The best restaurants in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley

The Phoenix-area restaurant scene has witnessed tremendous growth over the past decade, both in quality and diversity. 

Republic dining critic Dominic Armato selected his favorite restaurants around the Phoenix area and these are the best restaurants in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

It was difficult to choose, but one single criterion emerged for deciding which restaurants to include: How excited he is for you to try them.

Click MAP IT! to jump to the location on a map, and discover even more great restaurants around the Valley to try.

How many of Dominic Armato’s top restaurants have you tried? Use this fun checklist.

Andreoli Italian Grocer

Giovanni Scorzo was regional Italian before regional Italian was cool. When the Calabrian native tired of trying to please the white tablecloth crowd, he opened Andreoli, a casual neighborhood grocery with a few tables that serves some of the best traditional Italian fare in town. This culinary curmudgeon with an uncompromising vision is as likely to be in the front of house sipping espresso and watching soccer as he is to be in the back of house running the kitchen. His work is a devastating combination of simplicity, technique and killer ingredients that exposes the purveyors of oafish red sauce concoctions and pretentious, overworked modern Italian for the charlatans they are. Grab a loaf of craggy bread, order a perfect pasta or grilled seafood from the white board, snag some sticky cornetti marmelatta or crisp, layered sfogliatelle from the pastry case and consider yourself lucky that such a skilled Italian traditionalist calls Scottsdale home.

Details: 8880 E. Via Linda, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-614-1980, andreoli-grocer.com.

Atlas Bistro

Todd Sawyer’s restaurant is a chameleon. Quiet and unassuming, hidden in a strip mall on the fringes of the Old Town spotlight, it changes its colors through the years as chefs come and go. It’s also one of the most reliably excellent restaurants in the Valley — a BYOB, to boot — that has never been better than it is under the auspices of chef Cory Oppold. The stark antithesis of flashy downtown Scottsdale just a few blocks to the north, Atlas Bistro piggybacks on AZ Wine Company, an intimate room with minimal decor and sound-deadening walls. While the setting is modest, the plates are filled with pyrotechnics, showy but thoughtful multi-component affairs that nimbly merge disparate flavors and techniques to compelling effect. Think slivers of tender beef tongue pastrami with a honey mustard emulsion; kombu-marinated black cod with yerba mate béarnaise; or a goat cheese mousse spiked with Jidori chicken skin crisps and poached cranberries. Wine geeks love the capable bottle service and, as a bonus, Oppold’s vegetarian creations are some of the best in town.

Details: 2515 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-990-2433, atlasbistrobyob.com.

Chula Seafood

Chula Seafood isn’t a market, it’s a full-blown happening. Sure, this is casual fare served from behind a fish counter, but its diminutive footprint belies the oversize impact it’s having on the local scene. Jon Heflin and Hogan Jamison truck in stellar seafood from San Diego three times a week, and the few staples they can’t catch or trade themselves are flown in from excellent sources. What isn’t sold in the case or distributed to local restaurants goes to chef Juan Zamora, who has crafted a compact but robust list of bowls, salads and sandwiches with everyday character and a hint of refinement. Cool mounds of cubed fish are joined by shishito peppers, slivered watermelon radish or pickled beech mushrooms. A delicately composed tostada or bruschetta might light up the specials board. Wednesday’s green chile tuna melt with fresh confit tuna and kimchi chimichurri has developed a fan club. There’s a reason the line is out the door and you can’t swing a stick in the place without hitting at least three chefs who are grabbing lunch on the way to work.

Details: 8015 E. Roosevelt Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-621-5121, chulaseafood.com.

FnB

There are restaurants that excel and there are restaurants that capture something essential. There are endless reasons to love FnB, a quirky, cozy space that embodies its proprietors’ penchant for marching to their own beat. There’s Charleen Badman’s preternatural ability to coax vegetables into revealing their truest nature; her talent for sizzling premium proteins on the grill; and Pavle Milic’s zeal for Arizona wines and spirits. But perhaps more than all of that, their work has put a bold stamp on the Valley’s emergence as a maturing, sophisticated culinary scene that can run with the big boys without feeling the need to mimic them. Potted smoked trout rillettes join rustic bread and a rainbow of pickled vegetables. Creamy Peruvian aji amarilllo is wrapped in a crisp spring roll shell. And the Gilfeather rutabaga is a witty play on a classic baked potato, plied with ginger creme fraiche and chives. The way Badman ropes in diverse international influences while expressing Arizona’s underappreciated agricultural bounty is unparalleled. If one restaurant best exemplifies the blossoming of our cuisine over the past decade, it’s FnB.

Details: 7125 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-284-4777, fnbrestaurant.com.

Franco’s Italian Caffe

Franco Fazzuoli almost got away. He followed his daughter to New York, and it seemed that his charming destination for classic Italian fare might be lost forever. But in 2012, he returned to Old Town and opened up a time portal on Scottsdale Road, leading straight into a bygone era of white tablecloths, soft music, servers who know when not to talk and Italian fare that sports a little class while satisfying on a deep, visceral level. Photos of Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren line the walls; a pungent swipe of fresh garlic lines the bruschetta; and a crisp, perfectly seasoned crust lines the exterior of the orecchie elefante, Fazzuoli’s take on a juicy, thick-cut veal chop Milanese. Franco’s gently tiptoes the line between Italian and American, embracing some of the New World’s meatier, saucier habits without drifting into full-blown red sauce territory. This is classic cuisine done right, a bit of old-school elegance and a nod to the days when we used the word “continental” without some of the era’s clunky heft. And if anything starts to feel a touch too rich, a taste of Fazzuoli’s sweet, airy merenghata will take care of that... subito.

Details: 4327 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-481-7614, francosscottsdale.com.

Hot Noodles, Cold Sake

Josh Hebert’s ramen shop isn’t precisely traditional, but neither is Hebert. A Western-trained chef who spent a year working in Japan, Hebert has developed a very personal style of ramen that might get under the skin of the tonkotsu fanboys, but it’s hard to see that as a bad thing. It isn’t that he hasn’t done his homework. He’s a student of the cuisine who made his name blending French and Japanese flavors and techniques in upscale environs. But like so many shops in Japan that are playing with convention, Hebert’s humble ramen bar uses the framework as a means of self-expression. What he’s expressing is one of the best bowls of noodles in town. The goma is the signature item, a sesame-spiked pork broth with a nutty countenance. But the gently smoky shoyu and the chile-spiked seafood ramen are also personal favorites. Spiked with some unconventional ingredients and possessed of non-traditional tweaks, they’re solidly grounded in careful technique.

Details: 15689 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-432-9898, hotnoodlescoldsake.com.

Lamp Wood Oven Pizzeria

Chris Bianco inspired a generation of Arizona pizza makers and, simply put, Matt Pilato is one of the best. In a town bursting at the seams with wood-fired pizza, Pilato has focused an obsessive attention to detail on local conventions to create a signature style that’s descended from Bianco, but entirely his own. Oft overlooked due to its distance from the city’s core, Lamp serves a pizza that’s modestly topped, roundly flavored and crisper than most. Pizza menus that stretch into double-digit offerings tend to get diluted, but every one of Pilato’s 28 creations is well-balanced and carefully thought-out. The Scientist offsets a plethora of salumi with dense, meaty Castelvetrano olives. The Gepetto takes a sweet and pungent route, pairing Pilato’s boozy house sausage with caramelized onions and blue cheese. And though it’s one of Phoenix’s prime specimens, the pizza isn’t even the best thing on the menu. That title belongs to the mignulata, a type of Sicilian bread that sports a tender, layered core stuffed with pungent onions, sausage and pecorino enveloped in a crackling crisp crust. 

Details: 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-272-6889, lamppizza.com.

Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana

Pomo started as a laser-focused Neapolitan pizzeria desperately trying to convince skeptical diners of the soggy center’s charms. But it has evolved into something more — a local restaurant group that has harnessed popular Italian fare and elevated its integrity without sacrificing its broad appeal. Restaurateur Stefano Fabbri runs a boisterous, contemporary establishment. His collection of wood-fired pizzas and fresh pastas is a delectable, never-ending work in progress that pushes diners just a little bit further with each successive year. VPN-certified (that’s food geek speak for “hardcore traditional”) Neapolitan pizzas, such as the margherita and bufala verace, do a fine job of conveying the style’s chewy countenance, bubbling cornicone and straightforward adornment. But less conventional items like the charred, paper-thin, Rimini-style pizzas and the cheese-stuffed focaccia di Recco can steal the show from the main event, and Pomo slings a mean lasagna to boot. 

Details: 8977 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-998-1366. Also 705 N. First St., Phoenix. 602-795-2555. pomopizzeria.com.

Rancho Pinot

Chrysa Robertson is a central figure in the Valley’s culinary history who has borne the standard of understated, soulful fare for decades while trends have come and gone around her. She opened this Scottsdale institution nearly 25 years ago, but unlike so many moldering relics of the era that now feel clumsy and dated, Rancho Pinot is as fresh and relevant as any newcomer to the scene. Filled with California- and Italian-influenced classics you can ease into like a worn leather chair, the menu’s focus on pure flavor, unfussy presentations and classic comforts is at once timeless and squarely on trend. A round of house-pulled burrata is a rich and creamy morsel, whether paired with a stone fruit relish or swimming in a roasted tomato broth. Grilled quail are succulent and sweet; and delicate gnocchi are nestled into a rich lamb ragu. But Nonni’s Sunday chicken, simply braised with mushrooms and white wine and paired with crisp polenta, exemplifies Rancho Pinot’s appeal. Restaurants new and old struggle to show this kind of grace and maturity in their food, but Robertson, as always, makes it look easy.

Details: 6208 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-367-8030, ranchopinot.com.

Roka Akor

Steak is unavoidable in this town, even where upscale Japanese is concerned. Thankfully, at Roka Akor, that’s not a bad thing. This swanky joint with a Scottsdale nightlife vibe is in a part of town where it could have easily coasted on image alone. But there is compelling work being done here with ultra-superior ingredients, including some of the city’s best nigiri sushi, a compact list made with slabs of premium fish, delicate rice and real wasabi. Creative sashimi are also strong, like butterfish tataki wrapped around crisp white asparagus with a touch of herb and yuzu. The miso-marinated black cod is a refined take on the izakaya staple. And I’m more than a little enamored of their slabs of tender sweet potato with a hefty dose of binchotan-induced char and a ginger-laced glaze. But you most likely came for the steaks, and they’re excellent, whether a charred rib eye with a soy vinaigrette, juicy skirt steaks with an herbal shiso chimichurri or imported Japanese beef that inhabits “if you have to ask” territory. Heck, even the beef and kimchi gyoza are sharp, a compelling take on a dish that’s usually a throwaway, even when it isn’t frozen.

Details: 7299 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-306-8800, rokaakor.com.

Sel

Café Monarch was wildly popular and well-tended under Branden Levine, but you wouldn’t describe the date-night destination’s fare as particularly edgy. Levine’s 2-year-old solo venture, however, is another story. Sel has the look of a slick Scottsdale lounge, an intimate room done in crystal and purple velour with a gently thumping soundtrack. The menu’s structure is four-course prix fixe that gets a top-to-bottom refresh almost monthly, a collection of refined dishes that change with the seasons and Levine’s whims. A bit of American brashness meets European sensibilities while drawing in flavors from around the world. Scallop ceviche enriched with uni panna cotta bathes in a smoky, dashi rich broth. A gorgeous grilled langoustine tops Thai-inspired sausage with the gentle sourness of fermented rice. Risotto prepared with phytoplankton is a deep-green chlorophyll bomb. For dessert, an ice cream sandwich is spruced up with spiced caramel and a foie gras gelato.

Details: 7044 E. Main St., Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-949-6296, selrestaurant.com.

Super Chunk Sweets/New Wave Market

Country and Sergio Velador had a pretty darn good sweet shop going. Then they had to go and improve it by adding coffee, breakfast, lunch and a market of all manner of delectables, local and otherwise. Now the colorful, quirky joint with a killer ‘80s soundtrack is as irresistible as it is adorable. Country, the longtime pastry chef at Cowboy Ciao, still slings signature sweets like the John & Yoko cake, honey-soaked and plied with tres leches; or the Cowpuncher, a crisp Mexican chocolate cookie dusted with cayenne and spiked with candied jalapeños. But now savories have joined the fray: A lacy ghee-fried egg graces her house-made bagels with a splash of lacto-fermented hot sauce; the chicken salad is thick with schmaltz and spiked with gribenes; and they’ve added a formidable Reuben to the list. The funky little sweet shop has transformed into a place you could hang out all day. And you’ll pretty much want to.

Details: 7120 E. Sixth Ave., Scottsdale. MAP IT! 602-736-2383, newwavemarket.com.

Talavera

Scottsdale suffers no shortage of blowout resort restaurants, but Talavera might be the crown jewel. The Four Seasons has cultivated a reputation for luxury balanced with restraint. That’s a theme carried straight through every aspect of the experience — from the refined room to the stunning desert views to the dishes that glide in and land on the table. Chef Samantha Sanz weaves the flavors of Spain and Mexico into a bold, sophisticated menu built on premium ingredients and as lush to behold as it is to taste. They range from the chaos of paella plied with sea critters of every stripe to the aching simplicity of pan con tomate. From the fragrant, garlicky sting of mammoth prawns splashed with mole verde to the rustic elegance of an unctuous cut of roasted Iberico de bellota pork. There’s a lyrical quality to Sanz’s work, lusty flavors tamed with careful technique to create something that feels almost seductive.

Details: Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, 10600 E. Crescent Moon Drive. MAP IT! 480-513-5086, talaverarestaurant.com.

Virtù Honest Craft

Gio Osso made a massive splash in 2013, earning rave reviews and a spot on Esquire’s best new restaurants list for his charming Italian nook at the Bespoke Inn. But the ripples quickly died down. Much of Osso’s attention went to his casual Gilbert venture, Nico, and Virtù slipped to the edge of the spotlight. Those who forgot about Virtù need to come back for another look, and soon. Osso may be singlehandedly responsible for putting octopus on the menu of every restaurant in town. But despite what every article since the launch of Virtù has told you, that was never his best work to begin with, and his food has grown leaps and bounds in the several years since. What’s evolved is something leading-edge and lush, a tribute to his Italian roots with a hefty dose of American ingenuity. Pâté rich with liver and nocino — a green walnut liqueur — gets a punchy swab of salted pistachio crema. Perfect slices of smoked duck join an herbal green garbanzo hummus with a sweet lick of cherry agrodolce. And if you skip his beef ragu because it’s made with heart, that’s your mistake.

Details: Bespoke Inn, 3701 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale. MAP IT! 480-946-3477, virtuscottsdale.com.

Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen

Where so many resort restaurants strive for luxury and opulence, it’s nice to encounter one with a kind of confident, understated class. The Andaz Scottsdale Resort has a style inspired by the visual arts, painted from a palette of bold colors and minimal design. That style is carried through by the kitchen, now under the direction of chef Jason Thompson. This is creative fare in keeping with its artistic theme: vibrant, colorful and expressive. Tender braised lamb belly is contrasted by a light citrus and olive salad, dressed with an emulsion of simple lettuce and olive oil. Vibrant orange sweet potato gnocchi, with a playfully non-traditional chew, sit in a thick, almost sticky chicken reduction cut with just a touch of acid. A massive pork chop eschews fruity sweetness in favor of a spiced chorizo crust and the subtle pop of melted bell peppers. And the roasted baby yams are a delight, tossed with a smoky brown butter and ancho chile vinaigrette before being plied with the sweet sting of i’itoi onions.

Details: Andaz Scottsdale Resort and Spa, 6114 N. Scottsdale Road. MAP IT! 480-214-4622, scottsdale.andaz.hyatt.com.

Hearth ‘61

Mountain Shadows is back from the dead, and it has been resurrected in style. The new, contemporary resort is less the swingin’ hot spot of its ‘60s heyday and more a luxe oasis that’s built as a picture frame for nearby Camelback Mountain. At Hearth ’61, chefs Charles Wylie, Richard Garcia and Alfred Muro walk the tightrope of producing inventive cuisine while adhering to the constraints of being the resort’s primary restaurant, and the restaurant is finding its stride. A swanky and lively room complete with a water feature is the proper home for a spicy, rough-hewn ahi tartare dressed with crisp, fresh vegetables or roasted prawns with andouille-flecked polenta. Soups like a squash puree or a lobster bisque have a silky feel and bold intensity; and a side of ancient grain risotto is a nutty delight. Hefty short rib agnolotti splashed with horseradish cream are like an Italian-Polish crossover dish; and simple roasted meats are beautifully prepared. But I’m still stuck on the swordfish steak, a juicy specimen set ablaze by an herbal, green harissa.  

Details: Mountain Shadows Resort, 5445 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley. MAP IT! 480-624-5400, mountainshadows.com/dining/hearth.

Lon’s at the Hermosa

Lon Megargee was a legend, and he left behind one heck of a legacy. It’s easy to quip that Phoenix is still green, an immature city without a strong sense of history and time. Then you descend the narrow staircase for a special dinner in the timber-supported basement at The Hermosa Inn where Megargee (reputedly) sold bootleg hooch and hosted illicit gambling, and it’s a stark reminder that the history is here if you’re willing to look. Lon’s at The Hermosa is bursting with rustic charm, not to mention the beauty of one of the best dining terraces in town, and Jeremy Pacheco is so perfect for the place he came to work here twice — returning after a stint in Las Vegas because he couldn’t stay away. This is contemporary dining, but there’s a lingering hint of cowboy cuisine in Pacheco’s menu, from a smoky tortilla soup with pulled chicken to a confit duck crepe with spiced mole to gorgeous pecan-roasted lamb. If Mangalitsa is on the menu, don’t miss it. Pacheco knows his swine.

Details: Hermosa Inn, 5532 N. Palo Cristi Road, Paradise Valley. MAP IT! 602-955-7878, hermosainn.com.