• Have a great meal in Tempe, Arizona.restaurants and shops image by Manohar S from Fotolia.com
  
  Perhaps you're heading to Tempe, Arizona, and you would like to have a nice dinner or two while you're there. Tempe is just east of Phoenix and southwest of Scottsdale. During the winter, tens of thousands of visitors storm the area because of the warm weather, so great restaurants abound.
  
  

Caffe Boa

• Caffe Boa has been in business since 1994, and the original owners, Jay and Christine Wisniewski, have been serving some of Tempe's best food, almost from the day it opened. The high ceilings and the exposed brickwork add a degree of ambiance that heightens your dining enjoyment. Most of the dishes are of Mediterranean heritage with hints of Croatia and Italy coming to the fore. Start your meal with a shaved fennel salad with Maya's Mizuna, toasted slivered almonds, house ricotta in an Anjou pear vinaigrette, or Shrimp Adriatico with white wine, garlic, parsley, crushed tomatoes and grilled flatbread. Continue your gourmet adventure with an entree such as line-caught fish with local farmer's vegetable, or Gleason Ranch pork chop with braised fennel and apple ragout with pickled mustard seeds.
  
  Caffe Boa
  
  398 S. Mill Ave.
  
  Tempe, AZ 85281
  
  480-968-9112
  
  cafeboa.com
  
  

House of Tricks

• Tables are so arranged to lend intimacy to you and your guests, perhaps just like home. When the weather is good, eat on the terrace at a table under a trellised garden and have a drink at the outside bar. The eclectic menu at House of Tricks is influenced by French, Asian and Mediterranean cooking such as appetizers like filet mignon beef carpaccio, micro greens, organic tomato and shallot rings with roasted garlic aioli, black olive tapenade and white truffle oil. Segue to an entree like grilled beef tenderloin with chive butter, crushed Yukon Gold potatoes in a mushroom demi glace, accompanied by an asparagus prosciutto salad, or Nori wrapped ahi tuna tempura with soy-ginger vinaigrette, Asian pear, wasabi aioli, enoki mushrooms and sweet brown rice.
  
  House of Tricks
  
  114 E. 7th St.
  
  Tempe, AZ 85281
  
  480-968-1114
  
  houseoftricks.com
  
  

John Henry's

• Some consider John Henry's a bit sleepy, but the locals descend to the place because of the food, entertainment and service they get at this continental restaurant. Its traditional menu contains all the seafood and steaks you'd ever want, but the specials such as oysters Rockefeller and baby lamb that's sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and fresh rosemary then finished in Cognac keep people coming back for more. Begin your meal with bruschetta that consists of diced tomatoes and red onion tossed with fresh basil and garlic, and served with Parmesan toast points. Save room for your entree such as Chicken Lucio, chicken breasts topped with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and pepperoncini in a white wine garlic sauce over a bed of fresh spinach, or veal scallopine in a mushroom, sage and white wine sauce with Prosciutto topped with mozzarella and served on a bed of spinach.
  
  John Henry's
  
  909 E. Elliot Road
  
  Tempe, AZ 85284
  
  480-730-9009
  
  johnhenrysrestaurant.com