Yet another Phoenix restaurant has been named among the best in the United States by a national media outlet.
The Takeout published a list of the best Italian restaurants in each state, and The Italian Daughter in Scottsdale earned the title for Arizona.
“The Italian Daughter is an eatery where you almost feel like you’ve been invited into someone’s home for dinner,” wrote Andy Beth Miller for The Takeout. “The menu presents patrons with classic Italian dishes, highlighting all the heavy hitters. Think fresh pastas, plus specialties like the highly recommended Papa’s Cioppino, all of which are deeply rooted in memory, tradition, and heritage.”
Melissa Maggiore opened The Italian Daughter in 2021 as a tribute to her father Tomaso, the late founder of the iconic Tomaso’s on Camelback.
Details: 23655 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-404-6085, theitaliandaughter.com.
The problem with national ‘best in US’ lists
The thing I am always left wondering when these “best in the U.S.” lists come out is, how are these restaurants decided? I’m not throwing shade at the restaurants. But saying that a restaurant is the best in the whole state is a pretty big claim.
Sometimes, such as in the case of Yelp, the lists are put together in part with AI, which often results in completely incoherent results, such as a taco shop being named best seafood restaurant or an ice cream shop being named best place for doughnuts.
The Takeout article said the list was put together by a combination of food critic reviews, regional “best of” rankings, industry awards and social media buzz. They also used firsthand accounts “when possible,” but of course, it is impossible for one national media journalist to try every Italian restaurant in every U.S. state to determine the absolute best in each.
It makes me wonder how many lesser-known neighborhood Italian restaurants are just as worthy of national recognition, yet are consistently being left out of these types of lists.
What are your favorite underrated Italian restaurants? Send me a note and tell me about them.
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Reach the reporter at eddie.fontanez@azcentral.com. Follow @ERFontanez on Instagram.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale Italian restaurant named best in US for ‘classic’ dishes
Dining and Cooking