Shelby Moore

Vanilla and chocolate egg creams served at Chompie's in Tempe.

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A drink called the New York style "egg cream" is thought to have been created sometime after the popularization of soda drinks and the birth of the soda fountain in the late 19th century, but fizzled sometime before the modern-day milkshake and 2-scoop waffle cones.

What is an egg cream? Well, it doesn't contain eggs, or any kind of cream - just chocolate syrup poured into a glass, followed by whole milk, frothed up with a spoon while seltzer water is slowly poured in. Let's call it a freshly prepared chocolate soda.

A skillfully prepared egg cream is characterized by a white, frothy head that resembles a roughly poured ale. You know a good egg cream by the ability to stand a straw straight up the center.

May the best egg cream win.

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Cookiez on Mill, the original Mill Avenue ice cream and cookie joint.

​The Mill Avenue area surely must be approaching a critical mass of frozen dessert purveyors. As of a couple of weeks ago, on the short quarter-mile strip there are now six shops exclusively offering chilly sweets. Of the six, half of them offer hand-scooped ice cream sandwiched between fresh-baked cookies. 

With artisan ice cream shops around town offering them (resulting in a tasty summer battle), it looks like the humble ice cream sandwich will be this year's hot treat. But as we learned last time, the devil's in the details for such a simple treat. Who comes out on top in one crowded arena?More >>

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Chicken fingers were once only a mainstay of sports bars and kids' menus. Now, restaurants dedicated solely to them are popping up around town. A David and Goliath battle is brewing in the Valley. Will a chain that's new to town fry the competition, or will the local mom-and-pop  prevail?

In One Corner: Raising Cane's
4325 E Thomas Rd (at 44th St), Phoenix. Also at 2715 W Peoria Ave (at I-17), Phoenix.

The Set Up:
Raising Cane's is a fast food chain that's new to town with two Phoenix locations, and a Tempe outpost on the way near the ASU main campus. The entire menu consists of chicken finger plates with sides of french fries, cole slaw, Texas toast, and a secret recipe dipping sauce. Beverages include the standard Coca-Cola selection, plus iced tea in sweet or unsweetened varieties, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. The atmosphere is spacious, with movie posters and Raising Cane's propaganda on the walls, with peppy dance pop like Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" and assorted Lady Gaga tunes resonating in the space.

The Good:
Unlike almost all other fast food fried chicken, Raising Cane's prepares all of the hot items to order, and the chicken is never frozen. Your chicken comes out piping hot and juicy, and the breading is well-prepared. Their special sauce (mayonnaise-based, purportedly spiked with ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic salt, and black pepper) provides a good umami boost. It's worth noting that the staff at Cane's are some of the best we've seen in the industry. They're very friendly and eager to please (and they keep the dining room sparkling clean), but still act like real people. It's a welcome change from the Stepford-Wives-in-training at Chick-fil-A.

The Bad:
While the attention to detail in preparation improves the final product, there isn't a whole lot separating Raising Cane's food from the competition. There's no real "wow" coming from the chicken itself. The crinkle-cut fries are obviously from a freezer bag, and the coleslaw is just like every other quick-service coleslaw from here to Timbuktu. The Texas toast is nondescript at best. True Southerners will complain that the sweet tea isn't nearly sweet enough; Cane's is closer to a half-sweet tea.

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Photo by Amy Morris

Vincent's Tarte Tatin

​You could say that tarte tatin is a fancy apple pie without the spices, but that doesn't begin to describe this wonderful dessert. Done right, it's made with caramelized apples and cooked upside down with the crust on top, then inverted for your tasting pleasure. This is one dessert that not many places offer, but we discovered it at two of our favorite French-inspired restaurants in town. And thus, this week's battle of the dishes--tarte tatin style--between Christopher's vs. Vincent on Camelback.More >>

The contender from Matt's Big Breakfast

​Omelets are like the salad of breakfast. Want bacon? Throw some in. How about veggies? Toss those in, too. And cheese, well, what would an omelet be without cheese? The easy customization makes these popular breakfast chow. But, as seemingly easy as they are to make, omelets are just as easy to mess up. The eggs can be too thick and overcooked, the add-ons can be too big or too small, and the edges might not be perfectly crisp.

 

In this week's Battle of the Dishes, we're pitting two local breakfast giants against one another, omelet-a-omelet. Matt's Big Breakfast and Over Easy are frequently named as top breakfast joints, and both of them were featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

So, whose omelet will come out on top? Find out after the jump.

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Erica O'Neil

Gingerbread men mano-a-mano. Two will enter, one will leave (in our bellies).

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Lauren Saria

IHOP's white chocolate mint pancakes

​Thanks to Hallmark it's become socially acceptable to throw some green and red on just about anything and market it a special holiday treat...and don't you just love it?! Don't know about you, but we can't get enough peppermint and sugar flavored goodness in the quickly dwindling Days Before Christmas.

Thus, we bring you: Clash of the Christmas Pancakes

That's right. We've got the lowdown on which corporate breakfast joint, IHOP v. Denny's, does the best job of turning the simple breakfast pancake into a mouthful of holiday delight.

Festive pancakes after the jump.

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Amy Morris

In the left corner, Native New Yorker. In the right, Teakwoods.

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Both Teakwoods Tavern and Grill and Native New Yorker boast award-winning wings. But whose really are the best? We put these two establishments head-to-head -- er, wing-to-wing in this week's Battle of the Dishes.

Who's our wing man? Find out after the jump. 

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Nicole Whittington

​Steamed buns. A tasty addition to any table tasting of dim sum.

We say table tasting because these bite-sized portions of Chinese-styled dumplings are best ordered family style--which allows for much more variety.

With choices ranging from steamed buns and dumplings to rice noodle rolls and egg tarts, you might find the ordering process to be a bit confusing. We certainly did, especially when the dim sum was being hawked by ladies pushing carts yelling out names of items we couldn't repeat if our lives depended on it.

Thank goodness, steamed buns were two words everyone understood. Enter our battle of the dishes, residing in opposite corners of Dobson and Warner in Chandler we have Phoenix Palace versus C-Fu Gourmet.

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Lauren Saria

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The McRib. Sandwich of Legend. It comes as swiftly as it goes, like a wayward lover in the night only to pop up again like a mouth-watering souvenir from the past.

Since its debut on McDonald's menu in 1981, the McRib had claimed a truly special place in fast-food history. It's spawned off-spring (meet the McRib Jr.), made scores of television and movie appearances, and even inspired a website dedicated to tracking its "sightings."

And it's currently available at participating McDonald's through November 14, so hurry.

Or head to British Open Pub in Scottsdale.

When we heard that this local pub had the cajones to call out the holiest of all processed pork products with a menu item no-so-conspicuously called the "McRib My A**" we had to put it to our ultimate test.

Enter our latest Battle of the Dishes: McRib Melee.

Find out which sandwich took home the title after the jump!

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