Johnny Carino's - Prescott

Johnny Carino's is a decent chain Italian restaurant. The bread is fantastic, the sangria is ok, and the Italian Nachos were pretty good. The caesar salad was pretty good, but the dressing was a little watery. The portions for the kids’ meals are very large, (they offer two sizes of kids’ portions, but I’m talking about the SMALL ones, and they’re huge) but got a thumbs up from the kid.

Macayo's - Scottsdale

I think I like Macayo's catering better than the restaurant food. I'm always happy with the catered food, but the food in the restaurant is never that great. It's OK, I like the Pollo con Espinaca, but nothing that makes you crave Macayo's. It's a Phoenix institution, it's been here since the 40s (I think) but go for the history and tradition, not stellar dinners. If you have to cater something Mexican, totally go for Macayo's, the catered trays of little tiny things are consistently good.

Grimaldi's - Scottsdale

Grimaldi's is quintessential New York style pizza. Just get a plain cheese pizza to really get the beauty of it. Yummy, paper thin slices of fresh mozzarella on hand-tossed crust, nice and crisp.

Fresh Salad Company - Scottsdale

Fresh Salad Company is a wicked cool salad place. I know what you’re thinking, “Salad place. hmm. How yummy. Not” I was expecting it to be like Souper Salad, one of those crappy buffet places, but it wasn’t. It’s like Chipotle, but with salads and wraps. You get to choose your own lettuce, all this salad junk, every kind of salad topping, every kind of salad meat, all this stuff and they add it to a big bowl, like Mongolian Barbeque or Coldstone Creamery or something, and then toss it all up for you and its sooooo good.

White Chocolate Grill - Scottsdale

I really like White Chocolate Grill. I had a Cajun chicken sandwich, Husband had a fish sandwich, both excellent. The Israeli coucous and the mashed potatoes are also delicious, as are the AZ egg rolls and the apple pie. For drinks, I recommend the Flirtini and the White Chocolate Martini, both very good.

Rock Bottom - Scottsdale

Rock Bottom. Stinks. I had been there once a couple of years ago and didn’t like it, but thought I’d give it another shot. The beer was bad, the food was bad, the dessert was even bad, and the service was bad. I’m not in a big rush to go back. If you insist on going, do NOT be fooled by the pleasant menu description of the “Titan Toothpicks” they are NASTY.

Yard House - Scottsdale

We went to Yard House with some of Husband’s co-workers. We had a pretty good time, the Moo Shu Egg Rolls and the Thai Chicken Pizza were delicious, I’d definitely order them again. For Happy Hour they have $5 “house” martinis in a bunch of fun flavors.

George and Dragon - Phoenix

I think I'll try George and Dragon again once there's no smoking in restaurants. You have to go for the English pub-y goodness and the fish and chips, but everything starts to taste like cigarettes pretty quickly.

Cantina Laredo - Scottsdale

The service at Cantina Laredo is eerily good. After we'd only been there twice, the waitstaff and manager started recognizing us and coming by to say hello. We're not really that kind of couple, that shouldn't happen to us. We're a couple of dorks who eat appetizers and dessert and leave for under $40, counting drinks. Anyway, we never get past the appetizer menu, we either order the appetizer sampler platter, or the nachos with half beef and half chicken. They're tostada style nachos, so each chip has beans, cheese and meat on it, and it has guacamole, jalapeños and pico de gallo. Try some of their sangria as well, it's quite nice. Make sure you save room for the apple pie. It comes on a skillet with sauce so hot Husband has a scar on his arm where a little bit dripped. Also, the manager looks just like Billy Bob Thornton.

Sugar Bowl - Scottsdale

There's a reason I never order anything but ice cream at Sugar Bowl. It's because everything else is pretty bad, and the ice cream is pretty freaking good. Definitely do not waste your time on the tuna sandwich, just head straight for the tin roof sundae.

IHOP - Scottsdale

Husband refuses to go to chain breakfast places, so when he was out of town I took the kids to IHOP. Biscuits and gravy were surprisingly pleasant, my scrambled eggs were crunchy. The kids loved the chocolate chip pancakes. We had ridiculously good service, considering it was a crowded, 45 minute wait on a rainy Saturday morning.

Jilly's American Grill - Scottsdale

I met Husband for lunch at Jilly’s American Grill. I haven’t been there in over 3 years, so I had trouble finding it. I had the BBQ Cowboy burger with turkey, it was pretty good, but I wished I had ordered something different, since I can’t go back now until next year. Service was sloooooow; I was 20 minutes late coming back to work, oops. Husband had a prime rib sliders appetizer thingy for lunch and was DELIGHTED with it.

Drift Lounge - Scottsdale

I like the bathrooms at Drift Lounge. The food's not too bad, either. Try: Tabu Tini, Vegetarian Spring Rolls and New Guinea Spicy Peanut Chicken. Skip: Artichoke dip - even the bartender warned me against it, but I stupidly ordered it anyway. The ratio of mayonnaise to crab, spinach, and artichokes (put together) is about 65:1

Fatburger - Scottsdale

Fatburger is the reason I could never be a permanent vegetarian. It's just too good. I get the turkey burger with everything on it, and a chocolate shake. The fries are good, but you don't really need them with the yummy burgers.

Half Moon Sports Grill - Phoenix

We went to the unremarkable Half Moon Sports Grill after hearing that the wings were especially good. We were very disappointed. It's a regular old smelly sports bar trying to pass as hip. The food was nothing special and the service was poor.

AZ 88 - Scottsdale

I love, love, love AZ 88. It's one of my favorite places to take out of town guests. Yummy, unusual food, fun atmosphere, and it doesn't try too hard. It's what Earl's wishes it was. You must try the Hell's Fire Chips, whose menu description sounds revolting, but is quite amazing. Even if you loathe bleu cheese, as Husband does, you'll love this, as Husband does. If you hate hot sauce, though, skip it. The hot pepper chicken sandwich, with jalapeños and honey, tastes very good, but it consistently a little bit dry. There's a drink whose name escapes me, served in a copper mug, that tastes like drinking cold, refreshing Chinese food.

PF Changs - Scottsdale

A waiter at PF Changs once told us that one in three tables will order the lettuce wraps. I don't blame them. It's one of the best reasons to come. I am glad they changed their napkins from white to black, because mine used to look like a crime scene when I was done with them, I'd manage to get sauce all over my hands somehow while eating the yummy lettuce wraps. Other favorites are kung pao chicken, chang's spicy chicken and orange peel chicken. If you're not super hungry, the vegetable dumplings make a good light dinner. The steamed are healthier than the fried (duh) but not as good, a little bit slimy. Husband swears by the ribs, an appetizer perfect for a light meal.