Recently, we took a short staycation in Old Town Scottsdale. Take a journey with as we visit some of our favorite spots, and try some new ones. I think by reading both of our views, you can see how different they can be.
Her View
Just before the New Year we decided to take a little staycation in Old Town Scottsdale. Old Town has a number of things that we enjoy doing and frankly if it were conducive to our lives we would probably live there. Some of the things we love to do are; visit the local tasting rooms, take a walk around the shops and museums, try a new restaurant or maybe even eat at one of our favorite places and historically we would find a place where we could get our dance on.
We almost always stay at the Hilton Garden Inn due to the location and the great service they always offer. We stay there often enough that we generally end up with enough points to stay a few nights free a year. Bonus, they are all pretty familiar with us now and that makes it a little more homey.
We get to the the hotel and know that we are going to need to get something to eat but want to be sure we get to Carlson Creek Tasting room before they closed. So we freshened up and headed out. The weather was pretty cold, but since we are in Old Town you tough it out and just walk everywhere. We momentarily considered riding one of the many scooters they have available, but remembered out son had a tumble over a car not too long ago and darned near broke his arm. So we shrugged and said, ehh, we need the exercise anyway. So we walked over there. We were hoping to see Wendy our favorite wine tasting room friend, but she was not there. So we chatted with Sam a bit, did a tasting and then headed out for dinner.
We decided on Nonna Urban Eatery in Old Town, close enough to walk. We were super hungry and we did not think we were going to make it by walking and then waiting for our food as well, you know like we were literally going to starve. Realistically, we just wanted to Uber instead of walk, so that was our excuse.
We pull up and I love the location of this little place it is on Main Street in the Frontier Town Shopping Center. The walking path is all wood and very western themed. Understand that it is quant and I love the decor, but I am the least western kind of gal you will likely ever meet. Nonna has set up a nice outdoor seating area for enjoyment when the weather is nice, but on this particular night it is entirely too cold so sit outside. So we head in, are greeted almost immediately and see that the bar is empty. Since our blog name as Eat and Drink in it we clearly love a bar where you can do both of those, EAT and DRINK. The bartender is busy, but sees us and as soon as she makes her last drink, she heads over to help us, this was within a minute of our arrival at the bar. We sampled a few wines and make a decision on a really nice red by the name of Sean Minor.
One of the things I enjoy about Nonna is that they are small. You can look around anywhere that you are seated everything. They have an open kitchen concept so you get the pleasure of seeing the chef work with his passion, preparing great meals for guests. You can see the rest of the patrons enjoying their meals as well. It is really nice to have a show with your dinner.
We peruse the menu and decide on the duck mole, this duck just melted in your mouth. I lately have been finding that duck has become one of my favorites to try when we are at a more upscale place such as Nonna.
We spoke with the owner Valentina a bit and found out that her and the other owner/chef have traveled a bit together and that they both have an incredible passion for foods and different combinations of foods. I love to watch someone talk about something they are so passionate about and she truly exudes that when you speak to her about travels and foods.
This was one of the most enjoyable parts of this trip, the experience is like no other and I highly recommend that you swing by when in the area. Actually it is worth a bit of a drive as well. That is saying a lot coming from me, because I just don’t really care to drive for food.
Once we were done at Nonna we headed over to LDV and had some wines there. Curt recently released a Decade wine which I am going to say is his best wine yet. We actually recently bought a case of it. Worth every penny. It is bold with a nice mixture of flavors. After that we decided to look for a place to get our dance om. I had a really bad fall back in August and we really had not had not been able to go dancing since then. My ankle injury is still not great, but we decided we would give it a shot. FYI oh how much I miss wearing heels.
We have tried Casablanca a few times in the past and the first time was enjoyable. They have a great outdoor balcony with a bar and they have a live band. The outdoor patio has a really nice set of misters so in the summertime they can cool it down fairly well. Unfortunately the last two times we have gone it has been a live band which the first time was two hours late and then the second time was just awful. They venue has changed a bit and now we are starting to think that they either they changed owners or managers. I personally think it is really hard to dance to slow soul music so we have just decided that we likely won’t go there again.
One of the bands we like, The Black Moods, plays at the Wasted Grain on occasion so we thought perhaps this might be a good venue for us to go dancing. Understand that we are not young and we would like to go someplace that has a group of grown adults and not a bunch of college age kids partying. They were having a private event on one side of the bar, but the other bar upstairs was set to open in about 20 min, so we went across the street and had another glass of wine while we waited. Social Tap Room was a big empty place. But is was clean! So we enjoyed the wine and conversation with another patron and then once it was time we headed over to Wasted Grain.
The upstairs bar was pretty empty for 10pm, but they had just opened. The DJ was playing a great song and I could feel my dance coming on. So we grabbed a drink and then sat down to get the vibe. I was looking at the crowd and saw a LOT of young folks am now wondering if we are not in a place that we are going to enjoy. The music is good so we chat a bit and then start dancing to a song and at some point I am just not feeling the vibe so we wrap it up and are just bummed about another bad dancing experience. I just do not understand why it is so hard to find a venue where folks our age can enjoy dancing and fun with a more mature group. It is just frustrating.
The next morning we are slow moving and kind of have a plan for the day. We like to hit Bandera, a local restaurant that you have to get to early because they run out of the good stuff quickly. Our reservations are set for 5:30, which is really early for dinner for us, but again, they run out of the good stuff early. We also want to get Craft 64, which has some of the best pizza we have ever had. So the timing of eating is crucial! I assume Derek wants breakfast since he is a breakfast eater, so we head over to Morning Squeeze, they have outdoor seating and a good food. Kinda cold for the outdoor seating, but they do have heaters. So we check in and they say 45 min. I notice it is almost 11 and Craft 64 opens at 11. I calculate that if we don’t eat breakfast until 11:30, then we won’t get our pizza fix. I mention this, casually, to Derek and you could see his mind moving away from breakfast quickly. We decide screw it, we are having pizza for breakfast. So we dick around for about 15 minutes and then go to Craft 64 and order a glass of wine and a pizza. I mean, I feel like we had just sobered up so might as well get started again. Also I knew I was going to want a nap so a glass of wine would do wonders for that.
Craft 64 has neapolitan style pizza and they have some unique options. Our go to is the pepperoni and add soppressata, they really should put that on the menu. It is so good. They freshly grade the parmesan every morning so it is fresh and real. And by fresh and real, I mean, they pull it out of cooler next to the bar, you can’t get fresher than that. I don’t generally care for parm on my pizza but since theirs is so yummy I usually put a little on my pizza. The crust is always perfect and just the right amount of burnt edges, soft yet a little crunchy and the flavor is pretty tasty as well. We do not generally eat the full pizza, but since we skipped breakfast all together we ate the whole pizza and do not regret it. I am, right now, wishing I had a slice! The service is impeccable and at least one of the owners is always on site. That is quality control at it’s finest.
After that we went back to the hotel, worked a bit and I took that nap I mentioned earlier. After my nap I thought we should grab a light snack before dinner and I wanted to get out and about and take in some fresh air. We swung by the Grapevine and sat on the outdoor patio they have upstairs. I will say that they had some of the slowest service I have ever experienced and we almost walked out. We were not acknowledged for a good 15 min, which is my walkout limit. She came just in time and they had a cocktail that I really wanted to try so we stayed put. I cannot remember the name of the cocktail and they don’t list drinks on the website, but I can tell you it was tasty and gone quickly. We shared the shrimp cocktail, which was served very poorly on a few pieces of lettuce with ice under them, in a plain white bowl. It really took away from the experience and at that point we decided to head back to the hotel and have a drink on the outside patio.
For dinner at Bandera I noticed that it was pretty busy already so I was pleased that we had planned an early dinner. Here is where I should let you know that Bandera is infamous for their prime rib and that runs out by 6:30 on most nights. Come to find out they actually have taken it off the menu because it sells out so fast, but if you know they carry it, you can still order it. We also love love love the grilled artichoke. Derek has never liked artichokes, but I really wanted it one of the times we came so we tried it. He fell in love! Although it was expected for them to not have it due to the time of year, we were still a little disappointed. They offered brussel sprouts instead and I knew he would not want that. So we ordered their skillet cornbread, which is crispy on the edge, moist inside and lots of flavor, in a word, fabulous. We also ask for butter with it, because who can have cornbread without butter! We also ordered a bottle of wine to go with our starter. Derek ordered is prime rib and I ordered the chicken that they slow roast all day. If you walk by on the side of the building you can see the rotisserie they have and smell the chicken. It was delicious as always. They really take their time to make sure all food is prepped properly here and they also have the open kitchen concept so you can watch them make most everything. I will let Derek tell you about the prime rib. My chicken was so moist that it almost melted in your mouth. It came with green rice which is a spinach cilantro flavored little gem. Sadly I got full very quickly, but luckily you can take it to go.
After that we went to Carlson Creek again and enjoyed a glass of their Syrah, which is currently my favorite. We were hoping our Wendy girl would be there and tonight we were not disappointed. We were able to chat with her for a bit which we always love.
We hit the sack after that and figure we will likely be up early and home by 1ish. We were right, we had breakfast and then headed home. We were done for the weekend.
To summarize, I love Old Town, and I love a nice staycation there. But after not being able to find a place to dance I realize this has become a one night stay and not a two night stay. We can do all of the other things that we like to do in one night.
— Taunya
His View
We recently stayed a couple of nights in Old Town Scottsdale. Old Town really has something for everyone. There is a fairly large art section. There are lots of restaurants, most of which are not chains. Also there are lots of bars and clubs, ranging from upscale to college age hangouts and dive bars, along with the wine tasting rooms. Quite honestly, we love it so much that we’d probably live in or very near to Old Town if we could, but there are factors that keep us in the west valley. We do a staycation in Scottsdale a few times a year. We have stayed in a few places, but we usually stay at the Hilton Garden Inn which is right in the heart of Old Town and walking distance to almost everything. We’ve stayed there often enough that we and the staff recognize each other, and they treat us pretty well. They also have a great patio area adjacent to the bar, which is great place for evening “pre-game” cocktails before heading out for the night. The hotel even has a restaurant with room service, although the menu is pretty limited and the kitchen does close around 10 pm.
We headed over after work which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. We checked into the hotel, and decided to head over to Carlson Creek before dinner, which is one of our favorite Arizona tasting rooms. We knew from experience that Wendy the tasting room manager usually leaves around 6-ish on Fridays, and we had not seen her for while. It was chilly, however we decided to walk over. Wendy was not there, but we chatted up with Sam and did a wine tasting. We have met some interesting people visiting the tasting room over the years, some of which we are still in contact with today and I consider them friends. That night we chatted with a few couples, but didn’t end up staying too long.
By now we were pretty famished, and we decided to head over to Nonna Urban Eatery for dinner. We have been there a few times, and I love their space. It is setup in an modern open kitchen concept, and they use carefully sourced food, so this means the menu can change accordingly. They also have a decent wine list. Nonna is within walking distance of Carlson Creek, however we decided to take an Uber this time because it was colder now, and were pretty hungry by this point. We decided to sit at the bar, which we had not previously done. The bartender was really nice, and took our drink order pretty quickly. We ordered a duck mole entree and a bottle of a Sean Minor red blend. The mole with the duck was a phenomenal combination. We had a great conversation with one of the owners, who we have met before. She was telling us a little about her travels with the other owner/partner, and she told us that the mole was her family’s recipe. Nonna is definitely a required stop in Scottsdale if you are a foodie like me.
After dinner we wandered over to the Civic Center Park just across the street. We snapped a few photos in a giant sleigh set up in the park and wondered around a bit hoping to find some place that had music we could dance to. Ultimately we decided to Uber over to LDV, another one of our favorite tasting rooms. I love Curt and Peggy who own LDV. They recently moved to a new location in Old Town, and although the location is great and generates a lot more foot traffic for them, it also means that Curt and Peggy are not in the tasting room as often. We are still getting to know the new staff, and so far we haven’t made a notable connection with the newer staff. We each did a wine tasting, although not the same wines. One of the things I really like about Curt’s winemaking style is that he has a wine for almost any palate, and at LDV we often taste different wines. Unless I am mistaken LDV also has has the largest number of wines on the tasting menu of any of the Scottsdale tasting rooms. They recently released a new wine called Decade, in celebration of their 10 year anniversary. This wine is absolutely fantastic, so much so that we bought a case. Well done Curt, well done!
After leaving LDV we thought we might check out the Casablanca Rooftop Lounge, which is an upscale night club for a more mature crowd. Casablanca has traditionally been our go to place for dancing in Scottsdale, however last few experiences have not been great. I don’t know if they are under new ownership, but I know that the club manager we used to know is no longer there. I feel like the service has declined, and in the past they have had a wider variety of music, but now it seems like they have nothing but bluesy or jazz bands. Or maybe it’s the same band, all I know is that this night we heard what was playing and said “nope”. We did stop for picture though in another “photo opt” spot, a giant ornament which seems to popup in Phoenix is a different spot each year.
At this point, we decide to pick a direction, and head out a dancing crusade. We started walking, listening for any live music playing along the way. It was a Friday night for goodness sake! We ended up crossing Scottsdale Road, and heading towards Wasted Grain. Although we had never been, we were somewhat familiar because it is a venue bar where my favorite “almost famous” local band, the Black Moods, often plays. Turns out it was closed for a private event, but there is a nightclub above it called the Bubble Room, however it didn’t open until 11. So we headed across the street to the Social Tap Room to grab a drink. Taunya ordered a wine and I ordered my favorite cocktail, a Manhattan. Although the bartender was friendly, he made a HUGE faux pas – he shook it. Gather around friends, while I drop a truth bomb on ya all! Unless a drink has juice in it, it should generally be stirred and not shaken. James Bond was wrong, which is why he always had to ask for it. Don’t believe me, Google it! 🙂 But I digress... If I am in a new place I usually specify stirred since a lot of bartenders tend to make the same mistake, but in this case I didn’t so I went ahead and drank it anyway. Even so we found the place unremarkable in general and pretty deserted considering it was a Friday night.
By now it was just after 11 so we headed across the street to the Bubble Room hoping for some dancing. There was already a small group inside, and the D.J. had started but the place was still pretty deserted. So we ordered a couple of glasses of wines and sat down at a table. The first song wasn’t really something we wanted to dance to. After a few “songs”, we realized the D.J. was playing about 2 minutes of a song, before cross fading into a new one. I was thinking to myself, does he have ADD or is this the way clubs are now? We quickly realized this wasn’t the experience we were looking for, and there were only two girls on the dance floor so we headed out, realizing that “Operation Bust a Move” was a bust.
We headed of walking in the direction of the hotel and decided to stop at Vines & Hops, a cool wine bar about a block from the hotel. We have actually been here a few times, enough that most of the people who work there recognize us. I like that they have a huge wine list, and quite a few beers as well. On this particular night they were pretty busy. We usually sit at the bar, however it was full so we found a free table. A waitress came by and we ordered a couple of glasses of wine. After a while we decided to call it a night, and walked back to the hotel.
The next morning we had a slow morning, and at first thought about eating breakfast at the hotel. But we realized we didn’t want to do a buffet, so we decided to look for someplace we hadn’t tried before. We drove around for a bit checking out a few options, but most had quite a few people waiting already, which in Old Town is not unusual at ten o’clock on a Sunday morning. We decided to stop in at Morning Squeeze which we have tried before. They already had about a forty minute wait, so we decided to just stick it out. The inside vestibule was packed, so we waited outside in the sun. People always think of hot when they think of Arizona, however this weekend it was cold; really cold. In fact we had a freeze warning in effect that weekend. As we were standing there talking, huddling together for warmth like we were in the Alaskan wilderness, Taunya looked at me and mentioned something very important. She casually said that we probably wouldn’t be eating until eleven fifteen, maybe eleven thirty so we were not going to be able to have Craft 64 for lunch since we had early dinner plans. Now Craft 64 is our favorite pizza place in the Phoenix area, so I looked at my watch, looked over and said, “Well, Craft 64 opens at 11, so we kill 20 minutes and can do an early lunch instead.” So that is what we did.
I am not exaggerating with I say that Craft 64 is in my humble opinion some of the best neapolitan style pizza I have ever had. We found them not too long after they opened, and have been our go to pizza place in Scottsdale ever since. There were even listed as the best pizza in the state in a magazine article last year. If I had to pick between Craft 64 and Bocce, I honestly do not know which one I would pick; it’s a good thing for me they are in different areas of the state so I don’t have to pick one over the other! This is another one of the places that knows us by sight, if not necessarily by name. I don’t think I can do them justice by a small blurb here, so maybe we write a feature article in the future. They do a pizza special, which they change every few weeks. They have a pretty extensive wine list for a pizza restaurant, and have probably thirty beers on tap. They are also a brewery, and make their own beer which is also quite good. We have ordered probably almost everything on the menu pizza wise at some point, but our go to favorite is their pepperoni, but we have them add sopressata. They use a 900 degree wood fired oven, and their pizza always comes out perfectly cooked. I cannot rave about this place enough, so I you ever find yourself in Scottsdale (or live here) trust me, you will not be disappointed to stop in here.
After brunch we headed back to the hotel for a bit to work on the blog. We decided to walk over to the Grapevine for drinks, since they have a nice upstairs patio. We had been there before for with a group for dinner and karaoke night. This place has been a fixture in Scottsdale since the early seventies. Our previous experience here was pretty good, although the place does feel a bit dated and in need of a spruce up. It was actually a nice day, and we found the only empty table left and sat down. I think we waited a good ten to fifteen minutes without anyone coming by or even acknowledging us. We were actually getting ready to leave when the waitress came by and took our drink order. We ordered shrimp cocktail, and drinks. Taunya ordered “The Persian”, which was cucumber vodka, lemonade, and fresh mint leaves garnished with a persian cucumber. I ordered their version of a Mai Tai, which is my drink of choice if I am in a tropical drink sort of mood. Taunya loved hers, however the Mai Tai was ok, but not fantastic. They use their own recipe and not a more traditional blend, probably to give it a mediterranean flair, and I even though I didn’t hate it, I did not enjoy it enough to order it again. I was really disappointed in the shrimp cocktail. The presentation was poor, and we really did not enjoy it. We didn’t finish it when we asked for the check, and the waitress didn’t even ask if we liked it or not. I really hope this was an off day, and that others have better experiences here. There is a lot of good food in Scottsdale.
Needing to shake that whole experience off, we walked back to the hotel and ordered a couple of wines from the bar and sat outside on the patio. As I mentioned before, the Garden Inn has a great patio outside the bar with chairs, couches and a couple of gas fire pits for chilly nights, or just ambiance. The bar is now called BLVD after their recent remodel, but you might remember it as “Jake’s in Old Town” if you’ve been there before. We sat, chatted, and just enjoyed being outside after the extremely cool morning. Then we headed back up to the room to get ready for our early dinner reservation.
Taunya and I are not early dinner people, and don’t generally eat before six or seven. However, we had made reservations at Bandera, one of our favorite restaurants in Old Town. The thing about Bandera is two things. First , after about six or so they get really busy, the bar is usually full, and you are probably going to wait for a table. Second, they always run out of their prime rib, and we have been here enough times to know that if you want the prime rib it is best to eat early. Their prime rib is so good that although they do still serve it, it’s no longer listed on the menu and you have to know to ask for it. I know from experience it can be heartbreaking to want to order it and be told they were sold out for the night. It’s also worth mentioning that if they are in season, they also do a really good grilled artichoke appetizer. Tellement délicieux! Other than their prime rib, they are also known for their wood fired rotisserie, where they slow roast chicken for hours before they open for dinner. In fact, if you feel like torturing yourself the rotisserie is on the side right next to the sidewalk, so you can walk by and check it out. I of course ordered the prime rib, and T had a the chicken. The prime rib was juicy and delicious as always. Since it was not artichoke season, we settled instead for their skillet cornbread, which is also really good.
After dinner we got a message from Wendy that she was in the tasting room helping out, so we headed over to Carlson Creek. It had been a many weeks since we last saw her, so we had a few glasses of excellent wine while we caught up. By now it was after closing, so we left and headed back to Stetson Dr hoping that there was a different band at Casablanca. Alas, the music sounded the same as the night before, so we headed into LDV right underneath. We each a glass of wine, then decided to call it an night.
On Sunday morning we up fairly early. This time we actually had breakfast at Morning Squeeze, and then headed for home. See, take that Cottonwood Hotel, we actually do leave pretty early on a Sunday morning! 🙂 Anyway, there are many reasons we love Old Town Scottsdale, and why it’s our usual choice for staycations. We told you about our favorite places, and we’d love to hear about yours in the comments. Be well my friends, until next time!
— Derek
Conclusion
We are currently focusing on home projects, but stay tuned for our next adventure because in early February we will be heading up for a barrel tasting with Arizona Strongholds. Our next big trip will be Fiji in March which you won't want to miss. In the interim, stay tuned with us, as we will still post some other fun stuff and quotes.
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn