Critic’s Recommendations
Nobuo At Teeter House - 622 E. Adams St.
Matt’s Big Breakfast- 801 N. 1st St.
Vitamin T - 1 E. Washington St.
Rose and Crown- 628 E. Adams St.
The Turf Restaurant and Pub- 705 N. 1st St.
Vietnamese Kitchen- 114 W. Adams St.
Arizona Republic restaurant critic Howard Sefte spoke at the Cronkite school Tuesday night about restaurants in Phoenix and how downtown dining has changed over the years.
Sefte was part of the new “Discover Phoenix” series, which consists of various presentations and tours to help Downtown students become more engaged in the Phoenix area.
Sefte, who has been a food critic at Republic for 20 years, said when he came to Phoenix in 1990, there were no places to dine.
“If you wanted a drink in a dive bar at 9 a.m. it was great, but for actual dining, not so much,” Sefte said. “In the last 10 years downtown has gone berserk. Now it’s more of a three-tier town than 10-tier.”
From there, Sefte moved on to discuss his favorite restaurants in Phoenix.
His picks ranged from Nobuo At Teeter House, which features Asian-style dining, to Matt’s Big Breakfast, which specializes in pancakes and waffles.
Sefte also listed good restaurants that were fairly inexpensive for college students. Vitamin T is a taco place that sells three tacos for $7, and the Rose and Crown, Turf and the Vietnamese Kitchen were also among his top choices.
After his favorite restaurants in Phoenix, Sefte moved on to talk about his least favorite dining choices.
First on his list was Majerle’s Sport’s Grill, where Sefte said to “go for the scene or TV’s, but you’re on your own for eating.”
Next was Bliss, which is housed in a restored bungalow but Sefte said was “desperately trying to be cool. The food is not cool.” And finally Cooperstown, which Sefte recommended to “go through once just to see how bad it is.”
Journalism freshman Kari Osep thought the presentation was very useful.
“I am from Arizona, but I don’t know Downtown at all,” Osep said. “(Sefte) was very good and very insightful. I definitely want to go to Matt’s Big Breakfast now; it sounds amazing.”
Journalism freshman Sarah Parsons also thought Sefte to be informative.
“It was good to hear of places that are more on the cheap side for college students,” Parsons said. “I was glad he gave places that weren’t that good; it was good to hear.”
With the creation of the Downtown campus, Chase Field, Cityscape and office buildings in downtown Phoenix, the food industry has grown enormously over the past 30 years, Sefte said. However, he believes residents are the only things needed for Phoenix dining to really expand.
“When the 20-somethings start moving downtown in a block, young professionals with jobs, then downtown will be the place to go,” Sefte said. “It’ll be interesting to see what will happen in the next five to 10 years.”
Reach the reporter at sdinell@asu.edu
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