Photos by Alexis Macklin
Location and Hours:455 North Third Street, Suite #114
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: (602) 252 3545
Sunday – Wednesday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thursday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
★★★½
Recommended Dishes: Carnitas
Chimichanga, Spinach & Portabella
Mushroom Quesadilla,
Red Rock Lemonade
Tip: Occasionally, if you
mention you’re a student
or are in a large group,
you can get a discount.
View all past Dine, Devil, Dine reviews with
the Downtown Dining Interactive Map.
With only a change in the name, the Canyon Cafe still serves up the same dishes and atmosphere from the restaurant previously named Sam’s Cafe. If you’re looking for casual sophistication or outdoor eating, then make your way over during lunch hour and you’ll find yourself amidst a sea of suits all daintily chomping on chips and salsa.
While Canyon Cafe has three other locations, two in Texas and one in Missouri, the dining experience is far from any old chain restaurant. Placed in the Arizona Center, on Third Street in between Fillmore and Van Buren streets, the restaurant is conveniently located in a quaint little entertainment hub. Surrounded by shops and salons with an AMC 24 theater around the corner, this is the perfect place to dine after watching a movie or getting your nails done.
Upon seeing the name change I was afraid that my favorite conveniently located Southwest grill was going to have a new menu. Lucky for me the menu remained the same and, even better, everything still comes with endless house chips and salsa. Now, Canyon Cafe is not a traditional Mexican restaurant as some word-of-mouth claims would have you believe. I’d like to make it clear that it’s a Southwest grill. Meaning that, while there are Mexican influences, the dishes are southwestern adaptations of traditional Mexican, Spanish, Native American and Western United States meals.
The chips and salsa, which are brought out upon your arrival, are vibrant and out of the ordinary. You may be picturing some corn tortilla chips and chunky red salsa, but I’d like for you to erase that image from your mind. I’ll paint a new picture starting with a variety of chips in a basket that vary in thickness, shape, color and flavor. My favorite chip is thick, flaky and coated in sugar and spices. This one doesn’t even need salsa. The salsa is dark and puréed with a sweet taste followed by smokey spice. The rate at which I consume the chips and salsa alone is alarming to say the least.
While I’ve always been a fan of the blackened fish dishes, like the Grilled Blackened Tilapia ($16.95) and Blackened Salmon Caesar ($8.99), on my latest venture to Canyon Cafe I ordered one of the Chef Daily Features. The Carnitas Chimichanga ($11.95) called my name saying, “Mi amor, choose me.” Mainly I chose this because the menu said it was smothered in verde salsa and topped with cotija cheese so there was little else to distract my attention away from this dish. We also ordered the Chicken Fajitas ($13.95) and their Red Rock Lemonade ($3.50), which is a non-alcoholic strawberry lemonade made fresh. It was hands down one of the best lemonades I’ve ever had.
The portion sizes are ginormous which makes up for some of the pricier items on the menu but my chimichanga was a swinging deal. It certainly could feed two people and leave them both with their bellies bulging and it quite literally did just that during our lunch.
Being as it’s located next to businesses as well as the Downtown ASU campus it’s easy to get in around 11:30 a.m. order, eat and pay within an hour. The service is speedy quick, friendly and even gave me my check ahead of time so that I wouldn’t be late for my next class.
With the weather at perfect breezy temperatures, there is no reason not to sit outside on the patio. The outdoor dining experiences are rare in downtown Phoenix but at Canyon Cafe you have the garden and fountains to overlook which make the outing so much more enjoyable.
At the end of every meal you get compliments of the chef in the form of white chocolate tamales with pecans. I’d describe to you what they taste like but I rather explain to you the sounds everyone at our table was making while eating them instead. A general consensus of how everyone liked this last morsel came in a wave of yummy noises varying in licking lips and repeating the words, “yeah, okay, yes, yum,” each time they took a bite. Needless to say, they are a unique treat. I will come here time and time again.
Contact reporter at angoe@asu.edu
