Hey Fellow Xers,

My wife and I might be coming out to Scottsdale for a weekend and wondered if any of you can recommend cool places to go out, do dinner, etc. (and also specific areas to live? ) We have a 9-month old so we won't be dancing the night away.

Anyway, just thought I'd see if I could get some recommendations before we fly out.

Thanks!!

Accasbel and Shanna know this nice restaraunt on top of a hill in Tempe... i hear they had dinner with a Xterra owning couple there last weekend... but im pretty sure its not the best place to take a 9 month old... maybe the steak house lee told me about... it has a slide and everything...

What kind of food do you like??? I can think of a lot of great places in old town Scottsdale. Also a lot of new places up north.

Also are you moving here? Sounded like you might be looking. I love it here but I'm biased.. I've lived here all my life.

Give me a couple of more specifics and I can certainly help.

Oh... BTW.. Welcome to Scottsdale

I'll leave the suggestions up to the east siders as far as where to eat, but...

if you're looking to move here, you're in luck. That is if you're going to buy a home. Get with Xcetra, his wife is a realtor here in the area and I'm sure would be more than happy to assist you in searching, locating, and purchasing a home.

Watch out though, they're somewhat particular to Anthem

Hey All, (sorry for the longwinded post...)

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, we're throwing around some ideas and Scottsdale is at the top of our list right now. We drove through AZ briefly on our way back from Moab and it looks beautiful.

I'm originally from Oregon, been in the SF Bay Area for a few years and am ready to bail. Home prices are a joke here (somehow we bought one, but would love to sell and get something nicer somewhere else.) Only big requirements of a new place to live is affordable homes, nice weather (We consider "hot=nice". ), and beautiful scenery (and I didn't tell my wife, but the place should also have an X club nearby ).

Anyway, we're open to almost any kind of food, but Mexican is always good, or Sushi, (no Thai food though!) we're not real picky, but the "old town" you mention sounds cool. At least the name does, so I'd love to know where it is.

So I see Anthem is about 15-20 miles from Scottsdale. Does anyone know if Xcetra's wife covers Scottsdale as well. That would be awesome if we could speak to her before we come out. I'd love to be able to pass on a "buyer's sale commission" to a fellow Xer family too.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling, but as soon as we set a date to come out, I'll drop another line here and maybe Xcetra or someone who knows him could pass on my contact info? Looks like it might be in 3 or 4 weekends at most so if you guys think of anything/anywhere touristy to check, let me know?

Thanks again. I really appreciate the help!

Hey there,

Yes my wife covers Scottsdale as well. We just happen to live in Anthem. Email me at crmandy@hotmail.com and I will send you the contact information. There are plenty of good places to eat, Sapporo, Gardunos, Ajo Als, in Scottsdale just to name a few.

Look forward to seeing you out here soon!

john... trust me. take the drive down to chandler(about 30 minutes from scottsdale) and eat at Ninja. Get the volcano roll. i can not stress this enough. ask Imacsae, Accasbel, Shanna. i think ninja is the unofficial AZXC shushi joint.

if not Buca di beppo on scottsdale rd in "old town" scottsdale has good italian food and a great atmosphere

Thanks Andy. Got your email and replied with my contact info.

and Thanks Jason. Sounds pretty cool. "Buca di beppo" - There's one in Palo Alto and another about 3 miles from my house here. Love that place! I told my wife there's one in Scottsdale and she says "geez...you love that place almost as much as your Xterra..." No denying that.

I did find a bunch of websites on "old town". Looks very cool as well.

Well, I'll let you guys know what happens, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out. And for those of you who don't want any more Californians invading the area, I'm really an Oregonian who stopped in CA for a couple years.

piece of advice if moving to az.

dont move to scottsdale, unless you like the "im better than you becaus ei make more money and drive an Escalade attitude that is prevelant in "Snottsdale"

when yvonne and i moved to AZ we looked around... saw the looks of scottsdale and thought "wow this place looks like a nice area of So cal, and its cheap compared to so cal" problem is it had the attitud eof so cal as well... we do plan to move back, when we do we will visit scottsdale, but likely live in chandler

valley locals when asked about scottsdale, are found of the expression "scottsdale? yeah they built themselves a nice california up there" i can not count on both hands how many times i heard that when talking with people about where i lived

Hrm, where to begin...

Well, my wife and I grew up in Scottsdale. We're neither rich (thats for sure) nor snobby (I guess thats debatable...) We wouldn't live anywhere else. (Ok, technically we live in Cave Creek right now, but we're trying to move about 5 miles east.. North Scottsdale is just the most beautiful place in the world to me. But you can come look around and judge for yourself. When you drive out to the east side (Mesa, Chandler, etc) feel free to do it around rush hour so you can really experience the joy of living out east

Anyways, as far as restaurants go, we've got your standard fare of Cheesecake factory type places. I love Los Dos Molinas and Ariba for Mexican (and Ajo Al's for 'American' mexican). Ra in old town is great for sushi, along with Zen 32 at the Biltmore. Those are a few of my favorites. Enjoy your time here. I believe the high the rest of the week will be pushing 80. Can't beat that!

Mark (NOSUP4U)

I too live in Scottsdale- I don't think I'm too bad!

All good suggestions, this group really knows their eating establishments.

I just read back through this thread again and realized what was missing, WE LIKE TO EAT TOO! Keep in mind that several members of the club like to get together with Xterra owners from out of town when visiting. If you're looking for company or just want to meet up with some of the club, let us know and we'll see if we can get something together with a group (usually small) dinner. The good news is only 4 or 5 of us will show up so it won't be really cost you a lot. Just kidding

Seriously, if you have the time and want to meet up with some members, I'm sure they'll be at least a few of us interested in a dinner out.

Email me and I'll send you some contact information for when you get in town. BTW, what dates are you thinking about coming out?

Mike

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome all! Food is a good thing and apparently you all know it well. I mark that as "yes" on the ol checklist of moving requirements.

Right now it looks like Feb 15-17. Flights were tight so we're arriving later on the 15th and leaving kinda early on the 17th. I don't know our exact plans just yet, but there was talk of checking out some houses and then maybe some grub. I'll keep you all posted as the date nears and if we can we'd love to meet up with whoever is hungry.

PS> After my one-way rainy commute of two hours today, I'm itchin' to pack up!

Just wanted to be clear... i was not slamming scottsdale per se. i love it, its is one of the most beautiful places to live... however one of my reasons for moving from socal was attitude... there was very definately a difference the two weeks we live din chandler with reletives... then we moved to scottsdale and were a bit surprised. does not chaneg the fact that scottsdale is a great town and when i move back to the valley i would definately visit, i just dont want to live there again.

BTW i lived in scottsdale worked in tempe... my wife worked in mesa... after living in CA... the words Traffic and AZ dont belong in the same sentence and the scary thing is its only getting worse here

Jason, your last reply was close to 2 AM. You're gonna have us wondering why you have such a beautiful wife and yet spend the middle of the night in front of a PC.

because the wife goes to bed at 9pm i just stay up

If you like Mexican food, then you can't go to Phoenix without eating at Serrano's. They are, in my opinion, the BEST mexican restaurant in existence.

We saw Serrano's, and if thigs go as planned we can go there a lot in the future.

Had a successfull trip to AZ - sorry I didn't include more than Mr and Mrs Xcetra... Tight timeframe and I was (and still am) sick as a dog... I woulda got all the X owners in the Phoenix area sick.

Now that we know we're heading out there for good, we just need to decide exactly where.

Anyway, I'll probably drop by this forum quite often and you might all see my ugly mug joining you guys in the next few months.

glad to here ya made it. i just sent you an email about our meeting this friday. stop by and say hello.

JohnnyX will make a great addition to the club. We had dinner with JohnnyX and his better half and their wonderful daughter. I invited him to the meeting, but I think they already went back. Either way when he decides what area they want to live in, I am looking forward to running some trails with them.

Thanks Andy. Yeah, it was great to meet you guys and the good news is, our house goes up for sale this coming Monday. Woohoo!

Anybody need a house in San Jose, CA, ~1900 sf, (3 BR, 3BA) 42 years old, and nearly $600k? No joking...housing is freaking stupid out here. We can find one much nicer for about a third of that in AZ and not have to sacrifice our lives to do it. AZ here we come! Sorry...I'm a little excited.

Edit: Thanks Accasbel - yeah, I'd love to attend but it's about 15 hrs drive each way. We came back home yesterday, otherwise I woulda been there.

So what are you saying, you have a problem with a 15 hour drive for a meeting? sheesh, what kind of member are you going to be with an attitude like that?



Good luck on selling the house and I look forward to meeting you and your family.

Pssst!! Mr Xcetra, Please inform Mrs Xcetra that we have a buyer.

(I'll give her a buzz tomorrow or Sunday - fyi, we close about May 7.)

Congrats! I will inform her.

Allright!!
I can plan on another new member for May??

Looks like my tuck will get washed that month too!!
This is working out great:D