Food and Fun in the Valley

Brunch

• Sumomaya - upscale vibes

• Butters - chill vibes 

• The Farmhouse (Downtown Gilbert)

• The Farm at South Mountain (Chandler)

• The Bread and Honey House (Arcadia)

• OEB Breakfast

• Prep & Pastry - very cute

• Zinque

• Eggstasy

• Snooze 

• Matt's Big Breakfast

• Ollie vaughn's - best breakfast in the Valley, especially try the lemon ricotta pancakes

Restaurants

• Pa'La (Phoenix) - beautiful ambience, great for an intimate dinner w/ friends

• Bagelfeld - best bagels

• Little Miss BBQ

• Hopdoddy Burger

• Cafe Lalibela (Tempe) - Ethiopian food, go with friends and share a platter!

• Four Peaks - brewery

• Chompies - deli, bagels, bakery

• Perfect Pear - sandwiches and salads

• Chopshop - healthy lunch

• Flower Child - healthy lunch, casual 

• CAVA - healthy go-to lunch, casual 

• Salad 'N' Go - drive-thru, healthy go-to lunch, casual 

• Ocotillo - beautiful outdoor seating and rotating menu featuring local produce

• Diego Pops - very loud, but worth going for the Brussel sprout nachos 

• Ike’s Love and Sandwiches - always choose the dutch bread 

• Fry Bread House - Navajo tacos

• OHSO - best casual hangout

• Chino Bandido - chinese-mexixan fusion

• Nana's Kitchen (Chandler) - Voted PHX Best Vegan Restaurant in 2023; Black Owned

• Mexican

• • Maskadores

  • Barrio Cafe - no frills Mexican place, lots of options and huge portions

  • Taco Boys

  • Frank and Lupes

  • Tacos Chiwas

  • Taco Guild - more for the vibes

  • La Santisima 

• Italian

  • DeFalco's Italian Grocer

  • Andreoli's Italian Grocers

  • Dolce Vita Italian Grocer (Mesa) - homemade pasta and AMAZING gelato

  • Sophia’s kitchen - the Arrabiata pasta 😍 

  • North Italia

  • Olive & Ivy - also great brunch, family-friendly

  • Pane Bianco

  • Pizzeria Bianco - featured on Netflix! 

  • Humble Bistro

  • Postino - $25 board and bottle after 8 PM Mondays and Tuesdays, family friendly

  • Fate - $10 pizza on Mondays

  • Grimaldis - pizza

  • Baconara - have to get reservations starting the first of the month for the next month but widely acknowledged as one of the best restaurants in Phoenix/America

• Arabic/Persian

• • Green Corner (Scottsdale and Mesa)

  • Persian Room - go with friends, and bring your appetite, BIG portions 

  • De Babel - a very fire falafal sandwich

  • Golden Bakery

  • Ava Bakery

• Indian

• • Hyderabad house

  • Tikka shack - great deal on tikka Tuesdays

  • Feringhee

  • Curry Corner (Tempe) - also have a cafe that opens at night, try the pink Kashmiri chai

• Pan-Asian

• • Toasty & Sweetz (Tempe) - Taiwanese style sandwiches

  • Da Vang (Phoenix)

  • Mekong Dim Sum (Mesa)

  • Great Wall - dim sum

  • 3 Regions - best viet food

  • Taste Pot (Mesa)

  • Old Town Taste (Tempe)

  • Khao Thai 

  • Thai House

  • Thai Chili 2 Go

  • Glai Baan (Phoenix) - need a reservation, or be prepared to wait, but so worth the wait

  • The Stone Korean Tofu House (Mesa) - the best comfort korean food, they make their tofu in-house. perfect night would end with Tiger Sugar Boba from across the plaza

  • Pocha 54 - happy hour prices!!

  • Gen Korean BBQ

  • H-Mart - Korean food

  • Hello Vietnam Pho and Roll

  • Reathrey Seekong - best Cambodian food

• Sushi/Poke/Seafood:

  • Sushi Friend (Phoenix) - top 10 sushi spots in America!

  • Sushi Sen (Scottsdale)

  • Kodo Sushi

  • Yasu-O - amazing happy hour prices

  • Kaizen

  • Harumi

  • Chula Seafood - fresh poke from San Diego daily

  • Zu Izakaya Asian Kitchen Bar (Tempe) - kind of an unsuspecting spot, almost dive-bar vibes, but the best albacore sashimi I've ever had in my life

Higher End/Fancy

• Toca Madera

• Pa La

• Maple & Ash

• Roaring Fork

• Francine

• Thea - beautiful view of Camelback

• Zinc Bistro

• The Henry

• Arboleda

• Buck & Rider - great oysters!

• Wren & Wolf - maybe not family friendly

• Flint

• Etta

• First & Last

• Tia Carmen - ceviche tostada was delish

• The Vig - family friendly

• *Regroup Coffee and Bicycle (Tempe) - locally owned, cute shop, lots of study space, but closes at noon and closed sun/mon

• Cafe Mollie - Vietnamese coffee, Asian-inspired drinks

• Cafe 48 (Tempe) - Vietnamese coffee

• Deseo Coffee Shack - good coffee, nice outdoor patio area

• Fourtillfour (Old Town Scottsdale) - standing coffee shop (i.e. no tables to study, grab a coffee and walk around), amazing espresso drinks, must try their date syrup!

• *Press - chain coffee shop around town, Raintree location is a great study spot, make a great cappuccino 

• Lux Annex - loud music, more of a brunch/hangout spot 

• *Xanadu (Phoenix) - very fun, delish, cool spot, opens early

• Futuro (Phoenix) - i totally wanted to gatekeep this shop, literally too cool for school coffee shop, but delish; need to pay for parking

• *Stir - small space, not a lot of table space, but open late

• *Sip Coffee and Beer House - great espresso tonic

• *Infusion Coffee and Tea Crafters - 11/10, try the ginger twist or something off the seasonal menu, can get pretty busy and full of ASU kids

• *Sweetwaters - chain coffee shop, lots of table space for studying

• *Provision (Phoenix) - higher end, can get really busy, but good food and coffee drinks

• *Echo Coffee - try the banana bread!

• *Cartel Roasters (Old Town Scottsdale) - not a lot of outlets

• Tamosan

• *Shaghf (Tempe) 

• Pip Coffee and Clay - 

• Firecreek Cafe

• Valentine - also has a cool vintage shop inside 

• Squarez

• *Window Coffee Bar - easy parking, pistachio latte was great 

• *Luana's Coffee and Beer - dive-bar vibes, woman/non-binary friendly, charge extra for dairy milk lol, parking can be tricky

• *Zingara - locally owned, gorgeous coffeeshop near Shea campus, great coffee if a little expensive ($7)

• Yellow Spruce roasters - great to stop by if you're visiting the Scottsdale farmers market, small space

*Good study space!

• Social Hall (Tempe) - games and drinks

Happy Hours

• Cook & Craft

• PHX Beer Co

• Buck & Rider

• North Italia

• Mexicano

• Modern Margarita

• Postino

• Outriders Rooftop Bar (Old Town Scottsdale)

• The Genuine - has $5 martini all day Thursdays

Cute Drinks/Cocktail Bars

• Gin & Reel

• Pigtails

• 36 Below

• Century Grand

• Hula Modern Tiki

• Champagne Lanes

• Palma

• Buffalo Chip

• Rough Rider - speakeasy

• Grey Hen Rx or the other themed bars in Century Grand

Speakeasy

• Rough Rider

• Platform 18 at Central Grand

• Trophy Room

• 1912

• Undertow

Rooftop Bars

• Top of the Rock (Tempe)

• Don Woods Say When (Aracadia)

• Floor 13 (Phoenix) 

• Soda Jerk

• Pie Snob

Bakery

• Meet Fresh

• 85C Bakery

• Sesame Donut

• JL Patisserie - local owned, also popular with the attendings at Mayo 

• Cafe 86 (Chandler) - ube desserts

• Miss Dessert

• Paris Baguette 

• Lior the Baker - challah and almond croissants

• MochiDot Donuts

Ice Cream

• Novel Ice Cream - nationally ranked ice cream and homemade donuts 

• Frost gelato

• Dessert in Desert

• Sugar Bowl 

• Sweet Republic 

• Jeni's Ice Cream

• The Sugar Bowl - old time diner vibes for ice cream

• Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt

• Mahalo Made - Hawaiian shaved ice

Boba

• Regions Tea - Best boba, try the roasted wintermelon oolong milk tea and pandan latte 

• Ni Hao Tea - fresh taro milk tea

• Rare Tea - teaspresso drink

• Tea Fresho - egg coffee

• Sharetea

• Us Boba

• Phoenix Fine Arts Museum - free on Wednesdays

• Phoenix Symphony - AMAZING, $15 student tickets with student ID at the window 2 hours before show time

• ASU Gammage

• Music Instruments Museum 

• most Scottsdale public libraries have the Culture Pass program where you can get two free passes to a bunch of cultural activities including the Desert Botanical Garden

• Almost There - mom and pups rescue shelter, they have a bunch of fun events such as yoga + puppies - all proceeds go towards the shelter

• Arabian Library - Scottsdale public library, great study spot and very pretty

• Burton Barr Central Library

• Desert Botanical Gardens

• Taliesin West - one of Frank Lloyd Wright's homes

• Roars and Pours - at the Phoenix zoo, $10, one Thursday night per month during the winter/ spring, drink beer and look at animals (best in December because they have the Zoolights up)

• Scottsdale Farmer's Market - Oct through April, Saturday mornings, parking can get tricky if you go late

• Fountain Hills Farmer's Market - Wed mornings

• First Draft - best book store 

• First Fridays (downtown Phoenix) 

• Scottsdale Ranch Park - volleyball, etc. 

• Horizon Park

• Scottsdale Ice Den

• Saguaro Lake - rent a boat or paddle board

• Greenbelt - bike trail

• Papago Park 

• Pickleball at Chola Park

• Tempe Town Lake - enter the lake at your own risk 

• Salt River Tubing

• Canyon Lake - paddle board

• Gateway Loop at McDowell - 4.5 miles, easy

• McDowell Mountain Regional Park - hiking, biking, camping, lots of trails

• Sunrise Peak

  • Lost dog trail to Sunrise peak - 6 miles, moderate

• Camelback - classic, 2 miles and can get pretty difficult

  • Echo Canyon Trail

  • Chola Trail

• Adero Canyon (Fountain Hills)

• Javelina Trail

• Bell Pass Trail 

• Weavers Needle (surrounding Superstitions)

• Flat Iron - 6 miles, hard

• Tom's Thumb - 4 miles, moderate

• Pinnacle Peak - 4 miles, easy

• Piestewa Peak - 2 miles, hard

• Mormon Loop to Fat Man's Pass (South Mountain) - 4 miles, easy

• McDowell Mountain Regional Park - hiking, biking, camping, lots of trails

• Butcher Jones Trail on Lake Saguaro

• Bike South Mountain on Silent Sundays - the road closes to all vehicle traffic 

• Trail 100 in Phoenix Mountain Preserve - mountain biking 

• Pima Dynamite trail/Browns Ranch - mountain biking 

• Desert Classic in South Mountain - mountain biking 

• Hawes Trail System (a little past Mesa) - mountain biking 

• Payson: Tonto Natural Bridge

• Superstition Mountains/Apache Junction (Flat Iron trail)

• Grand Canyon 

  • South Kaibab trail hike to Phantom Ranch and back up Bright Angel (about 17 miles)

• Tucson

  • tons of good food and quirky shopping - Noodleholics, The Parish, La Chaiteria, Ceres, Time Market, Kukai, Penelope Pizza, Coronet Cafe, Tito and Pep, Zayna Mediterranean, Frida's Cafe, Cafe Francais Boulangerie et Patisserie, Baja Cafe, Bookmans

  • Sonora Desert Museum 

  • Sabino Canyon, highly recommend 7 falls trail

  • Summerhaven town on Mount Lemmon

  • Mount Lemmon (giant cookie cabin at the top), Noodleholics, LeBuzz, Jun Dynasty, Chef Wang, Time Market, Scented Leaf, The Quesadillas, Mojo Cuban, Dave’s hot chicken, Cafe Luce

  • Hike on Mt. Lemmon and go to the cookie cabin, eat Sonoran dogs, Saguaro National Park, Seven Falls trail (7 miles, moderate), Biosphere 2, Colossal Cave, Kartchner Caverns

• Flagstaff 

  • Lowell Observatory

  • Skiing at Snowbowl, Pizzicletta (amazing pizza), just walking around exploring the shops

  • Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course, Humphries Peak (10 miles, hard), Lowell Observatory, Snowbowl, lava tubes

• Sedona

  • Bell rock, Devil’s Bridge, Holy Cross Chapel, Tlaquepaque Arts Village, The Vault Uptown (amazing views on the patio!)

  • Bell trail (hiking and cliff jumping, 8 miles round trip), Cathedral Rock loop (7 miles, includes several swimming holes), Pink Jeep tours, Devils Bridge, Soldiers Pass trail with seven sacred pools and "hidden" cave

  • best view from Highway House

• Page: 

  • Antelope Canyon, The Wave, Lake Powell, rent kayaks and ride through Horseshoe Bend (there are 3 companies that tow the kayaks so you can paddle one-way and end at the car)

  • Slot Canyons 

• Strawberry/Pine: Tonto Natural Bridge, Fossil Springs trail (need a permit), Pie Bar for amazing empanadas

• Tombstone/Jerome for old mining towns

• Petrified Forest National Park 

• Chiricahua National Monument 

• Organ Pipe National Monument

• Joshua Tree (4.5 hr drive): Joshua Tree National Park of course, Pioneer Town, Joshua Tree coffee, Pappy & Harriet’s BBQ, Mas o Menos coffee

• Las Vegas (5 hr drive): Plenty to do depending on what you’re looking for! Food, Shopping, Gambling, etc. No specific recommendations.

• San Diego (5 hr drive) 

• Bam Kazam - life-size video game/ escape room (best with groups of 4-6)

• Pip Coffee and Clay - drink coffee and sign up for a pottery class