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phxrailfood.bsky.social
PHX Rail Food
@phxrailfood.bsky.social
130 followers 500 following 96 posts

A guide to good eating along the light rail and streetcar lines that connect Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa.

Published since 2007 with over 250 reviews of restaurants located near light rail stations and streetcar stops.

https://phxrailfood.com/
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phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A hibachi food truck moves inside with an expanded menu.
phxrailfood.com/2026/01/02/e... #phoenix
EZbachi
There seems to be no limit to what kind of food can be prepared on a truck. While mobile operations might traditionally have been associated with hot dogs, tacos, and other hand foods, some seem to…
phxrailfood.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:55 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
To allow for a holiday break, there will be no review posted this week. Wishing all followers a happy new year with regular weekly reviews scheduled to resume after January 1 and continue throughout the month.
December 28, 2025 at 2:12 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Even if the real world of the 2020s doesn't always seem much better than the fictional 2019 of Blade Runner, at least there are urban noodles to feed us. phxrailfood.com/2025/12/19/r... #phoenix
Ramen Kagawa
The movie “Blade Runner,” set in a fictional version of 2019, shows a bleak future. We’re now well past that date, and while its predictions haven’t all come true, the real-life present doesn’t alw…
phxrailfood.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:15 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: a classic movie, a forgotten band, and a Cityscape restaurant for morning and midday. phxrailfood.com/2025/12/12/b... #phoenix
BC Breakfast Club
Nearly everyone has seen The Breakfast Club, the classic John Hughes movie from the 1980s, but far fewer remember the band Breakfast Club. Although Madonna served briefly as the group’s drummer, Br…
phxrailfood.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Mexican meat, seafood, and an irreverent approach to cocktails show how much has changed on Main Street in #Mesa.
phxrailfood.com/2025/11/27/e... #Phoenix
Espiritu
There was a time in the not too distant past when downtown Mesa was generally quiet after dark and many restaurants in the area were dry. A lot has changed over the past decade, with more live ente…
phxrailfood.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Marvelous Mexican hamburguesas on Main Street in Mesa, but maybe hold the fries. phxrailfood.com/2025/11/21/m...
Main Burgers
It has been decades since tacos became mainstream in the United States, and now that signature food associated with Mexico can be found nearly everywhere in both authentic and adulterated forms. In…
phxrailfood.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:55 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: In the #Mesa Asian District, a French influence felt in baguette sandwiches lingers long after colonialism. #Phoenix
phxrailfood.com/2025/11/14/m...
Mekong Sandwiches
Although it has been over seventy years since France left what was then called “Indochina,” there are many legacies of French colonialism that persist in Vietnam. Among them are the use of the Roma…
phxrailfood.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A sequel that has outlasted the original serving Mexican-American comfort food on Main Street in Mesa.
phxrailfood.com/2025/11/07/a... #phoenix
Adrian’s
In film or just about any medium, there are always a few cases in which a sequel is better known or regarded than the original work that preceded it. For example, everyone knows “Silence of the Lam…
phxrailfood.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:06 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: No meditation, but maybe a little mindful appreciation of Thai food in downtown #Phoenix.
phxrailfood.com/2025/11/01/z...
Zen Thai Cafe
The idea of zen, often oversimplified and misunderstood, refers to a meditative practice associated with Buddhism throughout east Asia, Applied to food, it can involve deep, unhurried appreciation …
phxrailfood.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Don't shop when hungry; in South #Phoenix, eat at the supermarket instead.
phxrailfood.com/2025/10/24/los
Los Altos Ranch Market
Just about everyone has heard the adage, “Don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.” The idea is that being hungry while in a supermarket can make a shopper susceptible to budget-busting impul…
phxrailfood.com
October 25, 2025 at 12:32 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A coffee house with a stable orbit that never seems too far removed from terrestrial comforts.
phxrailfood.com/2025/10/10/s... #phoenix
Satellite Coffee Bar
There is a certain relationship between coffee and furniture. After all, many living rooms are defined by what is commonly known as a “coffee table,” a surface to hold a pot, cups, milk, and sugar …
phxrailfood.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:20 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A place to enjoy Japanese fast food at a corner that has been slow to be redeveloped.
phxrailfood.com/2025/10/03/y... #Phoenix
Yoshi’s
If there’s a major intersection that speaks to unrealized potential, it’s the corner of Indian School Road and Central Avenue at the north end of Midtown. On the northeast corner, a massive develop…
phxrailfood.com
October 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A restaurant on a cul-de-sac doesn't have to lead to a dead-end meal.
phxrailfood.com/2025/09/26/o... #Phoenix
Oven+Vine
The phrase “dead end street” doesn’t usually have a positive connotation. Literally, it means only one way in and out. Figuratively, it suggests a failed project. Maybe that’s why the fancier sound…
phxrailfood.com
September 27, 2025 at 2:06 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
When PHX Rail Food started in 2007, Mill Avenue was one of the region’s most varied and lively dining districts. Now, it’s among the least. It will be interesting to see if new restaurants can bring it back to life after the loss of so many longtime favorites. www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/...
Once a party-school mecca, Mill Ave. wants to be your parents' dining destination
Tempe's college party district is moving on up, trading dive bars for high-end eateries. Will it leave students in the dust?
www.phoenixnewtimes.com
September 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Ice cream for saints, sinners, and everyone in between.
phxrailfood.com/2025/09/12/s... #phoenix #mesa
Sweet Retreat
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is known for discouraging its members from consuming alcohol, tobacco, recreational cannabis, and “hot drinks” (mainly coffee and tea). With those it…
phxrailfood.com
September 13, 2025 at 12:30 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: No soot, but a pub look with pub food on First Street in downtown #Phoenix phxrailfood.com/2025/09/05/t...
The Kettle Black
The idiom of “the pot calling the kettle black” has been around for centuries and has always implied hypocrisy, criticizing another’s person’s flaws while ignoring the same failings within oneself.…
phxrailfood.com
September 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: A favorite food of fairs and road side stands settled in a fixed location in central Mesa.
phxrailfood.com/2025/08/29/h...
#phoenix
Hope’s Frybread
The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States and home to its largest federally recognized tribe. Nevertheless, only a little more than half of the enrolled memb…
phxrailfood.com
August 30, 2025 at 3:32 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
Chula Seafood coming to the Arizona Center. This will be a much needed boost to this dated development in downtown #Phoenix.
A sign at the Arizona Center identifying both current and coming soon businesses, including Chula Seafood.
August 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: With pasta, pizza, and pastry, this downtown #Phoenix bakery cafe is sweet in more ways than one,
phxrailfood.com/2025/08/24/d...
Dolce Italia by MEKK
The Italian word “dolce” translates into English as “sweet” in both senses of the word: a sugary flavor and a gentle disposition. With that in mind, the most dolce place of all could be an Italian …
phxrailfood.com
August 24, 2025 at 10:39 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Pennies may be going away, but it's still possible to find one on Roosevelt Row. #phoenix
phxrailfood.com/2025/08/17/p...
Pretty Penny
A few months ago, the United States Mint placed its final order for the blanks needed to create pennies. With that action, the long-debated demise of the one-cent coin began, a move that puts the U…
phxrailfood.com
August 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Coffee and pastry at the ground floor of one of the latest downtown #Phoenix apartment towers.
phxrailfood.com/2025/08/09/d...
Daydreamer Coffee
With all new high-rise residential construction in the denser parts of Phoenix and its suburbs, it has sometimes been a struggle to include a component of ground floor retail, an added layer of urb…
phxrailfood.com
August 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: On the boundary between Midtown and Uptown and breakfast and lunch. #Phoenix
phxrailfood.com/2025/08/02/f...
Fàme Caffe
The Romance languages are not named for an association with amorous behavior, also there are certainly plenty of stereotypes to that effect, but more for their descent from the language of the Roma…
phxrailfood.com
August 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week’s review: Asian-inspired rice bowls to bring a little life to the Collier Center in Downtown #Phoenix.
phxrailfood.com/2025/07/26/r...
Ricemill
A rice mill can be a machine that can fit in a closet or fill a factory, depending on its capacity. The grain it refines is a staple in food traditions all over the world, and a new quick service r…
phxrailfood.com
July 26, 2025 at 9:48 PM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Still in Tempe, but a new address far from Fifth Street for burgers and fries.
phxrailfood.com/2025/07/19/5... #phoenix
5th Street Burger & Fries
When a restaurant has a place in its name, it’s not always an indication of the establishment’s current address. In many cases, the name is just for marketing purposes, as with countless pizza and …
phxrailfood.com
July 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
phxrailfood.bsky.social
This week's review: Modern Mexican in a century-old building at the Downtown #Phoenix Hub:
phxrailfood.com/2025/07/12/c...
Casa de Julia
The Luhrs Tower, an art deco skyscraper in downtown Phoenix, has long been a signature building that links the past and present identities of the city’s center. While the tower has undergone signif…
phxrailfood.com
July 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM