When to Visit - Arts and Events

The Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix has been recently developed into a cultural haven that hosts the Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera and the Actors' Theatre of Phoenix. As well as this wealth of local talent, touring Broadway shows also stop at Phoenix at the historic Orpheum Theatre, recently restored to its past glories.

Phoenix Dining

Phoenix, like all boom cities, prides itself on the international and cosmopolitan variety of its cuisine. With restaurants representing just about every taste imaginable, the greater metropolitan area of Phoenix is an exciting place in which to dine. If you want to experience eating-out Southern Arizona-style, 'patio-dining' is a great favorite locally, thanks to the region's warm climate. It is what it says, but some restaurants have better patios, with superior views, than others.

American-bistro cuisine is popular in Phoenix, offering such dishes as blackened catfish platter, hibiscus smoked rainbow trout, spit-roasted chicken, or grilled chicken sausage, with croquettes fashioned from grits, draped with smoked mozzarella cheese and boosted by a terrific, spicy tomatillo sauce.


Phoenix Tipping Advice

Restaurants in Phoenix do not usually add gratuities to the bill so tipping is customary with a recommended 15 percent expected where customers deem the service to be good. Should the meal and service be excellent then a gratuity of 20 percent would not be exceptional. Tips in Phoenix taxis should be paid along similar lines. The recommended rate for doormen, parking attendants and valets is one US dollar.