🌶 Nando’s Mexican Cafe again is offering its seasonal Hatch chile cheese crisp (pictured) – plus, for the first time, an entire Hatch chile menu – through the end of September at all four of its East Valley restaurants.
Hatch chile menu: Cheese crisp ($10), queso dip ($11), birria melt ($15), cheeseburger ($16), Philly ($15), margarita ($11), and lemonade ($4).
Locations: Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Queen Creek.
It’s another Carnitas Week at Someburros, the family-run chain of fast-casual Mexican restaurants. All 14 Valley locations will be selling carnitas burros for $7.50 through Sunday, Aug. 20.
(In a sign of inflation, the burros were only $6.50 during the last Carnitas Week in April.)
The limited-time menu item features juicy carnitas, freshly grated cheese, whole pinto beans, and a veggie salsa, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.
🌍 One of advantages to living in one of the country’s largest metro areas is you can find dishes from all over the world in the Valley, including at these places that have opened in the past few weeks:
🇭🇰 Claypot Kitchen, a Hong Kong-style cafe next to H Mart (and across the street from Mekong Plaza) on the southeast corner of Dobson and First Avenue in west Mesa.
🇩🇰 The Coffee Builders, a breakfast and lunch cafe specializing in Danish-style sandwiches (pictured) near the northeast corner of Seventh Street and Buckeye in downtown Phoenix.
🇯🇵 Fluffy Cakes, a husband-and-wife-run eatery specializing in Japanese souffle pancakes at the food court at Chandler Fashion Center.
🇻🇳 Goc Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant that replaced Max Saigon on the northwest corner of Arizona and Ray in Chandler.
🇰🇷 Krispy Dogz, a Korean corn dog shop on the southeast corner of Chandler and 32nd Street in Ahwatukee.
🇬🇷 Kuko’s Nest, a fast-casual Greek grill and sandwich shop in the Planet Fitness center on the southeast corner of Mountain View and Via Linda in Scottsdale.
🇮🇷 Samsara, a Persian restaurant and hookah lounge on the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Garfield in downtown Phoenix.
🍉🍔🍺 Arizona Wilderness Brewing, which has locations in Gilbert and Phoenix, celebrates Arizona’s watermelon season Thursday with special melon-infused beers and dishes.
The beers: At 11 a.m., both locations will tap the brand-new Watermelon Shark IPA, made with 2,500 pounds of locally grown melons, and Watermelon Gose.
The dishes:
The contest: At 7 p.m., both locations will host a watermelon-eating contest. Entry is free but space is limited. The top three finishers in each contest will get AZWB gift cards.
🧺❓🥩🍷 Looking for an unusual date night idea? The Peppermill, an intimate, husband-and-wife-run steakhouse in south Tempe, has begun offering takeout-only Mystery Picnic Dinners on weekends.
What: Mystery Picnic Dinners include a three-course meal for two and a bartender’s choice of a bottle of wine.
Cost: $75.
The background: Chad and Becky Bolar launched The Peppermill, an acclaimed modern-day steakhouse with French and Asian influences, on the southwest corner of McClintock and Elliot in 2019.
Info: 480-590-6755.
Atomic Muffins are the new pizza muffin of the month at Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta in Chandler.
The background: Seven varieties of pizza muffins are featured on the everyday menu at Floridino’s, which has a pizza muffin food truck and hosts sold-out pizza muffin beer dinners. In addition, the restaurant offers a special pizza muffin of the month.
What’s in the Atomic: Ham, ground beef, spicy Italian sausage, ghost pepper cheese, and mozzarella cheese with a side of Carolina Reaper dipping sauce.
Cost: $9.79 per half-dozen or $17.99 per dozen.
🍔 The Big Wac, a plant-based burger from Valley vegan restaurant Green, has been named one of the top 100 burgers in the U.S. by Yelp.
What: Green describes the Big Wac, its homage to McDonald’s Big Mac for the past 15 years, as (sing along) ‘‘two hand-packed patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.’’
Where to find it: Green’s original location is near the northwest corner of Scottsdale and McKellips in north Tempe. A second location can be found on the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Palm Lane in Phoenix.
The rankings: Yelp says it identified restaurants with a large concentration of reviews mentioning “burgers,” then ranked those spots using ratings, the number of reviews, and other factors.
Chompies, a local chain of New York-style delis, is offering three ‘‘breakfast for dinner’’ specials – available all day – this summer:
Chompies locations: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Glendale.
Postino WineCafe has kicked off a bracket-style Battle of the Bruschetta to determine which of eight limited-time bruschetta recipes will get a permanent spot on its menu this fall.
The format: During each two-week battle, diners can order two competing bruschetta flavors and vote on their favorite by texting “BATTLE” to 602-637-1510.
The schedule:
Where: The Battle of the Bruschetta will take place at all eight Postino locations in Arizona.
