Cowboy Ciao, Scottsdale AZ

Our last dinner in Scottsdale was an eclectic, neighborhood joint located on Stetson Drive downtown. Funky decor that's a combination of Old West, Southwest and just plain odd, it's got that feel when you walk in that this might just turn out to be a fantastic experience. A feeling I got that first time we walked into Mustard's Grill in Napa...something interesting was about to happen.

We were seated after a few minute wait at a table near the front door. Surrounded by a mix of young and older patrons, the whole place was hard to read. Casual, definitely. The menu is unique with desserts listed first and people's comments sitting in the place of dish descriptions.

Jeff & Dana had eaten here once before and highly recommended the famous Stetson Chopped salad. We ordered two of them - they are prepared table side - to split amongst the four of us. It's unlike any chopped salad I've had before with corn, bacon, couscous, arugula, smoked salmon, asiago cheese, toasted pepitas, black currants and tossed with a buttermilk, basil pesto dressing.

This salad sounds like a car crash when you hear the description. When you eat it, it's downright heavenly. What a fabulous combination of flavors, textures and visual pop. It was really, really good. If I ever went back, I'd just order a whole one of these for myself and call it a night.



It's been long enough now that I'm not recalling what everyone had individually. I'm pretty sure there was an order of Koren style BBQ short ribs that made there way to the table and I know I went with the flat iron steak with sweet marinade, spaghetti squash, broccolini and a pan sauce made of butter, shallots, port and malbec.

My steak was blah. WHY, why do I keep ordering steaks in restaurants? 89% of the time they are truly and completely disappointing. This was the case again. I should have gone with one of the fan favorites like the mushroom pan fry or the pork chop. There wasn't a great dish around the table and everyone was left feeling like we were 0 for 2 after the dinner at Maestro's the night before.

Anywho...there was also a weird and very lengthy issue trying to order a bottle of wine. Twice being told the one selected was not available without the sommelier offering a different bottle of same or better quality for our troubles. Salad aside, this was a miss for me. Go for lunch, have the salad and maybe try dessert or the small plates.

Jenn's rating: 76
Zagat: 24-20-23