Best Place to Grab Coffee Without Leaving Your Car
Window Coffee Bar – Uptown Phoenix
The Uptown outpost of the java-to-go favorite (there’s also a walk-up-only location in Melrose) is a true hidden gem – all the way down to the blink-and-miss-it storefront. Located in a nondescript brick building more befitting a bank than the city’s chicest café, it features a drive-thru window perfect for grabbing a rainbow of multicolored drinks – from lilac-tinged ube lattes to pool-blue energy drinks – on the go. 903 W. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, 480-307-4405, windowcoffeebar.com
Best Coffee Shop Nobody Knows About
Stellar Coffee Co.
Hidden inside The Square office building adjacent to Scottsdale Fashion Square, Stellar Coffee Co. offers a full line of coffee drinks, breakfast goodies, sandwiches and protein shakes in a quiet, brightly lit space with a lovely outdoor patio. It’s a great spot to meet a friend, do some work or just hang out. Who knew? 6991 E. Camelback Rd., Scottsdale, 602-721-8140,
stellarcoffeephx.com
Best Latte
LGO’s Havana Latte
What sets this frothy caffeinated beverage apart from the others? The locally roasted espresso gives the popular drink at the Arcadia brunch spot its kick, and the steamed sweetened condensed milk is what keeps us from waiting in the drive-thru lines of the national coffee chains. 4410 N. 40th St., Phoenix, 602-840-7777, lagrandeorangegrocery.com
Best New Coffee shop
Case Study
What will get someone to come back to a Valley coffee shop when they need another caffeine hit? Ambiance. Case Study has it in spades, from the furniture on display crafted by local woodworker William Douglas to the diverse playlists curated by the staff. The coffee is excellent, too. 4802 N. 16th St., Phoenix, 480-590-4270, casestudyphoenix.com
Best Outdoor Brunch Spot
Luci’s at the Orchard
Not to be confused with its sister location on 16th Street and Bethany Home Road, this culinary oasis has a spacious outdoor patio filled with orange trees to keep your family out of the harsh sunlight while the splash pad keeps your little ones cool in the warmer months. 7100 N. 12th St., Phoenix, lucisgoodness.com
Best Breakfast Vibe
The Eleanor
This South Scottsdale breakfast spot oozes mid-century modern vibes, with its Ralph Haver pitched roof, airy dining room, wall-size windows, ’50s-inspired speckled linoleum floor, geometrically patterned cement blocks and sleek leather booths. As you linger over a honey cinnamon latte after a hearty breakfast burrito, relax and enjoy the simple, understated digs. 3207 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, 480-685-2525, theeleanoraz.com
Best Sinful Breakfast Confection
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes at Daily Dose Grill, Kitchen & Bar
If cinnamon is your kryptonite, tuck into a plate of Daily Dose’s fluffy, cinnamon-laced pancakes draped with sweet white icing and you’ll be weak in the knees with delight. The hotcakes come with maple syrup, but don’t bother. These fragrant, impossibly sweet beauties stand alone in all their cinnamon-spiked glory. Two Valley locations, dailydosegrill.com
Best acai Bowl
Berry Divine
All açaí bowls are not created equal. Most are runny and tasteless, with a couple pieces of limp fruit on top. But Berry Divine lives up to its name with soft serve that’s just the right consistency, layered with granola, topped with your choice of fresh fruit, honey and more. Multiple locations, berrydivineacai.com
Best Hangover Cure
Breakfast Enchiladas at Richardson’s
Feeling fuzzy after a night on the town? Head to Richardson’s for a body-and-soul-detoxifying plate of corn tortilla enchiladas. Stuffed with everything from melted cheese to shredded beef to shrimp, they’re served New Mexico-style, i.e. enshrouded in red or green chile sauce, along with a trio of over easy eggs, rice and beans. Things will look a lot rosier after breakfast. 6635 N. 16th St., Phoenix, 602-265-5886, richardsonsnm.com
Best Flapjacks
Otro Cafe
You can fool yourself into thinking you go to the beloved Uptown brunch spot for the chilaquiles. They’re great, but your ulterior motive is obvious: to drown a buttery, crispy flapjack in maple syrup. What’s the secret to the savory tang of Otro’s carb-filled cakes? They add sour cream to the batter. 6035 N. Seventh St., Phoenix, 602-266-0831, otrocafe.com
Best Chef-y Breakfast
Beginner’s Luck
Valley culinary legend Bernie Kantak (Citizen Public House, The Gladly) is disrupting the eggs-and-bacon breakfast cliché big-time at his irresistible all-day diner in Old Town. 7240 E. Main St., Scottsdale, 480-571-0416, beginnersluckaz.com
- Monster Kolache: Pastry chef Ben Cadriel fills Czech pastry dough with birria, green chile, or whatever strikes his fancy to make hot pockets you’ll crave on the daily.
- Lucky 7 Cereal Bowl: Hot, earthy blue corn mush and cold, sweet chia pudding, separated by a ribbon of granola, are sweetened with agave syrup and strewn with berries and flowers. Seven ingredients in one bowl of yin-yang goodness.
- My Rich Uncle’s French Toast: It could pass for dessert, this airy confection of thickly sliced, egg-dipped challah, given a dash of five spice and topped with salted butterscotch syrup, coconut-pecan streusel, and melting whipped cream.
