As the capital of the Southwestern United States, Phoenix has long been renowned for "Southwestern style" cuisine: authentic Mexican food, and Mexican-inspired American fare. However, the explosion in the city’s population over the past 2 decades increased the ethnic and international diversity of Phoenix. These newcomers brought their culinary traditions along with them, blanketing the city with a variety of restaurants and options for meal and snacktime.

Mexican is still the most popular cuisine in the Phoenix area, but it nonetheless remains only one in a metropolis of possibilities. As one might expect, there’s a high concentration of these possibilities in Phoenix’s downtown district—which, as luck would have it, is the location of the ICA’s 62nd Annual Conference, 24-28 May. A very large number of acclaimed and popular eateries are within an easy walking distance of the conference hotel, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown.

HOTELS
Indeed, one of these is in the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown: on the ground floor, you’ll find District American Kitchen and Wine Bar. The restaurant describes itself as serving "your favorite American comfort foods with a contemporary twist." This includes steaks, pork chops, and poultry; salmon, scallops, and other seafood; soups, salads, and sandwiches, along with breakfast fare for early risers. In addition, District has a bar that serves American wines, microbrews, and house-made mixed drinks, among which is the popular prickly pear mojito.

The Westin, ICA's first overflow hotel located three blocks from the Sheraton (at Van Buren and Central), houses the acclaimed restaurant Province. Its ultramodern decor belies its "old world" inspired menu—South American dishes with Spanish flavors, much remarked upon for its beautiful presentation. But even the aforementioned decor isn’t entirely free of that old-word feeling: It contains one wall covered in real, live decorative moss.

ARIZONA CENTER
Across Third Street from the Sheraton is Arizona Center, a large shopping and commercial complex recognizable by its two towers. Like any large-scale shopping center, it has plenty of chain restaurants, including Starbucks, Subway, and Hooters (which faces the entrance to the Sheraton). However, it also has a variety of less franchised cuisine options. Best known, perhaps, is 1130 The Restaurant. They have a lengthy menu featuring pasta, sandwiches, and chicken and seafood dishes. Their flagship offering, however, is steak, in five cuts and five unique cooking styles. Best of all, while the atmosphere is upscale, the menu is easily affordable, with most entrees priced at under $20.

For the true Southwestern culinary experience, Arizona Center also includes Sam's Cafe. In addition to pastas, sandwiches, and appetizers, Sam’s has two main menus: Mex-Mex, meaning authentic, unfiltered Mexican dishes, and "Sam-Mex." Sam-Mex is the restaurant's original twist on southwestern cuisine, with Mexican, American, Spanish, and Native American influences, designed by executive chef Memo Ortiz.

The complex also features My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, a family-friendly eatery featuring inexpensive Greek platters as well as a list of other Mediterranean (i.e., Italian) specialties; Kokoro Sushi and Noodle Bar, a Japanese restaurant that specializes in sushi but also features other dishes, including Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese options; and Brick Pizzeria and Wine Bar, a woodfired pizza place that features unusual options such as the Thai Chicken & Jalapeno pizza and local brews, and on weekend nights turns into a dance club.

WALKING DISTANCE
Brick Pizzeria is the closest pizza to the ICA Conference. Consensus, however, says that the best pizza in Phoenix can be had at Pizzeria Bianco, four blocks from the Sheraton at Heritage Square. In fact, the restaurant is famous throughout the United States for its pizza, which, combined with its tiny seating capacity (42 seats), leads to colossal wait times of up to four hours—with reservations only available for parties of six or more. But according to its reputation, the pizza at Bianco is worth the wait; The New York Times has posited it as the best pizzeria in the nation.

Six blocks in the other direction, at another shopping complex called Cityscape, is a popular restaurant with quite a memorable name: The Arrogant Butcher. Its menu is a familiar list of American comfort foods: fish, chicken pot pie, baby back ribs, ribeye steaks, and sandwiches. There’s also a raw bar, serving oysters, mussels, and crab legs, and renowned and decadent deserts. (Also housed in Cityscape is the taco place Vitamin T, as well as Copper Blues, an American pub that boasts live music nightly.)

Most of these eateries offer plenty of vegetarian options; the most popular downtown destination for veggie fare, though, is Carly's Bistro, a diner-style lounge located about eight blocks north of the Sheraton. Carly's is primarily a sandwich place, offering meat options as well. Popular vegetarian items include the Europa sandwich (roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and spinach on ciabatta) and the fig salad, in addition to vegetable dips served as appetizers.

Simply put, there’s good eating to be found in Phoenix, and with only a short walk from the conference itself. Bon appetit!