📍 Central Phoenix, Phoenix
21 restaurants · 2026
🍽️ 21 Restaurants
Historic grid streets anchored by Native American fry bread, canal-era steakhouses, and Thai kitchens tucked between midcentury bungalows.
Top 10 in Central Phoenix
1
Fry Bread House
A James Beard America's Classics winner on 7th Avenue serving Tohono O'odham cooking the way it's meant to be eaten — plate-sized fry bread stretched by hand, stews and tamales, an...
91
2
Barrio Cafe
Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza's Mexican fine-dining institution since 2002 — James Beard semifinalist consideration, Oaxacan and Yucatecan specialties done correctly, and one of the...
91
3
Durant's
Operating since 1950 — Phoenix's most unironic steakhouse, where politicians, developers, and Phoenix old money have held court for three-quarters of a century. Red booths, tuxedoe...
90
4
Glai Baan
Cat Bunnag's brick-walled Central Phoenix dining room is the Thai restaurant locals quote when out-of-towners ask — street food and Isan specialties cooked at full conviction, in a...
89
5
Marisco Boys
Mariscos follow-up from the Taco Boys team, drawing from Puerto Penasco and the Gulf of California in a Hermosillo-glam dining room in Central Phoenix. The charola seafood tower ma...
89
6
Richardson's
Chef Richardson Browne's New Mexican fine dining since 1990 — dark-wood interior, copper tables, green chile stew with the depth of a dish cooked all day. One of Phoenix's most spe...
88
7
Taco Guild
Inside a converted 1893 Methodist church — stained-glass windows, soaring ceilings, and a modern-Mexican menu that takes the taco template seriously. Short rib taco is the signatur...
87
8
Avanti of Phoenix
A 1974 Phoenix Italian institution — white tablecloths, black-bow-tie service, a piano in the corner, and the kind of room where the veal scaloppine is unchanged because no one has...
87
9
Rokerij
Richardson Browne's steakhouse sibling to Richardson's — Dutch for 'smokehouse,' and the program is exactly that. Prime aged beef, buffalo tenderloin, rack of lamb, and a bourbon s...
86
10
Honey Bear's BBQ
Operating since 1986 — a Central Ave BBQ and soul-food institution that predates Phoenix's current Q renaissance by two decades. Pulled pork with the right shred, ribs with the bar...
86
All 21 Restaurants in Central Phoenix
Phoenix City Grille
85
Dick's Hideaway
85
Mi Patio Mexican Food
85
Lux Central
84
Texaz Grill
84
Maizie's Cafe & Bistro
84
Fàme Cafe
83
Satellite Coffee Bar
83
Nook Kitchen
83
Macayo's Mexican Kitchen
83
Switch
83
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