Frank & Albert’s Experience

He Said

We spent the day sliding down the pool slide and learning the tricks to making yourself take the curves super fast (hint: you gotta put your back into it or really yours abs into it). A great DJ, some pool drinks and some fantastic people watching gets one hungry and tired. So we decided to stay on the property for dinner and explore the great wonder that is the Arizona Biltmore.

Sitting inside gives you a great view of the kitchen which I love and makes me feel better about my food quality. We started off with their famous chicken tortilla soup. It was one of the best I have had and deserves it “famous” labeling. Just enough spice to tantalize your taste buds but not enough to burn a whole in my stomach. We moved on to a tower of onion rings and a tower it was. Obviously a fresh onion with big slices and freshly fried and matches nicely with the garlic ranch. You have to balance your meal with bad and good for you so we also got the hummus which was a cilantro flavored hummus with your choice of veggies or bread for dipping. Enjoyable and on par with some of the better hummus experiences I have had. We decided to keep with the sharing concept and ordered 2 pizzas for the 3 of us and there was plenty. We had the seasonal veggie and the traditional. It has to be a great veggie pizza for me to enjoy it and while it was OK it was my favorite. I enjoyed the traditional pizza more as it had plenty of meat on it. I don’t think I’d order the pizza again as something just wasn’t right about it. Don’t get me wrong, I was hungry so I ate it all up without one complaint.

I think there were probably better options on the menu and our waitress offered up some different options but at that point none of us wanted an entire entrée for ourselves. We had just had a few apps between us after all and the pizza sharing sounded like the best idea for the group. In the end I was so happy with the entire resort I can overlook a few glitches. I am happy to go back and try a few other items. But I am looking forward to dressing up a bit more and heading over to their other restaurant next time, Wright’s.

She Said

Located in the Arizona Biltmore (named after Frank Lloyd Wright and his apprentice Albert Chase McArther) you can feel the history as you walk into this place. The retro atmosphere is apparent with red chairs and booths against the exposed gray brick walls. Extremely dim lighting sets a calm and swanky vibe.  The patio looked very nice with an oversized fireplace but since it was the end of June, outside was not an option for us.

We went for dinner and started with the Oversized Onion Rings and Cilantro Lime Hummus. The onions rings were fried in the typical manner just supers-sized. They were served with chipotle ketchup and garlic buttermilk ranch.  I am a ranch fan and this was GOOD ranch and a perfect dipper! The hummus was refreshing and light. It was served with carrots, celery and some crispy bread. (Reminded me a little of Pita Jungle’s Cilantro/Jalapeño hummus)

Next we had the Blitmore Famous Tortilla Soup. This was the highlight of my meal. This soup has been served at the Biltmore since 1949. The broth based soup is filled with pulled chicken, fire roasted peppers, avocado, corn and topped with crispy tortilla strips. It has a slight kick but I wouldn’t consider it spicy.  It was a nice combination of southwest flavor in a comforting soup. This would have been a fine starter, for it is not too filling.

For the main course we ordered two pizzas: The Traditional and the Seasonal Veggie. Both pizza were cooked perfectly and had plenty of delicious ingredients, but nothing stood out as extra special either of these pies.

Our waitress said she loved the meatloaf and I saw other diners enjoying the nightly special of prime rib and I wish we had reconsidered what we ordered. There is always next time!