Plenty of Scottsdale restaurants dress up in cowboy costume. Roaring Fork is the one that actually wrote the rules for serious Western cooking in Arizona — Robert McGrath’s wood-fire kitchen on Scottsdale Road, still lit nightly decades after the rest of the corridor turned over twice.
The saloon is where locals eat: green chile pork and a big-ass burger, a name that doubles as an accurate description. The dining room is lovely; it just isn’t necessary.
When to go: a weeknight happy hour, straight to the saloon. Save the dining room for occasions that call for a tablecloth, and book it on weekends and in high season.