Sierra Bonita Grill
I’ve lived down the street from Sierra Bonita Grill for four years and every time I drove by I would tell myself that I really needed to try that place. My fiancé and I finally stopped in last month. Now, it’s on our regular happy hour and dinner rotation. I should have stopped in earlier.
Located in Central Phoenix, Sierra Bonita Grill serves what can be described best as Southwestern cuisine. They take influences from many of the cultures of the Southwest and turn them into delectable dishes like the "Original" Cowboy Stew or fun happy hour snacks like the Sonoran hot dog. I’ve also heard that they have a fantastic brunch. I won’t be waiting four years to try it.
The “Orignal” Cowboy Stew made with braised beef, hominy, carrots, onions and chiles in a rich hearty broth. Garnsihed with crispy sweet potato strips and served with a warmed flour tortilla. Add a fried egg if you’re feeling like a real cowboy.
During happy hour you can snack on the Sonoran hot dog for $6. For those of you that don’t know, a Sonoran hot dog is a bacon wrapped hot dog topped with mayo, refried beans, cotija cheese, and Indian salsa served on a fresh bolillo roll.
Sierra Bonita has happy hour from 3-6pm (bar only) with $6 snack specials, $6 signature cocktails and $4 well drinks and draft beers.
Sierra Bonita is located at 6933 North 7th Street, in Phoenix.
Tutti Santi Italian Restaurant
Tutti Santi in Phoenix is a family favorite for Italian cuisine.
Italian cuisine and family just go together, which makes it no surprise to me that Tutti Santi is one my family’s favorites. I’ve been to two of the five Greater Phoenix locations, and have felt like a member of the Tutti Santi family at each one. You can taste the pride in the food and feel the pride in the service you get from their staff.
We recently celebrated my father’s birthday at the 16th Street Tutti Santi in Phoenix. Located near the Pointe at Squaw Peak, you could blink and miss Tutti Santi which is situated in the back corner of the strip mall facing 16th Street. This particular location has a great patio for a nice day and the inside of the restaurant is much bigger than you would expect from the outside. The décor is of your typical Italian restaurant with white tablecloths and wine and Italian themed imagery.
Whenever I visit Tutti Santi I have a hard time deciding on what to order. Everything on the menu sounds delicious and it is filled with seafood items along with more traditional Italian dishes like ravioli and lasagna.
We decided on two appetizers for the table after asking the waiter how fresh their mussels were. “Fresh!” He said, “We fly in our seafood three times a week.” The mussels are served in a white wine garlic sauce, and make sure to ask for extra bread to sop up the broth. We also ordered the calamari, which was perfectly crisp (not chewy!) and served with a spicy cocktail sauce.
The mussels appetizer at Tutti Santi.
Because the portions are huge at Tutti Santi, my fiancé and I split the Linguine del Marinaio that comes with fresh clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp sautéed in a light tomato sauce and served on a bed of linguine. Bravo! The seafood was fresh, perfectly cooked, and the sauce was delicious.
Linguine del Marinaio
My mother ordered her favorite, the Homemade Ravioli alla Nina. I have to tell you, this ravioli will change your life – it’s like perfect little pillows of pasta, Ricotta cheese with spinach and marinara. It’s just amazing. Try it and thank us later.
The best ravioli you will have outside of Italy.
My father ordered the lasagna and it was another hit. You just can’t lose when you order at Tutti Santi.
Tutti Santi has five locations in Greater Phoenix. The menu and happy hour specials vary on location, so check their website before you go.
More photos from our visit to Tutti Santi can be found on Flickr.
The Garage Wine and Tap
Our marketing intern extraordinaire, Michelle, is at it again. Here's her take on a recent visit to the Garage Wine and Tap.
What used to be an auto repair shop in North Central Phoenix, has now become home to the Garage Wine and Tap. The two car bays now hold tables and chairs rather than oil pits and parts, but the repair shop theme has been carried over to the restaurants décor. The brick walls hold vintage tires and a giant wooden propeller, while gas pumps can be found in the bathrooms. Concrete and dark woods make up the u-shaped bar.
But don’t let the name fool you, this hangout offers up gourmet bar items such as flatbreads, lamb chops, specialty salads, shrimp and burgers. You can also find over 20 wines and champagnes and 20 beers, including local microbrews.
For my lunchtime trip I settled in at the bar with the Caprese Salad and the flatbread simply named Meat. The salad consisted of a large slice of an heirloom tomato topped with a very thick and dense piece of buffalo mozzarella, then drizzled with an aged balsamic. Not quite a salad in the terms of a pile of leafy greens, but still delicious.
The Caprese Salad
I followed this up with the appropriately named Meat flatbread which was a thin crust pizza covered with fennel sausage, prosciutto, pepperoni and apple wood smoked bacon which had a great smoky flavor and a perfectly crisp crust.
The 'Meat' flatbread
This neighborhood pit-stop has live music every Tuesday night, weekend brunch, and weekday happy hour specials.
The Garage Wine and Tap is located at 1534 E. Bethany Home Road in Phoenix.
Timo Wine Bar
Our marketing intern extraordinaire, Michelle, seems to have caught the blogging bug. Here's her second contribution to The Hot Sheet.
Adding to the list of great restaurants along Central Avenue is the latest addition, Timo. This wood fire oven restaurant and wine bar opened by the talent behind Brick Urban Kitchen, features a full menu with tapas, pizzas, bruschetta and sandwiches during weekday lunch and dinner, and a brunch menu on the weekends.
I dropped in during their Sunday brunch, and found the patio already packed - I could see why. Their patio, much larger than other wine bars, was very inviting with a center placed fire pit surrounded by leather couches and tables.
Being too hungry to wait, I chose to be seated inside where I had a great spot right in front of the custom built wood fire oven.
After a recommendation by the waiter, I tried their bruschetta. With choices of smoked salmon, apple and brie, and my favorite the roasted eggplant and goat cheese, I was not disappointed! The flavors were well paired and had a great smoky flavor brought out by the wood oven. I paired this with the mimosa flight, which is three glasses of champagne with fresh squeezed grapefruit, cranberry and orange juices.
When I was looking over the menu I had noticed they had foie gras with fig jam, and feeling a little adventurous, I decided to give it a try. For those not familiar with foie gras, it’s a pate like substance made from duck liver. I tried it and as instructed, treated the items as if they were butter and jam by spreading it on the provided crostini. Well, I can say this may not be my new favorite meal, but it was interesting to say the least, with a very rich, bitter like taste.
If you miss their weekend brunch, you can stop in on Mondays they offer flatbread and a bottle of wine for only $19 from 5:30-9:30pm.
Timo is located at 8801 N. Central Ave.
Hula’s Modern Tiki
Our marketing intern extraordinaire, Michelle, recently visited Hula’s Modern Tiki in Central Phoenix. She offered to write a blog post about her experience and we happily obliged.
If you have a craving for some island style food but can’t take the time to head to Hawaii, then you can feed that need at Hula’s Modern Tiki right here in Phoenix!
Hula’s takes island style and adds a modern contemporary twist which you can see not just in the food but in the décor as well. As you enter Hula’s you’ll first encounter a large outdoor patio with modern furniture, nothing that says island; that is until you walk up to the front doors where you will be greeted by a 6 foot tall wooden carved tiki. Now that’s more like it!
The restaurant itself has an unusual L-shape layout, but the bar which is the highlight is very inviting. The dark wood bar-top has built in glass display shelves that house hundreds of different tiki glassware. On most evenings a large wall serves as the backdrop for old Hawaii movies such as Blue Hawaii or South Pacific. Hawaiian hula girls and surfers can be found in framed pictures throughout the restaurant.
This particular visit was for lunch, so I chose the South Seas Fish Tacos, made with grilled Hapu, which is a Hawaiian Sea Bass. The size of the filet they put in each taco is ginormous, almost making it difficult to actually fold the taco! These tacos paired with the black beans and rice is a plate and belly-full.
My lunch buddy had the Big Sur Black Bean Burger, which she said was the best black bean burger she had ever tried, and that the grilled Maui onions were the perfect topping.
Hula’s lunch menu offers up a variety of sandwiches, burgers and salads, while the dinner menu provides more options with more island style flare. My top choices for dinner are the coconut or macadamia crusted fish, and the Duke’s Luau Pork Plate. The Duke’s Luau Pork Plate is served with traditional style slow roasted pork, rice and coleslaw and is named after the famous Hawaiian credited with spreading the sport of surfing. For the thirsty crowd, a must-try is the Scorpion Bowl, a punch bowl of brandy, rum and juices set aflame, sharing is recommended but not a restriction!
Hula’s also offers a full brunch menu on the weekends. On Mahalo Mondays, 10% of sales go to local charities.
Hula’s Modern Tiki is located at 4700 N. Central Ave. See more photos from Michelle's visit to Hula's Modern tiki on Flickr.
The Mint
The Mint was formerly a bank, remodeled into a restaurant/lounge/club. Photo credit: Dean Studios
Formerly a bank, The Mint (Get it? Bank, money, mint…) is part restaurant, part lounge. We were recently invited to visit The Mint to try some of the menu items and to check out the newly remodeled location.
If you’ve driven down Camelback just east of Scottsdale Road, you’ve probably noticed The Mint’s huge patio. What you can’t see from the road is how cool The Mint looks inside. Colorful lights, lounge seating and an eclectic mix of house music help The Mint straddle the divide between restaurant and lounge. One of the first things that I noticed when we were seated was that the music was at the perfect level to be enjoyed, and I could still carry a conversation with my fiancé during dinner.
Colorful lighting in The Mint. Photo credit: Dean Studios
Since we were invited guests, I let the waitress make recommendations for what we should drink and eat. I started with the Life Savings martini made with Ultimat Vodka, St. Germain, basil, fresh strawberries, lemon and ginger soda. Perfectly sweet, and I could tell that fresh strawberries were used by how fragrant the drink was.
The Life Savings martini. Photo credit: Dean Studios
While waiting for our food to come out, we were mesmerized by a fiber optics light show going on over the main bar. 3D images of fish swimming, people dancing and a globe spinning to the music was pretty entertaining. I also noticed a huge table in the middle of the restaurant that would be perfect for a group celebration.
We were mesmerized by the fiber optic display above the bar. Photo credit: Dean Studios
The menu at The Mint is crafted by Executive Chef Johnny Chu and consists of pan-Asian cuisine, presented on small plates as tapas. The menu items that we tried were the Soup Gyoza, House Dynamite Chicken, Sugar Cane Pork and Hong Kong Flat Rice. Soup Gyoza has always been one of my favorites so I was excited to try it at The Mint. The pork dumplings were just as delicious as I expected them to be with a hint of ginger. The House Dynamite Chicken made with bell peppers, pineapple, carrot and mushrooms in a sweet spicy sauce was large enough to be a meal. It was a little spicy for my fiancé, but perfect for me (I love spicy food). The Hong Kong Flat Rice is one of the vegetarian items on The Mint’s menu and was very fragrant with flat rice noodles in a brown garlic sauce with vegetables. I had never seen flat rice noodles before. They were like little quarters of pasta, on purpose perhaps (quarters, money, The Mint…)? The last item was probably our favorite. The Sugar Cane Pork is made with ground, seasoned pork, formed around a sugar cane stick then rolled in panko crumbs, baked, then flash fried. These sticks of porky goodness are served with a pineapple ginger sauce. Yum.
Hong Kong Flat Rice. Photo credit: Dean Studios
The Mint is the perfect place to go for a celebration dinner with friends, a pre-evening out dinner or if you’re in the mood for a dinner with someone special. We’ll be going back soon for that Sugar Cane Pork!
See you soon, Sugar Cane Pork! Photo credit: Dean Studios
The Mint is located at 7373 East Camelback Road in Scottsdale. See more photos from our dinner at The Mint on Flickr.
