The best bread in Arizona comes out of a small strip storefront on Roosevelt Street, which is roughly how south Scottsdale prefers to operate. Mark Chacón’s croissants built the name; Nick Beitcher, formerly Tartine’s head baker, moved from San Francisco with his starter to run the bread.
The country loaf is the reason to come — thin crackling crust, open crumb, mild tang rather than sour punch. This is a bakery, not a cafe, so buy and go.
When to go: early, weekends especially. By late morning the shelves are thin and the pastry case is empty, and nobody will bake you another batch.