(bright music) - I'm chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check Please!

Arizona," the show where Arizona foodies recommend their favorite restaurants.

Coming up, we have guests who are passionate about their picks.

They've dined at all three, and are ready to share their reviews with each other, and with you, right here on "Check please!

Arizona."

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(bright music) - I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona."

In this episode, we're dining around the world with stops in Asia, Mexico, and Italy.

Let's meet our diners.

Jennie Orr de Lopez is an ICU nurse.

She's a huge Arizona Diamondbacks fan.

She and her husband enjoy going to their games and dining out.

Shelly Boshe works in collections.

She has a black belt in martial arts, and loves to hit up comedy shows.

But up first is Emily Smart.

She works in customer relations for a national pet supply company.

She moved here from Oregon, and every Wednesday, she and her mom go out to a new restaurant.

Her pick is a family-run Chinese restaurant with something on the menu for everyone.

This is Canton Dragon Asian Bar and Grill.

- Canton Dragon is a very relaxing, very calming, very cozy type of Chinese-style family restaurant.

We actually have lots of, on our menu, we have lots of traditional Chinese dishes, we have lots of chicken dishes, beef, shrimp, combination, and of course we have plenty of vegetarian options as well.

We serve Canton-style, and in the Canton-style, we don't really use a lot of seasoning, because we always wanna guarantee the freshness of the ingredients.

We do not use any processed food, no canned food, less sodium, and no MSG.

We don't cook with any MSG here.

I don't know what my chefs do, but they always work the magic.

Yeah.

(laughing) The restaurant is very cozy.

We always try to make our customer feel like they're home.

We have the fish tank that is right at the entrance that is, you know, very popular, no matter kids or adults, they always like spend lots of time checking it out.

Candy Tam is the owner of the restaurant.

She started the restaurant in 2004.

Candy is from Hong Kong.

She's very welcoming.

She's like the mother of everybody.

She always treats every customers with love.

Everybody always remember her when they come in.

"Where's Candy?"

"Is she here?"

She's one of the best.

I've been here for 12 years, and I just love everybody.

Everybody's my family, even though we're not blood related.

It's a pleasure for me to be working here.

I want our customers to feel like they're home.

I want them to leave with full bellies, you know, with big smiles on their face, and always say, "I'll see you next week."

- So Emily.

- Yes.

- This is your place.

Your mom would go out every Wednesday.

- Wednesday, yep.

- And you found this place.

Tell me a little bit about the feeling when you walk in.

- It is friendly.

So it's very clean.

Also, I'm a big one on like the smell, like when you walk in, a restaurant needs to smell clean and good.

So when you walk in, it's super clean, it's super friendly.

And when we walk in, we've been there a handful of times, but they remember us immediately and they're like, "Would you like to sit where you normally sit?"

- I think you started with like the shrimp or something, right?

- I did.

It's so good.

And let me just say that the ingredients at this restaurant are fresh, and they're large shrimp.

So they butterfly the shrimp, and then they, I think they bread it in panko and deep fry it.

And then it comes with two little, like a spicy sauce and a sweet sauce, and it's delicious.

- What did you start with?

- We had the crab angels.

And I did the egg drop soup.

- Oh, tell me about that.

- Which, it was probably the best that I've had in a long time, because it was very thick.

And there was a lot of egg that they put into it.

It was not too overpowering as far as the spice goes.

It was really good.

And then I asked for some fried wanton as well.

- Tell me about the crab angels.

- They were probably the most perfect as far as the presentation goes.

And they weren't as savory as you would think that a crab angel, it was more on the sweet side.

- Or greasy.

They're like light- - It wasn't greasy at all.

It was like super fried.

- I like that, when things are crisp and not greasy.

- Like air fried.

- Oh, I love that.

- Yeah.

Absolutely.

It was very good.

- And Jennie.

- Yes?

- What did you start with?

- So I started actually with the shrimp toast, which is amazing because I feel like I haven't had shrimp toast in like 30 years.

So when I walked in, I was like, "Oh my god, they have shrimp toast!"

I was like, "I have to get this!"

And it was absolutely delicious, because what was so wonderful about it, it's like fried, and like yummy.

So it's like, oh, I feel so bad.

I mean, it's deep fried appetizer.

But the shrimp were really delicately cooked inside.

So they were still- - Tender.

- Plump and juicy.

And you could taste a little bit of the salinity, and a little bit of the sweetness.

And it was a big shrimp.

It was not some sad, anemic shrimp.

- That's what I'm saying.

That was what my saying.

- It was a legit shrimp.

- I like that.

Legit shrimp at Canton Dragon.

- Yes, legit shrimp.

- What do you have for entrees?

- I had the, okay, so if you remember one thing about Canton Dragon, egg foo young, was so delicious.

And I like ordering egg foo young where I go, but sometimes I'm nervous.

This, don't be nervous, is the best hands down.

And it's- - Why is it the best?

- It's like fluffy egg, and then you can get it, so it has the mix so you can get it with the whole shrimp, or you can get it with the barbecue pork or chicken, or you can get a mixed one.

But it's fresh, like everything's fresh.

And it's big, It's not greasy and crispy, you know?

And so it's really good.

And then it comes with this really sauce that's this darker sauce.

And it's more like with the corn starch, you know, the viscous instead of the gravy-ish.

- Yes, yes.

- You know what I mean?

- So it's lighter and more delicate.

- Yeah.

- Yes, yes.

- And so it's so good.

- What did you have for entrees?

- Once again, another thing that I'm super pumped if I ever see on a menu was salt and pepper squid.

And so a lot of times you see the salt and pepper shrimp, which I feel is more common.

But when I saw squid I was like, "Yes!"

'Cause I love squid.

And it was that great combination between the tentacles and the bodies.

And it was like that really light, delicious, crunchy, kind of shattery crust.

And it was appropriately spicy.

So beautifully seasoned and absolutely delicious.

- I love that.

- Oh, yeah.

- And then you had the General Tsao, I think.

- The General Tsao's chicken was incredible.

So delicious.

And the broccoli, they had this like perfectly steamed broccoli.

And it was, once again, not anemic, not sad, soggy broccoli.

It was like, wow, I really- - Got some texture still to it, so it was- - Yes.

And you're like, oh wow, I actually really like broccoli.

- So Shelly, what did you have for entree?

- Oh, well, I shared as well.

We did like the family dinner style where everyone kind of gets a lot of plateful.

So we did the combo fried rice.

And yeah, the shrimp was huge.

I mean, from what they said, it was just, they were ginormous, but it was just fresh.

You could tell that all the ingredients were in-house and that they actually cared about how everything was presented.

We did the teriyaki chicken, which was just beautifully presented.

I mean they had it rode down with the teriyaki sauce on top, and they gave us each little cup of white rice so we were able to plate it ourselves.

- So what'd you think of the decor?

- It was neat, you know, that Chinese restaurant decor, a lot of dragons and stuff and that fish tank.

- Ooh, fish tank.

- That they have it, yeah.

- Fish tank.

- Fish tank.

- Yeah.

- Jennie.

- Fish tank- - You're loving the fish tank.

- Fish tank, fish tank.

- You loved it.

- Yes.

Just go for the fish tank.

I am of a certain age, and I remember as a kid, every Chinese restaurant you'd go to, they had a fish tank.

Why don't they have fish tanks anymore?

This place has a fish tank.

- So did you have any dessert?

- They had this triple layer chocolate mousse cake that's really light, and they bring it out from somewhere else, and then they cut up strawberries and then put whipped cream and it's delicious.

I got a white sangria cocktail, and then my mom, she always gets the wine.

- Did you have any drinks, desserts?

- Yes, I did the espresso martini.

- How was it?

- It was fantastic.

- Super popular right now.

- I'm in my fancy era.

- This is your place, Emily.

What was one thing that you would like to say about this as a pro tip?

- I would say introduce yourself and get the egg foo young.

- Okay.

- It is so good.

I would say make sure that you order something for takeout, because you're gonna wanna eat it all week.

- I agree with that.

I did the same.

- Be expected to be taken care of when you're there.

- All right.

- Yeah.

Accommodated.

- I love that.

If you wanna try Canton Dragon, it's located in Scottsdale on 90th Street and Shea.

An average meal costs $25, and they do take reservations.

Up next, we turn to Shelly.

Her pick is an Italian fine dining restaurant nestled inside a resort in Fountain Hills.

This is Pietros fine dining.

- Pietros fine dining has a heavy Italian slant, but we also do a lot of seafood.

Almost everything we do is homemade.

The sauces are all made here in house, and, you know, you're getting kind of that home cooked, comfort food at a high level.

I would say some of our highlights here would be our pappardelle bolognese, our grilled halibut, and our crab stuffed shells.

We are focusing kind of on Italian wines to pair with all of our Italian dishes.

We do a lot of strong reds and some whites as well.

We do have a signature cocktail.

We do an Italian margarita here that's got Patron and fresh squeezed orange juice as well.

Comes with a salted rims.

It's really good.

I think one of the things that Pietros does really well is a beautiful atmosphere.

We've got unparalleled views of the entire city.

We've also got a really nice view of the 18th hole at the Eagle Mountain Golf course here as well.

And the food here is just gonna be, I think, better than anything else you can find.

We don't turn tables really fast here.

A lot of people are coming to sit down, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy their company, enjoy the food and the service.

And they like to kind of sit here for two hours, two and a half hours, and just have a really wonderful night.

- So Shelly, how did you find this place?

It's kind of out there.

- Yeah, it is.

A good friend of mine had recommended it.

Decided to take the drive out to Fountain Hills.

- So you did it?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So what attracted you first when you walked in?

- How immaculate everything was.

When they say fine dining, you know, white tablecloths, very, you know, specific placements of You could tell that they actually cared about how everything was placed.

- What did you start with?

- We did the mussels, the lemon buttered mussels with the focaccia bread.

And one of my favorite things is obviously you gotta sop up all of that wine into the bread and eat that.

But the mussels were, you know, they were very good.

- Well, it is a little bit of wine.

And it's also mussel liqueur.

'Cause the mussels render out this beautiful, you know, mussels are actually quite sweet.

- Yes, they are.

- Clams can be kind of salty and saliney.

Mussels are sweet.

Jennie, your appetizer.

- Yes.

I had the calamari, and it was good.

However, it was just the bodies.

So it was just the rings.

And I love the tentacles.

And so I missed the tentacles, but it was still- - Well, you are a true foodie.

'Cause most people would say, oh, good, there's no tentacles 'cause that's weird.

- That's what I said.

- Oh, really, Emily?

That's what you said?

- Oh, really?

Oh.

- Yes.

- What?

- And we even had a dialogue about why there was no tentacles.

- So why?

- Well, please let me know, because I'm upset.

- The dialogue was because this wasn't frozen pre-breaded.

And so they said they wanted it to cook at a very even rate.

- Interesting.

- And when the tentacles cook much faster, and so it will go rubbery.

- Well, they're pretty tender, by the way.

- They were so tender.

- They were tender.

- So Jennie, what else did you have?

What was your entree?

- I just had something kind of plain.

I had the chicken fettuccine Alfredo.

And so it was delicious.

And even though that that seems sort of pedestrian, what is nice is that this menu kind of has all your Italian American favorites, but they also do a seasonal menu.

And that is where you have a little more variation and a little more artistry.

So my husband ordered the butternut squash rotini, I believe, and that was delicious.

- I had that too.

It was great.

So Shelly, your place, what did you have for an entree?

- We did the crab stuffed shells, and then the crab Alfredo.

- You like the crab?

- I love crab.

- There's a theme here.

- I love crab.

There was a lot of crab that they put on the crab and the stuffed shells with that cream, like Alfredo sauce- - Well, it was a crab Alfredo.

- It was like a marinara sauce.

- Emily, you like crab Alfredo too, didn't you?

- Yeah, I almost got what you got.

And I was wondering, I wanted the creaminess with the crab.

That was what I was most interested.

- So good.

- 'Cause I've never had that before.

But if I'd known there was cream and the red, I would've gotten that.

- So desserts.

We're gonna start with you, Emily.

- They have an in-house cheesecake they make, and it was delicious.

My mom does not like cheesecake.

She loved this.

And the cookie crust, it says it was graham cracker, but it was more of like a cookie-ish.

So it was good.

I loved it.

- We had that, I believe it was the lemon cake, and it was- - The limoncello cake.

I saw that.

- Yeah, limoncello cake.

Yes, and it was delicious.

It was not one of the ones that they make in-house, but it tasted like it could have been.

And it was delightful.

I don't love sweet, and so it was not overly saccharine.

- Shelly, what was your dessert?

- [Shelly] We did the creme brulee.

I'm a huge fan of that.

The snap into the sugar.

- Ah, was it the snap?

- Oh, yes.

- Oh, boy.

So they had it right.

- It was perfect.

And it was just a perfect amount.

They had a little like raspberries on top, and it just, you go into, and that's the first thing, that custard, it's the best.

They did a really good job.

- This is all about decor.

Jennie, please tell me what you thought.

'Cause you'd never been there before, right?

- I did not bring my seeing eye dog.

So it was- - So you went at night?

- A little bit difficult.

Yes, that it is so incredibly dark.

It was kind of terrifying.

- Outside, the drive was dark.

The restaurant actually has lights.

I just wanna make that clear.

- This is not dining in the- - It's like stuck in the middle of a resort.

You don't know that it's there unless you know that it's like in it.

- So, no, it's not like one of these dining in the dark things like they do in like Japan or whatever.

No, the restaurant is beautiful, but the only reason I mentioned how dark it was is that you can tell despite the darkness, how beautiful the scenery is.

And unfortunately, we went at night, so I can only imagine how gorgeous the view would be outside.

- I love the decor.

It was more like a, it's Italian, so like the Italian countryside fine dining, not too, I've been to fine dining restaurants where you're afraid to, you know, use the wrong fork.

- What is a meal without drinks?

Did you have drinks, Shelly?

- Yes, I did the sangria to start, and then I switched to the Italian margarita.

It's very refreshing.

It's not what you would expect from a margarita.

- I looked at that too.

And I'm a huge- - It was sweet.

- Okay, 'cause I'm a huge psycho margarita person, and it has to be a certain way.

- Yes.

- Sweet is not one of the ways.

- No, it was more like, you would think like an Italian soda.

- And I saw that and I was like, I bet it's gonna be sweet, so no.

So what we ended up doing, they have a beautiful wine list actually.

It's all Italian.

As an aperitif, we had a glass of white.

It was very crisp and refreshing.

And then we had a delicious, I believe it was a Super Tuscan red that we had.

And it was wonderful.

- Shelly, this is the time where we do pro tips.

One-word takeaway, or anything you can say that people need to know about- - Just come hungry.

- Come hungry, done.

- Jennie.

- If you have problems driving at night, come during the day.

- Okay, and GPS.

- Yes.

- Emily.

- It's a bit of a climb outside.

I was wearing heels from work, and I was like, whew.

- This is challenging.

- Yeah.

- If you wanna try Pietros fine dining, it's located inside the inn at Eagle Mountain in Fountain Hills.

An average meal will cost about $50, and they do take reservations.

(relaxing music) Our last restaurant is Jennie's recommendation.

She spent time in Mexico, so she's always on the lookout for good Mexican food.

She picked a spot started by two friends with a big dream.

This is Xolo.

- I would describe Xolo as a local Phoenix Mexican restaurant that specializes in Mexican food, specifically from Central-Southern Mexico.

My partner's family is from the region Guanajuato, Mexico, which is near central Mexico City.

And all the recipes that you're gonna find here are meals that come from his family, meals that he grew up having.

So our spices are gonna come from green salsas, which are more southern, as opposed to the red salsas that are more Northern Mexico.

So here at Xolo, people can find a wide variety of items.

We have tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and some good desserts as well.

Everything that we make is from scratch.

And one of those items, one of our most popular items is gonna be our suiza sauce.

It is gonna be our tomatillo green salsa that is cooked in with our fresh scratch made jalapeno cream cheese, fresh Monterey, Jack cheese, as well as a Mexican crema that you can put on anything.

Cocktails here at Xolo, we offer, we obviously have your margaritas.

We don't use a margarita mix.

It's all made here in house.

We also have beer.

We have wines.

I would describe Xolo as cozy, welcoming, and inviting.

So Xolo is short for Xoloitzcuintle, which is the Mexican hairless dog.

My partner and I just love those dogs.

When we were trying to decide a name, we thought, what a cool idea.

We want our guests to feel like they were welcome into our home and they had a meal at our home, and that they're welcome back anytime.

- So Jennie, how'd you find this restaurant?

How'd you find Xolo?

- You know, after mass, we usually go get Mexican food.

And we're like, why don't we just try this place that we saw kind of up at Seventh Street and Santa- - So random like that?

- Yeah, it was like, let's just go try that place.

And that's how we found it.

- You went back and you love this place.

- Yes.

And so I am a seventh generation native Houstonian.

And so that means Tex-Mex, Tex-Mex, Tex-Mex.

So I typically don't like to eat any sort of Americanized Mexican food in Arizona, because I'm always like, this isn't right.

This doesn't taste good.

I don't like this.

- You get a little judgy, don't you?

- Oh, big time.

And so what's nice about Xolo is that it has some things that are very approachable to the American palate, but the way that they cook it really brings the flavor of Mexico, because it's the really layered, delicate flavors that you pick out sort of one at a time.

- What did you have for appetizer?

- I had the suiza dip, and that is, I think their answer to queso.

So it's cheesy, it's ooey, gooey, it's hot, and then it has a little bit of spice.

So it's really delicious.

- I'm so hungry right now.

- You had it too?

- I had.

- It was really good.

- All right, Emily, so what else did you have?

- Well, at first I wanna tell you about the suiza dip.

My mom took it home, because it's like a dinner bowl size.

And she called me the next morning and said, "It spilled all over the inside of the bag, and I scraped the bag."

- Nice.

- Good for her.

- Waste not, want not.

- That's mom.

I love mom.

- Then we had mini chimis, which they, you know, roll right there and then fry.

So they were really good.

- I did the elote, the elote dip and just even the chips and salsa, it was fresh.

The salsa, you could, you know, taste was more than likely made in-house, 'cause you can't find that in the grocery store.

- No, you cannot.

- And the chips were fresh, crispy.

It was definitely a mix of, they had cilantro and corn and, you know, just the ingredients, you could tell, were very fresh.

- From scratch cooking.

- Absolutely.

- What'd you have for entrees?

- We did the carne asada fried burrito.

And it had the fries inside the burrito.

And the carne asada was so juicy and so fresh.

And you could tell that it was cooked, you know, perfectly.

And it just, I couldn't, like, every time I go for a bite, like, oh, my God, this is so good.

You just wanna for it.

- It is true.

And Jennie, you're nodding your head.

- Yeah, the carne asada is just out of this world.

- And then we shared the other burrito my friend got was the chile relleno burrito.

And when I say, 'cause I love chile relleno, that's Mexican food, proper Mexican food.

And yet it was wrapped in the burrito, and you just could tell, like you could taste how the flavors were just bursting out of- - Oh, I'm going there next for that.

Jennie, what did you have for an entree?

- I had the hard shell carne asada taco.

And so it's like everything that you want in something that's craveable and yummy and delicious.

So did that.

And then I also did the chicken enchiladas, like Christmas style, delicious shredded chicken inside with the green tomatillo and the red guajillo chili sauces.

Both delicious, nice spice.

And it's that great spice where it's like, okay, it's spicy.

- I want one.

- And then it's like, oh, now I have spice back here, spice back here.

And so you're really able to savor, because your palate's not blown out.

- It isn't.

And, you know, the tartness of that tomatillo sauce was great.

I did that.

I did actually quite a bit of food.

It was really good.

- It is.

- Emily, what'd you have?

- I had the chicken enchiladas Christmas style as well.

And they have a lot of sauce as well.

You know, you want a lot of enchilada sauce.

- And so they had like it in the middle separated between this like fresh lettuce and a little salsa.

And then it was like a lot of sauce on both sides.

And so I appreciated that.

And then we had the chile relleno.

- Yes, chili relleno.

- And we were gonna get a burrito, and so I saw that they came with a side of the tortillas.

And so I really love it when they make the fresh tortillas, so I was like, let's get that.

So we did.

- Okay, drinks.

I know you don't like to talk about drinks at all, but Emily, if you could.

- I just wanna say happy hour all day when we went.

So Tuesdays, they say online that it's happy hour all day.

We went Wednesday.

And I was like, darn, it's not happy hour all day.

And she's like, "Yes, it is."

And I was like, "Okay."

So they had like margarita, so I had a house margarita.

- I did the Phoenix margarita, which was the spicy peppered vodka with the jalapenos and stuff.

That's what I like is the, it's like, was like jalapenos and cilantro.

So the jalapenos obviously make it spicy and then the cilantro cools it down.

So you have that refreshing, - With that herbal dimension.

- Yeah, it's that, you know, your tongue's like what's going on?

But it was really good.

- So you had a margarita, I believe.

- Of course.

- And was it, I know you and I, the no sweet thing.

How'd they do?

- Excellent, so I mean- - Okay, cool.

- To me, because I will try basically every margarita in town, and this honestly best price value margarita there is.

- It is fabulous.

It is inexpensive, and it is good.

- Well, your place.

So what is your pro tip for this?

- Well, kind of what Emily was saying, pro tip is there's Taco Tuesday, you get like a board of tacos and a beer for 10 bucks.

- My pro tip is, I guess if you want a paper menu, you'll have to ask.

So bring your phone 'cause it is one of those little scanny.

- Yeah, QR thing.

- Yeah.

- If you wanna try Xolo, it's located just off Seventh Street and Thunderbird.

The average check is about 20 bucks, and they don't take reservations.

I wanna thank Jennie, Emily, and Shelly for joining me at the table today.

And thank you for joining us on "Check, Please!

Arizona."

If you'd like to share your favorite restaurant, head to our website, azpbs.org/checkplease and nominate your must eat out spot.

Who knows?

You could be joining me at this table.

Be a part of the foodie conversation in Arizona on social media using hashtag #checkpleaseaz.

Join us next time when three new guests make their recommendations right here on "Check, Please!

Arizona."

I'm chef Mark Tarbell.

Have a delicious life.

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