Phoenix Downtown Food

[Vicelord John]

yes they always have a bar at their locations.

[PHX31]

What kind? Beer/wine only or full?

[combusean]

^ The application for the liquor license says "All liquor on premises"

[NIXPHX77]

Any thoughts on these restaurants downtown:

1130?

District?

Any other nice places w/ good food to recommend to suburbanites for a pre-theatre dinner on a Saturday night?

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by NIXPHX77

Any thoughts on these restaurants downtown:

1130?

District?

Any other nice places w/ good food to recommend to suburbanites for a pre-theatre dinner on a Saturday night?

1130 is garbage, absolute rubbish.

District is high quality and has a good menu of American food, Arrogant Butcher should be in the mix as well, it's fun and energetic and has great food. If you're going to Herberger, it's only three blocks away.

Province at Westin Downtown has had some fans as of late, and the chef there came from Sanctuary where he was Beau MacMillan's right hand man. I ate there a year ago and wasn't overwhelmed but supposedly have gotten their act together. three blocks from Herberger as well.

Lastly, Nobuo at Teeter House would be my first pic, if you enjoy Japanese. It's in a 1913 remodeled home and Nobuo Fukuda (not the shitty Nobu chain restaurant) is a James Beard award winner and serves incredibly high quality over the top Japanese fare. This is about four blocks from Herberger.

[NIXPHX77]

Thanks John. I'll let my sister know (i'm not the "suburbanite"!)
Unfortunately, i'm too poor usually to get out and try these newer places. hopefully over time i will get to them.

[Vicelord John]

You're welcome.

I just decided the title of this thread, and the seperation of downtown into two words, bothers me.

Can we fix it to the grammatically correct version of downtown?

[combusean]

Oddly, it was bugging me at the same time. Fixed.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

You're welcome.

I just decided the title of this thread, and the seperation of downtown into two words, bothers me.

Can we fix it to the grammatically correct version of downtown?

Hah, that's something that bothers me also. Not as bad as "alot" thought.

[gymratmanaz]

I made it, and it even bothered me. LOL!!!

[HooverDam]

I was at the East Camelback Duck & Decanter today and was talking to one of the employees and she mentioned the Downtown location is in the process of possibly expanding their hours. Nothing major, just to 7ish, but she also mentioned a possible addition of a wine bar. So thats a good thing.

[nickw252]

First Watch, a downtown breakfast and lunch spot at 1 N. First St., closed its doors last week.

The downtown restaurant and three other locations are part of the metro Phoenix First Watch portfolio.

Robin Lechner, a manager at the First Watch restaurant on Thomas Road, estimates the restaurant had been operating downtown for at least a decade.

“Our lease was up, and that was really the major reason for the closure,” she said.

The location had about 10 full- and part-time employees, and they were placed at other First Watch restaurants, she said.

First Watch is the second downtown eatery to close recently. The Matador, a long-standing Mexican restaurant, closed late last month.

Despite the recent closings downtown, the National Restaurant Association    came out with some strong numbers today about jobs in that industry.

The NRA’s new data show restaurant employment has risen 3.2 percent in the past 12 months, more than twice the 1.5 percent increase in total U.S. employment.

While there are no detailed statistics for Arizona, the state’s restaurant industry is estimated to reach $9.6 billion in sales and employ 261,900 people.

Steve Chucri, president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association    , says that’s good news for the state, where the unemployment rate was 8.7 percent in February. The national unemployment rate was 8.3 percent for that month.

“Arizona’s restaurant industry provides jobs for more than a quarter-million Arizonans, offering exciting opportunities for growth in a diverse and fun business,” Chucri said. “Overall, the restaurant industry in Arizona grows at about 1.5 percent per year, making it one of the fastest-growing job markets in the nation.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/mobile/ph...-doors-in.html

That's too bad, First Watch is a pretty good restaurant. I just went to the downtown one 3 weeks ago. Hopefully this has more to do with the lease and not the overall restaurant business downtown.

[HooverDam]

^^^ Maybe not the worst thing in the world. I'm not real familiar with the interior of that space, but maybe it could be redone as a nightclub/bar? That little strip along Washington seems to be Downtowns best hope for nightlife in the short term but it needs to be a bit more filled out.

Of course it would help if RED put bars/clubs along the South side of Washington in the future CityScape parcel.

[HX_Guy]

The Hotel Palomar will have a club/pool type place (I'm imagining similar to the W Scottsdale?) so that should tie in nicely with the other clubs there, plus Lucky Strike is expanding and turning into more of a club type place. Hopefully the demographics expands a little bit more than what it is now though.

[phoenixheadphones]

Originally Posted by nickw252

http://www.bizjournals.com/mobile/ph...-doors-in.html

That's too bad, First Watch is a pretty good restaurant. I just went to the downtown one 3 weeks ago. Hopefully this has more to do with the lease and not the overall restaurant business downtown.

Looks like the Cartel coffee up the street is expanding into the First Watch.
That place has good food and really great coffee. Check them out if you havent already:


http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bel...o_mov.php#more

[PHX31]

/\ That's cool. Granted I don't drink coffee and i've never been in to Cartel, but I like the idea of a place like that having a bigger presence downtown over a place like First Watch. The first thing I think of when I imagine First Watch is a bunch of oldies going in there after church on Sunday.

[gymratmanaz]

Went to The Strand last night before the game. I was very impressed. the service was outstanding and the food was too. They took our suggestions for a few changes to a dish and did it to perfection. They might even add it to the menu, cause the cooks and owner had to try it.

Kristen, our server, was so attentive, offered without our asking 2 to go cups of water to walk to the game. Both the owner and manager stopped by, just to say HI. The calamari was good, the salad awesome, and the pasta dish we made, incredible. Kristen even offered to wrap our stuff up to go and hold it till after the game. We could come back to pick it up on our way home. DAMN!!!!!!

We hadn't told her our game time, but she knew and even said, "I will make sure you will have enough time to make your 6:40 game."

We will be back and be back soon. I sure like the changes made. Ernie, the owner, said that they were close to the breaking even level, and that things look really good!

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

Went to The Strand last night before the game. I was very impressed. the service was outstanding and the food was too. They took our suggestions for a few changes to a dish and did it to perfection. They might even add it to the menu, cause the cooks and owner had to try it.

Kristen, our server, was so attentive, offered without our asking 2 to go cups of water to walk to the game. Both the owner and manager stopped by, just to say HI. The calamari was good, the salad awesome, and the pasta dish we made, incredible. Kristen even offered to wrap our stuff up to go and hold it till after the game. We could come back to pick it up on our way home. DAMN!!!!!!

We hadn't told her our game time, but she knew and even said, "I will make sure you will have enough time to make your 6:40 game."

We will be back and be back soon. I sure like the changes made. Ernie, the owner, said that they were close to the breaking even level, and that things look really good!

Good to know, have never been there but am meeting a friend there before tonight's game.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

Went to The Strand last night before the game. I was very impressed. the service was outstanding and the food was too. They took our suggestions for a few changes to a dish and did it to perfection. They might even add it to the menu, cause the cooks and owner had to try it.

Kristen, our server, was so attentive, offered without our asking 2 to go cups of water to walk to the game. Both the owner and manager stopped by, just to say HI. The calamari was good, the salad awesome, and the pasta dish we made, incredible. Kristen even offered to wrap our stuff up to go and hold it till after the game. We could come back to pick it up on our way home. DAMN!!!!!!

We hadn't told her our game time, but she knew and even said, "I will make sure you will have enough time to make your 6:40 game."

We will be back and be back soon. I sure like the changes made. Ernie, the owner, said that they were close to the breaking even level, and that things look really good!

Interesting how that place completely reinvented itself after just a few months of operation. It started out with counter service and all red decor. Then, after a short while, the owners remodeled and converted to full service. That's a lot of money spent on a quick course change. I hope it works out and look forward to trying Strand version 2.0.

[gymratmanaz]

pbenjamin...post after the game.....love to hear your take.