Number interpretation.

10: Must go
9: Strongly recommended
8: OK place
7 or below : try at your own risk

Restaurant Mexico - Mexican - 10 out of 10
Before I found Mucho Gusto this was the top Mexican Restaurant to me. It has Very nice refried Beans and Rice. One problem is the quality of rice varies a lot.

Julio's Too - Mexican - 9 out of 10
Price is really good. Unlimited Chips and Salsa was good too.

Someburros - Mexican - 7 out of 10
Someburros has many dishes but nothing stands out as a good dish.

Wild Flower Bread Company - Sandwich, Italian, - 9 out 10
All the sandwiches were exteremly satisfying in quality and quantity. This place is very crowded during mid morning and early lunch. Pasta was a bit weaker. Try sandwiches or breakfast dishes.

La Grande Orange - Brunch Place - 9 out 10
McDonald for Rich People, Food is nice, Parking lot is full of Benz and BMW,
My car (corolla) looks so poor there.

Buca di beppo - Italian - 9 out of 10
National franchise. Cheap and Huge amount. I can feed 6 people with 30 Bucks with their coupon, $10 off $30. Try Linguine Frutti De Mare

In N out - Burger 8 out of 10
Even fresh cut French fries don't taste as good as McDonald's
Burger is nice, but less than I had expected

Chompie's - NY style Deli - 9 out of 10
Bagel is at least as good as Einstein Bros. Pickle is also good.
Try the THICK pan cakes

Jang's garden - Korean Chinese - 10 out of 10
I felt I was in Korea! Try ZzaZang Myeon.

Sushi Ken - Japanese - 10 out of 10
The best sushi I had in America at this price. Use lunch time. They have lunch special sushi and sashimi, which are pretty good at an affordable price. Their Unagi and Hamachi are top values. Chashu Ramen was good too.

Pane Bianco - Sandwich - 10 out of 10
They only sell 4 kinds of Sandwich, open only from 11:00 to 3:00 PM on Mon-Fri. But the Sandwiches are great, albeit salty.

Oregano's - Italian - 9 out of 10
I liked their thin Pizza and Pastas. Try chicken lasagna

Corney Pastry - ?? - 10 out of 10
Their signature pies are very good but Too fatty. That is only the problem

Cafe Lalibela - Ethiopian - 8 out of 10
I tried my first Ethiopian here. I loved it. Quite close to Indian but they use their own spices. Try Samples

Blue Nile - Ethiopian - 9 out of 10
I loved the exotic interior of this place. I suggest vegetarian menu. Their Injera is pretty good.

Deli Palace - Indian - 8 out of 10
Ok restaurant. I liked their desserts. Buffet is their specialtyl.

Pasand - Indian - 9 out of 10
Not as diverse as Deli Palace but they use mint quite well.

Udupi - Indian - 10 out of 10
The best vegetarian restaurant I have ever been to . Service is not too nice. I heard that their food quality varies from time to time. At least when I was their, their food was excellent.

Medi Fresh - Mediterranean - 9 out of 10
Turkish place. I think the owner is from Turkey. The best in this restaurant is their rice. The Pilaf is very buttery but the flavor is so good. They sometimes freshly make falafal and that is really good too.

La pita - Mediterranean - 7 out of 10
OK place. But they use too much vinegar for me.

Sahara - Mediterranean - 8 out of 10
The quite good Mediterranean in town (for me), closed

Pita Jungle - Mediterranean - 6 out of 10
I did not like it. Cheap but not good.

Mido Sushi - Japanese - 4 out of 10
They give a lot of free-side dish. That is good. But their sushi is garbage

Cafe Boa - Italian/Western - 9 out of 10
Very nice food. A bit expensive place. I tried their Kobe Burger. It is not real Kobe beef but they claim that they are using some special beef. The main characteristic of this burgur is blue cheese and caramelized onion using Croissant. Too fatty... but pretty good burger.

Ztejas- Southwestern - 9 out of 10
OK restaurant. Very fusion, mixed... style of food. Generally, dishes are good

Big Fat Greek Restaurant - Greek - 9 out of 10
Amount of food is very generous. Order 1 for 2! Their gyro platter is quite a good combination of meat, rice and vegetable, again order 1 for 2

Macayo's - Mexican - 7 out of 10
Plain Mexican Restaurant. Price is good

PF Chang - Chinese - 6 out of 10
They changed the menu and I really didn't like the change

Pei Wei - Chinese - 7 out of 10
Clean (at least the restaurant) and Cheap. But taste is not good at all.

House of Trick - French? - 9 out of 10
Nice out door tables and dish. Fish dishes are good

Seoul Garden - Korean - 5 out of 10
I am really disappointed. Maybe because my mom and wife cook well.

Four Peaks - Beer, Mexican - 8 out of 10
I did not try the famous local beer but their food is generally greasy, which goes very well with Beer, which I did not have ...

Thai Basil - Thai - 8 out of 10
The place is very modern and clean. Taste is very light but ok.

Otto Pizza - Pizza - 7 out of 10
Cheap and Greasy

Pete's Fish and Chips - Fries - 6 out of 10
Fish and Oyster were OK. But others were not good. Cheap though.

Pizza by slices - Pizza - 9.5 out of 10
NY style pizza with variety of toppings and kinds. I think this place is really good. The most interesting pizza was Salad pizza. Without any sauce, this pizza has artichokes, olives, tomatoes and other vegetables with sprinkled cheese. They make their sausage here by themselves. The key reason of their taste is their dough, very good. The owners are from Boston and if you hate Red Sox or Patriots it would be very unpleasant pictures out there.

Saigon - Vietnamese - 7 out of 10 (closed)
Pho was not good at all. Vegetables are not fresh

Honeymoon Sweets - Cake - 10 out of 10
This is the best bakery I know in US till now. I liked their custom fruit cake with strawberry sauce and vanilla flavor with cream. Tiramisu is good. Canoli cake was a disappointment. Sample desserts were excellent.

Hooters - Bear, Wing - 8 out of 10
The wings were surprisingly good, but not as much as the waitresses!

Ra - Japanese - 8 out of 10
Casual and playful. But the food doesn't deliver. Sushi was plain. I think their Don dishes are generally the best in their menu. Try Sushi-Don and Unagi-Don.

Rula Bula - Irish Pub - 7 out of 10
Since it is a pub, I can't expect it be too clean. But the odor of the place wasn't good. Food was so fatty . Might be good with beer.

Bison Witches - Sandwich, Pub - 9 out of 10
This place has surprisingly good sandwiches and soups. Try sandwich and soup combo. The amount of food is huge.

Monti's La Casa Vieja - Steak, Pasta, Sandwich - 8 out of 10
Huge place. Food was generally good but the price lowered the rating here.

Gordon Biersch - Brewery, Casual Dining - 6 out of 10
I don't know about their beer but the food was horrible.

Chuck Box - Hamburger - 10 out of 10
This small place serves grilled burger. Meat, burger were all good. The smell of this place is so good and you can't just pass by. They grill burgers when you order. Their Big-one is quite a portion to eat. Try Zucchini.

Corleone's Authentic Philly Steaks - Sandwich - 8 out of 10
Quite good sandwich place. All the sandwich I tried was good. As the name suggests, their specialty is in steak sandwich.

Fat Burger - Burger - 7 out of 10
Sounds really good. Yes, the burger is fatty but the taste was not

Silver mine subs - Subs - 5 out of 10
Cheap. But I would pay more and would seek better subs.

Phoenicia - Mediterranean - 9 out of 10
They serve quite good couscous and pitas

Pita Pit - Pita - 6 out of 10
I don't know why they are so successful franchise at all.

Jack in the box - 7 out of 10
This place was surprisingly good for fast food. Especially the serve large amount.

Ted's Hot Dog - 10 out of 10
Grilled hot dog with spicy chili sauce. A perfect lunch place

Char's Thai - Thai - 8 out of 10
The taste was quite good. I just did not like dark lights

Sparky's sports bar - Pizza, Beer - 8 out of 10
They have very unique hot-pepper pizza. Sometimes they burn the dough. They need some care.

El Pollo Loco - Mexican, Chicken - 8 out of 10
Try their chicken legs. They are good. Salsa and Tortilla was below average

Church's chicken - Chicken - 8 out of 10
Cheaper than KFC, OK chicken and pretty good biscuit!

Elephant Bar - Casual Family Dining - 4 out of 10
This place was so horrible that I really regretted spending any on this place

Kona Grill - Grill, Sushi, Bar - 8 out of 10
They have quite exotic Japanese dishes. Combined some Mexican style spices with Sashimi

Chipotle - Mexican - 7 out of 10
With abundance of nice Mexican restaurant around this place, this place tastes so poor.

Golden Buddha - Chinese - 6 out of 10
Some upscale Chinese restaurant at Chinese cultural center. Some dish was horrible (Sweet and Sour Pork). Some dish were OK but overall with the price, I would rather go McDonald.

Big city BBQ - BBQ - 8 out of 10
Actually, the food deserves 10. But after eating so well at Smokehouse on South street at W. Lafayette for years, this place looks gouging money from me.

Plaid Eatery - Alternative Thai - 7 out of 10
The Padthai was really disappointing

Samurai Sam's Teriyaki Grill - Japanese - 6 out of 10
The taste was plain at best. Overpriced.

Nello's pizza - Pizza - 3 out of 10
Pizza itself was not too good at all. On top of the the waiters were really unkind. They even withdraw Tip, which I did not authorize

Uno - Pizza, Italian - 7 out of 10
I love Uno at Chicago, but here, something is wrong.

Boston's Pizza - Pizza - 8 out of 10
Ok pizza but felt a bit expensive considering the overall quality

India Gate - Indian - 6 out of 10
Nan was ok. Currys were ok. But they charged me extra dollars for to go or did not accept their coupon.
The food is not as good as to overcome their poor services

Long Wong's - Wings, Pizza, Mexican - 7 out of 10
Local Wing Chain. They have variety of sauces, like BW3. They use bigger wings thus less tasty than BW3. Garlic Parmesan was great but other sauces weren't

Pancho's - Mexican Buffet - 8 out of 10
I enjoyed Soapopia(?) with honey. Beans were OK and Rice wasn't. It is buffet and they sell Beers. So a great place for hangout.

Panda Express - Chinese - 7 out of 10
It is a bit greasy.

Lorenzo's pizza - Pizza - 9 out of 10 (closed)
It was a quite good place. They have NY style pizza with very interesting toppings like eggplant, buffalo chicken etc. Their calzone was also good.

Famous Dave's BBQ - BBQ - 9 out of 10
This is a wet BBQ place. They have pretty good ribs. I liked their corn-bread muffins. Cole-slow was just OK. Try their Wilbur beans. Rib-tips aren't real rib-tips.

Rock Springs Cafe - Pie, BBQ - 7.5 out of 10
This is located along I-17 exit 242. I wouldn't go there for their pie, but I was passing by and swung by. Very rustic place. Everything there is rustic, even the servers. Their Jack Daniels pecan pie is worth a try

Bamboo Club - Asian - 6 out of 10
I felt I wasted my money here. No better than Panda Express.

DeFalco's Italian Grocery - Italian, Sandwich - 8 out of 10
I think this is a trend. Grocery stores selling sandwiches. DeFalco's did decent job. I like the amount of the food and I also like the price. Vegetables were fresh. Bread was not as good as I expected. Overall, taste was just OK. Not as good as Wild Flowers

El Pollo Supremo - Mexican Grill - 9 out of 10
It is located on Ash and University. The smell of the grill is so good and I couldn't help but try this place. They have very limited menu but each of the menu is good. Grilled chicken and beef is their specialty. Their salsa is very fresh. Beans were a bit salty. Overall, this is a very good place.

Casey Moore's Oyster Bar - Irish, Bar - 7 out of 10
I couldn't try their oysters because the cooking time was so long. Coleslaw as a bit unusual but wasn't that good. Fish and chips weren't better than Pete's

Theo's Spartan Grill - Greek, Brunch - 7 out of 10
The food is generally average. A bit pricey, considering the bland taste

Mucho Gusto - Modern Mexican - 10 out of 10
Very unique. It feels like Italian Mexican. Taste was really good. Their nacho and salsa was awesome. I might not go Restaurant Mexico anymore.

Little Szechuan - Chinese - 6 out of 10
Normal Chinese

Bruegger's Bagels - Bagel - 8 out of 10
Similar to Einstein Bros. I think this place is a bit better than Einstein Bros

Grilled Expedition - Sandwich, Dogs - 8 out of 10
The bread and sausage was good. Their unique item is their chips

Center Bistro - Organic Food, Sandwich, Salad - 7 out of 10
This place seems to sell a health package. Food, Yoga and information for healthy life. The Food seems to be OK. One problem I had was this "organic" thing. I personally don't believe in organic stuff. I think it is just a marketing point and it does not affect health at all. Anyways, price for the food is quite expensive, considering the amount and the taste. Maybe because it is organic.

The Farm at South Mountain - Breakfast, Sandwich, and Dinner - 9.5 out of 10
Located in rural south mountain area of Phoenix. The scenery around this place is so calm and green that  you cannot believe that you are in Phoenix city. I only had lunch there. One problem is the seating. They don't provide any air conditioned sitting area. That means you have to seat outside. This is a big problem during September in Phoenix area (still 100 or so around noon). The sandwich was really good. The most impressive part is their fresh vegetables in the sandwich. The other problem is the price. It costs $10 per sandwich. I enjoyed their Brownie too. I think around November, this place is a must place for a family picnic.

Arriba - Mexican - 7 out of 10
The business seems to be doing well. Their Nacho is very light and crispy. Other than that, this place is just a plain Mexican restaurant. I would rather go to Julio's

Munches - Greek - 6 out of 10
A new place after the Saigon place closed. They sell ok gyros, chicken schwarma .. etc. The biggest reason that I use this place is the proximity.

Blue Iguana - Mexican - 7 out of 10
The distinguished feature of this restaurant is its heavier use of Zucchini and other fresh vegetables than other Mexican restaurants. One problem was its saltiness. All the food was too salty. I hope they use less salt.

Rice King - Chinese - 7 out of 10
Typical local small Chinese restaurant. I liked their Dan-Dan noodles.

Cyclo - Vietnamese - 7 out of 10
They display Cyclo in front of their restaurant (Cyclo is Bicycle-like-Taxi, I guess.. from the look). Also displayed is the owner's Benz. Servers are mostly very thin Asian women and please eyes. The restaurant has many unique Vietnamese food. Bun Cha Ha Noi was very unique. A bit similar to Mongolian style instant braising of meet, but no meet only noodle and vegetables in the cold-sweetened-fish-sauce. Try not to order Thai related dish. I think this place cooks Vietnamese better.

YC's Mongolian BBQ - BBQ - 7 out of 10
Usual Mongolian BBQ place. You can put any amount of food on your bowl. The size of the bowl is not big. Vegetarian will suffer, since usually you cannot put large amount of vegetables. Free rice and soups are good. Overall the taste is really sub-par. I had much better Mongolian style BBQ at Flat-top grill.
In S. Korea, news papers call some unidentified people's name by the initial of the last name, followed by "C". So, YC is actually me :)

Anise - Vietnamese - 8 out of 10
Interior was pretty good. I liked the bright interiors. Foods were very good. One problem might be the amount of a dish. The amount was typically very small, except Pho. Unlike other Vietnamese restaurants, this place seems to use less fish sauce.

La Fonda - Mexican - 7 out of 10
This is an OK place. The interior looks cheap. The hot, just fried Nachos were great. The salsa was OK. The main disappointment is rice and beans. Especially rice, flavor and texture all were very sub-par. Beans were not as bad but I wish it has more definition. Vegetarian Burrito looked good.

El Penasco - Mexican - 7.5 out of 10
This place serves free chips with tortilla. They bring red and green salsa. The servers are very nice. Interior is usual Mexican style. The price is OK but the food is just plain. Not too good and not too bad. The rice and beans are not particularly good. If you happened to have lunch around the area, then it is worth to pay a visit. Otherwise, there is no need to spend time and gas to visit this place.

San Felipe's Cantina - Mexican - 7 out of 10
This place is located in Tempe Marketplace. Interior feels a bit spacey and empty. The food was at best medium quality. Chips were also just OK. I was quite disappointed by their tostada and red sauce enchilada.

Chronic Tacos - Mexican - 8.5 out of 10
Opened at the corner of ASU Brickyard building. This place has surprisingly good tacos. I liked their breaded fish taco and carne asada taco. They also have very good tostadas. They have good beef, salsa and guacamole. Weakness is their rice and beans. Beans were plain and rice was just OK. However, given the distance, I think I will use this place quite a lot.

Quintessence - Wine Bar / Restaurant - 10 out of 10
This place is co-located with Farm at South Mountain. The rustic view is the key feature of this place. One dessert (something with cookie) needs 20 minutes of preparation so, when you start main dish, you need to order it, to have it on time. The Beef was the weakest dish, but others were superb. Particularly, I liked their pork and lamb. The Bass was fine too. They have some pasta and the pastas are OK too. I recommend the vegetables. They are side dishes but the portions are very generous and they are very good. I did not like the appetizer too much, since the taste was just normal, particularly Cheese platter did not give enough unique taste as one would have expected. Overall, the place is expensive but the quality of the food makes the price acceptable. Try to eat outside in the early Summer (May).

La Bocca - Pizzeria - 8.5 out of 10
Newly opened place on Mill Avenue. This place faces a tough competition. Because Slices (the best Pizza in town) is very close. This place's target customer is a bit wealthy people. The interior was OK. It was modern and spacey. The best was Bruschetta. They have various toppings, beyond the typical tomato, olive oil, garlic and basil. I liked sausage topping for Bruschetta. The Pizza was Okay. It was decent but not special like La Grande Orange or Pizzeria Bianco. The dough was a bit salty. Overall this place is Okay for hang around place for people who's wallet is fat. But not for those with shallow wallet.

La Grande Orange - Pizza - 10 out of 10
I have been to this place for lunch and breakfast. I know the place is expensive but also I know that they have very good English Muffin. I think the Pizza here is extraordinary. The dough is very different from what we get  from usual pizza place. The dough looks and tastes like their muffin but they said no lard was used for the dough. Try the Padre pizza. Unique combination of fig and Prosciutto gives very interesting taste. Unlike the other famous pizza place (Bianco) you can just have the take out order.

Pizzeria Bianco - Pizza - 9.5 out of 10
This place is not usual your neighbor's pizza place. I was there at 4:40 PM. The place opens at 5:00 PM. The line was already long. About 100 or so people were ahead of me. Without knowing the space of the place I thought I could get in around 6:00 PM. Then a woman from Bianco passed me by and said "people around this line would get in after 8:00 PM". That was true. I waited 3 and a half hours to get in. There is a Bar beside it (Beautiful lady is one of the bartenders and I liked it). The Pale Draft Beer was excellent. I had a couple of pints of the Pale. I also tried Cheese Platter. It was Okay. When we get in, around 8:10 PM, we don't need any appetizer. We had already some beer and cheese, we just ordered the Pizza. I tried 4 of them. All were very good. Particularly Wise Guy has very unique flavor of Hickory from the Dough. I don't know how they did it. If it weren't for the huge wait, I would give this place 10. But.. the wait is too long to taste a good pizza.

Cowboy Ciao - Steak, Italian - 9 out of 10
I had lunch here. I knew I had to try Stetson's Chopped, a salad, since this place is famous for this salad. The salad was unique. The presentation was fun. Dried corn gives unique texture and flavor. I also ordered espresso rubbed fillet Mignon. The meat was good. Seared surface and rare in the middle. The sauce with the meat was good too, but asparagus was a bit normal. The mashed potato has some yellow color and different flavor, which I couldn't tell. Anyhow, the interior was nice and I enjoyed the meal. A bit pricey.

Hongkong - Buffet - 7 out of 10
This place is in Ahwatukee. Actually this is a good buffet. It has even sushi. I also liked their tilapia too. However, I felt I would rather go somewhere else, specialized place, e.g., sushi restaurant, Chinese restaurant. Somehow, I couldn't find nice Chinese restaurant in this area.

Malee's Thai Bistro - Thai - 9 out of 10
Another recent adventure to Scottsdale downtown. I found that this place has very Americanized dish. I did not feel strong fish sauce and couldn't get fish sauce touch. I ordered samples of appetizers. It was OK, not too great. One thing in the appetizer that stood out was, Chicken Satay. It was superbly done. I tried not to, but again I tried Pad Thai. I always order Pad Thai as the staple dish of Thai but I tried to avoid this habit. Anyways, Pad Thai itself is just plain. Not bad.. but .. just OK. One good thing is that they adjust the hit. So, I ordered extra hot and.. it was good. The best dish was the soup that came with the Pad Thai. This soup, Tom Ka Gai (chicken), was great, albeit a bit salty. I briefly tried Glass Noodle (Dang Myeon in Korean) with Vegetables and stir fry. These were good dishes. Still I missed some stronger Thai flavor. Overall, I may not go there again, but a pleasant place to try, definitely.

Joe's Farm Grill - Grill, Vegetable - 8 out of 10
This is located in far east of Phoenix, in Gilbert. They appeared on a TV Food show, Diner, Drive-in and Dive. And they try to maximize such effect. I liked their burger. It was quite unique and flavorful. I was very disappointed by their salad and BBQ. Especially salad. I expected a bit non-trivial vegetables with extreme freshness. But not even close, I felt I was eathing McDonald's salad. They have another specialty, which is grilled pizza. This is a must try. They have good grilled pizza dough.

More to Come

As you can see, score of Phoenix area is usually higher than West Lafayette's.
Actually, score here is parsimoniously rated compared to West Lafayette.
For example, Taste of China would get 1 out of 10 (I gave it 5 out of 10 in W. Lafayette Section) if they sell in Phoenix.

I also would like to thank Dan, Menkes and J. for letting me know some of these places.

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