Oregano's Bistro in Flagstaff

605 W Riordan, On Riordan at Milton, Flagstaff
Menu at oreganos.com
 

Oregano's is a comfortable family joint that has something for every one and it smells good in here!
The appetizers are among the best in town and a must order from the menu, even if its for your whole meal. The best of the best- a basket of their waffle fries (the best fries in town), the GuacaTony (which it like bruchetta meets pizza meat chips and guacamole) and the calamari.
For the main course there's gianormous salads (my fav being the southwest shrimp ceasar), pastas, baked pastas in bread bowls, Chicago-style stuffed pizza (it takes a while, so order that before you go), thin crust pizzas, and deluxe hot sandwiches (both for meat lovers and vegetarians). All the sandwiches come with a side of the yummy fries. There's also lunch specials.

Kids menu includes a slice of pizza for two bucks or pasta for 3. Kids drinks are 69 cents.
The dessert menu is brief but delish for warm gooey cookie lovers. They usually will give you one for free on your birthday to boot.
The waitstaff is friendly, complimenting the colorful decor and laid back feel. Sometimes the lunch wait is long, sometimes you'll get lucky. In the spring/summer the patio is the best spot to sit (there's no a/c). In the winter the booths are the best.
All in all, Oregano's is one of the best places to go relax and have a great meal!

New Year's Eve menu for Brix in Flagstaff

New Year’s Eve 2009 at Brix is a four course prix fixe menu for $75.00 per person. They're another good choice if you're going to the big Pine Cone drop at the Weatherford Hotel (the party kicks off at Leroux and Aspen at 8pm with fireworks at 10pm and midnight). They're nearby the action. Here's a look at their menu, though it's always subject to availability:

Amuse
Pate of Sonoma county duck, sauce gribiche and pickled fennel

1st course
Savory crepes, braised foxfire farms lamb leg, bmr feta, roasted eggplant and piquillo peppers. (vegetarian option available without lamb)

2nd course
Choice of:
Winter minestrone soup, parsnips, yukon gold potato, carrots, grilled i’itoi onions
Mcclendon baby green salad, buttermilk vinagrette, tomato confit, andalo crisp, and spiced walnuts

3rd course
Choice of:
Truffled butter poached Creekstone New York steak, herb roasted fingerling potato, honey glazed baby carrots, substance cabernet demi-glace
Pan-roasted wild striped sea bass, braised tuscan kale, brown beech mushrooms, champagne beurre-blanc, shaved radish and pickled red onion salad
Cider-brined roasted heritage pork loin, potato, apple-bacon gratine, roasted Anaheim chiles and bacon mustard emulsion

Desserts
BMR chevre goat cheese cake, candied oranges and beets
Flourless venezuelan chocolate cake, meyer lemon syrup and Frangelico cream

Make reservations at 213.1021.

Cafe Ole

By Angele Sionna

119 S San Francisco, Flagstaff, AZ

(no menu online)

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>= good, but not great

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxxx= you’ll love it

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10

Value (what you get for your money)
*** = fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way

The relaxing atmosphere is everything at Cafe Ole. The outside patio is more of a courtyard and is the best in town. You feel comfortable from the moment you walk in. There's a giant fountain at the back and plants all around with Mexican pottery scattered about. On the weekends, you'll often catch a live music performance to set the mood as well.

The food and drinks at Cafe Ole are creative. The special drinks of the night have included blueberry mojitos and pomegranate margaritas. Both were good, though there seems to always be too much ice in the mojitos and margaritas here and they only serve them on the rocks. They're a little watered down tasting as a result.

My favorite thing on the menu is the "make your own combination" platter. They're served in one, two or three item portions with rice and beans. I like to do three item combo with two cheese enchiladas and a guacamole taco. It is the perfect size to share with my toddler. The special enchilada dishes are often intriguing choices and I recommend them as well.

The service is generally slow but very friendly but the atmosphere makes up for any negatives here.

All in all, this is the best Mexican restaurant in town to take out of town friends or go on a date. The food is quality and the surroundings really put you at ease and in a talking mood.

For more photos of Cafe Ole, click HERE.

New Jersey Pizza Company *Updated- Again!*

By Angele Sionna

2224 E. Cedar #6
NEW website with updated menu as of August 22, 2009 pizzaflagstaff.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>>= always great, unique, and flavorful no matter where you’re from

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xx= nothing to write home about

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$= under $10

Value (what you get for your money)
***** = superb -lots of quality/taste for what you pay

What a refreshing change of pace New Jersey Pizza Company is! Not only do they have great tasting pizza, but they use locally grown and organic ingredients and don’t charge you extra for that (like so many other businesses that seem to think organic means adding an extra $5 to the cost for customers)!

“Our efforts are dedicated to the small family farmers, ranchers, artisan cheese makers, laborers and cooks of the world, whose endless work, wisdom, and passion make it possible to bring this food to the table,” their menu boasts. Now that’s the kind of motto I like to see on the front of the menu. Someone with a passion for food who also cares about how it’s grown and the people who grow and make it. That motto shows in the taste of the pizza.

My daughters and I went to New Jersey Pizza Company for the first time this week. We were the only sit down diners, but a few other people stopped in to pick up food while we were there. The building is painted with a giant mural of Italian favorites on the outside – from soccer to the Roman Coliseum. Inside the décor feels like a new (but old fashioned) Italian farmhouse kitchen: very open, a satillo tile floor, colorfully painted walls. You walk up to the counter that doubles as a refrigerated food display and order. Fresh tomatoes of varying colors are on big plates on the counter. Behind the counter you can see the full kitchen (which looked very clean), where they were making their own Mozzarella cheese. That was impressive. I’ve never eaten at a pizza joint before so dedicated to the taste of their food that they made their own cheese (at least not that I know of).

We ordered a small (12 inch) Classic Cheese Pizza ($8). For a dollar more you can get fresh pulled Mozzarella, though I didn’t realize that at the time, as I didn’t browse the menu before placing my order. I just assumed all of the pizza was made with the cheese they were making, as that would make more sense. The kid that took my order was very nice, but didn’t tell me that was the case. He did however tell me about all of their foods, their use of organics and local products when possible. Though some of their organics are shipped in from California, I’m told. Even found out that their chickens are brought in fresh from somewhere in the South. They used to use local chickens but apparently that chicken farm as since gone out of business. Interesting. As nice as he was, he also forgot to get me a drink, but brought one out as soon as I asked. But never came back to refill it.

We sat down in the small dining room, separated from the entry and kitchen by an arched doorway. There are only a few tables and there’s no air conditioning so it was a little stuffy despite the front doors being propped open. I wouldn’t want to come here on a really hot day.

Note to parents of babies: New Jersey Pizza just got in one high chair. It usually isn't packed with families with babies, so chances are you'll be fine, but you may want to bring a stroller just in case.

Also for kids... New Jersey Pizza has special colorful plastic plates for the little ones to eat on. (Sometimes you have to ask for them, but some servers automatically bring one out.) I was glad to see that they didn’t use throwaway products like NiMarco’s does. Something else that detracted from a pleasant atmosphere (which I’m sure is not the case on other occasions), the owner was arguing very loudly with a supplier or other business associate about money. Unprofessional to do with clients in house, even if it was just me and my two girls. I felt like I was back in New York.

The sauce was fantastic! Flavors of fresh tomatoes and spices blended well together to make an almost creamy sauce. Thin but plentiful. The cheese was also generously doled out. Salty but not overly so. The crust is very thin and crispy. I expected more of a New York-style thin crust, which is really flimsy, not crispy, almost hard to hold they’re so loaded down with sauce and cheese. I really enjoy that type of pizza. I was spoiled when I lived in New York and had so many options all around. But that is not the type the New Jersey Pizza Company makes. You get lots of cheese and lots of sauce but the crust is crunchy. Our pizza was a little over cooked, though. When one of the guys working in the kitchen brought it out, he apologized for it have a dark spot on the crust and said the chef will gladly make a different one. I declined. It tasted fine. It was nice of them to offer though. And it still tasted great.

New Jersey Pizza has other enticing items on their menu. Some of the most interesting are: Caprese Salad with Arizona grown tomatoes and house pulled Mozzarella (market price); two sizes of Calzones with two types of cheese, your choice of three other ingredients, and sauce on the side ($8 regular, $11 large); Olive Plate (market price); Cheese Breadsticks with extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella, Parmesan Reggiano, and your choice of homemade sauce ($3.50 regular, $6 large); homemade lemonade and fruit sodas, all made with unrefined organic sweeteners; and many homemade deserts. I wanted to get a Farmhouse Ricotta Cannoli, but was told they won’t be making those again until the fall. I’ll definitely be trying that when the time comes and report back here!

All in all, the service may not be so great at New Jersey Pizza, but the good food makes up for it in my book. They knocked Fratelli Pizza down to my second favorite in Flagstaff, though the atmosphere and customer service (and air conditioning) are far superior at Fratelli.

[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Cheese Breadsticks"][/caption]

**Update: My family went to New Jersery Pizza again tonight and had the Cheese Breadsticks ($3.50) and two different Calzones ($8) - one with tomato, mushroom and their fresh pulled mozzarella, the other with ham, salami, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. Each tasted fresh from the garden and the oven.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Calzone"][/caption]

Both the breadsticks and the calzones were served with a cold tomato sauce that tasted like it was just picked off the vine in the hot house. Flavorful because the tomatoes used to make it were flavorful, but I would have preferred a heated sauce with a few more seasonings. Still I enjoyed the meal very much. But would recommend the pizza over the calzone.

Again the service was kind of slow but at least the waiter couldn't be any nicer. I was hoping to try a desert but they were all sold out. Guess I'm going to try to get to the Farmer's Market early this weekend and hope they're serving desert there. New Jersey Pizza sells their fresh fruit juices, homemade mozzarella ($9/pound), and other items every Sunday at the Farmer's Market. (Click HERE for more info on Flagstaff's Farmer's Market.

For more photos of New Jersey Pizza Company, click HERE.
____________________________________________________

Tacos Locos

By Angele Sionna

2 S. Beaver St. Suite 170 (on the Phoenix Ave. side of the building)
Menu at : tacoslocos.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>= a favorite, can count on it being good every time

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxx= comfortable

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$ = under $10

Value (what you get for your money)
**** = worth it - you won’t be disappointed with what you get for your money

Looking for a place to kick back on your lunch break or grab some good Mexican grub in between classes or errands? Tacos Locos is a good bet.

They have a simple but unique menu with decent prices and a different style than everyone else in town. Tacos Locos is on the a side entrance of the same building that houses Altitudes Bar and Grill, just south of the railroad tracks downtown.

Everything about this place screams laid back and it’s fabulous. Relaxing yet energetic music plays while you browse the menu at the counter and place your order. Items range from beef or fish tacos ($2.39 each) to rolled potato tacos ($2.19 for 3). There are several vegetarian options – mostly consisting of guacamole or potato based dishes. They also have a serve yourself soda fountain (drinks cost $1.79), beers on tap, and traditional Mexican beverages ($1.99), including Horchata (a cinnamon flavored rice milk), Tamarindo (made from tamarind fruit, a sweet yet distinctively sour fruit), and Jaicama (hibiscus flower tea).

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="368" caption="Rolled potato tacos"][/caption]

After ordering you seat yourself in the small but roomy feeling loft style restaurant, complete with high ceilings, exposed ducts, painted concrete floors and even a stone wall. There are naturally stained pine wood panels and soothing orange painted stucco walls. On display all around – local art, which adds to the hip feel inside. There is also a simple but fun patio with metal tables and rainbow colored umbrellas.

Moms take note – even though Tacos Locos caters to the student and lunch break crowd, they have a high chair for the little ones and menu items fit for kids like a large cheese quesadilla for $2.99, enough for two kids to share (although they have no kids menu per se).

This was my first visit to this casual restaurant, which only opened about four months ago. Their sign says café and market, but there is no market yet, though I’m told to look for it this spring. The market will feature their special homemade salsas, which include a salsa verde, traditional salsa and a spicy “chile de arbol” sauce.

Low prices and high quality best describes the food at Tacos Locos. Everything was fresh, not greasy. Food tastes like its made by someone who cares about each customer. On this visit, we tried several items.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="368" caption="California taco & fish taco"][/caption]

First up, my favorite of all that I tried: the fish taco ($2.39). Served with fried fish and cabbage, I recommend adding some of the homemade salsa verde. It is the perfect compliment to this taco with its sour and tart flavor. In fact, I’d add the salsa verde to anything and everything here because it is really good.

One of the weirder menu items (but I’m told very popular with the student crowd) are the California tacos ($2.69) and burritos ($5.39), consisting of carne asada, guacamole, lettuce and french fries. Yes, that’s right, I said french fries.

From the vegetarian menu, I tried the 3 rolled potato tacos ($2.19). These are essentially taquitos with mashed potato-like filling, topped with an almost non-existant amount of guacamole, lettuce and cheese. Good when dipped or smothered in the salsa verde or other salsa. Otherwise, they’re a little bland. But once that salsa is on there I really like them and for $2.19 for three I would definitely get them again.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="258" caption="Veggie quesadilla"][/caption]

I ordered the veggie quesadilla ($2.99) for my daughters to split. It was a giant burrito sized flour tortilla (by Tortilla Lady, the menu proclaims) filled with cheese, onions and red and green peppers. Not what I think of when I think veggie really (I was imagining corn and zucchini). My girls didn’t like the veggies on there, but once I took them off they gobbled it up. I tried it too and I thought it was decent but not impressive enough to order for myself. If quesadillas are what you want, I’d hop on over across the street to Beaver Street Brewery and order their chicken quesadillas instead, though Beaver Street’s are no where near the bargain price of $2.99. But then Tacos Locos doesn’t serve them with sour crème or guacamole.

You can add rice or beans for $1.19 each to your order, but we did not. We also didn’t try their chips and salsa because unlike most other Mexican restaurants, it is not included. The basket of chips and salsa will set you back and extra $4.39.

A good idea on your first visit to Tacos Locos is to opt for one of their combos, like the taco and salad ($5.89) or two tacos ($5.89).

Tacos Locos is particularly great for lunch breaks because they have free high speed internet so you can easily take a working lunch. They have happy hour and serve up several flavors of margaritas, pina coladas, on tap beers and bottled beers. There are no waitresses but the guy at the counter is about the friendliest you’ll come across. He’s happy to explain every item on the menu with a smile. Food is served up fast and hot in plastic baskets, which you’re asked to kindly put up yourself as you toss your trash or recycle your bottles.

Tacos Locos is going to become a part of my regular dining rotation. I left there full, satisfied and relaxed. I recommend it for tourists and locals alike.

Monsoon on the Rim

By Angele Sionna

6 East Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, AZ (downtown)
(no menu online)

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Monsoon's Mandarin Orange Chicken"][/caption]

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>= mixed bag, can be good but can be bad, can’t count on it

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxx= comfortable

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10

Value (what you get for your money)
** = okay - overpriced for quality/taste

Asian fusion is how Monsoon on the Rim downtown Flagstaff describes itself. Japanese, Thai, and Chinese are all represented on the menu. It had been a while since I’d been to Monsoon, but I decided to go there earlier this week because I got a great coupon in the mail for a free dinner with purchase of another dinner and two beverages. That’s like a personal invitation to me. Plus, the coupon stated across the top: “Under new ownership! Completely Redecorated!” So we went. I couldn’t really remember why we stopped going there. We used to go weekly when we first moved to town.

When we walked in the door, I didn’t notice any of the “completely redecorated” portions of the restaurant. It looked pretty much the same, minus a new paint job and some light fixtures. Monsoon always had a nice feel to it with large windows around two sides of the restaurant looking out onto one of downtown’s busiest streets.

We opted to sit out on the patio because it was a nice night. The patio is very casual. People seem to linger here longer than inside the restaurant, busy people watching as they eat their meals.

When the waitress brought the menu, it looked pretty much as I remembered it, except for one little detail I’m sure the owners were hoping customers would forget – the prices. There are two menus now with different prices. The dinner menu tacks an extra $2 to each entrée. But you don’t get any extra food or better service or even different plates. It’s all the same, it just costs more – maybe to pay for the new paint job inside? I would have preferred the old look with the cheaper prices.

When I took the first bite into my dinner, I remembered why we used to come here. The Mandarin Chicken ($9.99) is great. It’s breaded and fried into crispy strips and coated with a sweet orange sauce with water chestnuts, carrots and celery mixed in and is served with white rice.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Monsoon's Chow Mein"][/caption]

A few minutes later when it was all gone, I remembered why we stopped going to Monsoon: the portions are small (though cleverly and deceptively spread out thinly across oval plates) and the prices are high for what you’re getting. (That, and our favorite waitress Marla stopped working here and relocated over to Beaver Street Brewery, where we see her often.)
They even cut back on the amount of white rice that is served with the meal. You used to get a big bowl of white rice for the table to share, but this time we got a tiny bowl. Not really enough to compliment the dish, even though it is on the skimpy serving side as well.
We also ordered the Chicken Chow Mein ($9.99). It has a gingery kick, but is short on vegetables. I’m not sure why it’s called chow mein when it is served with lo mein noodles, but they taste good. (Read the difference between lo mein & chow mein HERE) Though again, a small portion is served and no rice comes with it.
If you want friend rice, that’ll be an extra $9.99, as it is served as an entrée. The old menu, which I happen to have a copy of and am looking at as I type this, had fried rice for just $5. You can order any entrée for the price listed on the menu with beef, chicken or tofu. If you want to upgrade that to shrimp, calamari, or scallops, Monsoon adds on an extra $3.
The food tasted exactly as I remembered it, which is a good thing, as flavor is not something lacking at Monsoon. Other items we’ve ordered and enjoyed in the past include the Spicy Calamari ($9.99) (which used to be on the appetizer menu for $6), Mongolian Beef ($9.99), and the Szechuan Broccoli Beef ($9.99). There are also vegetarian options, which I’ve tried in the past, including Steamed Broccoli ($7.99) which is stir-fried with water chestnuts and carrots and Szechuan Green Beans ($7.99), stir fried with onions and peppers for a little spiciness.

The appetizer menu includes: Edamame ($4), Spring Rolls (2/$4), Chicken Lettuce Wraps ($8) (again, these used to be much cheaper at $4.50), and more. Deserts look interesting, though I’ve never tried them, with such choices as Chocolate Seduction with raspberry sauce ($4), Banana Spring Rolls ($7) and Plum Ice Cream ($4).

Despite good tasting food, when you consider the jacked up prices for food, sodas that cost $2 (and we had to ask every time for a refill), and service that was lacking (our waitress did not seem like she wanted to be there), Monsoon isn’t the kind of spot I’m going to be heading back to any time soon. If I’m going to over pay for food, I at least expect good service. *TIP: If you go, look for the “Money in the Mail” coupons beforehand. You can save quite a bit. I wouldn’t recommend going for dinner with out one.

For more photos of Monsoon on the Rim, click HERE.

NiMarco's Pizza

By Angele Sionna


[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="101 S. Beaver Street, Flagstaff, AZ"][/caption]

101 S. Beaver St., Flagstaff, AZ

(no menu online)

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>= mixed bag, can be good but can be bad, can’t count on it

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxx= good but could be improved

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$= under $10

Value (what you get for your money)
*** = fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way

NiMarco’s Pizza says on their sign that they’ve been serving “Flagstaff style” pizza since 1979. If that’s the case, Flagstaff style is average pizza with a cracker-thin dry crust but really good sauce.

I was very excited to try NiMarco’s for the first time this week. I’ve driven by their place countless times and always thought that their patio looked like fun. It’s a simple house-style restaurant with about a half dozen tables outside. The inside has a relaxed look with a fireplace dominating the single roomed restaurant and wooden booths around the outside of the room and tables in the middle. Nothing fancy, just easy to kick back in. That’s a good description of the menu as well. NiMarco’s serves slices, whole pizzas, calzone, a few types of salad, and wings.

During the school year, NiMarco’s patio is almost always packed with college students when I’ve gone by. On our visit, there were only a few customers, as it’s the middle of summer break. I figured the big college student clientele meant they must have cheap slices and good beer.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="NiMarco's Cheese Pizza Slices"][/caption]

I didn’t try the beer but I did grab two slices. The plain cheese, which I got, were $1.75 each, tax included. Good price. (Adding topics ups the price depending on what you get because they have different “levels” of toppings.) The pizza itself was too greasy and is nothing impressive. The crust was too crusty and really dry. It’s best described as “cardboard crust,” to use a common pizza term. The sauce however was really tangy and good. Unfortunately, not good enough for me to recommend ordering pizza here.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="NiMarco's Calzone"][/caption]

What was good at NiMarco’s was the calzone. My husband ordered the “Your Way” calzone ($7.50, including tax) with extra cheese, pepperoni, sausage, onions, and ham. They said it would take 20-30 minutes and it did. Again, the crust wasn’t that great, but on the calzone it is really thin so it didn’t matter as much. It was lacking in the cheese department (and we got extra cheese - yikes) but overloaded with onions. Those should have been reversed for better flavor. This dish is loaded with sauce, and that’s a good thing. Until you get to the second half, because the sauce and all the ingredients’ juices seep thru and make it really soggy. This is particularly bad because everything at NiMarco’s is served on throwaway products – paper plates, paper cups, and plastic ware. While that’s easy for them, it’s not good for us patrons, as the plastic knife just didn’t cut it with the calzone, literally. Add that to the soggy plates and you’ve got a mess.

I find NiMarco’s paper/plastic products policy very wasteful and surprising, actually. It’s like a delivery place that has good seating. They use three paper plates for each entrée. Add that to the other paper/plastic waste from the cups, napkins, and cutlery and I actually got to the point where I kinda felt bad about eating there on an enviro-friendliness level. This may seem kind of silly, but I guess I just expected a little better from a place that prides itself on being Flagstaff-style, as the city and its residents are very eco-conscious.

All in all, the price is right at NiMarco’s but the product reflects it. I would skip NiMarco’s and opt for their competitor just up the block – Fratelli Pizza. (See my Fratelli review HERE.) NiMarco’s does have a better patio and is about a half block closer to Northern Arizona University’s campus, which is probably why it draws such a crowd when school’s in session.

See more photos of NiMarco's Pizza HERE.

Beaver Street Brewery & Whistle Stop Café

By Angele Sionna

11 S. Beaver St, Flagstaff, AZ
menu at: www.beaverstreetbrewery.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>= a favorite, can count on it being good every time
The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxxx= you'll love it
Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10
Value (what you get for your money)
***= fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way

Beaver Street Brewery is the kind of place that everyone in town always ends up. It’s got a friendly, warm, and comfortable atmosphere with possibly the friendliest wait staff in town and something even for the picky eaters on the menu. That means all of our friends and family who come to visit leave their vacation with fond memories from Beaver Street. The menu has upscale bar food with an Arizona twist of flavor, so the choices are anything but ordinary.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's patio/beer garden"][/caption]

Whether you are a tourist or a local, this is a great spot to hang out, especially if the patio is open and it’s a sunny afternoon. They make several types of award-winning, seasonal beers ($3.50 half-pint, $4.50 pint, $5.50 Imperial 20 ounce, $14 pitcher, $15.50 filled to-go growler). My favorite for summer is the Hefe Weizen. And I’m not alone. This bold brew won the gold prize for best "South German Style" out of 60 competitors at the Great American Beer Fest in 2007. In winter, I recommend the Bramble Berry Brew. Both remind me of beers I had while vacationing in Munich, Germany a few years back at some of their most famous beer halls.

But it’s not only all about the beers at Beaver Street. Equal attention is paid to quality food that leaves you wanting to go back for more. All the salad dressings are homemade. The salads themselves are fantastically fresh and crispy. They don’t scrimp on even the side salad, which comes with fresh mushrooms and mixed greens. On a warm, sunny day, I like to grab a side-salad ($3.95) with ranch dressing and Hefe and kick back in the beer garden.

The Arizona Quesadillas ($8.95) are a nice change of pace. They bring some heat without being overpowering and are served with tortilla chips, guac, salsa, and pico. Great for sharing as an appetizer or as an entrée. Honestly, I haven’t had better quesadillas in Flagstaff. They come in chicken, grilled flank steak, smoked salmon, or black beans.



[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="The Beaver Street Burger"][/caption]

For a main course, my husband will get the Beaver Street Burger ($10.95) nine out of ten times. This burger is made with garlic, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes mixed in with the beef before being flame grilled and served with Havarti cheese and a special signature basil pesto mayonnaise sauce. Juicy and flavorful without being over-powering.

One of the most glowing reviews of all our friends and family came from my Aunt Gail when she bit into the Salmon BLT ($9.95) for the first time. She still talks about this sandwich, complete with a unique tangy lemon tarragon mayo, years later as being the best she’s ever had.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's pizza oven"][/caption]

The wood-fired pizzas are one of my favs. They're cooked in a giant stove that you can see right when you walk in the restaurant. The BBQ Chicken Pizza ($10.85) usually calls my name. It's blend of smoked Gouda and mozzarella cheeses, a sweet and tangy sauce and grilled pieces of chicken breast and red onion pack a flavorful punch. My two-year old daughter also thinks it’s a treat to share this and a side salad with me.



[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Beaver Street's Apple-Ginger Stout Cake"][/caption]

Not to be left out, the Apple-Ginger Stout cake ($4.95) makes a nice way to round off your meal. This little gem is made with gingerbread cake, apples, spices, and Beaver Street’s own R&R Oatmeal Stout. It's served warm, drowned in a thin and not overpowering caramel sauce and fresh whip cream. Yum! This could be the most unique twist to gingerbread yet. Good anytime of the year, but especially great on a cold winter day with fresh snow on the ground. Still, that didn't stop me from ordering it today while sitting on the sunny patio.

Overall, this is my favorite joint in Flagstaff. It's the type of brewery that would hold up in any city in the country for their beers, atmosphere, and food. If you were to travel through Flagstaff on your way to the Grand Canyon as many folks do every summer, I would say a stop into Beaver Street is a must to get some local flavor and leave your stomach satisfied.

More Beaver Street photos HERE.

Josephine’s Modern American Bistro

By Angele Sionna


[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="503 N. Humphrey's St., Flagstaff, AZ"][/caption]

503 N. Humphrey’s Street, Flagstaff
menu at: www.josephinesrestaurant.com/menu.htm

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>> = always great, unique, and flavorful no matter where you're from

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxxx = you'll love it

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
Lunch= $$$
Dinner = $$$$$

Value (what you get for your money)
Lunch **** = worth it - you won’t be disappointed with what you get for your money
Dinner *** = fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way

Josephine’s Modern American Bistro is the kind of restaurant that catches your eye from the moment you drive up. With its dark volcanic rock columns and beautiful, inviting stone patio, it’s a romantic setting anytime of the day. The quaintness increases in the evenings with the twinkling of lights around the historic building. The sense of timelessness is not, however, reflected on the very modern menu, which features bold and flavorful combinations of food to delight both the eye and the stomach. Josephine’s proclaims on their menu to be free of “ethnic constraints.” Instead blending “ingredients and techniques from many different cultures.” This is the type of place you come to have flavors dance through your mouth, popping with originality in their combinations.

The experience at Josephine’s differs depending on whether you are dining for lunch or dinner, as well as seasonally. While the atmosphere, service, and food quality remain the same, the prices vary quite a bit. At lunch, the prices are slightly higher than other top eateries in town with slightly smaller portions. At dinner, Josephine’s is true fine dining with prices that go along with it. Both menus also change seasonally.

On this occasion, my husband and I went to Josephine’s for lunch. We were celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary. The exceptional setting makes it a popular spot for folks to commemorate anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions. But it is also a fine place to grab lunch on a regular day out with the family as well, if the mood strikes you. I am partial to eating lunch at Josephine’s. Not only for the better value, but also because on a beautiful summer day when the sun is out and there’s a breeze in the air, it is a relaxing experience to sit on the patio and take in the flowers and other greenery as you wait for your meal.



[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Josephine's Pecan Encrusted Fish Tacos"][/caption]

And that’s just what we did. The weather was perfect, so we sat back in the comfortable chairs on the patio and placed our orders. I had a hard time deciding what to get. I narrowed it down to either the Pecan Encrusted Fish Tacos "with roasted tomato salsa, cabbage slaw, avocado and ancho mayo” ($11.50) and the Po-Boy Crab-Cake Sandwich with a spicy remoulade ($11.50). The tacos won out because they were so fantastic the last time I was here. And they didn’t disappoint this time either. The fish is lightly breaded in a slightly sweet pecan crust. The flavors of the toppings blend nicely for a tangy taste with a kick.

My husband ordered the Caprese Sandwich ($10.25). It is served on garlic toasted ciabata bread with tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, Prosciutto, and a balsamic reduction. It’s also available as a vegetarian sandwich without the ham for $9.25.

All of the menu items are intriguingly different, which in itself makes you want to come back again. Among the most unique: the Baklava Baked Brie ($9.50), which is “Phyllo wrapped Brie with pistachios and peach fig chutney” and the Diablo Shrimp Macaroni and Cheese, which is pasta smothered in a “smoked Gouda ancho chili cheese sauce” and topped with spicy diablo shrimp ($10.50 as an appetizer or $22 as a dinner entree).

Also of note, the wine menu is expansive with something to compliment every dish. Check out the hundred plus choices on their wine menu online. Not a wine expert? No worries. Josephine’s chef has already done all of the work for you with a recommendation for each dish printed right on the menu.

Josephine’s is owned by a brother and sister who named the restaurant after their mother. One is the award-winning head chef. The other runs the business side of things. You can tell that this family establishment takes great pride in each and every thing they serve. It is reflected in the menu as well as the wait staff. Each time we’ve visited Josephine’s we have had spectacular service to compliment the setting and the food. While this spot can be a budget buster, especially in the evening or if you order wine, it is the experience that you are paying for along with the food. I say, treat yourself. Stop by Josephine’s. You’ll be glad you did.

More Josephine's photos HERE.