Scottsdale builds restaurants for visitors; Grassroots was built for the people who live on the lakes around it. It’s a dark-wood tavern on Hayden Road doing southern-leaning comfort food with more discipline than the word comfort usually implies, and it’s full of repeat faces on a Tuesday.
The fried chicken is the institution. The short rib grilled cheese is the everyday order, best eaten at the bar with something brown from a list that runs deep.
When to go: weeknights for an easy table. Sunday is fried-chicken day and the whole neighborhood knows it, so book or arrive early.