The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Arizona’

2/24/2012 Phoenix

British Fusion at The Rose and Crown

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Britine?

Situated right across the walking street from Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix, one has to wonder how many patrons of The Rose and Crown are people who tired of waiting for Pizzeria Bianco and decided to eat at the next closest place. We ended up in a similar situation, in which a reservation miscommunication led to us without ample room at the pizzeria. So off we went to The Rose and Crown for some British Pub food. A quick look at the menu revealed that this was no ordinary British Pub and it actually had some unique-looking options.

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2/13/2012 Cave Creek

Tonto and the Lone Burger

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What’s that you say, Kemo Sabe?

One benefit of getting married is the tastings. Not so much tasting food that the guests will eat, but traveling back and forth between Arizona and LA to plan things, and knowing there will be food in need of eating. On my most recent foray into the Grand Canyon state, we went out to dinner at a place called Tonto Bar & Grill in Cave Creek. Tonto is quite the popular place, with an outdoor patio looking out onto a golf course and an old Western eclectic interior. The menu ranges from some fancy salads to super fancy steaks, but somewhere in the middle there is burgers. And having gone at least a couple days without crushing a burger, I felt it was time.

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1/2/2012 Cave Creek

An Explosion of Flavor at C4 (CLOSED)

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Oh Arizona.

Remember playing Cowboys and Indians as a kid? Thankfully, there is a place in the world where that fantasyland still exists. It’s called Arizona, and while not everyone runs around with a gun loaded with 223 ammo, there are places you could picture saddling up a horse just as easily as stopping by in a hybrid. One such place is the Cave Creek Coffee Company, affectionately known as C4 by locals. The facade is reminiscent of Tombstone, but the interior is pure class (not that Tombstone was lacking in class…).

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3/4/2011 Phoenix

A Taste of Chicago at Oregano’s

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Yes, this place is owned by an herb.

As a relatively new city, I haven’t found Phoenix to have their own signature cuisine. Sure, they have some great Mexican food and boast one of the best pizza places in the country, but I haven’t yet found that distinct Phoenician specialty. And to be honest, that’s just fine with me, because I hail from the Midwest and apparently so do a lot of the restaurant owners in Phoenix. On my last visit, I had Coney Dogs that tasted straight out of Detroit, and this time I had myself a taste of Chicago at Oregano’s.

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3/3/2011 Cave Creek

Feeling Perturbed at Bad Donkey (CLOSED)

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Stop being such a putrid chicken.

For a little lunch pickup in Cave Creek, Arizona, just north of Scottsdale, I was told we would be ordering from a local sandwich shop called Bad Donkey (not to be confused with Bikkuri Donkey). Although actual donkey was no where to be found on the menu, it seemed they had come up with some very creative names to make up for the lack of donkey. Their veggie sub was called Grass on a Roll and their Reuben was creatively called Reuben Worth Choosen (yes, choosen and not choosin’).

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10/27/2010 Scottsdale

A Taste of Home at Upper Deck (REBRANDED)

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If you hail from the great state of Michigan, you know why I took a picture of this.

EDIT: Apparently this place is now called Blitz, but still reps the state of Michigan.

A couple weeks ago I headed to Phoenix with the girlfriend for a wedding. But this wasn’t just any weekend, it happened to be the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State game. It’s usually a pretty big game, but with both teams undefeated (at the time), it was a game I couldn’t miss. Fortunately, said girlfriend found an interesting bar for me to watch it at in Old Town Scottsdale. It was called Upper Deck Sports Grille and was dedicated to Michigan and Michigan State fans. You would think Phoenix would be big enough to host ex-Michiganders at more than one bar, but you would be wrong.

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7/7/2010 Scottsdale

Going 18 Inches at Uncle Sam’s (CLOSED)

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Really? Misters in a desert?

EDIT: This location is closed, but there seems to be a couple other Uncle Sam’s still standing.

On our way out of Arizona, the girlfriend thought it would be nice to visit a place of nostalgia for her so we could pick up some sandwiches for the road. The place was called Uncle Sam’s and was so patriotic that they had water misters spraying all over the outside just to prove how America has conquered the desert. Also, because everything was red, white and blue. The general style and ambiance of the place reminded me of the USA Cafe in Lansing, Michigan that I used to frequent in my youth, so Uncle Sam’s was a bit nostalgic for me, too.

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7/6/2010 Scottsdale

It’s Not Always Time for Bacon (CLOSED)

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Where’s all the bacon?

Every once in a blue moon, a restaurant comes along that you just can’t pass up. Sometimes it’s Taco Bell, and sometimes it’s a place called Bacon in Scottsdale. Although clearly capitalizing on the current bacon trend, the name sounded great to me when the girlfriend’s family suggested it. Since it was Father’s Day, we expected a long line, so we called in advance and a table was ready for us by the time we got there.

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4/13/2010 Scottsdale

Whatalunch at Whataburger

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Whatabuilding!

In much of the south, there is a burger chain called Whataburger. Completely unknown to people of the north and even to people in Southern California, Whataburger definitely has been cooking up burgers for quite a while. Last time I was in Phoenix (which is the south as far as I’m concerned), I made it a goal to visit Whataburger and see how their burgers stand up to the rest of the fast food world.

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10/23/2009 Scottsdale

Doing the Arizona Restaurant Week at Bloom (CLOSED)

Oh cheesy joy.
Oh cheesy joy.

LA isn’t the only place in the world to offer a restaurant week. Arizona also flexed their restaurant week muscles last month. At $29 for a three-course meal for every restaurant listed (as opposed to LA, which has three different price levels), it’s important to pick the right place. They also note that the price is $58 per couple. Thank you, but I can do math. I know that 29 x 2 = 58, so if you’re not going to offer me some sort of couples discount, I really don’t see the point of showing me this. Mathematical anger aside, we decided to head to Bloom, a fancy American restaurant.

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