Lindsay F.
Yelp
Awwww...My family came here for a vacation in Scottsdale area and, as Minnesotans, it was a wonderful escape to the sun.
Enuf 'bout that! This restaurant...We originally had reservations to a "tourist trap" $$$$$$$$ rated price wise restaurant, which I am sure would be good food?
Instead, I looked for a restaurant that was known for great service, a Southwestern American flare, a variety of dishes in an accesible area. After looking at about 20+ restaurants (you know what I mean...many tabs open on browser of a myriad of suggested restaurants, looking at and comparing menus and reviews...), I settled on Roaring Fork.
Located in a corporate/ business setting, pretentious was NOT the style of this restaurant: rather, great service and friendliness was!!!
**(ABOUT THE ACTUAL RESTAURANT AND NOT THE BORING PRETEXT!!)** We sat on the outside porch area, because it was so nice outside, even though we were originally reserved for an in dining room table (I WILL get to food!!). Super easy and no problem to go outside. We started with the skillet cornbread and queso con puerco. Okay. If I were to be stuck on a desert island, I would choose these two dishes to live off for eons. The cornbread was airy, with a good texture of the corn, and not dense or overly drying when eating. Beautiful! Art from their heart, so I definitely ate it!! The queso con puerco...neither my sister nor brother in law eat pork..but they were scooping up the dish and fighting for the last morsel. Creamy, well balanced and with a nice "kick" and acidity to balance out with the green chili and salsa verde.
I got the Shrimps and grits (legit after the wonderfully patient server waited for me to debate and decide between the many great choices!!!!). The shrimp was perfectly cooked, and grits were smooth enough with that "texture" to accompany the smooth, sweet corn butter with chorizo oil. My brother in law raved about the Prime bone-in ribeye (he would not let us try...and he is one of the most food generous peoples I know!). My sister got the Buttermilk chicken. Again, I was not allowed to try, since she gobbled it up!
Server was EXTREMELY knowledgable about the menu and dishes, and it was a great dinner out.
So why not 5 Stars? Because I reserve 5 stars for truly unique "you could not get this anywhere else but this restaurant" dishes. For me, 4 stars equates to "so good, you need to come here if you are looking for ____ type of cuisine to be quality!.