“It was such a unique place, and the food was always spot on,” he says. RoxSand was Shore’s favorite restaurant that has since closed. Inside, the decor was modern, fashionable, or “stark” as Zagat Southwest Top Restaurants Guide called it, with fancy light fixtures, expensive artwork, and an international menu. Food & Wine magazine listed it as one of the top 25 restaurants in America, and it was named for chef and owner RoxSand Scocos McCreary - a James Beard Award-winning chef who was the first person to grace the cover of Bon Appetit magazine.
The Biltmore Fashion Park restaurant RoxSand operated as an upscale eatery from 1986 till it suddenly closed in 2003. Phoenix New Times Archives RoxSand Restaurant and Bar / Removed The spot is now just an unoccupied El Charro, with a sign at the entrance reading, “CLOSED FOR VACATION OPEN AFTER LABOR DAY.” Owner Fred Munoz started talking retirement in 2009, and the place closed for its annual summer vacation about three years ago. The restaurant was orignally El Charro Cafe at 416 West Main Street in the 1940s, then it relocated to open as El Charro Restaurant & Lounge in 1958 at the Country Club Drive spot. Think cold beer, chips and salsa, enchilada platters. The popular Florentine Room was all red booths, classic memorabilia, and neon beer signs. The family-operated eatery was a popular and prosperous Mexican restaurant according to the book Our Town: The Story of Mesa, Arizona 1878-1991. Not to be confused with the El Charro Cafe in Tucson or El Chorro Restaurant in Paradise Valley, El Charro Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge was a classic in downtown Mesa. In March 2019, the tiki-themed Drunk Munk opened in its place, serving seafood, sushi, and a whole page of tropical cocktails.Ĭharles Barth El Charro Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge / Unoccupied
The dish continues to thrive on the adopting menus at Citizen Public House and The Gladly as the Original Chop (and you can find it at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport mini-location of Cowboy Ciao). A major testament to Cowboy Ciao’s influence is the Chef Bernie Kantak-created Stetson Chopped Salad - which eventually inspired merchandise and a Facebook fan page. Owner Peter Kasperski closed both his Old Town Scottsdale sites, Cowboy and Kazimierz World Wine Bar, in October 2018 (though Kazimierz Wine & Whiskey Bar opened in 2019). It opened in 1997, and inside, the place was Scottsdale to a T - white tablecloths but rustic décor, twinkle lights and saloon-style darkness, well-mannered diners mixed with rowdy spring training fans. Cowboy Ciao was a baby of Old Town Scottsdale, sitting on the northeast corner of Stetson Drive and Sixth Avenue.