eggs, form it into a dough, roll it out over a classic Italian chitarra pasta-maker or form it into pillowy gnocchi and stamp it with a wooden pasta comb, then combine it with the most exquisite of Italian and local ingredients like homemade sausage, farmers’ market produce and Italian butter, when you can get it here for reasonable prices? We didn’t think so.

Must-try menu items: This is Italian Italian food, not American Italian, so you may see a few unfamiliar ingredients, but the tastes are pure comfort. Everybody’s favorites are orecchiette con salciccia ($15), ear-shaped pasta rich with homemade sausage, greens and Pecorino; and feather-light ricotta gnocchi alla lupa ($15) in sweet and spicy fennel sausage ragu. Bavette al cedro ($11), with lemon, Italian butter and Parmigiano Reggiano, is an ode to simplicity. And fettuccini e finocchio ($12) will send vegetarians to pasta nirvana.

Drink to die for: Jack Goes to Mulberry Street ($12) is a mix of bright, deep, sweet and sour: Gentleman Jack whiskey journeys to Manhattan’s Little Italy with the flavors of Carpano sweet vermouth, blood orange bitters and Amarena cherries.

Secret of the house: There are no secrets when it comes to the menu, Gentry says. Ask for the recipes and they’ll give them to you. A bigger mystery is the $100,000 bottle of Scotch above the bar, which Gentry inherited after it was found in the basement of an Arkansas mansion.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to
2 a.m., Friday and Saturday

Happy hour/specials: Reverse happy hour 10 p.m. to close daily: $10 for a pasta and appetizer, $5 martinis.

Takes reservations: Yes, for parties of six or more