Where I come from, microbreweries are known to have good food. But, as I have learned, many parts of the country (perhaps all except Oregon?) are much newer to the micro or craft brewery concept and have focused much more on the beer than the food. Arizona, though, while new to the union and pretty new to brewing seems to have struck the right chord. Perhaps it’s because there are so many damn people here from Michigan, but whatever the case I was eager to get myself a non-media meal at SanTan Brewing Company ( you can check out the media one here).

I snagged myself a pint of beer (Hazy Horse for those of you who care) and quickly moved on to ordering a meal. I went with the Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger because it was topped with delicious-sounding foodstuffs like house-smoked chipotle bacon, pepper jack cheese, aged white cheddar, chile lime mayo and LTO. I ordered medium rare, without the LTO and with fries on the side.

It came out looking picture-perfect and as soon as I took a perfect picture I plopped that bun on top and went to work. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. The bacon was nicely crisped, the burger was cooked exactly as it should have been and the flavorings just worked beautifully with each other. And the decision to go with double cheese should be applauded.

While the burger exceeded expectations, perhaps the fries were the most surprising thing about the meal. SanTan was not willing to simply roll with ordinary fries, but sliced them thick and battered them with ale before deep-frying them. It gave them a nice golden-brown crisp and soft, supple interior.

SanTan Brewing Company has definitely embraced the idea that not all people go to a brewery for a beer and it would be hard to find that more exemplified than in the Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger.

The Phoenix area is wealthy in greasy Mexican fast food. These places generally have drive-through and are open 24/7. Moreover, they quite simply make the world a better place. Take Armando’s in Deer Valley, for example. I was hankering for something good on the way to northern Arizona, and Armando’s stood out like a shiny beacon calling for me.

Thus, I ordered the Carne Asada Fries and was pleased to find that these were fit for an unvegan – simply topped with carne asada, guacamole and a shredded cheese blend. The order came with a couple different salsas to choose from as well. I dug in and was met with pure carne asada fry bliss. The fries were crispy, the asada was mostly pretty good and the guacamole had a few chunks of onion here and there, but they were few and far between. Maybe I could complain that the cheese could have been meltier, but look at how beautiful this dish was.

And the best part? It was super cheap! Only $5 and change for food that will fill you up and only keep you coming back for more because the food is like crack, not because you’re still hungry. People can talk all they want about up and coming restaurants and places that require an hour-long wait, but give me fries like these from Armando’s almost any day instead and I will be a happy man.

Everybody just looooves the Fox Restaurant Group in Phoenix. But can there ever be too many Fox restaurants? I headed to The Greene House in Scottsdale’s Kierland Commons in my continuing quest to find out. The Greene House is a modern American restaurant showcasing things like salads, sandwiches, fish and chicken. As in most similar situations, my eyes went right for the burger.

This wasn’t just any burger, but a Kobe Burger topped with aged cheddar, bacon, butter (fancy) lettuce, tomato (of the vine-ripened variety) and thousand island dressing. I continue to assert that Kobe Beef in a burger is waste of Kobe Beef, but since it was the only beef option I managed. I ordered without the lettuce and tomato, then went with medium rare. I also chose the mac and cheese as my side, and must say I was glad to have mac and cheese as a regular side option instead of just fries or a salad.

Yet, despite my joy about mac and and cheese, the results were…fine. I mean, i don’t know if any of the Fox restaurants know how to make bad food, but there was nothing special about either the burger or the mac and cheese. There was no lack of execution or anything, but just felt like a lack of inspiration. If I’m being fully honest, my stomach was asking me why I walked by Shake Shack on the way to The Greene House without just getting my burger there.

In my mind, you can’t have a good microbrewery without good food. It just can’t work. Therefore, I headed to Arizona Wilderness in Gilbert, a brewery with a rustic theme getting a lot of regional traction, to see if it could churn out food on par with the its beer reputation. But of course, I had to start of off with a beer before diving into the menu.

From the food side of the menu, Arizona Wilderness is known for its fries. Thus, we kicked things off with an order of When Pigs Fly Fries, fried in duck fat and topped with pulled pork and wilderness beer cheese. These were nothing short of savory deliciousness. They were not only packed with great flavor, but the toppings were plentiful. I would say that I was left wanting more, but in fact I was more interested in perhaps ordering more fries.

But I didn’t. I instead waited patiently for my burger. That burger was the After the Hike Burger (rustic, right?) and was topped with white cheddar, pork belly, bacon, avocado, a fried egg, an onion ring and LTO. I ordered without the LTO and stuck with the chips instead of upgrading to fries because I already had an ungodly amount of fries inside me. The burger was a thing of love, and certainly the kind of burger you would want to eat after a hike (or before it). Assuming, of course, that you don’t have to cook it yourself over an open flame because ain’t nobody got the energy for that. Thus, it’s good that Arizona Wilderness doesn’t make you cook your own food.

The chips, though, were really not great. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but they were just…vapid. It’s possible that they simply paled in comparison to the fries, but I am confident that they simply weren’t great.

In all, Arizona Wilderness was a pretty fantastic microbrewery. The beers were great, the fries were more than great and the burger was solid and meaty. Next time I find myself in the real wilderness, I may be wishing I was hanging in a brewery in Gilbert instead.

I went into Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers expecting to get some cold beer and a cheeseburger. And pretty immediately, I knew this would not be the case. It started with a delay to my beer because they were out of what I wanted. That was fine, because places run out of beer all the time and so I went ahead and ordered a new one. But then, I was told that it was Monday and that meant $12 build your own mac and cheese with basically whatever the hell you want in it.

So I dove into the mac and cheese headfirst. I added avocado, bacon, truffle oil, beef chili, blue cheese, green chiles and pepper jack cheese. Oh and breadcrumbs too. It was perhaps the richest bowl of pasta the world has ever seen and I went to town on it. Despite the fact that the FDA never should have allowed this to be made, it was actually made in a very balanced way. Nothing had been skipped out on and I downed bites of all the individual ingredients with glee.

Eventually I hit a wall and couldn’t eat anymore. But I ate anyway. No regrets, right? Well, maybe. I mean it was delicious, but I might have gone over the top. I’m certainly glad I did it, but when I inevitably make my way back, I’ll be sure to stick with the original plan of grabbing a cheeseburger to go with my cold beer.

Salt. It’s a substance that inherently makes other substances taste better. Sow. It’s lady pig that, well, tastes good regardless. Combine the two and you have Salty Sow, a gastropub in Phoenix looking to bring some very gastropubby fare, drawing upon all sorts of classic American food, to the desert.

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So we began with a taste of the south. Namely in the form of Stone Ground White Corn Cheese Grits. The cheese was cheddar and it was some of the strongest I’ve ever tasted in grits – in the best of ways. Moreover, these grits were not runny, but also not dried out. So, again, delicious.

Then there were the Green Chile Pork Stew Nachos special, which was there regular green chile pork stew on top of nacho chips along with all the expected nacho toppings. Once again, the Salty Sow nailed it with a great ratio of toppings to chips, plus the stew was packed with flavor and a punch of spice.

Finally, for my main course I went with the French Dip-Roasted Rare on the recommendation of my waiter over the burger. When it arrived it was undoubtedly rare, but surprisingly small. I’ve come to expect such sandwiches on a baguette at the minimum, but this was on a small brioche bun. Regardless, it was packed with plenty of meat. The au jus was perfect, as was the horseradish sauce. The only thing I really could have asked for was to have the meat distributed over a larger bun like, you know, a normal french dip. And I only say that because it can be tough to bite through rare meat like this, and also because the brioche bun just didn’t feel right with a sandwich like this.

I should also mention that the sandwich came with a side of fries, which at the Salty Sow, means Duck Fat Fries. They were undoubtedly some great fries, but they did not go overboard with the duck fat itself. If you’re not into duck fat this is a great thing, but if you really dig the stuff, you may have been disappointed. As for me, since they were just a side I had no complaints, but if I had ordered them as an appetizer I would have cared more about the lack of quack.

And because our waiter was awesome and loved our table so much he treated us to dessert. And no, he had no idea I was such an important food blogger. Best of all, he picked the Bananas Foster Beignets, which are what we probably would have picked if we were going for our own. Essentially, this was slices of banana fried in a doughnut-esque batter, topped with syrup and honey, with ice cream. So, yeah, it was a fantastic way to end the meal.

Salty Sow did an amazing job with all of the non-entree food, but I can’t help but think that the french dip could have tweaked a few things to take it to the next level. Regardless, it’s a place I wouldn’t hesitate to return to.

Harbor Springs is a lovely little town up in Northern Michigan, and yet between it and Petoskey (another lovely, somewhat bigger town), there isn’t much beyond trees, condos, lakes and a couple of ski mountains. Oh, and there’s also Teddy Griffin’s Roadhouse, which has been situated there as long as I can remember. They serve up a combination of bar food, fancier European-style food, Great Lakes food and some of the most delicious bread in the world.

One of their specialties is prime rib, and I just had to have it. I ordered it medium rare and it came out looking like a dream, well aside from the random green beans it came with. On the other had it also came with a pleasant surprise of au gratin potatoes, so I thought they kind of canceled each other out.

Alas, the prime rib was cooked perfectly and was even tastier with a dip of the horseradish sauce. The seasoning was subtle, but enough to bring out the beefy flavor, and I have never seen a juicier plate of beef. It was almost enough to make me forget about the green beans.

In fact, in the week we spent Up North, we returned to Teddy Griffin’s and this time around I went with the Pesto Chicken, which was made with a creamy pesto sauce on angel hair pasta. While this dish was also quite delicious, it was also held back by being served with unwanted green vegetables. This time they came in the form of asparagus and the rich, creamy sauce and tender chicken breasts could only do so much to gloss over that egregious error.

Teddy Griffin’s was a great way to bookend the trip Up North, but they have got to get their vegetables in order. Until they do so, they will always have an asterisk next to their otherwise delicious dishes.

It’s not often that I eat at a new place (for me) twice before getting a chance to review that place. Yet, that weirdly happened with Hash Kitchen, a breakfast spot (no, not a dispensary) with a few locations around the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. As you may expect, they specialize in Bloody Marys. Okay, but also in different kinds of hash if you’re not in a Bloody Mary mood, which I literally never am.

On my first visit, I found myself choosing between the Huevos Rancheros Hash and the Carnitas Hash. Ultimately, I ordered the carnitas, but was brought the huevos instead. Oh well, it was really a tossup because they both looked so great. And what was great about the huevos was that they weren’t your typical meatless huevos and actually had carne asada to go along with the black beans, potatoes, cotija cheese, tortilla, fried eggs, avocado, cilantro and red sauce. Needless to say, they used a lot of ingredients. Yet, these ingredients had been carefully measured and all worked perfectly together.

Upon my return, I made sure not to give my waiter an option and simply ordered the carnitas. These contained the aforementioned shredded pork, potatoes, cotija cheese, roasted corn, crema, avocado, green chile sauce, fried onions, cilantro and tortillas. Essentially, it was like the huevos rancheros with some twists. Most importantly, it was a perfectly unvegan dream. Like the huevos before it, the carnitas hash we a delicious blend of all its ingredients, allowing each to work with one another and still maintain its own identity.

Scottsdale is weirdly rich in breakfast spots, and Hash Kitchen is certainly a good one, at least if its namesake dishes are anything to go off of. Oh, and also if you’re willing to eat carne asada instead of carnitas on occasion.

Hotels aren’t exactly known for their food. Yet, there has been a trend to try to get better restaurants into hotels and I give those hotels major props for trying. In Pasadena the dusitD2 Constance Hotel has a spot called Constance Perry’s. It’s kind of Asian, kind of American, but definitely not fusion because those dishes kind of stand out on their own.

Thus, we began with their Pork Soup Dumplings, or as I like to call them, xiaolongbao. I was amazed to find that when the bamboo steamer was opened to reveal these dumplings they were black instead of the traditional off-white color. Unfortunately, it turned out that black xialongbao did not necessarily translate into better xiaolongbao. The dough was kind of spongy and the soup didn’t boast too much flavor.

But then there was the main course. I split the Short Ribs and Flat Iron Steak because that’s just the kind of person I am. Both were beyond my expectations and made me quickly forget about the dark side of xiaolongbao. The Short Ribs were perfectly tender and had been braised in a sauce worthy of many flavors, while the Flat Iron Steak had been cooked to a perfect medium-rare and was accompanied by truffle fries that felt just right. I would have been happy with either one of these, but was certainly glad to have both.

If I were to return to Constance Perry’s, I would skip right over the appetizers and head to the main courses. They change seasonally, so you can never really be sure what will be available. Yet, if the Short Ribs and Flat Iron Steak are any indication of what regularly appears, it will be difficult to walk away disappointed.

Ever since I started going to the South Pasadena Farmer’s Market I have been intrigued by a restaurant lurking behind the stalls, going by the name of Communal. It seemed to be the type of neighborhood spot with solid food that would keep locals coming back for more. Obviously, though, I didn’t want to judge book by it’s cover and had to find out for myself.

As is often my test of such spots, I ordered their burger. They only had one and it was called the Communal Burger. It was prepared with dry-aged beef and topped with remoulade, caramelized onions, aged cheddar and pickles. Of course, I had no need for the pickles or onions and ordered without. It also had fries.

The result was pretty much everything I expected. The burger was certainly solid and, dare I say, above average in preparation and simplicity. The fries were fry-ish and that was really all I could ask for. I’m not sure how I feel about the bun being branded, but I’m not about to get overly shallow with a situation like this.

There are plenty of better burgers out there, but there are a whole lot more worse. In that, Communal succeeded if its goal was to do just more than enough to keep the locals from becoming restless.