Arizona Restaurants

Eating at someone else’s house usually means overcooked yams, reedy string beans, and tedious games of red rover. Today’s Groupon invites you over to someone’s house for good food and no tedious games of red rover. For $25, you’ll get $50 worth of colorful cuisine at Eddie’s House, a delicious dwelling inhabited by local celebrity chef Eddie Matney. Phoenix Magazine’s Number One Chef in the Valley rolls out his signature Mediterranean-influenced New American fare in a new namesake spot.Think: Your eyes reveal that this meal is the highlight of your day. I feel pity for you. Say: You guys look like you need some nacho poppers. They go great with our cheesy-chicken skewers!

Few foods are as surrounded by controversy as barbecue. Disputes over the styles prominent in Texas, the Carolinas, and Kansas City can get serious. That's why it is for the best to let professionals handle the delicate art of smoking meats and mixing sauces. At Ribshack BBQ, all of the staples are accounted for, from racks of ribs to pulled pork. These are all accompanied by the requisite greens, coleslaw, and mac 'n' and cheese that one might expect to find in a road-side barbecue joint or lazily written country song. Thanks to a new liquor license, cold beers fuel the chatter that drifts up between bites of food.

If you've always wanted to visit Bangkok, but could never learn the Internet to order a plane ticket, today’s Groupon will get you the next best thing: $40 worth of acclaimed Thai cuisine at Malee’s Thai Bistro for $20. AZ Central, whose readers picked Malee's as Best Thai Restaurant of 2009, describes the intimate Old Town restaurant as a “great place to warm up and chill out after an afternoon of browsing local shops and art galleries.” Malee's food is MSG-free, and if you have special dietary needs, the chefs will happily de-glutenize or vegetablize any order. You can also have any dish custom-spiced to your preferred level of spicy.Unfortunately, no amount of angry letters directed at government officials or Hollywood scientists could stop the heat from rising. Temperatures soon reached an unheard-of 70 degrees, and Arizona repealed its mandatory "10 Layers of Underwear to Prevent Moral Perversion" statute and became the first territory to make reading illegal for children under six, believing that the brain waves of young readers were causing the heat wave. A delegation of Arizona preachers even visited the equator to yell at the sun, but to no avail. No cure was ever found for the rising temperatures, and today, temperatures in Phoenix rarely drop below 200 degrees.

Sami's menu heralds the signature gyro, layered in generous cuts of tomatoes and onions under a phonetically perplexing complexion of freshly made tzatziki sauce ($5.75). Pita-piped falafel sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini ($5.50) are also available, as well as a sextet of dolmas, grape leaves packed with rice, dill, lemon juice, and spices ($4.25). Experience unexpected, yet geographically logical, Mediterranean flavors such as an italian beef with sweet bell peppers ($6.95) or the imported Chicago–style Vienna Beef hot dogs loaded with the works ($3.95). Drop in for lunch, or carry out to warm up your biceps for falafel juggling.

Saddle Bronc Grill plunks its guests straight into the middle of a sci-fi western. A hitching post augments the restaurant's saloon-like exterior, where customers are more likely to see motorcycles than horses waiting out front. Napkins have been switched out for bandanas at each table, and the soft glow of 13 flat-screen televisions illuminates the wooden slats of the walls. This blend of genres is no accident—the grill strives to be a country-western bar with all the comforts of the modern era, allowing diners to snack on classic cowboy food even as they follow their favorite sports team. Live bands twang away on weekend evenings, and the Tavern Poker League takes place on Thursday, though players needn't abide by traditional frontier rules that force the loser to eat his own spurs.

The menu, meanwhile, remains faithful to an entirely rustic ambiance. Broasted chicken and flat-iron steaks follow appetizers such as fried onion rings. Side dishes pay homage to the snacks of hungry ranch hands, running the gamut from corn bread and sweet potato fries to a potato-stuffed poblano pepper. To conclude meals, Rock Springs Café populates the Into the Sunset dessert list with a rotating selection of homemade pies.

Today's Groupon gets you $10 worth of authentic quick-service Japanese cuisine at Blue Fin, a family-operated restaurant near downtown Phoenix, for $5.“Can’t say I recognize the blonde,” Finn mumbled coolly, “although I wouldn’t mind an introduction.”