Jackie Mercandetti

Featuring the cuisine of South India, Karaikudi in Scottsdale serves dishes that are bold, expertly prepared, and packed with flavor.

By now our regular readers are familiar with Voice Places, the listings engine behind all of Phoenix New Times' restaurant reviews and calendar picks. Today that engine got a lot more powerful, with a new design that brings you even more content.

Take a look. You'll find more pictures, more stories, more user reviews (hey, that's you) and even integration with tips from Foursquare. If you're already a commenter on Chow Bella, you can start leaving reviews immediately. Otherwise it sounds like you've got some good excuses to sign up.

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Craft beer fans, listen up!

Hey, beer nerds, we've got some good news. There's quite a lineup of speakers headed to the Valley for a craft beer panel hosted by Papago Brewing Company later this summer.

If you want to hear what professionals from Four Peaks, New Belgium, and more have to say about the industry, then you might want to mark you calendars for this event.

See also:
3 Reasons Why the AmeriCAN Canned Craft Beer Festival Is the Best in Arizona
Sonoran Long Strange Trip: A Voyage Fueled by Apricots, Pecans, and Scotch

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Heather Hoch

Tacos Atoyac and Gallo Blanco duke it out for the taco crown.

How could any one food be more simple and perfect than the street taco? Marinated meat with some sort of veg and salsa, all wrapped up in a warm corn tortilla or two, and there you have it. Though we typically can chow down on only about three of these little babies at a time, we wish we had the space in our stomachs for every taco option served up at our favorite street taco joints, Gallo Blanco and Tacos Atoyac. However, because we don't, only one of these taco virtuosos can be the king of the streets.

See Also:
- Dearest Taco, We're Over.
- 8 Great Guacamoles in Metro Phoenix
- Nostalgic Milkshake Matchup: Bertie's Vintage vs. MacAlpine's Soda Fountain

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Rachel Miller

U-Pick Peaches sign at Schnepf Farms.

Peach season in metro Phoenix has come to a close, the leafy green trees now bare of their hued orange baubles. To be honest, the crowds, lines, and number of things to do at Schnepf was a little overwhelming. While visions of peach jam, pie, and ice cream danced around my brain, children loaded onto a train circling the farm, lines swirled in and out of each other for BBQ or peach cinnamon rolls, and carnival rides raged in the background. As more U-Pick fruits loom on the horizon, I have learned a few things from my most recent peach-picking experience that I would like to share with you.

See also:
-15 Summer Festivals in Metro Phoenix and Across Arizona

A few dos and don'ts to enhance your peach- (or any fruit-)picking pleasure:

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Owner Carlos Moreno Garcia stands next to his restaurant.

After Thursday, June 27, visitors and business types can scratch one less Mexican eatery from downtown Phoenix. Uno Mas Mex1can Grill is shuttering.

See also:
- CLOSED: Big Earl's BBQ in Scottsdale
- May Restaurant Openings and Closings in Metro Phoenix

Lasting less than a year, the fast-casual Mexican restaurant, located on First Avenue north of Adams Street, was opened in September 2012 by owner Carlos Moreno Garcia.

Open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays only, Uno Mas offered wallet-friendly, familiar Mexican favorites like tacos, burritos, and enchiladas as well as "north of the border" dishes like cheeseburgers, fish sandwiches, and Buffalo wings.

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Welcome to Chow Bella's Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you'd like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com.

www.foodwoolf.com

When it comes to the grill, we know how to make hot dogs and hamburgers.

See also:
- What Are the Pros and Cons of Appearing on Television?
- Chefs, What's Your Favorite Food City?

So what can we do to expand our grilling boundaries? How can we transform our backyard barbecues into something we have yet to imagine? I asked a few Valley chefs to share the most interesting things they've cooked up on the grill lately as inspiration for our next cookout.

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Chow Bella

It might be summer vacation, but if "cocktail school" is in session, count us in any day. "Professor" John Christie, head Distrito mixologist, is gearing up to teach you a thing or two about Carlos Santana's tequila.

Tequila Casa Noble will be the featured ingredient when the class bell rings this Saturday, June 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Distrito.

See Also:
- 5 Weird (and Tasty) Cocktails in Metro Phoenix
- Your New Summer Cocktail: The Americano (No, Not the Espresso Drink)

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If we had to go to jail, we'd definitely want it to be the one located on the Italian island of Gorgona, the smallest in a chain that includes both Elba (where Napoleon was incarcerated) and the setting for The Count of Monte Cristo.

That's because at this jail, convicts recently produced 2,700 bottles of white wine that's headed for some top-notch restaurants around the world -- including the three-star Michelin restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence.

See also:
- Prison Food: Not Just For Inmates Anymore
- No Seconds: Henry Hargreaves Visualizes Death Row Final Meals

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Looks like the smoke's gone out at Big Earl's BBQ. The home of "old school 'Q'" in Old Town Scottsdale has shuttered.

See also:
- May Restaurant Openings and Closings in Metro Phoenix
- CLOSED: Sam Fox's Modern Steak in Scottsdale

Opened in January 2011 in a standalone white brick building at 7213 East First Avenue (formerly Jac's Pizzeria), Big Earl's came courtesy of Scottsdale-based JABD Enterprises. The restaurant filled a niche for Scottsdalians tired of driving to Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert or Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue in Cave Creek to get their 'cue fix.

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Heather Hoch

Chandler has a new happy hour hot spot.

The Spot: Barrelhouse American Kitchen & Cocktails
2050 North Alma School Road, Chandler
480-857-8877
www.facebook.com/barrelhouseaz

See Also:
- 16 Favorite Places in Metro Phoenix to Eat at the Bar
- Blue Hound Kitchen in Phoenix: Happy Hour Report Card
- Chandler's Barrelhouse Rolls Out with a Few Bumps

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