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Get Your Reservations, The Most Romantic Restaurants In Arizona
OpenTable recently released its list of 100 most romantic restaurants in America. With Valentine’s Day less than two weeks away, it is time to begin booking your reservations for the evening.
Six restaurants in metro Phoenix made the list this year: Ocean 44, Cafe Monarch, Steak 44, Virtu Honest Craft, Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn and Dominick’s Steakhouse.
OpenTable generated qualifying restaurants from diner reviews. Then from that list, OpenTable scored and sorted restaurants according to the percentage of reviews that mention “romantic” as a special feature.
The six restaurants that made the list share some similarities:
- Four of the six restaurants are in Scottsdale (the outsiders are the Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley and Steak 44, which sits just outside the Arcadia neighborhood in Phoenix).
- All six restaurants are fine dining or upscale establishments.
- All six restaurants serve mostly American and European cuisine.
Three restaurants — Ocean 44, Steak 44 and Dominick’s Steakhouse — come from the same team, the Mastro family. The Arizona Republic’s dining critic Dominic Armato placed the Mastro family’s contemporary steakhouses on his list of 11 best restaurants for steak in metro Phoenix.
The newest of the swanky bunch, Ocean 44, opened in Old Town Scottsdale in 2018. As the name suggests, the surf-and-turf restaurant offers a variety of seafood from oysters to Maine lobster escargot.
Cafe Monarch, also in Old Town Scottsdale, brings opulence to the dining experience. Armato described the restaurant, with its heart-shaped candelabra and tufted cream seats, as “aggressively romantic.”
Virtu Honest Craft sits less than half a mile away, where chef Gio Osso likes to change up the menu. Diners can expect elegant, Mediterranean-influenced plates at Virtu.
Lon’s, located inside the Hermosa Inn, was the only hotel restaurant in Phoenix to make the cut. On the restaurant’s website, the food is described as “globally inspired Arizona cuisine.” Lon’s also offers a chef’s tasting menu.
Cafe Monarch: 6939 E. First Ave., Scottsdale. 480-970-7682, cafemonarch.com.
Dominick’s Steakhouse: 15169 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-272-7271, dominickssteakhouse.com.
Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn: 5532 N. Palo Cristi Road, Paradise Valley. 602-955-7878, hermosainn.com/dining/lons.
Ocean 44: 4748 N. Goldwater Blvd., Scottsdale. 480-867-0044, ocean44.com.
Steak 44: 5101 N. 44th St., Phoenix. 602-271-4400, steak44.com.
Virtu Honest Craft: 3701 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale. 480-946-3477, virtuscottsdale.com.
Click here to read the full ranking from OpenTable.