In my latest edition of Fox Restaurants, I went to The Arrogant Butcher in Downtown Phoenix. It’s kind of like a steakhouse, but it also has a lot of the food that you can find at other Fox Restaurants, which is either great or meh depending on how you feel about variety and creativity. So, we started off with a couple of appetizers before getting into the meat of the meal.

First came the Smoked Carnitas Nachos, which were exactly what they sound like. They were solid, but definitely the kind of nachos you expect at a semi-upscale place like The Arrogant Butcher as opposed to the sports bar-style nachos that I typically prefer. We also had the House Soft Pretzels and Provolone Fondue, which was fondu-licious. I mean it’s really hard to go wrong with dipping stuff in cheese and Fox Restaurants are damn good at recreating this dish over and over again.

As for the meal, I decided to forego steak and went with the Prime Rib French Dip. I always find this to be a great alternative at steak spots when I don’t want a full on steak because they still use the delicious cuts of beef to put it together. Unfortunately, this was not such a dip. The slices of beef were overcooked to the point where it almost tasted like I was eating a cheesesteak instead of a French Dip. Of course, I love me some cheesesteaks, but I also prefer them at cheesesteak prices and this was certainly not.

So perhaps The Arrogant Butcher is simply a place to get a steak, but if that’s the case isn’t it a bit arrogant to offer other inferior options?

Tacos, tacos and more tacos. That was the premise of the Rockin’ Taco Rumble in Downtown Phoenix on March 2nd, 2018. $45 got you unlimited tacos, six drinks and a wooden nickel to vote for your favorite taco. It took place at Events on Jackson, which was a pretty cool venue, but what was much less cool was the fact that some spots were already running out of tacos by the time I arrived and the lines were crazy long. Nevertheless, I persisted and was able to identify some favorites.

Modern Tortilla – Lamb Adobo

I don’t know why, but this place had the shortest line and was pretty much the best taco around. The lamb was insanely juicy and the adobo flavors were strong with this one. I’ll just guess that this place knew how to operate its taco making so well that I went back for seconds.

Willie’s Taco Joint – Lob-Sta-Taco

Having just returned from Massachusetts, I was a bit skeptical about lobster in the desert. Yet, Willie’s did not disappoint, making great use of mango habanero salsa to enhance the tasty lobster flavor.

Helio Basin – War Bonnet Carnitas

This brewery knows its tacos. And this taco was popping with ribeye, jalapeno pesto, crema, pickled cauliflowers (no, I didn’t eat them), Fresno peppers, pomegranate and mango aji salsa. It was a mouthful, and yet all those different flavors worked really well together.

Taco Guild – Chipotle Cherry Steak

This taco took home the grand prize. I loved the combination of blue cheese, poblano straws, chile aioli and steak, but it was admittedly difficult to not be overwhelmed by all of the flavor packed into this taco.

As media, I was able to attend for free, but had I paid $45 or $55 to get in, I may have left disappointed, if not slightly hungry. Unlimited tacos shouldn’t have the caveat of first come first served, but that shouldn’t completely distract from how delicious the event was and how the event helped to raise money for the Phoenix Community Alliance. Tacos are great, but building a better Phoenix is even better.

There was a weird time in history when revolving restaurants became popular. Only one of these, at least as far as I understand, also was a Playboy Club back in the day, and that was the Compass Arizona Grill on top of the Hyatt in Downtown Phoenix. Today, it serves as kind of a throwback steakhouse, there to remind you how cool rotating restaurants once were, while trying to adapt to the modern palette.

Thus, we began with a couple of appetizers – the calamari and the meat and cheese board. One turned out well and the other left a little to desire. Surprisingly, I have to give kudos to the calamari. It was lightly fried and tasted fresh. I probably could have done without the accompanying veggies, but this was exactly the kind of calamari you want at a more upscale place. As for the meat and cheese board, both the meat and cheese were delicious, as you might expect. The trouble was that there was only one type of each. Variety is key for a charcuterie like this and this rotating restaurant didn’t provide it.

As for my main course, I ordered the Bone-In Niman Ranch Ribeye in honor of Hef, because I assume that is what he would have ordered. It came with a black garlic demi-glace, which is not something I would have expected at such a place and was eager to try out. After watching the sun set in the full 360 degreees, the steak arrived a surprisingly perfect medium-rare, and I set to work on spreading the black garlic evenly over the meat. The meat wasn’t quite as marbled as I would have liked, with sort of uneven bursts of fat and meatiness, but that’s really the only complaint I had. I thought the black garlic was a nice modern touch to bring out some extra umami that pretty much every meal could use.

I should also mention that the steak came with a choice of a side and I went for the bacon-brie mac and cheese. My only wish from this was that there could have been more of it, because it was perfect in every way.

Considering the gimmicky nature of the revolving restaurant and it being in a hotel, my expectations were pretty low for my meal. Lucky for Compass Arizona Grill, those expectations were exceeded. It may not be the best steak in the Phoenix area (I’m still partial to Mastro’s and waiting to be convinced that a better steak exists), but it did a good job. Like its Playboy roots, you may come for the views, but you’ll stick around for the articles.

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.

One of these unique-looking options was Poutine. If you know my blog, then you know I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with poutine. I’d blame this on my Canadian ancestry, but I find no need to make excuses for fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. The poutine at The Rose and Crown was a little different than your typical poutine, signifying some sort of fusion between British and Canadian food. For starters, although I had taken the term “chips” on the menu to be Britspeak for fries, when they arrived, they really were homemade potato chips. Also, instead of cheese curds, this poutine was topped with shredded cheddar. While I appreciated the attempt at innovating poutine, it fell a bit short in the flavor and texture land. Seriously, no curds?

I followed up this appetizer with, surprise, a burger. This thing went by the name of The Crown and was topped with cheddar, bacon and a fried egg. Similar to my obsession with poutine, I am also obsessed with fried egg as a burger topping and couldn’t wait to get this thing. But first I had to order. It came with lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion, which I rapidly dismissed as I also attempted to order my burger medium rare. Sadly, I was told the best they could do was medium. It also came with a side of fries or slaw and I most certainly went with fries.

The burger turned out to be quite a beauty, with a shiny bun and real fries to accompany it. As I ate the burger, I delighted in the perfect crispiness of the bacon and the flavor provided by the fried egg. The cheddar was as expected and although the bun had a hard time holding its own against the weight of so many toppings, it had the support of a toothpick and lasted throughout the noshing. Also, it was tasty. The meat itself, though, was a bit of a disappointment. I don’t know if it was the extra cooking or a bad choice of beef, but I found it to be a bit drier than I would have preferred and lacking in delicious flavor. It wasn’t bad, but just could have used a few tweaks. And to end on a high note, the fries were great and really should have been used in the poutine instead of those gravy-sucking chips.

In the end, The Rose and Crown delivered most of the goods. A few changes here and there would have me singing their praises and commanding all Phoenicians to skip the line at Pizzeria Bianco and head to The Rose and Crown instead, but without those changes The Rose and Crown is just an above average British Pub.