Best Contemporary American Restaurants in Central Phoenix

So happy we spent our Friday evening at The Collins. My husband and I split an appetizer of the char-broiled shrimp with risotto, and it was a lovely presentation. Both the shrimp and risotto were very good and just enough to curb our hunger without spoiling our appetite for our entrees. Since The Collins is known for their Crabcakes, I had them as my entree. I loved that the crabcakes had large lumps of crab with very little breading making them lighter in density than some you may find. My husband had the Short ribs on a bed of the creamy and delish risotto. The short ribs were very tender and paired well with the risotto, mushrooms and brussels sprouts leaves. For dessert, we shared a large piece of coconut cream pie-actually one of the best I have had. Our service was outstanding - although we had a fantastic server assigned to our table, it seems they work as a team so we never had to wait for anything - all were attentive and SO NICE! We will be back!!

Cafe Monarch was a outstanding experience. Starting with free valet parking, the restaurant has a peaceful fountain by a French door entrance. The hostess greeted us kindly and showed us to our seats at the bar. We prefer bar seating as we can sit side-by-side and have a more personal experience with the staff. The bar has an amazing assortment of liquor including full ranges of gin, vodka, whiskies and scotches and accompaniments. Our two bar tenders were very friendly without being intrusive. They let us get settled in with complementary bubbles and explained the dinner menu. The menu is a Prix Fix offering with a choice of either four or eight courses. The quantity of food on the two menus is nearly the same, so we chose the eight course dinner with more small bite choices on offer. As we needed to make modifications due to gluten and caviar allergies, the kitchen did an excellent job of adjusting the courses. We had chefs treat oyster, the autumn soup; sesame tuna; shrimp with grilled pineapple, avocado and radish; diver scallop with squash and pine nuts; a pleasant palate cleanser with lemon sorbet, berries and hibiscus; pork belly with apple, current, peppers and goat cheese; lamb chops with carrot, spinach and brioche; and A5 Wagyu filet mignon and short rib, bell pepper, and broccolini. Desert was a Chocolate cream with cookie. We had the Petite Fours with coffee and tea. At $290 it was a worthwhile and outstanding feast. We are planning to return to Cafe Monarch when next in Phoenix.

We went for an anniversary dinner and it was wonderful! We were greeted and seated right away, with a window table which is our preference. The restaurant had a card with "Happy Anniversary" on our table. We tried the lamb skewers with tahini and salsa as an appetizer, the beets with ricotta as a salad course, and the grits with sausage and shrimp as our main. Everything was fresh, tasty, and lovely to look at as well as tasting great. Our server was very attentive without being intrusive. All in all we had a fantastic experience. We will be back to Beckett's Table soon.

So good! Pasta was outstanding. Wine selection was really good.

We had a great experience! Our server was great and the food was amazing!