Top Five Phoenix Food Stories of the Week

By Eric Tsetsi Sat., Mar. 2 2013 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Top Lists

Continued from page 1

Otro Cafe courtesy photo

Gallo Blanco's Doug Robson Opens New Mexican Restaurant in Phoenix

For four years, Doug Robson, chef-owner of Gallo Blanco Café, the restaurant inside the Clarendon Hotel, has been quietly kicking out top-notch Mexico City-style eats in Central Phoenix. But his new restaurant, now open for lunch with dinner to follow on Monday, March 11, most likely won't enjoy such an easygoing scene -- it's smack dab in one of the Valley's hottest new dining hubs.

Called Otro, Robson's new restaurant is located at 6035 North Seventh Street, (Seventh Street and Bethany Home Road) in north Central Phoenix. One of Robson's new neighbors will be restaurateur and James Beard Award semifinalist Sam Fox, who recently opened the Yard, home of a Culinary Dropout and a coming-soon seafood shop, in February.

Here's what diners can expect.

--Laura Hahnefeld

Distrito/Hahnefeld

Before and after: Distrito Dining Area

Distrito Gets Neutered: From Colorful and Lively to Brown and Boring, This Makeover Ain't Makin' Sense

Two weeks ago, Old Town Whiskey, Jose Garces' upscale saloon inside The Saguaro hotel in Old Town, shuttered to be used as event space. But unbeknownst to Garces' fans, his modern Mexican restaurant just down the hall was undergoing an arguably worse fate: getting its cojones cut off.

In what appears to be more or less a reverse makeover, Distrito has gone from colorful and lively to brown and boring. But, hey, at least there's the barbacoa. Nope, that's gone, too.

--Laura Hahnefeld

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