Awards & Accolades

Felicia Tobin from Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta in Chandler has won Best Host in the United States in first-ever Servies awards presented by Yelp to celebrate front-of-house restaurant employees.

The Servies: Awards were presented in eight categories, including Best Host, Best Server, Best Bartender, and Best Manager.

• Restaurant workers must be 18 or older and reside in the U.S. to be nominated by coworkers, customers, or others.
• A panel of judges pared the list of nominees to finalists, and the public voted to determine the eight winners.
• Winners receive a trophy 🏆, a $3,000 gift card 💵, and a pair of Snibbs shoes 👟 designed for workers who spend long hours on their feet.
• The restaurant of each winner also gets $3,000 to split among the rest of the front-of-house team.

Watch: See Felicia’s video here.

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Cuisine & Wine Bistro, the family-owned and -operated restaurant and wine bar in south Chandler, has received Wine Spectator magazine’s ‘‘Award of Excellence’’ for the second consecutive year.

Award requirements: Restaurants earn this distinction by having a wine list featuring at least 90 wines, a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, and a sufficient selection to satisfy discerning wine lovers.

Did you know? Cuisine & Wine is the only southeast Valley restaurant to receive the award this year.

Getting there: Cuisine & Wine is located on the northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights.

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Four Arizona restaurants – two in Phoenix, one in  Chandler, and one in Tucson – have made the New York Times’ annual list of the ‘‘50 places in America we’re most excited about right now’’:

Bacanora: Chef Rene Andrade’s year-old restaurant on the northwest corner of Grand and McKinley in downtown Phoenix features the cuisine of his native Sonora, Mexico. Last week, Bacanora was named one of the 50 Best New Restaurants in the U.S. by Bon Appetit.

Kabob Grill N’ Go: Tiny mesquite-grill takeout spot on the southwest corner of 16th Street and Earll Drive in Phoenix offers flavorful Persian-Armenian dishes.

Thaily’s (pictured): Owners Thai and Lee Kambar combine their respective heritages into a type of Cambodian-Iraqi fusion at their small eatery on Chandler Boulevard, between Arizona and McQueen, in Chandler.

Tito & Pep: Contemporary neighborhood bistro in midtown Tucson specializes in mesquite-fired Southwest cuisine.

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Vegan restaurant Beaut Burger has won some national acclaim for having one of the 16 “Best Veggie Burgers in America,” according to TastingTable.com.

The burger: Simply labeled Burger B9 on the menu, it’s made with roasted eggplant, pepita pesto, and house-made mozzarella. It costs $9.75.

The restaurant: Beaut Burger, which was founded in Tucson in 2018, opened a second location near the southwest corner of 34th Street and Indian School in Arcadia in early 2021.

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Chris Bianco, owner of Pizzeria Bianco, Pane Bianco, and Tratto in Phoenix, was named the country’s Outstanding Restaurateur at the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards, the culinary world’s equivalent of the Oscars, tonight in Chicago. The Bronx-born Bianco previously won a Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2003, the first pizzaiolo to do so.

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Bacanora, an informal Mexican restaurant that’s captivated Valley diners with chef René Andrade’s Sonoran comfort food, fell short in its bid to win Best New Restaurant at the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of the culinary world, tonight in Chicago. Bacanora was one of five finalists for the award, which was won by Owamni, an American Indian restaurant in Minneapolis.

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Giovanni Scorzo, owner of Andreoli Italian Grocer in Scottsdale, fell short in his bid to win Best Chef Southwest at the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of the culinary world, today in Chicago. Scorzo was one of five finalists in the category hoping to succeed 2019 winner Charleen Badman from FnB in Scottsdale. (The 2020 and 2021 were canceled by covid.) Fernando Olea of Sazón in Santa Fe, N.M., won this year’s award.

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Don Guerra, owner and head baker at Barrio Bread in Tucson, has won the 2022 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Baker. The Tempe native, who opened Barrio Bread in his garage in 2009, is the first Arizona baker to win the award. The Beard Awards, the Oscars of the culinary world, were held today in Chicago.

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