- [Narrator] And now an Arizona PBS Original Production.

- I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona", the show where valley residents recommend their favorite restaurants.

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

They've dined it all three and they're ready to share their reviews with each other and with you right here on "Check, Please!

Arizona".

(uptempo salsa music) - [Narrator] "Check, Please!

Arizona", is made possible in part by the generous support of Susan and William Ahearn, Deborah and Michael Elliott, Barbara and Terry Fenzl, Nita and Phil Francis Mary and William Way.

Whitfill Nursery, proud to support Arizona PBS a valley tradition since 1946.

Over 200 acres of Arizona grown trees, citrus and palms.

Complete custom design and installation.

And Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

whitfillnursery.com.

- [Advertiser] Mirabella at ASU is a first of its kind intergenerational retirement community.

Located directly on the Tempe campus.

Enroll in university courses, mentor promising young trailblazers and attend cultural and sporting events.

For more information, visit retirement.org.

(mid-tempo salsa music) - I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona".

In this episode, we're checking out restaurants that offer up everything from barbecue to brick oven delights.

Before we go dining, let's meet our reviewers.

This is Jason Turner.

He's a Pastor with a serious love of food.

He says the best way to learn about a city is through its restaurants.

Ron Carlston works in marketing for a pool company but his true passion is in custom building hot rods.

But up first, it's Laura Roth a stay at home mom whose pick offers Mexican food with a side of Americana.

This is Topo.

(mid-tempo salsa music) - Topo was designed to be a very simple walk up street food situation.

We decided it had to be handheld food and it had to be portable.

Our appetizer is elote.

Our main course is the burrito.

Our dessert is soft serve.

We wanted to have like a base model burrito for people who are not maybe as adventurous.

So that basically has beans your choice of meat which is gonna be either chicken or pork we just wanted to keep it simple, cheese and some green salsa and then just wrapped.

Then we kind of like the California-style burrito.

They typically have French fries in them which gives an additional textural element.

So we use Fritos as the crunch layer.

We also add our red sauce that is made in-house right here.

We also add crema and then it also has elote in it as well plus cilantro.

So you get a bunch of different additional layers of flavor on that.

That's the Topo Loco, that's my favorite.

So we have basically two flavors of ice cream.

Basically, a frozen yogurt which would be prickly pear and a creamy, vanilla ice cream.

We have a chocolate dip.

We have a prickly pear dip which is nice and pink.

And then we have a lime-green kind of lime dip as well.

I'm an engineer by training.

And so, I like designing stuff.

I'm also a big fan of the Route 66.

And on Route 66, you had to pull people off the road and you had to have something like maybe a dinosaur or a tepee or something like that to pull them off the road.

And so, we needed to have something that stood out.

It couldn't just be like a little beige box.

It needed to have some pizazz.

And I wanted to put a sculpture on top.

So the animal is Topo, a gopher wearing a Stetson open road hat.

I think people are always looking for good quality food that represents a good value.

And then they want a unique experience.

I think we really achieved our goal, because most people are super-excited about it.

- Laura, why did you pick Topo and what did you have?

- Okay, so I picked Topo, because we go there biweekly.

It's really close to our house, it's super-easy, convenient.

There's no commitment of having to sit down inside of a restaurant.

I have a lot of kids, I have four kids.

And so, I like to feed them quickly.

I chose the Topo Loco with no meat, because sometimes it just tastes better without meat.

- So what do you put inside it, it's just beans and rice?

- So it's basically, it's re-fried beans, cheese, Fritos, and- - Ooh.

- Yeah, hot sauce too, I think.

Oh, and then this crema stuff that they have.

- Oh, I love the crema.

- Yeah.

- Jason, you're like, "Yeah."

- Yeah, yeah.

- You like that crema?

- Yeah.

- It was good.

- And it fills up your tummy but also fills up your heart.

You just feel good after it.

(group laughs) - Well I think the kids your four kids must like it 'cause of the dessert, right?

'Cause of the soft serve.

- Yes, I always get the prickly pear twist ice cream there.

You have to do the twist and if you guys didn't have the twist, I'm sorry, but- - Did you do the twist Ron?

- I did not do the twist- - Did you do the twist?

- But I did do the- - I did, you mean twisting with different flavors?

- It's prickly pear and vanilla.

- Yeah, I didn't do the twist that time.

- I did the twist before.

- Okay, can we all just stop and get up and do the twist?

No, I'm just kidding (group laughs).

- [Jason] Sure.

- Ron, what did you have?

- I had actually, I had the exact same thing but I had chicken in mine.

- Oh, okay.

- And so, being pretty much a native of Arizona taking a first bite and finding Fritos in my burrito was really shocking, because I'm not used to that.

But it was interesting.

It gave a completely different dynamic to a burrito that I'm used to having, being a native of Arizona.

And so having the Frito at first I was like, "I'm not sure about this."

By the time I got halfway through it I'm like, "This is pretty awesome.

It's totally different."

- It's salty, crunchy and you get another excuse to eat Fritos which is not a bad thing.

- Right, exactly.

And so, then I had that and then, I also got the street corn.

- Oh, yeah.

- And the street corn was unbelievable.

The street corn was as best as what I've gotten on some of the bicycle market guys that you see riding through the neighborhoods that's like the best street corn in the world.

And this was extremely close to that.

- Yeah, you're nodding your head, Jason.

You had the elote?

- Well yeah I did, and I thought it was very flavorful.

I love the different, the notes and textures of the crema, excuse me, and everything else that was in there.

But I felt like it missed an opportunity to make it that much better.

That particular item is something that we make at home as well 'cause we enjoy cooking.

But when we make it at home we take fresh corn and we shuck the corn fresh off the corn.

And so for us, that add this fresh sweet, elevated taste that I think if they had did that it would've taken that particular item to the next level.

But the other elements of the fresh crema and the cotija cheese and everything else made a little bit of difference.

- I think they put a little cilantro on it too.

- Yes, they did.

- Which I thought was a nice touch.

Gave it a little edge.

It had a little bump to it and I just thought it was charming.

And frankly, I did like the sort of patio picnic table thing going on.

- The thing that I liked about it was for somebody who has a large family you can turn your kids loose and they can run around and do whatever they want.

- Yeah, I wanna piggyback on that.

I think that for me, much like your family, myself and my wife and I have four children, four daughters.

So sometimes when we're going out to eat it has to be based upon what's budget-friendly.

And so, the restaurant that she chose we had been there before, because we love going up and down Gilbert Avenue there and we visited other restaurants.

So we had been there plenty of times to get the ice cream, but we had never been there to get the actual food.

But it's a great place that we were all able to go because it's so budget-friendly you're able to have a great time, sit outside.

There's various things that you can do.

So it was this total immersive experience that was just beyond having a burrito.

So it was a good time.

- Well, pivoting off what you're saying Jason is what I love about what you've all done for me is I'm getting to see the city in a different way and I really appreciate that.

If you wanna try Topo it's located downtown Gilbert right next to Joe's Barbecue.

An average meal will cost $10 and they don't take reservations.

(mid-tempo salsa music) Up next is Ron's pick a family-owned restaurant in downtown Phoenix that's cooking up delicious bites in a brick oven.

This is Oven & Vine.

(upbeat music) - Oven & Vine is that small neighborhood little casual place, or like a hidden little gem that's in this historic building in this big city.

We made it one of those things that would be comfortable, outdoor experience like you would have your friends over to your backyard except for that you don't have to clean and do the dishes.

So we came up with the name, Oven & Vine, because when we looked at the place we decided that we wanted a brick oven-based menu.

And then, we wanted to go with the vine, because vine reminds you of wine and wine is the pairing with the food.

We serve Italian food and we also have some New Mexico-style dishes.

The recipes are mine.

When I lived in New Mexico we had a ranch out inside of Las Vegas in a little town called Watrous.

And the ladies there taught us how to get the hatched green chilies, roast them and make the green chili.

I think that the green chili pork with the au gratins is probably our signature dish.

It's comfort food and the two just go together really well.

We do have your traditional flatbreads which is basically pizza.

And then, we do have your lasagnas and which we make from scratch.

And then, we have some sandwiches and salads also to keep things on the lighter side for people who don't want the full heavier meals.

And then, we also have the South Western side where we have the ancho beef and we have the green chili pork and we have the green chili chicken.

So we tried to mix it up just a little bit.

Our patio has a real lush landscape.

We have a small little grass space for kids to run and dogs to play.

And then, we have comfortable just patio chairs and picnic tables for people to just relax.

Oven & Vine is more than just a restaurant.

It's an experience.

We wanted it more of an experience where you come in and you get something that you don't get anywhere else.

And you get something that is comforting and something that's homemade.

Something that you don't have time to make yourself.

- So Ron, why did you pick this restaurant and what is your favorite dish there?

- So the reason why I picked this restaurant is because it's family-owned.

It's the only one you're not gonna see it as a chain.

It is literally a husband and wife and sometimes their daughter and they absolutely just pour their heart into the whole thing.

And so, because they're local all their ingredients are local and I'm really a big proponent of supporting anything local.

And so, that was my main choice.

And it's kind of hidden gem.

If you don't know it's there you will have no idea it's there.

My favorite part of the restaurant structure-wise, is being outside on the porch.

To me, that's the best part.

The inside's awesome.

But I'd much rather be on the porch.

- Yeah, and for me it was like a mini-park, like a curated little mini-park.

like you would see in Europe or something.

It was really- - Exactly.

- What was your favorite dish?

- All of it's my favorite.

But the one that I chose to review was the braised beef.

And then, I had the au gratin potatoes.

The beef is simmered for days.

It's unbelievable how moist and how tender it is.

And you can get it spicy or not get it spicy.

And the au gratins feel like they've been baked for six or seven hours.

I mean, they've got so much cheese and they're so flaky and just, it's amazing.

I don't know how else to describe it other than you have to go.

And then, when you eat it, you'll totally understand.

- The au gratins, I do have to say it was sort of like cheese that are delicately hung together with just enough potatoes so they could call it au gratin potato.

It was really, really good.

- [Ron] Yeah, that's exactly right.

And then, for the dessert I had the Clara torte.

And I'm kind of a sucker for chocolate and the torte is unbelievable.

Yeah, I am a bit of a sucker for that too and Clara's torte, it won.

It won me over.

- Laura, what was your favorite dish there?

- Okay, well, what I had was the bread.

It's called, crack bread.

- Yes.

- It's called crack bread, because you just can't get enough of it, okay?

I wanted to lick the plate.

(group laughs) I'm not kidding.

And I would have had my husband not stop me.

And then, I had the vegetable lasagna that tasted like something my sister would make and she's like the best cook I know.

- [Mark] That is a huge compliment.

- I haven't had your food, so.

- Well that's okay.

(group laughs) - [Mark] Yet.

- And then, also had the tiramisu.

The best tiramisu I've ever had in my entire life.

- So what makes it the best?

- Okay, it was the bottom layer was absolutely soaked in espresso and it was just light and creamy and each layer had so much flavor.

It was amazing.

- [Mark] Jason, you're nodding, you had it too.

- Yeah, no, it was good.

And my eldest daughter is a tiramisu fan.

So now wherever we go if it's on the menu, we have to order it.

And we rank it in order of best.

This tiramisu was so good that I felt like I was cheating my daughter if I didn't bring some home to her.

(group laughs) So my wife and I, we had to stop eating halfway through even though we wanted to keep going, because we wanted to provide some for her to be able to taste so she can then compare so we can put our notes together.

And yes, it was at the top of the list for the very same reasons that you said.

- Well Laura had crack bread, but you had flatbread.

- I did.

- Tell us about it.

- Now, I am a pizza proponent.

I don't know if that makes any sense but- - Oh it does.

- It sounded good coming out.

- It does.

- But I love pizza.

But pizza has changed for me when I experienced probably about 10 years ago pizza from an authentic oven that was shipped in from Italy.

And so, that changed the pizza game for me.

And for me, the flatbread that was there was as close to that oven that I tasted in Texas, that I've had in a very long time.

It was very authentic.

It wasn't flooded with a lot of cheese.

It was very, I think thoughtfully and intentionally laid out as relates to making sure that in each bite you got some cheese, some sausage, some mushroom and it wasn't just, some places you eat pizza they cover it with cheese, because the rest of the ingredients are horrible.

This place wanted you to taste their sausage and to taste their mushrooms, because they were treated very delicately to make sure that the whole dish came together.

And it did.

- That's an awesome description, because I think that goes back to my original statement of family-owned.

This is a family that their entire livelihood is dependent on this restaurant.

And so, they're gonna do whatever it takes to have people like you that have never been there before have this most amazing experience, because that's how they keep their business going.

- And you can feel that when you're there.

Their attention to detail not only to the food, but to the customer and to myself, my wife that was there.

It wasn't overbearing, but it was just enough to make sure that we were having a good experience to make sure that we were comfortable.

It felt like they valued their customers.

- [Ron] Absolutely.

- And it's a place that makes me wanna go back.

It makes me wanna to refer other people there, because they have a family experience.

- [Mark] So what did you have to drink?

- I had Garfield's punch.

- [Mark] What is that?

It sounds fascinating.

- So it had rum, pineapple juice and a cherry.

And it was just light.

And really it felt like I could have been on a beach.

And I wanted more.

(group laughs) My husband said, "No."

because one was enough.

- Well, we've learned it here.

One is enough.

And I think you had a really cool classic.

- I had a spritzer.

It was light.

It was a little bit sweet.

But it was a good blend of all the elements together and it was very tasty.

I don't say that much about drinks, but it was very tasty.

- Cool, awesome.

Well, if you wanna try Oven & Vine it's located West off of Central on Vernon.

An average meal will cost about $20 and they do not take reservations.

(mid-tempo salsa Mexican music) And now we head back to Gilbert for Jason's pick where a husband and wife team are serving up some serious cue with a few twists.

This is Arizona BBQ Company.

(upbeat music) - Arizona BBQ Company, is barbecue but with an Arizona twist.

My husband, the other owner of the business, Mark, he is a chef, and we started with a catering business.

And so, everybody loves his barbecue.

We do things a little bit different.

We would be considered blasphemers for those in the barbecue community.

We smoke our meat and then it actually goes into the oven for a second cooking process.

So you retain that moisture as opposed to everybody else just smokes theirs.

So there's a second cooking process here.

And then, we like to infuse all the Southwest flair and flavors.

The smoker we have is huge.

And it's actually in the building, because we just couldn't put it outside.

Mark did a lot of research on what kind of smoker he wanted to use and what really lent the best to the way he smokes.

You can come in, peek through our pickup window and see the whole kitchen and see the smoker and really smell it.

It's a whole experience.

When you get your platter of barbecue it's gonna come naked.

You get to choose your sauce.

We have habanero, we have a chipotle we have the green chili, we have a mustard.

It's kinda like a Carolina mustard but it's got a little bit of those Arizona undertones to it.

Our wings are huge popular and they are actually marinated for 72 hours in some Southwest seasoning, can't tell you what and some citrus.

And so, it really gives them a deep, really mahogany flavor.

And then, when they get ready to come to your plate they get thrown in the fryer just for a short time just to bring up to temperature.

And then, the finishing part of it which is really where the beauty comes in is we throw 'em on the grill, so they get grilled.

So it's a long process full of love for you.

We want to put Arizona on the map for barbecue.

We want to do things differently.

This is where we started.

This is where our roots are.

This is where we grew our family.

And so, we really want to set Arizona apart and say, "Hey, when you think of Arizona and you think of barbecue we are what you think about."

- So Jason, why did you pick this?

Why is it your favorite?

And what is your favorite dish?

- Well, let me tell you why we chose it.

As we all know, 2020 was a very difficult year.

And coming out of the quarantine period again, myself, my wife, four children in a house we're all pulling our hair out well, we wanna do something different.

And let's find something that's in our community.

And so, that's when we stumbled upon Arizona BBQ Company.

And when we went in it was just as if we were welcomed home.

And on top of it, the food was good as well.

- Hi-five.

- Love the food.

- 'Cause that place was amazing.

- Yeah, I'm glad you liked it.

- That just says it all.

We can stop right now.

- When we went there, there was two things that I got.

The first one was the smoked wings.

Oh my gosh.

To find it smoked is rare.

It was a great smoked wing that had flavor.

You can taste the wood that they were using very light seasoning, so it didn't take away from the smoke.

It was just a very great presentation of a smoked wing.

- So I got the camelback platter which was, I think it was a third of chicken a third of pork, and a third of brisket.

And then, I had the ranchero beans and then, I got their traditional barbecue sauce with the green chili.

It was just amazing.

And it's funny, because I've tasted barbecue in Texas, I've tasted barbecue in Kansas city, I've tasted barbecue in Chicago.

And now, I think Arizona's finally coming into its own.

I think this place and a couple other ones are gonna be the leaders that are gonna finally put Arizona on the map as having amazing barbecue.

- And since you bought a brisket I just wanna piggyback on that.

They had this new thing that I hadn't seen before which was called a brisket taco.

I'm like, "Wow, you're blending two of my favorite worlds together.

So let's try this."

And they did it perfectly.

It wasn't too much brisket, it wasn't too much flour tortilla.

The garnishments that were on top of it, added to it.

And it left room for you to be able to put your own sauce on it to add that extra flavor.

It was excellent.

- I think they should rename it good and gooder.

(group laughs) - Hey, Laura, you had the two-meat platter and cornbread, 'cause cornbread is something I'm passionate about.

How was your platter and the cornbread?

- All right gentlemen I'm here to disagree with almost everything you guys have said.

- Okay.

- Yeah, okay.

The only thing I did like about it was the meat.

The meat really was very tender.

- [Mark] And what did you like about it?

- Okay, so I had the brisket and the chicken just to state that.

But it was very tender.

It was flavorful, it was moist.

I mean, they really outdid themselves with the meat.

And then, all of their time was spent on their meat and not the sides, according to me.

- So what did you have for sides?

- So I had potato salad and then also the cornbread.

And it was like, all the flavors were completely muted.

I really had big expectations and it just fell flat.

- It's okay, it's okay.

Jason, just hold him back, hold him back, hold him back.

- The cornbread, I felt like if I coughed with a mouthful of it, it was just gonna shoot out powder.

I like my cornbread a little bit moister and oh, I wanted to like it, because I like the story behind the restaurant.

I like that it's family-owned, I like that they use a lot of local ingredients.

It just- - Yeah, well we can talk about this but there could be... Jason, I do wanna talk about and what I do wanna say on cornbread there really are two schools.

Some can be a little bit more structured, I would say.

And some are really tender, fall apart.

And that's just an intentional thing when you're making cornbread, I've made both.

And when you have a lot of barbecue sauce you can just, one that's a little more structured you just tap it a little bit and put it in that barbecue sauce and eat it like a spoon.

And I love that, because I like the crunch in the sauce.

Jason, I can tell you might have an opinion about this.

- And I'm ready, let's go (group laughs).

Honestly, when we go there we don't go there for the sides.

And so, we go there specifically for the meat.

And I'm there for the smoking and the brisket and the things that they can do that they've taken hours to do that I can get in a few minutes.

- Well, I think this segment really needs to end on a sweet note.

- [Jason] Yes.

- Ron, did you have any dessert?

- I did, I had the cookie and then I've been informed as of late that the cookies are no longer available.

- They do change their menu.

- Ugh, the cookie was amazing.

- But I had the sopapillas Did anyone have that?

- [Jason] No, I didn't have that.

- [Mark] Did you have 'em too?

- [Jason] No, I had the churros.

- [Laura] They were good?

- They were very good (group laughs).

They were seasoned very well with sugar and cinnamon.

They were fantastic.

- [Laura] Okay, okay.

- I'm just gonna end with this.

I picked up my ribs and they were so tender that the bone fell out, actually fell out of it.

So if you wanna try Arizona BBQ Company it's located in Gilbert, on Ray Road just south of Val Vista.

An average meal will cost $17 and they do not take reservations.

I wanna thank Laura, Jason, and Ron for sharing their picks with us.

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

Who knows, you could be joining me at this table.

And be a part of the foodie conversation in Arizona on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #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.

(ambient music) - [Advertiser] Support comes from Copenhagen.

Featuring contemporary furniture from around the world.

Copenhagen is dedicated to providing comfort craftsmanship and customer service.

Located at copenhagenliving.com.

- [Advertiser] Hospice of the Valley medical, social, and spiritual care for patients nearing end of life and support for their families.

A not-for-profit community hospice, hov.org.

- [Advertiser] Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers personalized cancer care through medical oncology, radiation oncology and radiology services, focusing on emotional, physical, and social support, outsmarting cancer one patient at a time.

- [Advertiser] AJ's Fine Foods for gourmet to go meals.

Chef-prepared entrees and sides.

Brick oven pizza, handcrafted sandwiches and soups are sushi to go.

AJ's Fine Foods, more than a market.

Ten valley locations, at ajsfinefoods.com (mid tempo salsa music)