Best Restaurants 2012

There are three main ingredients that go into a great restaurant: food, service and ambience. In our fifth-annual roundup of the state's best eateries, we feature 15 places that can deliver all three. Places like Cibo in Phoenix, Downtown Kitchen in Tucson and Garland's in Sedona. Among others. We'll tell you about all of them, and we'll even throw in a few of their signature recipes. Eat Here!.

by Nikki Buchanan

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15.quince, Jerome

Raised in Taos, New Mexico, chef-owner Vladimir Costa grew up on red and green chile, which he generously ladles over the New Mexico specialties he serves at his colorful, art-filled cantina named for the mystical number 15 (pronounced keen-say) in Spanish. Because he lives in a mining town famous for being haunted, Costa also adds scorching ghost chiles to an appealing menu mix that includes three excellent house-made salsas, half-pound sirloin burgers, local beer-battered fish tacos and guacamole studded with pomegranate seeds. Margaritas may not actually put the fire out, but Quince-lovers quaff with abandon just the same.
363 Main Street, 928-634-7087, www.visitjeromeaz.com
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Bill's Pizza on the Square, Prescott

Before opening his small, cash-only pizza shop, Bill Tracy traipsed across America and Italy learning pizza-making styles and techniques from the masters, including Chris Bianco of the legendary Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. Customers may order specialty pies or create their own coal-fired, brick-oven masterpieces, choosing among premium toppings such as caramelized onion, fresh basil and imported sheep's milk feta cheese. Either way, each lightly charred, chewy pie will be made with premium ingredients. No wonder Road Food's Jane and Michael Stern named Bill's one of the top 100 pizzerias in the U.S.
107 Cortez Street, 928-443-0800, www.billspizzaprescott.com
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Cibo, Phoenix

Ensconced in a wood-floored bungalow built once upon a time — in 1913, to be exact — this cozy pizzeria has a fairytale setting, but don't let the gabled roof, twinkling lights and flowers fool you. Cibo is more than an idyllic urban haven, and it's just right for chilling over Prosecco on the leafy patio. Italian-born chef and pizzaiolo Guido Saccone is ardent about sourcing top-notch ingredients, which he uses to excellent effect on wood-charred Neapolitan pies, antipasti, Italian-style sandwiches and handmade pasta — the latter being offered on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Luscious dessert crèpes and house-made limoncello provide the happily-ever-after ending to a perfect meal.
603 N. Fifth Avenue, 602-441-2697, www.cibophoenix.com
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Cornish Pasty Co., Tempe/Mesa

Pasties are savory turnovers traditionally filled with meat and vegetables, the standard hand-held lunch of Cornwall's tin miners back in the day. Figuring these modestly priced belly-fillers washed down with good UK beer would appeal to American college students, Cornwall-born-and-bred Dean Thomas opened his first pub-like operation in Tempe in 2005, expanding to Mesa four years later. His perfect pastry comes stuffed with everything from carne adovada and lamb vindaloo to roasted turkey with sweet potatoes and stuffing. Spectacularly good Banoffee pie should forever dispel the myth that Brits can't cook.
961 W. University Drive, 480-894-6261; 1941 W. Guadalupe Road, 480-838-4586, www.cornishpastyco.com
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Diablo Burger, Flagstaff

"All about local" is the motto at this cash-only gourmet burger joint, where juicy 6-ounce patties come from grass-fed, antibiotic- and growth hormone-free beef, raised on two historic Diablo Trust ranches near Flagstaff. Topped with Black Mesa goat cheese, chimichurri, house-made sauerkraut or beets from Phoenix-based McClendon's Select, each build-your-own or specialty burger is a delicious lesson in the joys of eating local. Fans rave about crispy, herb-dusted Belgian frites and the cool "db" branded English muffins that sub for burger buns. Meanwhile, regional wine and Arizona-brewed craft beer, enjoyed on the patio, make the locavore thing mighty easy to swallow.
120 N. Leroux Street, No. 112, 928-774-3274, www.diabloburger.com
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