Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

A Little Taste of Francine Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ

Francine is a French-Mediterranean fine dining restaurant located in the luxury wing of the Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is by celebrity chef/Owner Laurent Halasz. The food served isn’t the typical French style food with lots of butter and cream and is lighter, healthier and seasonal like the food served is like what the chef was raised on in France.

It’s light, bright and airy inside.

They offer a mix of different seating choices. They offer traditional tables, booths, bar, and patio seating.

Today we started with the Stefano Burrata.

We received DELICIOUS thin cut country style toasted bread with rich creamy burrata that was served over caponata. The soft cheese was adorned with olive oil, fresh torn basil and what tasted like Aleppo pepper. The caponata ran heavy with balsamic vinegar and the pine nuts were very marinated and dark colored from the balsamic.

Today I went with the quinoa with added salmon as my main.

I received a moist flaky fish with a nicely crisped skin over many things that included avocado, cabbage, lentils, eggplant, sprouts, and sweet potato. I liked that nothing was oily. Most of the flavors were natural. It seemed like only the quinoa was dressed with flavors.

My husband went with the shaved prime rib sandwich with horseradish cream sauce, pickles and house chips.

I thought the chips were very good with a very nice crispness to them. My husband likes his food saltier than I do so for him the chips lacked salt. I thought the pickles and sauce were very good. I didn’t get to taste the meat in the sandwich because my husband said that it didn’t contain much meat. For both of us the ratio of bread is too much for the meat but the flavors are good and the rich fresh bun was nicely toasted. I thought it was very unusual that the meat on the sandwich was topped with shoestring potatoes. I asked my husband how that was and said that they didn’t really add much to the taste but it gave the sandwich some texture. The sandwich was also stuffed with some watercress.

It was a special day out so we splurged and tried a Francine apple tart. It came out very different than what I was expecting.

I was expecting a little open pie. We got a round of puff pastry lined with a very thin layer of apples topped with creamy vanilla ice cream. You can’t just dig in and eat it because the pastry needs to be cut like a steak. It’s almost like an unrolled croissant.

That was a little taste of Francine Restaurant in Scottsdale.

www.FrancineRestaurant.com

The Forking Truth

The FANTABULOUS Dish – The Flash Fried Eggplant from FnB Restaurant Scottsdale AZ

The FANTABULOUS Dish means – Top of the line, marvelously good, peachy keen and dynamite.

The FORKING Amazing FnB Restaurant is located in the arts district by Old Town Scottsdale Arizona. The restaurant is co-owned by James Beard Award Wining chef Charleen Badman. She serves an ever changing menu of global farm focused contemporary sharing plates that often feature local vegetables. The menu is vegetable heavy but also features enough meat to please meat eaters. Arizona wines are always featured on the menu.

We enjoyed an amazing meal like we always do at FnB but one dish really stood out. So much so that I actually dreamed about it that night. The flash fried eggplant with fresh dill, pickled shallots, garlic, pistachios, and honey…….

You can’t make this dish at home because you’d never be able to purchase the speciality farm fresh eggplant that this dish was made with………..and even if you could find such an eggplant who on earth can give you a big slab of eggplant that is very hard to describer but is firm…that you could cut like a potato, but also sort of custardy. This eggplant was extra special….like an eggplant just grown for the GODS……..The flavors were so different and so delicious and unlike anything imaginable with eggplant. They were a genius embellishment. But what was phenomenal was the texture and taste of the eggplant. This eggplant was sweet like white eggplant and seemed seedless. This was really FANTABULOUS eggplant with fresh dill, pickled shallots and pickled garlic. (I think I dreamed fennel was also in it….not sure if that was real or just added on in my dream ?) All that countered with the pistachios and just the right amount of honey was darn yummy. This eggplant was firm almost like a custardy potato with the skin falling off like the way fish skin can fall off. The eggplant was cooked but wasn’t oily…..It was a magical kind of firm texture but almost custardy texture unlike any eggplant that I have ever had anywhere. It was so light and so delicious and was so easy to whoof down.

The Flash Fried Eggplant from FnB Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ is an official FANTABULOUS Dish.

www.FnBRestaurant.com

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Urban Margarita in Glendale AZ

Urban Margarita is an American Restaurant that swings to New Mexican Fusion Cuisine. This restaurant is located in a strip mall in the Arrowhead section of North Glendale that is also known as the Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix Arizona. Urban Margarita was listed in the Phoenix New Times as among the ten BEST restaurants for New Mexican Cuisine in Metro Phoenix.

It looks like this when you walk in. To the right side of the photo is an indoor-outdoor bar with high top tables near the bar.

To the left is the inside dining area.

Behind the main dining area is another room with a bar.

There is also a partially covered outside patio with a indoor/outdoor bar with misters, a fireplace, a big screen TV and heaters.

Today we shared the cheesy corn appetizer.

it came with a bowl of chips. It’s kind of simple…LOTS of tasty melted cheese, sweet fresh corn, some spices a little heat and grassy cilantro. It’s really delicious!

For my main I got the citrus marinated and grilled “Kickin Chicken” in pineapple habanero glaze with black beans and cilantro rice.

The sauce runs a little sweet but it is spicy…..Chicken is tender and the rice is very fluffy.

My husband got the slow braised hatch pork chile verde.

Not all but some of the previous dishes we’ve had at Urban Margarita were-

Baja chop salad is pictured below.

It a mound of spring mix, black beans, fresh corn, red onion, tomato, avocado, poblanos, cotija cheese and Baja vinaigrette. It’s topped with marinated grilled chicken breast. That Baja vinaigrette does have a good amount of acid to it.

Next is the Urban Burrito.

This one was stuffed with carnitas, lettuce, cheese, cilantro rice, black beans and corn. This was topped with what they call Baja sauce. (it looks like green chili sauce to me)

The stuffed Poblano pepper (with queso on the side).

The peppers (TWO) are stuffed with spicy shredded chicken. It came with rice and corn. I liked that this isn’t swimming in cheese sauce like most New Mexican cuisine that I have tried. This is approachable and sensible.

This is the slow braised pork rib in hatch chile verde with rice, black beans and tortillas.

We’ve had other dishes but I can’t find the photos…..I KNOW I had the salmon here.

We tried the bananas Foster ice cream tortas.

These were SINFULLY good.

This was bananas sautéed in Anejo rum, butter, and brown sugar over an ice cream stuffed brioche bun. It sounds weird but was DANG DELICIOUS!

That was a TASTE of Urban Margarita in Glendale AZ

www.UrbanMargarita.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of The Americano Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ

The Americano Restaurant is an upscale Italian Restaurant and Steakhouse located in Scottsdale Arizona. Sometime around the end of September 2020 James Beard Restauranteur and celebrity chef Scott Conant and team took over ownership and operation of The Americano.

The Americano has a rich, modern, stunning atmosphere.

hostess station
the bar
1/2 moon booths
traditional tables
main dining area with a private room
open kitchen

They do not serve complimentary bread. Artisan bread and smoked butter is on current menu $6. and is served with a big glass dome for presentation. I think we were the only table that didn’t order bread. I had other plates on my mind so I had to skip the bread.

We started out by sharing the braised wagyu beef cheeks that was accented with a micro green and shaved cheese. It also came with vegetable fregola and pumpkin seed togarashi. ($21.) I did question our server about the pumpkin seed togarashi but they didn’t know what it was. (togarashi is a spice mix made with Japanese hot pepper)

The beef is tender and is developed with rich flavors. The fregola is much softer than I imagined it would be……the sweet peas and the pumpkinseed togarashi gave it the needed texture that was crunchy, nutty, and a little citrusy. It’s an excellent dish!

For my main I went with the seared Faroe Island salmon ($32.).

It was served with the bloodline but there were also fresh herbs and olive tarragon salsa verde for enhancement.

Many things things about the dish that are exceptional. The peeled sweet cherry tomatoes are FORKING AMAZING! All I got out of my server that she knows the tomatoes were marinated. Somewhere there were two tiny pieces of fennel that also tasted amazing….The flavor in the fennel was so concentrated that it was like fennel bombs……The tomatoes and fennel were so flavorful and delicious! They made me happy. The fish is prepared reasonably well……It’s a little past medium but is still moist. The black puree on the plate is called charred scallion puree. It doesn’t taste like scallions….It reminds me of balsamic with another taste something like fish sauce.

We also shared the macaroni tre formaggi ($12.) with added fresh black truffles ($35.) that Scott Conant brought in from Italy.

The macaroni is made in house. WOW! This is one of the best macaroni and cheese dishes that I have ever had in a restaurant. It’s sublimely cheesy. The truffles are not the worst or the best and lack moisture and do have some flavor but are not full flavored….These I would have skipped if I knew what they were like today. But that macaroni and cheese is something that is a must to order. Between paying someone to make the pasta and all that real delicious cheese in there I bet that they don’t make any money on this dish. There is so much cheese in it Holy Chezus!

My husband had the campanelle ai gamberi ($29.).

It’s pasta with prawns, sea urchin (that butter of the sea), Calabrian chili, and breadcrumbs. He said that it was very good. He also said that the cherry tomatoes in his dish were exceptionable.

We were waited on by a team of people. Our glasses never ran dry. Plates were cleared quickly and all the glassware, silverware and plates seemed sparking clean.

That was a little taste of The Americano.

www.TheAmericanoRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and it often does change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Bahia De Guaymas in Phoenix AZ

Bahia De Guaymas is a Sonoran Mexican Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. They offer mostly seafood items but also do offer meats and chicken. The menu is mostly in Spanish. Here English is the second language but the servers are bilingual.

This isn’t a fancy place but parking is easy since they have their own parking lot.

In the front of the restaurant a bar stretches across the room and behind is a dining area filled with traditional tables and booths along one side.

The tables are set with a bucket of many bottled sauces that don’t look clean or safe to use.

Lets take a peek at the menu….

They start us off with chips salsa and a bowl of limes.

I see marlin tacos on the menu. You can’t find marlin tacos everywhere so we share one.

This marlin taco is served on a fresh made grilled slightly puffy shell and has melted white cheese inside with the smoked marlin and is garnished with a little salad.

For my main I had the filete a la diablo.

It’s a nicely grilled mild white fish covered in a blanket of a chipotle-ee tomato-ee sauce. It’s a little spicy…….The rice is seasoned some with maybe a chicken broth and is studded with a few vegetables like peas, carrots and corn. The refried beans are very loose and soupy. We also got tortillas to share. The corn tortillas were hot and were grilled extra nice. The flour tortillas were maybe the thinest flour tortillas that I have ever had anywhere. I don’t know if they made them but they did taste like home made tortillas.

My husbands meal was very similar but was with camaron (shrimp).

That was my trip to Bahia De Guaymas in Phoenix AZ.

This restaurant has an authentic feel to it. The standout dish was the smoked marlin taco.

I haven’t found a website for this restaurant but they are on Facebook

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria AZ – Tasty Entrees

Squid Ink Sushi is a Japanese Asian Fusion Restaurant located in North Peoria Arizona. They offer comfortable dining in a sleek modern environment.

They offer a bar up in the front of the restaurant with TVs.

They have a nice long sushi counter.

They also offer patio tables for when the weather is nice.

On the menu is traditional and various non traditional sushi. Squid Ink Sushi offers various appetizers like squid and Nancy (tempura fried squid), Korean sticky ribs, char grilled chicken wings with hot pepper sauce. They offer salads and bowl meals like Squid salad, ginger chicken salad, wagyu beef salad. Some of the entrees they offer are grilled salmon, coconut curry shrimp, a wagyu burger, and pepper crusted filet mignon.

Today we started out with some sushi (a spicy tuna roll, salmon, mackerel, and tuna).

The one thing that is noticeably different was the rice. It was pressed tighter than most places press the rice. That is a good thing. The FORKING Truth is that my introduction to sushi was from the Iron chef himself Masaharu Morimoto when he was the actual working chef at his namesake restaurant in Philadelphia. I didn’t know him personally but ate at his restaurant often enough to get a wave from chef Morimoto when I came in. Getting back to sushi Morimoto’s sushi was the prettiest, smallest and most tight sushi I ever had anywhere. To this day I’ve never had sushi anywhere like Morimoto’s sushi. So the tightness of the rice brought back that memory for me. Today the fish is very similar to other sushi restaurants in the area but the rice is shaped better.

But I am finding out the stand out items to be the entrees.

We split the Japanese Beef Salad made with grilled wagyu steak.

This is a different and really great salad. The beef is tender and flavorful. In the salad are soft greens, red onion, sweet tomatoes, mushrooms, cilantro, wasabi peas, and a sweet and spicy vinaigrette. These are especially good salads.

On a past visit we took out the Thai style chicken fried rice and the Atlantic salmon bowl. These were tasty and good.

But my favorite plate I had was a take out plate when they had Scottish salmon on the menu (not on current menu) On the right side of the photo below.

This salmon was amazing…Like from the best restaurant. So silky fresh and cooked medium like just right with a tasty char. On the left is a beef yakisoba. I didn’t try that one.

GET the Japanese beef salad made with wagyu beef!

Don’t miss the Scottish salmon when they have it.

Well that was a little taste of Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria AZ.

www.SquidInkSushi.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Little Miss BBQ Sunnyslope Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

Little Miss BBQ is a casual central Texas style bbq restaurant with two locations in Phoenix Arizona. The original location is smaller and is located near the Phoenix Airport. It’s Little Miss BBQ University on University Drive. The 2nd location is in North Phoenix in the Sunnyslope area. The Sunnyslope location offers more seating, expanded hours, limited alcohol, and a few more menu items.

First you wait in line. Usually you start by waiting on the porch and get a whiff of BBQ from all the smokers going. Then you look at menus and decide on what you are having today.

The line moves slow soon you will be inside.

Here is a closer look at the front where you order.

You pass some rubs, sauces, canned alcohol, and some other stuff.

Now it’s your turn. Time to decide on what you want.

Then they slice up the meat for you. You get your sides. You pay and seat yourself.

You can seat yourself on the patio.

Or inside.

Today we shared a two meat plate of 1/2 lean and 1/2 fatty brisket (They use the highest quality prime here), turkey with slaw and potato salad. On the upper left corner in the below picture is the pork belly. My husband said his favorite today was the pork belly. …The pork belly was even more succulent than the fatty brisket.

Sometimes the fatty brisket is too succulent for me. But I know that is how most people prefer it.

My husband also tried a burrito.

He got it with the red mole sauce. He liked it for $10. but is a bigger fan of the meat plates.

Once I came on a Thursday and got the Thursday pastrami special…(This was excellent).

The above plate is from a prior visit….They did differ some in taste (turkey and the brisket) but it’s all very good…No complaints.

This plate has the jalapeño cheesy grits, meaty beans, fatty brisket, pulled pork, and sausage.

Little Miss BBQ is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.LittleMissBBQ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Chino Bandido Phoenix AZ – Around 90,000 Combinations of Food for around $10.00 or Less – Worth a Fork!

Chino Bandido is a casual one of a kind unique restaurant located in North Phoenix Arizona. According to Food Network Chino Bandido is one of the top places to eat in the country. A quote from Guy Fieri of Food Network, “One of the most original on DDD” (TV Show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives) The menu offers food that is sort of American Chinese style, some food is Mexican-ish, and some food is Jerk Style. You can pick your pan of food as a single entree with a side or for only a little over a dollar more get a combo with two sides. Then you have even more choices. You can upgrade and burrito-ize any entree. You can also quesadilla -ize any entree. There are almost endless combinations. (according to Food Network they calculated nearly 90,000 combinations)

Here’s the menu the rest is up to you.

When you come in you fill out your order on a slip of paper on a small desk by this wall near the door you just came threw.

Then you wait in line.

It’s always busy.

When you get closer it looks like this.

The menu is up on the wall and the TV on the right plays Food Network shows with Chino Bandido.

You almost don’t see the mascot unless you look for him.

He’s in a corner of the main dining area.

After you order and pay. You get your beverage and seat yourself. When your meal is ready someone will run out of the kitchen calling your name with your tray of food and run it to you.

I got my usual Chile Relleno with emerald chicken with white rice and black beans and my husband got the carnitas quesadilla with hengrenade chicken, jerk rice and black beans.

It’s a lot of food. For me this is two meals but my husband eats his whole pan. We share one cookie for dessert. The Chile Relleno is very large and it’s packed with lots of cheese. The coating is a lot of crushed saltine crackers. I always like the emerald chicken. It’s white meat chicken that is always tender and moist and it’s topped with fresh ginger and scallions. I think it goes with the white rice and black beans.

The snickerdoodle is always a perfect sweet ending.

Hey I got two tasty meals that are better than fast food anywhere and are also cheaper than fast food.

I have to say-

Chino Bandido is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ChinoBandido.com

Everything is subject to change. (I bet the prices will have to go up a little sometime) Also a dog friendly patio is posted on the door but on the day of my visit they didn’t have patio tables yet.

The Forking Truth

Pizzeria Bianco Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

Pizzeria Bianco is a nationally known pizzeria with two locations in Phoenix Arizona. Many celebrities, Food Network TV, magazines, and food critics give Pizzeria Bianco much positive recognition. The chef and owner is James Beard Award Wining chef Chris Bianco. The menu is limited but is all very high quality. They offer a few small plates, sandwiches, salads, and six pizzas. Part of what is special is the wood fired fermented dough made from locally grown heirloom grains. The mozzarella is house made. The canned tomatoes are California grown Italian style grown by Bianco. The produce is fresh plucked local and is sometimes actually plucked by Chris Bianco.

Inside is small, industrial looking, and loud.

If you can’t find a table inside there are tables outside and a few seats at the bar.

Today we went for pizzas.

I got the rosa pizza.

It looks much different than my last pizza from here. I haven’t been here in years…..mostly because I used to wait two hours to be seated. By the time I got seated I think we were usually on a second bottle of wine. Then when we finally got a pizza we were starving and my pizza from this location was charred so much that it tasted burnt to me and was extra light with toppings. For a few years after that I would get Bianco Pizzas from Pane Bianco (a sister restaurant) because they didn’t char the pizzas as much and went slightly heavier on the toppings……But again this pizza is very different from what I remember from this location. (It’s more like the Pane Bianco pizzas that I enjoyed)

This pizza has a crunch, a chewiness and crispness like no other. The outer crust is almost like a shattering crisp cracker. This crust does have a different taste to it that isn’t like flour. It is unique and is not like any other pizza out there…….

My pizza today has a delicious layer of parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Each bite does taste different. Some of the local Arizona pistachios have a nice rich fresh pistachio flavor and other pistachios are chewy. The red onion goes well with these flavors. My favorite bites are the ones with rosemary that brighten and freshen everything. Some pieces don’t have rosemary. I confess that I wish that this pizza came with slightly more rosemary. But it is great the way it is…that is just my taste.

My husband had the Sonny boy today.

This pizza was made with Bianco tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, salami, and gaeta olives.

It was nice to get seated soon after we arrived.

These pizzas were much better than what I remember from many years ago. These pizzas are also unique with a lot of work that goes into them and these pizzas don’t taste like any other.

Pizzeria Bianco is –

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.PizzeriaBianco.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill – A reason to visit Sedona AZ – Worth a Fork!

Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill is an upscale Latin Style restaurant located in Sedona Arizona. They offer high quality Latin style foods in a really rich atmosphere with museum quality accents and breathtaking views.

From the second you get into the parking lot the views are stupendously impressive.

Whimsical butterfly motifs are everywhere here.

On top of the small roof above the door is a large butterfly and a wind charm butterfly. There is a butterfly on the doormat. The front door is encrusted with beautiful gems into a butterfly. You really can’t see how amazing the door really is until you enter.

Behind the hostess desk are more hand made lite gem artwork that is truly astonishing.

Looks like more hand made gem encrusted windows above the wine fridge.

Only reservation available that I could get was as they were just opening. (I never ate that early before but it worked out in the end). But it did fill up within the hour.

We were planing to start out by sharing the stuffed poblano pepper with vegetables and quinoa (really a dinner but to us it seemed like a not too heavy starter).

The restaurant had some sort of delay and the manager apologized to. us and gave us some complimentary empanadas and made portabella, poblano, caramelized onion and gouda cheese with chimichurri on the side.

My gosh they are so flavorful. They are delicious! Nice treat for us.

We did wait a while for the stuffed pepper called veggie nirvana on the menu but it was worth it.

It’s as pretty as a picture.

It’s stuffed with quinoa, roasted vegetables, jack cheese, romesco sauce, black bean puree and spicy pepitas. This was just delicious.

For dinner my husband had the ribeye with chimichurri and a side of triple queso poblano mac ‘n’ cheese.

I tasted a bite. I usually hate ribeye but this one is delicious, very flavorful, very tender and very juicy . It’s delicious and about as great as a steak can be.

This triple queso poblano mac ‘n’ cheese is a bowl of tasty cheesy goodness too!

I had the fish of the day. It’s called pescado paradiso (it was sea bass today) and came with tomatoes, charred sweet corn, white wine herb butter quinoa pilaf, and black bean puree.

Everything was so delicious tonight that we wanted to have dessert. We ate around half or a little more than half and saved the rest for the next day.

Tonight we tried the flourless chocolate torte called boca de muerto on the menu.

The torte was laced with Grand Mariner and a special hard to find chili called chimayo. It also was adorned with a candied orange slice, some crumbles, and salted caramel gelato.

It was a perfect sweet ending to an amazing meal.

Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill must be a gem of Sedona.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.MariposaSedona.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth