By Susie Timm, COF

Through all of the food adventures I have taken in the past 30 (almost 31!) years of my life, the most memorable ones have included three very important elements:

1)   A menu that has clearly been written by someone who loves food

2)   Fabulous service

3)   Food quality and taste that brings joy to my heart

Many restaurants in our fine Nation accomplish 1, 2 or 3 of those elements on a fairly consistent basis. It is rare however, to find a dining establishment that has all three going for it.

The most recent triad of foodie excellence I have found is located in picturesque Carefree Arizona.

The Saguaro Grille is nestled in Carefree’s Los Portales Mall at 99 Easy Street. I love that Carefree has a street called “Easy Street.” Makes you sort of want to dance a jig.

The Saguaro Grille is owned by Steve and Kathy King. This mother-son duo is rockin’ the Carefree foodie scene! It’s the epitome of a family owned restaurant that takes serious pride in their food.

Jay and I went to visit on a Saturday around 11:45 AM. I love driving from Scottsdale to Carefree. It is such a beautiful and lazy drive. I turned into the downtown and onto Easy Street. Los Portales center has been revitalized and it looks fabulous!

We arrived at the self proclaimed “Oasis for the Voracious” and were seated near the windows. The place is decorated in a western theme with white tablecloths covered in glass. It is clean, crisp and very inviting. Saguaro Grille is open in the summer from 7 AM until 3 PM but September-May they serve dinner and stay open until 9 pm.

Our server Shirley was very pleasant and told me the menu had “tons of choices” so to take my time pouring over it. Wow. She was not kidding. The menu pretty much rocks my world. I kept telling Jay “This guy must love food. Really, really LOVE food.” Here’s a quick snapshot of what I saw:

-4 Types of French Toast

-Breakfast served all day

-A meal called the “Massive Coronary” that has 3 eggs over corn beef hash, 2 meats, home fries and toast

-Corncakes

-Banana Split pancakes!

-14 types of burgers including the “Brontosauras” that has 2, 8 oz patties!

-Full Ice Cream menu

-Full Bar

-15 different specialty coffee drinks

-Summer drink, dessert and pizza specials

-Fajitas and Quesadillas with 3 choices of meats

-Kids and Seniors menu

All this priced between $4-$15. Steve told us the most expensive item he serves is a rack of ribs for $24 that is displayed on 2 plates and would make Fred Flintstone blush.

The menu is also peppered with interesting facts and trivia about Carefree and Arizona.

It was a home cooking Foodie dream come true.

With all those choices in front of me, it was pretty hard to decide between breakfast and lunch. I finally decided to go with the breakfast quesadilla “American style” which has cheese, bacon and tomato. I heart kielbasa so I had them throw some in for good measure. I thought my daily sodium intake needed a boost.

Jay went with the bacon cheddar burger with a side of potato salad. I made him order some onion rings as well. I figured we might as well do it up heart-attack style.

While waiting for our food, we sampled the summer drink special. The Carefree cooler was a refreshing mix of mint, lime and soda water. We recommend they add some simple syrup and it would be near perfect.

The food arrived and the presentation was simply outstanding.  My quesadilla was crispy, piping hot and filled with crunchy grilled kielbasa (my favorite way to have it!). The onion rings were a spectacle to behold! Panko coated and then fried, they did not have a drop of grease anywhere to be found. Jay remarked “I don’t even like onion rings because I have bad memories of Burger King Onion Rings from my childhood BUT I love these!” That in it self should be a strong selling point!

Jay’s bacon cheddar burger was “layered to perfection.” That means that every layer (beef, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato) was structured so that the burger was not sloppy or a remake of a Carl’s Junior commercial (like the $14 burger we had at Bourbon Steak). He said it was ½ lb after cooking. All I know is that it was a mammoth pile of meaty, cheesy goodness.

Shirley came by and saw me eyeing the dessert menu. I am really a dessert-obsessed fanatic. It wasn’t a hard sell. I decided on a scoop of chocolate ice cream with marshmallow cream and hot fudge. Some of you loyal blog readers may recall that I am on a hunt to recreate the infamous “Mello Mint Sundae” from the drive-in of my youth. I will keep trying. I need marshmallow sauce to make it perfect. I digress. The sundae was fabulous!

Steve the owner came to check on our food coma status. We were close. We asked him about his menu and how he wrote it and why he picked certain dishes etc. His answer was fantastic, “I wrote a menu that I would want to eat. I kept it simple but added a few twists.” He lit up like a birthday cake when talking about his restaurant. I love when people take pride in their achievements.

A random fact about Steve—he used to be a WWF wrestler. Google “Strangler Steve” and you will find out how this wrestler foodie started down his culinary path via a rubber mat and some fake blood.

I wholeheartedly think this restaurant should be featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

For service, food quality and a fabulous menu we highly recommend the Saguaro Grille in Carefree, Arizona. It’s not fancy, but it will knock your foodie socks off.