Eating is part of everyone’s vacation, but if you are not careful, the eating part of your vacation can easily inflate your vacation budget. Our vacation food plan included preparing our own breakfast and snacks and then eating out one time daily. The goal for going to restaurants was to keep the total bill under $20 per day. We pretty much stuck to the budget except that sometimes adding a tip along the way made the total bill over $20. Thus, while in Flagstaff we attempted to eat at restaurants where we could get a satisfying, healthy and hopefully mostly local meal for $10 or under each.
Here are the restaurants we ate at while in Flagstaff:
Sizzler at 3540 East Route 66 was the first place we went after arriving in town. They got our business because they have a salad and food bar plus we had a $2 off coupon. The lunch salad bar is under $7 and you can get it before 4 PM. The Dinner salad/food bar begins at 4Pm and is about $1 more. Definitely a good deal, because it’s all you can eat, chose the healthy items, but it’s not local food. Unfortunately, you can’t have everything all the time. The service was good, the salad/food bar could have been fresher and neater, but all in all it was a decent meal.
Diablo Burger on the Square at 120 N. Leroux Street was a must try. Alan had read about it and learned that all the meats they use are local and from humanely treated animals without hormones and antibiotics. We call this clean meat and if having a hankering for animal flesh which we do occasionally, it is the best option. They also have an all local vegan burger they call “The Netzky” that is made for them by a local catering company. It’s a bit pricey at $10.50, but was a quality vegan burger not like the package kind you usual find in restaurants. Both the vegetarian and 100% local, hormone and antibiotic free beef burgers ($8.50-$11.25) were delish and the service was excellent. All burgers come with an over abundance of homemade french fries. Alan liked it so much he wrote a separate post on the place.
Tacos Locos is a roomy and authentic Baja style family owned foods joint at the corner of Phoenix and Beaver street. If we can’t do local foods we try to support small, family owned establishments. We were drawn to Tacos Locos for 2 reasons: we wanted to some authentic Mexican food and we needed an Internet connection and we scored big on both. It has easily accessible outlets and a wi-fi connection that worked, plus the food was really good. We both got tacos and chips and salsa. I’m not sure what they do to them, but they were some of the best tacos we have ever had. Good is all I can say – we were both impressed with the fresh flavor and would have gone back except that we ran out of time.
Macy’s European Coffeehouse, Bakery & Vegetarian Restaurant at 14 South Beaver Street was enjoyable and with a definite European flair. We were drawn to it because of the mixed reviews, wi-fi and the location next door to the laundromat. While we were doing our laundry one day, we needed a place to blog, wait and have a snack. Neither of us had a full meal at Macy’s but the Molasses Cookie and toasted pumpkin bagel were both excellent. The employee at the counter seemed a little confused when I asked for my bagel to be toasted, but he got it done and even directed me to the day old pumpkin bagel for 72 cents which we both agreed when toasted would taste great – it did. I enjoyed my brief conversation with him over the effects of microwaves on food and Alan said the Molasses cookie hit the spot for him. We wanted to go back as the salad items in the menu looked tasty but we ran out of time. One little tip for Macy’s – tidy up a bit more (bathroom, tables and counters) and make it a little more homey for your guests.
Wildflower Bread Company in the Aspen Place at the Sawmill on the corner of Butler and Lone Tree deserved a separate review due to the many qualities of this fine bistro. But simply put, we loved the food, the service, the atmosphere, the amenities and especially the price. Would you move across country just to be closer to your favorite restaurant?
There were other Flagstaff restaurants and eateries that we wanted to experience, like the Himalayan Grill at S. Milton Ave and the vegetarian Morning Glory Cafe on South San Fransisco Street. We might have made it to the Himalayan Grill if they had been answering their phone on the day we were planning on going. As Providence would have it they did not answer all morning and early afternoon so when we arrived at 2:30 PM to catch a late lunch the doors were locked. That’s how Wildflower got our business.
What we did discover about Flagstaff was that they have a number of quality restaurants, eateries and bistros that won’t break the bank whether you are a local, a student or traveling through, give some of these places a try.
Tags: restaurants