On August 10th, the team went over to look at a possible office space location and decided to treat Peter to lunch.

We had never been to Bertha’s Cafe before, but knew we had to try it.

I had the Chicken Pesto (Sliced chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, roasted red peppers and pesto mayo) and it was very good!

Here is another review.

Bertha’s Cafe
2916 North 40th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85008

Has anybody ever visited City Bakery? It sounds wonderful.

I hear that Pizzeria Bianco has the best pizza in town. Anyone care to comment? The legendary wait time of 2 to 4 hours has kept me away. I need to find an excuse to go.

And the Pane Bianco next to Lux Coffee is also great. I’ve been there a number of times and enjoyed their sandwiches. A bit expensive, however they’re full of fresh ingredients and stuffed with goodness.

Carmen Downer contributed this review:

Café St. Michael
205 W. Gurley
Prescott, Arizona

It’s pretty difficult to mess up a frou-frou drink such as a Frappie or a Caramel Macchiato, and the sugary beverages tend to mask the taste of the true coffee goodness, so when I test a new shop, I usually stick with a classic, such as an Americano. My quest has produced a few raves, and yes, a few rants too, and through it all, I’ve quickly developed a taste for the perfect Americano.

The Hotel St. Michael, on the corner of Gurley and Montezuma, is also home to Café St. Michael. They serve great coffee there in the café, but if you want coffee to go, as I did on the day I visited, you go next door to their to-go coffee bar. The Americano I ordered was expertly prepared by the lone barista from the Lone Star state, who definitely knew his stuff. (I also award him double shots for the extra-mile service he provided for a customer with a cold who requested a non-menu item, hot lemonade.)

I will most definitely be returning to this coffee haven every time I am in Prescott.
Best coffee I’ve had, this side of Paris!
Review Result: Rave

Carmen is an “almost native” to the Grand Canyon State. She has been a coffee fan since childhood (tasting sips of her parents’ coffee), and is now a full-blown addict.

For my birthday I visited a restaurant called The Rose in Prescott and for dessert my parents and I decided to try two kinds of dessert. One was a walnut sort of cake which simply tasted amazing. Somewhere between a pecan pie and a butter cake. It was served warm with vanilla ice cream and it had a thin crust somewhat similar to a pecan tart yet served extra soft which made it melt in your mouth.

The next cake was chocolate and served warm with chocolate sauce and a homemade espresso ice cream. Apparently they make it at the restaurant. I was impressed as the flavor of an espresso shot came through and didn’t taste much different than, well, espresso.

If you have ever tried coffee or mocha ice cream this was very much better. There was less burnt coffee taste and more espresso crema you might say and it tasted fresh — perhaps made within a few hours. Quite good and worth trying if you need a good dinner in Prescott.

I’m all about the high quality lunch but sometimes spending $10 to $15 on lunch is out of the question. That’s when I like to get the most bang for the buck. So in this article I’m going to highlight some of the five best meals in Phoenix for under $8.

1. Pei Wei Asian Diner - I’m positive this entry will surprise a few people. However it shouldn’t. Pei Wei opened for the express purpose of providing ala cart takeout food at a lower cost than their sister restaurant P.F. Changs. The best meal to order is the Pad Thai and you can usually get out of the door for $7 + change without a drink. It’s a lot of food and it’s good.
2. Einstein’s Bagels - Thinking about lunch and a stop at Starbucks for lunch? Prepare to spend $10. Or you can go to Einsteins and get a Spinach and Bacon Panini with coffee for about $6 out the door. Einstein’s provides unlimited coffee refills which means you can get all the coffee you want for that low price. If the Spinach and Bacon Panini doesn’t wet your appetite you can usually combine other entries for just two dollars more.
3. Rubios Fresh Mexican Grill - Walk in and buy the Tres Tacos deal (you can get steak, chicken, or of course my personal favorite the fish tacos). This meal is about $6 and for the money quite tasty. Or if you want a quick snack get the individual tacos for about $1.99.
4. NYPD Pizza - It’s a great place to get good pizza by the slice and you can usually walk away satisified without having bought a whole pizza.
5. TexAZ Grill - Some of the best chicken fried steak in town and a nice old style saloon atmosphere. This restaurant is a Phoenix legend having served good food for years. One night a week they serve catfish which is excellent. But most people go for the chicken fried steak.

Runners up: Subway daily special, Sacks, Kona Grill (Scottsdale), FatBurger, In N Out Burger, and Flo’s Asian Kitchen (Scottsdale).

Share your own in the comments.

I had a Spanish Latte at La Grande Orange this morning and man was it good! I asked the barista what makes it “Spanish” and whether they’re importing them legally and the woman said that it’s a combination of sweetened condensed milk and whole milk. And I said: “Is that legal?” and she said “we’re not sure.”

Actually, all of the funny parts never happened but it made for a good story. Whether you choose to believe anything I say from this point forward is entirely up to you.

Above: photo of the Spanish Latte which is very, very good.

What’s good about the Spanish Latte:

• FABULOUS FOAM!!!
• Light sweet flavor without tasting like sugar. In other words, if you can’t stand all of the sugar in drinks today, try this.
• It isn’t fancy. Either you get a single shot or a double. No other options.
• Good to the last drop. Wasn’t that a slogan somewhere?

Highly recommended!

Review by Scott Walters:

When I heard the name, I knew I had to go. I walked through the back door into the old house and found myself in a large, purple, abandoned room. In a back room, a lone man sat with a computer. An employee, running between the two halves of the employees-only area, spotted me and asked me if I wanted anything. Feeling somewhat sorry for the place in an old house with employees used to people lounging without ordering, I dropped a 10 and ordered the everything veggie sandwich and the large caramel latte (drinks come in two sizes). Both took a while but were excellent. Sometimes, the low-brow coffee shops recklessly serve bad coffee and don’t give attention to preparation, but Counter Culture is apparently aware that beverage is going to be my source of happiness for the next hour or so. I got on the wireless network without a hitch thanks to the open access point. The SSID was CONTERCULTURE. The other customer in the backroom had apparently been there all morning and had stuff all over the place, including a laptop, obviously running Microsoft Windows. It would ding; he’d let out a massive sigh, mouse for ten minutes, type a bit, then it would ding, and he’d sigh. I settled in to work. Within two hours, the place was full, and every every outlet on each wall of the three rooms were occupied, running about 10 laptops and a few cell phones. Fritos, root beers, black coffees, and cigarettes were everywhere (except cigarettes, which were confined to the back room). People talked about the band they’re in, or the bands they like, or what the cops did to them, and what the cops did to them while they were attending a concert of a band they liked. They talked about their girlfriends, their friends cheating girlfriends, friends cheating boyfriends. And, for the most part, they all talked to each other. Apparently people don’t wake up and get out of the house until about 3pm on a Sunday, and then they have one big, daily party with all of their friends.

Pros: This is the most happen’ coffee shop I’ve been to, or I picked a good day. The only TV in the place was an art exhibit — an antique displaying static with ghostly painted images on the screen. The caramel latte was tasty and was made with great care. This place has the largest concentrations of laptops of any coffee shop I’ve seen. There are loads of power outlets. Internet access was truly free. Architecture is essential to a good coffee joint, and this place had hard wood floors, bowled in ceilings, and a small window with ivy growing in from the outside, and the bathroom has a door to nowhere — it was truly a neat space.

Cons: I kind of expected more. They were vegan friendly and vegetarian friendly, but I’d want to know that the coffee was Fair Trade certified — there should be at least one place in town where none of the coffee is grown under slave labor conditions. They assume “to go”, but they have a large and prominent assortment of Goodwill-looking mugs for “for here” orders. Guacamole would have been a nice alternative to hummus for the moist glue of the veggie sandwich, but I don’t think they had any. The place still isn’t a geek habitat, as far as I can tell, even though laptops are a choice form of entertainment.

2330 East McDowell Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85006
www.countercultureaz.com

Review by Scott Walters [scott@illogics.org]

Arizona Reviews is proud to announce our membership in the FocusThink Network. Increased traffic and overall expanded visibility for this site are the goal and we’re excited to be a part of the project in its early stages.

Howdy folks! We installed some new software to manage the site and are planning to post new reviews soon and maybe some coffee shop reviews. The old site is still online if you want to look for something you saw in a previous visit. The coffee shop reviews are here.

Don’t miss our new site devoted entirely to coffee which is www.arizona-coffee.com. We’ll still be posting coffee shop reviews to ArizonaReviews.com in the future, however Arizona-Coffee allows a more casual place to talk about coffee.

If you’re looking for a great place to eat in Tucson, we have two suggestions.

El Charro Café
311 N. Court Ave.
http://www.elcharrocafe.com
Established in the 1920s and continuously family owned and managed. They have the very best Chimichanga’s. They roast the beef slowly and then smoke dry for three days. It’s a unique taste different from any other Mexican food I’ve ever had. Voted best Chimichanga by USA Today.

Cafe Poca Cosa
88 E Broadway Blvd
Visually this place is awesome. They have brightly colored interior walls and the menu is simple. So simple in fact, that they bring it out on a small chalkboard (it changes every day). There is only one thing to order by our vote, and that’s the sampler. You’ll get a taste of everything they have to offer (at the chef’s selection) and you’ll be delighted by the mixed flavor and superb taste.

Know of a great place to eat? E-mail us and let us know where and why.

Chris Tingom

Cave Creek Coffee Company is remarkable. It has large spacious rooms and comfortable ottoman chairs that make this coffee house especially comfy. Nowhere else can you get a leather chair, free wireless internet, and to boot it’s in Cave Creek, away from the beaten path which makes it special.

Let’s start with the coffee. First of all, they roast their own coffee beans and so you know the coffee will be fresh (you can even buy it around town and at several up-scale restaurants). The cappuccinos are delicious with just the right foam and nice tiny bubbles that have the appearance of soft cream. Just right. Next we tried some of the specialty drinks like the Mexican Spiced Mocha. The taste was intense and sophisticated and the cinnamon wasn’t crying for attention like so many others I’ve tasted. That’s important because I could taste the flavor.

We also tried some of the mocha’s and plain coffees and found a unique flavor. I frequently make the drive from Scottsdale simply for the good experience and coffee.

David and Anita Anderson are the owners of Cave Creek Coffee Company and they’ve recently installed free wireless internet in their entire coffee shop. Kudos’ to them for realizing the potential. As the only coffee shop in Cave Creek that we know of with free wireless, they’ll become the repeat destination for geeks and workaholics alike.

Cave Creek Coffee Company: Free wireless internet and superb cappuccinos

Cave Creek Coffee Company recently expanded its outdoor seating area and now it’s a huge spacious place with trees and lighting for night-time music events. Highly recommended.

Where: It’s on the south side of Cave Creek Rd. in Cave Creek. If you’re taking Scottsdale Rd. north, take a left (going west) when the road ends in Cave Creek and it’s another 2-3 miles ahead on your left (you’ll pass the Satisfied Frog restaurant). The address is 6033 E. Cave Creek Rd, or phone them at 480.488.0603 or cavecreekcoffee.com.

Hours: They open at 6:30 am and close at 8:00 on weekends. During the week they close at 6:30 pm (although the wine bar is open until 10 pm).

Reviewer: Chris Tingom

Date reviewed: 2/27/2004

The Village Coffee Roastery has been around for about eight years sells great coffee drinks and provides a rich atmosphere, but they even roast their own coffee beans, seriously. You can also try a delicious assortment of sandwiches and salads (Monday through Friday).

The coffee house takes advantage of the natural light from outdoors which creates a nice warm effect inside. Central in the shop is a nice round bar tiled with square blue tiles. You can sit and watch the barista make drinks while you wait and if you’re interested, watch, learn, and ask questions about the coffee business. They’re pretty nice.

The Village Coffee RoasteryOne of my favorite drinks isn’t actually a coffee. It’s their Chai Tea Latte. They make it with all of the normal spices you’d find in a normal coffee house, except this one has a milk base rather than water. So it makes a world of difference. The drink is creamy and the spices just blend together with the milk to create this incredible blend of spices. We vote it BEST CHAI LATTE OF PHOENIX 2004.

Don’t worry, we tried their traditional coffee drinks and found everything to be flavorful and delicious. Especially considering the freshness of their coffee. In fact, if you are looking for fresh coffee for home use, we suggest you ask the barista when the next batch of coffee beans will be roasted.

Unlike most coffee houses that make coffee drinks the American way, Coffee Roastery makes coffees the Italian way which is a creamier and smoother taste (almost a velvety layer). When you’re sitting around the “Bar” ask them to tell you why this is important.

They’ve recently added free wireless internet, so you’ll always be able to connect. They don’t have too many power outlets though, so be sure to bring a charged battery!

Where: On the North-West corner of Hayden and Via De Ventura (DoubleTree Rd) inside the Village at Hayden complex… 8120 N Hayden Rd # E104, Scottsdale, AZ 85258.

Hours: Weekdays they open at 6:30 am and close at 6:30 pm and on weekends 7:30 – 4:00 pm

Reviewer: Chris Tingom

Date reviewed: 2/23/2004

With some time to burn waiting for a downtown meeting, I visited the eclectic coffeehouse that’s really a house. Or it was at one time. Anyway, I like the arrangement, with several smaller rooms you can find a little spot for yourself or join a larger group if you prefer. The place has been here for years and it definitely fits with the bohemian/patchwork downtown aesthetic - there’s all manner of art and knicknacks for sale on the walls, and it’s the only place I’ve been in recently where smoking is welcome. I don’t know if it’s that way all around the joint, but people in the room I was in were definitely taking advantage - contributing their own “atmosphere” - shall I say.

The drink I ordered was well-made; I don’t normally have a white chocolate mocha because they’re too sweet, however here I ordered a raspberry white chocolate mocha on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. The flavors were there; the syrupy sweetness wasn’t.

As I was about to leave I remembered my ibook in my backpack; I thought “hey, there’s a chance…” and right away there it was - free wireless! Geek paradise. Well, for geeks who don’t mind secondhand smoke at least.

Where: 3rd Ave/McDowell - downtown Phoenix

Reviewer: Ben Wood

Date reviewed: 2/13/2004

That small bagel shop atmosphere and espresso combination you’ve grown to like. This Fountain Hills café is on Fountain Hills Blvd. They have the usual mix and match of bagel varieties for a good price. Mix and match to get the sandwich you like best made fresh for you in minutes.

Skip the tap water which wasn’t too good and enjoy a cappuccino or a old fashioned root beer.

It’s a deal for bagels if you just want that, you can get a baker’s dozen for only $6.00.

How much? Expect to pay between $4-6 for a bagel sandwich at lunch, less for breakfast sandwiches.

Where? It’s in Fountain Hills and it is on Fountain Hills Blvd. Easy to find. 13693 N Fountain Hills Blvd, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268-3761, Phone: (480) 816-4155

Atmosphere? Sidewalk bagel shop with espresso and mocha drinks.

When? Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day except Sunday when they close at 3 pm.

Reviewer: Chris Tingom