PRIME, A SHULA’S STEAKHOUSE Opened in 2022 as part of Gila River Hotels & Casinos - Wild Horse Pass $143 million expansion, Prime is located on the rooftop of the 11th floor of the hotel’s new tower, offering unobstructed views of the Estrella Mountains, especially at sunset. Accessible by a dedicated glass elevator, guests at Prime are welcomed with a glass of Champagne, which sets the stage for a memorable evening. While a fine dining steak and fresh seafood restaurant – not to mention a 2023 Wine Spectator Best of Excellence Award winner – both the food and drink menus also have clear influences of modern European, Mediterranean, and Mexican techniques and ingredients. Every course is enhanced by white-glove service and the striking interior. The earthy tones, stone, and leather accents work together to make the view, and the evening itself, all the more awe-inspiring. www.primessh.com.
ELLIOTT’S STEAKHOUSE
THE HIDDEN HOUSE The buzz swirling around this 800-square-foot bar-restaurant – recently named among Open Table’s 100 best Neighborhood Gems in America for its elevated yet approachable menu and intimate setting – that opened in 2019 is well deserved. Housed in a cozy 1939 cottage, and now with a 2,500-squarefoot hanger extension due to its overwhelming popularity, the downtown Chandler newsmaker is aptly named given it is truly hidden from direct view of the street. The menu is primarily new American in its approach, changing in the fall and spring to fit the seasonality of ingredients, and its most ambitious offerings include multiple foie gras dishes, a Prime rib-eye steak, and the gochujang-glazed pork belly. Given the menu just went through an update, a good rule of thumb is to order anything and everything with black garlic in the description. www.hiddenhouseaz.com.
Since opening the doors of their first concept – the Brickyard Downtown – in 2016, Gavin Jacobs and Chandler icons Jackie and Elliott Hall have been focused on serving the local community by creating delicious destinations for visitors and locals alike, welcoming all through their doors as if already friends. When Elliott passed in 2022 while the team was in the midst of a new restaurant project, the decision was made to dedicate it to his memory. Opened earlier this year, Elliott’s Steakhouse is located in the Rowena Theater building, which dates back to the silent movie era in the 1930s and was Elliott’s favorite spot to see films growing up in the 1940s. Masculine and sleek in its look with a 47-foot bar, the menu boasts a raw bar, dry-aged steaks, and both seafood and shellfish flown in fresh several times a week. www.elliottssteakhouse.com. So Scottsdale! December ‘23
77