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Fueled by more than 25 years of culinary experience, executive chef Bill Wise serves up contemporary American cuisine with a distinctive Southwestern flare. Drawing from an arsenal of all-natural ingredients, he meticulously crafts everything from a simple grilled chicken sandwich to the more complex Scampi Diablo, a shrimp-centric pasta crowned in a from-scratch butter sauce made with tequila and jalape?o. Chef Wise also offers fresh takes on well-trodden dishes, such as a Cobb salad that incorporates artichoke hearts and nopalitos instead of the traditional hard-boiled eggs and chives. All the while, guests can compliment these inventive gourmet meals with a wine, cocktail, or beer while basking in the natural sunlight that floods the large dining room.
Though the nearly 3 million-acre Tonto National Forest surrounds Payson with pine trees and saguaro cacti, many of the city's natural features and recreation options come from the Mogollon Rim, a towering cliff that stretches up to 2,000 feet and about 200 miles long. Hundreds of miles of roads slink through the rim’s awe-inspiring scenery, passing campsites, hiking trails, and lakes rife with fishing opportunities. Animals including black bears, bobcats, and whitetail deer have been seen—many of them on mopeds—among the forested hills. In town, Payson’s idyllic Main Street harks back to its Old West roots with antique stores and cowboy-centric history museums.