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USA TODAY’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year list, released on Feb. 12, features 44 restaurants that range from fine dining to supper clubs to seafood shacks.
USA TODAY Network food journalists from across the country pooled their expertise to select the restaurants, which include the places they know, love, and recommend.
Sonoran taco shop, Ta’Carbon, in the West Valley made the list along with fine dining Scottsdale restaurant, Course.
However, there are many other restaurants worth celebrating across metro Phoenix.
Here are 10 other spots that we wish were on the Restaurants of the Year list.
Chilte
Chilte’s Santa Quesadilla, made with hoja santa leaves and topped with salsa macha, photographed on Dec. 10, 2024, in Phoenix.
Chilte has been getting serious national attention since opening as a brick-and-mortar in downtown Phoenix at the Egyptian Motor Hotel in February 2023. Within a year, it made best restaurant lists in Bon Appetit, Esquire and Mashed, and more recently, Lawrence “LT” Smith was named on Food and Wine’s list of 13 Best New Chefs. Smith’s menu is informed by the soul food of his upbringing in the southern United States, the Sinaloan heritage of his wife and business partner Aseret Arroyo, and amped up with global touches inspired by his travels. The mole, presented in different forms, has been a hit from day one and recently was served with rich lamb neck flautas. Other dishes take even more global approaches to Mexican dishes, with the likes of refried beans topped with za’atar and a shareable plate of sauteed pears and mushrooms served with Chinese hot mustard and chicharron crunch. The menu and flavors consistently surprise.
Details: 765 Grand Ave., Phoenix. 602-807-5225, chiltephx.com.
Book your reservation now on OpenTable
— Felicia Campbell
Asadero Norte de Sonora
Asadero Norte de Sonora is a standby on 16th Street, known for dishes that come off their mesquite grill, from chicken to parillada mixed platters of carne asada, cabeza and barbacoa, all served with fresh tortillas and housemade salsa. It’s simple and it’s perfect.
Details: 122 N. 16th St., Phoenix, 602-253-4010 asaderonortesonora.weebly.com/menu.html.
—Felicia Campbell
Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion
Duck 2 Ways from Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix.
Amuse bouche presented on a sculpted hand, creamy foie gras, crispy gougere and perfectly cooked A-5 wagyu with bearnaise are just a few highlights from an eight-course tasting menu at Christopher’s. Chef Christopher Gross’ culinary playground is housed in a modern glass addition to the famous Wrigley Mansion and the dining room offers views of Camelback Mountain and Downtown Phoenix that almost rival the food. Almost. It’s little wonder that Gayot called the experience a “culinary ecstasy.”
Details: 2501 E. Telawa Trail, Phoenix. 602-522-2344, wrigleymansion.com/christophers.
Book your reservation now on OpenTable
— Bahar Anooshahr
Chou’s Kitchen
Chou’s Kitchen is a Chinese restaurant first and foremost for Chinese people, serving simple and delicious northern Chinese food like cold spicy noodles, handmade dumplings and the restaurant’s specialty: Dongbei meat pies, a crispy, fried pocket of dough filled with pork, beef or eggs and chives. But word is out, as evidenced by the framed accolades from newspapers and magazines that line the dining room walls. It lives up to the hype.
Details: 910 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. 480-821-2888.
—Reia Li
Espiritu
A Mesa gem, this restaurant is the brainchild of 2024 James Beard Emerging Chef semifinalist Roberto Centeno. Order whatever calls your name, but you’d be wise to try the birria dumplings and papas al disco. The outstanding drinks are delicious and boozy so, as the website says: “In the words of my father, don’t be an idiot” and get a few plates to go with your second round. It’s the perfect recipe for a great night out.
Details: 123 W. Main St., Mesa. 480-398-8129, espiritumesa.com.
Book your reservation now on OpenTable
— Bahar Anooshahr
Bacanora
Bacanora burst onto the dining scene in 2021, and no one has shut up about it since. Myself included. Chef Rene Andrade, who earned a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2024, showcases Sonoran foods cooked exclusively over his mesquite grill. He elevates classics with what some may call technical skills honed over the years but what I call utter witchcraft. A cucumber salad has no business being as delicious and memorable as he makes it, with nutty sesame seeds, the heat of chiltepin peppers and a dash of salsa negro or soy, if he’s in the mood to add it that night. Brunch is just as memorable with dishes like oxtail chilaquiles and a fierce michelada.
Details: 1301 NW Grand Ave., Unit 1, Phoenix. 602-612-4018, bacanoraphx.com.
Book your reservation now on OpenTable
—Felicia Campbell
Phoenix Coqui
Mofongo con Camerones and Cheese Empanadillas at Phoenix Coqui on June 4, 2024..
Phoenix Coqui offers a comforting taste of Puerto Rico in Phoenix. The tiny restaurant, owned by Alexis Carbajal and Juan Ayala, makes a mouthwatering pernil plate. I always mean to try other dishes, but I can’t resist the pulled pork served with rice with a side salad for only $13.95.
Details: 4041 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix. 602-768-7894, phoenixcoqui.com.
— Endia Fontanez
Phở Thành Restaurant
A collection of some of the popular dishes at Phở Thành Vietnamese Restaurant.
When I read former Republic food critic Andi Berlin’s glowing review of this small Vietnamese restaurant near my house, I knew I had to try it. Phở Thành draws all kinds of people who fill the large, open dining room, from teenagers on dates to construction workers to families sharing a night out. It seems to be everyone’s go-to for homestyle Vietnamese food in the Valley. One bite of beef pho, and it became mine, too.
Details: 1702 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix. 602-242-1979. Pho-thanh.com.
—Reia Li
Santo Arcadia
Santo’s owners Armando Hernandez (from left), his wife Nadia Holguin, Roberto Centeno and his wife Ana Spraetz at their new Arcadia neighborhood restaurant in Phoenix on Feb. 21, 2024.
At Santo, reservations are usually necessary but typically easy enough to get, and once you arrive, the volume of the dining room, while lively, is at a decibel that still allows for conversation. While these might be “me things,” the food is the indisputable draw. James Beard semifinalists Roberto Centeno of Espiritu Mesa, who rose to prominence while working at Bacanora, and Armando Hernandez, the co-owner of Cocina Chiwas and Tacos Chiwas, offer inventive, modern, fire-licked takes on Mexican meat, seafood and vegetables. Melting cauliflower steak over tart salsa verde? Yes, please. Beans with tomato confit, cheese and herbs with crusty, fresh-baked bread? Yeah, I’m in. Lamb shank al pastor? Hold my sotol paloma. I’d argue that the most epic of the dishes are the steaks, which come with ranch-style beans, fried potatoes, salsa and flour tortillas. But this really is one of those places where everything’s better than you expect it to be.
Details: 4418 E. Osborn Road, Phoenix. santoarcadia.com.
Book your reservation now on OpenTable
— Felicia Campbell
Supreme Shawarma
Supreme Chicken Shawarma sits on a table at the Chandler restaurant Supreme Shawarma on Feb. 17, 2022.
In a Chandler strip mall at the intersection of Ray and Rural roads, Ali Al Zubaidi makes some of the best shawarma I’ve eaten anywhere. And trust me, I’ve eaten my share of slivered meat from Dubai to Istanbul. At Supreme Shawarma, tender, crisp-edged shavings of chicken come swaddled in flatbread along with creamy garlic toum, pickles and a few French fries. No matter where you live, this shawarma is worth the journey to get here.
Details: 4929 W. Ray Road, Chandler. 480-940-2384, supremeshawarma.com.
— Felicia Campbell
Valentine
The steak and eggs dish served at Valentine on Dec. 6, 2024, in Phoenix.
Valentine is an homage to Arizona, starting with the name, a nod to statehood day on February 14, 1912. Indigenous ingredients make ample appearances on chef Donald Hawk’s menu, from mesquite and elote pastas to tepary bean dips and huitlacoche butter. 2024 James Beard Award outstanding baker semifinalist, chef Crystal Kass, transforms local ingredients into inventive pastries that stock the coffee counter each morning. The not-so-secret bar, located in an alley behind the restaurant, is aptly named 1912 and features a cocktail menu almost as exciting as what’s coming out of the kitchen up front. Night or day, there’s something exciting to try at this Phoenix gem.
Details: 4130 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix. 602-612-2961, valentinephx.com.
— Bahar Anooshahr
100 metro Phoenix essentials: The best restaurants to try in 2025
Felicia Campbell is dining editor at The Arizona Republic, USA TODAY Network West. Reach her at [email protected].
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See the entire list of USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2025 here:
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 10 metro Phoenix restaurants we wish made USA TODAY best of the year
