[Air-L] IR16 Food

[Alex Halavais]

While you are in Phoenix, you might want to eat. People do that here.
Also, since we are a fairly large group, you might want to think about
reservations for a Thursday or Friday night.

Oh, and if you are already here today, you might want to head up to
Scottsdale to the Arizona Taco Festival (and Tequila Expo), to get a
head-to-head comparison of the city's best tacos:
http://aztacofestival.com/ .

Be forewarned: Although Waze recently ranked Phoenix the best city in
the world to drive in, it isn't an easy place to walk around, and
public transit is sparse. That said, food is easily found near the
hotel.

Conference Hotel

If you are staying at the Embassy Suites, breakfast is included with
your room, as is a beer and wine reception each evening starting at
5:30. The hotel recommends you get started fairly early (breakfast
opens at 6am) as things grow increasingly crowded up until the end of
breakfast at 9am. The overflow hotel also offers breakfast. There is
an Omaha Steakhouse in the hotel.

Conference Attendees

If you are registered for a workshop on Wednesday, lunch will be
provided. Likewise, lunch is included as part of your conference
registration on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, you are left to your
own devices. The hotel restaurant is available during this time,
though it is sure to fill up. They will be stocking some sandwiches
behind the bar if you want to buy one and head out to the pool or find
a table in the atrium.

If you signed up for the event on Thursday evening at the Desert
Botanical Gardens, you will find a light meal there,including tacos
and enchiladas, as well as a cash bar. I am not usually a fan of
prickly pear margaritas, but the Garden's are quite good. They'll also
have a few local beers available (Four Peaks' Kilt Lifter being a
perennial favorite, and apparently apropos this year). Be sure to hop
on the busses leaving the Embassy Suites starting at 5pm. Wear your
badge--it gets you into the event. If you decide to head over earlier
in the day, the DBG is a pleasant place to walk around (just tell them
at the gate that you are with the AoIR IR16 group for free entrance)
and is adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo. (Unfortunately, this event is now
full,so if you didn't indicate an interest in going when you
registered, I'm afraid it is not possible to add it.)

Short Walks

The hotel is adjacent to the Biltmore Fashion Park, an outdoor mall
with a number of restaurants. Most of these are chain restaurants that
you may be familiar with (the Capital Grille, Cheesecake Factory,
California Pizza Kitchen, Paradise Bakery, Seasons 52), and a number
of local restaurant chains and groups (Stingray Sushi, True Food
Kitchen, Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar), and independent restaurants
that are well reviewed (Christopher's Crush, Queen Creek Olive Mill,
Black Chile Mexican Grill). There's also Blanco Taco + Tequila, which
is a friendly spot for a meal and a margarita (sensing a theme?).

Between the hotel and Camelback Raod, there is Hillstone, a small
chain that may be familiar to you (http://hillstonerestaurant.com/),
which serves sushi, steak, coctails, and wines without huge restaurant
markups.

If you take the underpass under Camelback road, you will find Solo
Trattoria, Bistro 22, and the well-liked Ten.

Long Walks / Drives

A bit over a half mile (1km) to the east of the hotel, at the
intersection of Camelback and 32nd street, there are several
restaurants, including Delux (http://www.deluxburger.com/), which
serves hamburgers made from Niman Ranch beef, as well as sushi, until
2am. Also, though a bit pricy, Tarbell's is quite good. Further east
of this intersection is Steak 44, one of the Valley's favorite steak
houses. Another mile south of this intersection, down by 32nd and
Indian School, is Frasher's Smokehouse, which has pretty decent pulled
pork (assuming you aren't coming from somewhere that is a specialty!).

About a mile to the west of the hotel are two of the best ranked
pizzerias in the Valley, Bianco's (which Bon Appetit ranked the best
pizza in the US), and Parlour. There are a whole host of other
restaurants along this stretch, ranging from the surprisingly good
(Grassroots, Sage Kitchen) as well as chains (Ruth's Chris Steakhouse,
Wendy's). Another mile out, across the 52, you'll run into Los Dos
Molinos, Hula's Modern Tiki, Two Hippies Beach House, Postino wine
bar, and Hana (Japanese)--the latter two a bit off the main drag.

Longer Drives

Long being relative. Much of the Valley is within a 25 minute drive of
the hotel, though getting up to Carefree or down to visit Kai
(http://www.wildhorsepassresort.com/kai), might take a bit longer.
Downtown Scottsdale is a fifteen minute drive to the east, and
downtown Phoenix about the same to the southwest. Both have a number
of outstanding spots to eat.

If you want to forgo the conference lunch on Friday, you can head
downtown to the Phoenix Open Market for Food Truck Friday, a
congregation of an assortment of food trucks all in one place. There's
no way to get down there and back during our short hour-long lunch
break, but sometimes sacrifices must be made.

And, of course, if you are dying for a deep-fried... well, anything...
the State Fair is on. It's been in continuous operation since 25 years
before Arizona was a state: https://azstatefair.com/

Travel safely!

Alex

-- 

// Alexander Halavais, Sociologist, Semiologist, and Saboteur Extraordinaire
// Associate Professor of Social Technologies, Arizona State University
// http://alex.halavais.net/bio     @halavais