Category: Things to Do

The twice-a-year Tempe Festival of the Arts takes place again this weekend. The free, three-day event typically attracts nearly a quarter-million people to downtown’s Mill Avenue. Besides the art, crafts and music, there will be plenty to eat and drink

The Hot Chocolate 15/5K, billed as “America’s Sweetest Race,” is coming to Arizona. Held in eight U.S. cities, it’ll add Scottsdale to the list Sunday, Dec. 9. After completing the 5K or 15K, which will start and end at Salt

Old Chicago launches its Winter Mini Tour of seasonal beers today. Through Dec. 31, all restaurants – including its two East Valley locations in Mesa – will offer a lineup of 10 winter ales. It will include these eight: Old Chicago

“Forks Over Knives,” a 2011 documentary that advocates a vegan diet as a means of combating a number of diseases, will be screened at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pomegranate Cafe in Ahwatukee. Professor of nutritional biochemistry T. Colin Campbell (pictured) suggests “most, if

At 6 p.m. Thursday, D’Vine in Chandler will host a five-course British whiskey (Scotch & Irish) and cigar dinner. Whiskey menu 1st course: Bushmills 10 (Irish) 2nd course: Bushmills 16 (Irish) 3rd course: Oban (Scotch) 4th course: Talisker (Scotch) 5th course: Lagavulin (Scotch) The dinner,

Joe’s Real BBQ namesake Joe Johnston will be among eight notable Arizona culinarians who will share recipes on “Eight’s Centennial Cooking Celebration,” which airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 8. Johnston will show how to make Joe’s Real St. Louis

Shellfish Tortellini will be among the five dishes featured at this week’s “Taste of Romeo’s Euro Cafe” dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Shrimp and scallops are sautéed with red peppers, peas, capers, water chestnuts and almonds in a wine cream sauce. The

SanTan Brewing will close its kitchen at 6 p.m. tonight to resurface the floors, but the downtown Chandler brew pub is bringing in a couple meals-on-wheels options. Pittsburgh Willy’s hot dog cart will be dishing up five of its specialty hot

Although this week’s Phoenix food truck court was canceled because of Thanksgiving, the downtown Gilbert food truck court will be held as usual this weekend. From 5-9 p.m. today and 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, you’ll find Sandra Dee’s Catering, Rockin’ Ray’s

Cork has been doing its once-a-month Sunday tasting menus for a couple years, and few have been as popular as its German one, which returns this Sunday night. The $35 prix fixe, four-course menu includes a choice of three entrees.

A restaurant closing for Thanksgiving? Not too uncommon. A restaurant closing Thanksgiving and Black Friday? A little more rare. But a restaurant closing Thanksgiving and Black Friday but opening in-between? This might be a first. The restaurant is the recently

From 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Wedge & Bottle in Ahwatukee will host a wine tasting with Jeff Groener from Orangewood Wines. The featured wines will pair especially well with Thanksgiving dinner. Wedge & Bottle also will hold tastings 5-7 p.m. Nov.

Jeni Britton Bauer, owner of Ohio-based Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, will make an appearance noon-2 p.m Saturday at AJ’s Fine Foods at Ray and 56th Street in Chandler. The two-hour event, which is free, will include a book signing, a

After a six-year hiatus, Belgian Festival returns to Papago Brewing on Saturday. The all-day event features Belgian beers and food. And we’re not talking about “Belgian-style” beers – these are true Belgian beers. The 27 Belgian beers will include Leroy Paulus

Ahwatukee’s My Wine Cellar will hold its second annual Wine Festival from noon-3 p.m. Sunday with more than 20 wines from four different distributors. Admission is $20, which includes 20 drink tickets and a glass. Attendees then will have three

Sandbar Chandler, a faux Mexican beachfront cantina at I-10 and Ray, will hold its first-ever Beach-Side Brewfest this weekend. The three-day event will feature beer, live music, and food. Four patio beer tents will have offering from Four Peaks and

Tonight’s beer event du jour undoubtedly is SanTan Brewing‘s massive 24-beer tap takeover at Flanny’s in Tempe (see preview), but there also are a couple other noteworthy smaller tastings taking place. At the Handlebar Pub & Grill in Apache Junction,

California beers will be the focus of this week’s Friday Beer Class at Whole Foods Chandler. In fact, this week’s class will be a mega-class – try 10 beers for just $10! The syllabus: Ballast Point ‘s Victory at Sea & Sculpin;

Chef Off, an ongoing series of friendly culinary competitions in the East Valley, continues Monday with the fifth edition: Masters vs. Apprentices. Chefs Romeo Taus of Romeo’s Euro Cafe, John Wong of sN Asian Kitchen, and Jared Lupin of DownUnder

Looks like the Valley has a new beer festival. It’s called the Phoenix Brewers Invitational – Get Crafty 2012, and will be held Dec. 7-8 at Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. The organizers promise “more than 60 craft breweries, live

Iguana Mack’s is raising money today for Elvis Conaway, a 5-year-old Chandler boy battling a rare form of liver cancer. Elvis was born in 2007 and diagnosed with hepatablastoma. Ninety percent of his liver was removed at Phoenix Children’s Hospital,

Once a month, Flanny’s invites a select brewery to put as many of its beers as possible on tap. In September, for example, Firestone Walker brought 16 draft beers. Last month, Stone delivered 21. This month, the Tempe bar’s tap

Yet another TV celebuchef is on tour. This time it’s the Food Network’s Robert Irvine, former host of “Dinner: Impossible” and “Restaurant: Impossible,” who’s coming to Mesa Arts Center on Friday. You can catch his interactive cooking show Robert Irvine

Roasted eggplant salad (pictured) will be among the five dishes featured at this week’s “Taste of Romeo’s Euro Cafe” dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The salad is made with roasted eggplant, red peppers, Kalamata olives, green chiles, carrots, garbanzos, balsamic vinegar, olive oil,

Thursday is Il Vinaio‘s fourth annual Meatfest, an all-you-can-eat feast of carnivore delights. The spread will include ostrich medallions Bernasie, live crawfish boil, slow-roasted duck legs, grilled kangaroo brats, braised short ribs, garlic snow crab clusters, and herb-roasted prime rib

An updated list of beers that will be featured at the RAREaffair, which takes place Saturday night at the Arizona Science Center: Sonoran RAREaffair Ale Big Sky Ivan the Terrible Ska On The Sly Again Left Hand Ambidexterous Ale II

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, Papago Brewing will be pouring Goose Island 312 (an urban wheat ale), Honkers Ale (an English-style bitter) and India Pale Ale to celebrate the launch of the Chicago beers in Arizona. Earlier post: Goose

It’s International Stout Day, and the state’s biggest celebration will be 6-9 p.m. tonight at Whole Foods Chandler. Partial tap list: Avery Czar Lips of Faith Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout North Coast Old Rasputin on Nitro Great Divide Yeti Sonoran

Reminder: Today is annual Free Cheeseburger Day at Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert. From 10 a.m.-3 p.m. today, attendees will get a Farm Burger with cheddar cheese, French fries and a beverage. No purchase is necessary (or even possible, since the

Mark’s Cafe is rolling out its pasta bar today for another good cause: Phoenix North High School’s culinary arts program. The Tempe cafe made headlines last year when customers volunteered time, expertise and materials to renovate the out-of-date business. Since

Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake (pictured) will be among the five dishes featured at this week’s “Taste of Romeo’s Euro Cafe” dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The other menu items this Thursday: Vegeta Skins, Teriyaki Chicken Salad, Chicken Omega, and Paella Barcelona. The weekly dinner,

The popular Gilbert Farmers Market, which just celebrated its two-year anniversary, is adding a mid-week market at the town’s Power Ranch master-planned community. The main Gilbert market runs 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays next to the water tower in downtown’s historical district.

On Thursday, Nov. 15, recently opened TQLA at Dana Park in Mesa will host the first in a planned series of tequila dinners. The featured guest will be Jose “Pepe” Hermosillo,  founding partner of Casa Noble Tequila. Tequila & Tastes menu: 1st course:

Art in the Park, a new festival featuring more than 30 fine artists, a food truck court and a beer and wine garden, debuts this weekend in Gilbert. The event will take place 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3

At 6 p.m. Sunday, Brat Haus in Scottsdale will host a tribute to the Dash Inn, an iconic ASU hangout from the 1970s to the ’90s. Former staffers and patrons are invited to drop by and reminisce about the long-gone Tempe

Cork brings back some of its all-time favorite dishes – including its risotto trio, lobster bisque, and aged Widmer’s mac ‘n’ cheese – from 5-9 p.m. Sunday for its monthly prix fixe tasting menu. The south Chandler fine-dining restaurant, now

Utah might not be the first state that comes to mind when you think of craft beer, but the Beehive State has a dozen thriving breweries. And the granddaddy of them all is Wasatch, which opened in Park City in

Il Vinaio in downtown Mesa will hold a wine tasting and tapas pairing from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Get a tasting platter and six great wines from Hahn Family Wines, including its new Boneshaker zinfandel, for just $15.

Spanaki Balls (pictured) will be among the five dishes featured at this week’s “Taste of Romeo’s Euro Cafe” dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. What the heck are Spanaki Balls? Deep-fried spheres of spinach, rice, mozzarella and provolone, served hot with a side of chilled

CBS5 reporter (and Philadelphia Eagles fan) Nadine Bubeck and her husband, Nate, will pay off a bet lost to Pittsburgh Willy’s owner Randy Walter by working as servers and wearing Steelers jerseys from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday. All tips and proceeds

Wines from France’s famed Loire Valley will be featured at a pair of five-course wine dinners at D’Vine this week. The first is 7 p.m. Wednesday at the east Mesa location; the second is 7 p.m. Thursday at the south

Looking for something to do today? Might I suggest… Today’s food & drink events Gilbert Farmers Market celebrates its 2-year anniversary until 11 a.m. The canine-themed Dogtoberfest is 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. at Pittsburgh Willy’s in Chandler. Downtown Gilbert’s weekly

One last reminder for this weekend: The Arizona Taco Festival runs 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Salt River Fields in north Scottsdale. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $100 for VIP. Once inside, you’ll have to shell

Northern California’s Spring Mountain wines will be feaured at the Fall Wine Festival at D’Vine Chandler on Saturday. From noon-3 p.m., enjoy 20 high-end wines for just $30. The Spring Mountain District is located on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas

Chef Off 4, a series of culinary competitions between East Valley chefs, continues at 6:30 p.m. Monday at DownUnder Wines in Gilbert. DU chef Jared Lupin, winner of last month’s Chef Off 3, battles mystery chef Sean Donwen. As in

From 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Pittsburgh Willy’s in Chandler will host Dogtoberfest. Two local animal rescue groups will take part, as well as a mobile pet groomer who will be doing free nail and hair trims (full-service grooming not available). Also,

Chapman Chevrolet in Tempe is hosting a charity yard sale and free BBQ community event from 11 a.m.- 3p.m. Saturday. All proceeds will go to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The items for sale have been donated from Chapman employees and

Mind Over Batter, the Tempe cupcake shop that opened a Gilbert spinoff in April, finally gets around to celebrating the new location’s opening Saturday. From 11 a.m.-4 p.m., MOB will team up with a couple of neighboring businesses to offer

Kokopelli Winery in downtown Chandler will hold its 11th annual Kokopelli Krush this weekend. Hours are 5 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Besides the signature grape-stomping competition, the family-friendly event includes live entertainment, games, and wine

Ra Sushi is holding another of its occasional sushi classes this weekend. This one – which will cover sushi rolling and sake pairing – will be 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Tempe location. For $35 (not counting tax & tip),

This week’s “Taste of Romeo’s Euro Cafe” dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday will feature five gluten-free menu items: Peppers Spanaki, Greek Salad, Sainte Victoire, Spicy Putanesca, and The Night Before. The weekly dinner, hosted by owner/chef Romeo Taus and his wife, Janice,