Blessed with blissful ceviche and terrific tacos, this new golf course eatery lends new meaning to the term “chip shot.”
by Nikki Buchanan | Photography by Gregory Rothstein
No one expects golf course restaurant food to be exceptional, which is why Glenrosa – the elevated Mexican restaurant at the refurbished Grass Clippings Rolling Hills golf course in Tempe – is such a pleasant surprise. Besides the cool, hacienda-style digs and bougainvillea-bedecked patio overlooking Papago Buttes, there’s a commitment to excellence here you seldom see at restaurants where guys are walking around in loud checked pants.
Executive chef Victor Davila, who worked at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale with Samantha Sanz (the James Beard award nominee originally tapped to run Glenrosa before life changes took her to Texas), has a strong fine-dining background, and it shows. The local, seasonal menu is casual, but his wood-grilled, Sonoran-inspired dishes demonstrate real finesse.
Naturally, alcoholic beverages abound, including a tajín-rimmed Marigold Margarita. Made with turmeric and fresh juices, it’s a refreshing number I’ll want to order repeatedly, washing down well with Sonoran quesadillas – small flour tortilla bundles wood-grilled until their exteriors are crisped and the asadero cheese inside is melty. Dunked in queso fresco-strewn guacamole and house-made, deeply flavorful molcajete salsa, they outpunch their weight.
I’m even more smitten with fresh, plump Baja shrimp ceviche, set in a thick tomato-based sauce I adore. Chunky with avocado and served with tortilla chips, it’s a little spicy, a little sweet, and the best ceviche I’ve had in ages. I’m just as enthusiastic about the pistachio-topped mercado salad, a colorful mix of ember-roasted beets and squashes set in creamy Crow’s Dairy feta and swirled with piloncillo-honey and citrus vinaigrette.
Smoky carne asada tacos on flour tortillas are about as classically Sonoran as it gets, but the grilled steak torta is more fun, a messy, delicious mélange of jalapeño aioli, muenster cheese, avocado, tomato, pickled onion, lettuce and arugula that isn’t overwhelmed by the ciabatta roll. Another standout is crisp-skinned, citrus-rubbed chicken, redolent with smoke and wonderfully moist. It comes with a platter of goodies: Mexican rice, creamy beans, esquites, roasted chiles and house-made tortillas.
After so many fantastic dishes, dessert (oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies or Mexican vanilla gelato) seems like an afterthought.
No handicap necessary: Even if it wasn’t a golf course restaurant, Glenrosa would be well above-par.
Glenrosa
Cuisine: Mexican
Contact: 1415 N. Mill Ave., Tempe, 480-530-9875, glenrosarestaurant.com
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
Highlights: Sonoran quesadillas ($14); shrimp ceviche ($15); mercado salad ($15); steak torta ($19); whole grilled chicken ($39)
