Posts Tagged ‘Nine / 05’

Late Night Eats Under $10 Along the Light Rail

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

There may not be a late night greasy spoon diner near the light rail, but there are plenty of other places to eat which are open until at least midnight in Downtown Phoenix.  Now keep in mind, this is Phoenix and we’re coming out of a recession.  Our choices are few, but at least we have some. For the purposes of this blog post, my definition of late night is a) open until at least midnight and b) the restaurant must have meat, chicken or fish on the late night menu.  And of course, each restaurant is a quick walk or bike ride from the light rail.  Enjoy your late night eats!

Hannys_exteriorHanny’s (Washington station) – The former department store turned contemporary restaurant has three dishes under $10. One is a margherita pizza, another is a snack plate, and the last one is a bar plate.  The snack plate consists of prosciutto and sopressata.  Add melon to the snack plate and you’ve got the bar plate. Hanny’s also has $5 martinis. The kitchen cooks until 1 a.m. You can find Hanny’s at the corner of 1st Street and Adams in Downtown Phoenix.  Kudos to the restaurant for putting light rail directions on their Web site here.

The Turf Restaurant and Pub (Central station) – The Irish pub has delicious wraps for under $8 and is open until midnight on the weekends. I like the Buffalo Chicken Wrap and their French fries are pretty good too!  Turf is located on 1st Street – see the menu and location information here.

NINE 05 (Roosevelt station) – The modern Asian fusion restaurant has a selection of dumplings, crepes and buns at $10 – including my favorite bbq pork belly with hoisin glaze.  NINE05 is open ’till midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.  More information on their menu and other events during the week can be found here

PastaBAR (Central station) – The italian eatery is nestled in the middle of restaurant row on 1st Street behind Turf and Sens.  PastaBAR has the latest hours on this list – and of course, we love that! Even better – PastaBAR has a $10 menu complete with a selection of pasta entrees that come with a side.  PastaBAR does late night right in Downtown Phoenix!  Need more information?  Click here.

Sens (Central station) – Another 2 a.m. restaurant on restaurant row in Downtown Phoenix. Sens has an Asian tapas menu so most of the items are under $10 – my favorite is the spicy won ton with sauteed chicken and pepper jack cheese. Honestly, though, you really can’t go wrong at Sens – everything is delicious!  Need more information or reasons to visit?  Click here.

Now that we’ve covered late night eats, let’s talk about places to have dinner on Sunday nights over here.

Information on riding the light rail can be found here.

Downtown Dining Highlights Organic and Local Produce

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

One of the healthiest trends in Downtown dining is the emphasis on locally grown and organic produce. One after another, restaurants are making it a point to support local growers and add organic fruits and vegetables to their menus.

_MG_6275If you’d like to give these folks some support of your own, here are a few Downtown eateries that will make you feel downright good about indulging:

NINE/05

A recent addition to Downtown, NINE/05 frequents the Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery for its produce. Most of the meats at this modern Asian restaurant are organic, and the acclaimed chef likes using heirloom produce when possible.

District American Kitchen and Wine Bar

This charming spot in the Downtown Sheraton has quite a story to tell. The chefs here give their produce scraps to a farm in Scottsdale, which uses them for compost. The compost is then used to grow fresh, local produce for the restaurant. How’s that for bringing things full-circle? And there’s more to the tale: The same Scottsdale farmer also helped the restaurant plant a garden on the Sheraton’s fourth floor.

Cibo’s

All the vegetables on the menu are locally and organically grown, which means that every salad, from their marvelous Mixed Vegetables to the savory Antipasto, is loaded with fresh produce. If you go to Cibo’s just for the pizza – and who could blame you – you can pat yourself on the back if you have vegetables on your pie.

Roosevelt_HousePasta Bar

The comfort food at this Italian eatery includes handmade pasta, homemade sausage and locally grown produce from the Phoenix Public Market.

The Roosevelt

Almost everything served at The Roosevelt, a classic pub-style place, is locally grown and organic. For example, the bread comes from a bakery down the street and the greens are grown locally. Matt’s Big Breakfast, which is owned by the same folks, also adheres to the owner’s passion for local food, and features cage-free eggs from humanely raised chickens.

Breadfruit

This fun eatery, which serves up Jamaican food and reggae, gets its fruits and veggies at the Phoenix Public Market and uses only cage-free chickens (who had better lives, but still wound up on someone’s plate).