Downtown Dining

Devil’s Greens, the salad bar on the first floor of Taylor Place, has found a niche as Phoenix’s only salad bar open until 1 a.m. seven days a week.

La Tolteca, located near North 12 Street on East Van Buren Street, is a restaurant, grocery store, meat market, bakery and cake shop, and is one of Phoenix's hidden secrets.

Brick is open until 10 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, which may set a record in Phoenix.

Arizona State University is definitely intimidating when you don’t know what to expect, and Downtown can be especially frustrating because everything may seem less convenient than it is in Tempe. But the Downtown Devil has compiled a survival guide of top businesses, places and events to help make that adjustment just a little bit easier.

Matt’s Big Breakfast could be called downtown Phoenix’s most public secret. Although an unknowing passerby might peer into the cramped, cream-colored interior and believe it was just another diner, they would probably realize their mistake as they were being pushed aside by members of the crowd that regularly gathers outside Matt’s doors.

Besides getting the chicken and mac and cheese, the waffles are a must (as I probably should have guessed). I had my doubts about the way waffles would work with the other dishes, but I don’t have them any more.

In hindsight, perhaps my expectations were unfairly high. After all, bad Chinese food is as American as ketchup, rocket ships and the Model T Ford.

Cibo, an Italian eatery and wine bar, is one of the best places to go in downtown Phoenix for a late-night pizza or salad.

Carolina’s Mexican Food is tucked within the cracked walls and barred windows of a building at the corner of East Mohave and South 12th streets. A walk through the door reveals a similarly sobering scene: two large rooms with concrete floors (one for people waiting for carry-out and another for eating) furnished with a few cheap booths and tables. But inside the kitchen of this arcane establishment there is a little bit of magic.