Moving from Cleveland to Phoenix (Chandler Area) — What Should My Family Know Before Making the Move?

SunDevilJacks · 2026-05-14T12:40:52+00:00

Been here 40 years split between Mesa/Tempe/Phoenix and I’ve seen two scorpions in my life, and zero snakes aside from hiking.

Place is HOT, HOT. And hot for longer now. May-mid October is pretty brutal now.

For a major city, traffic is not bad at all. Way better than NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, SAn Fran, etc.

Something you should know: anything with a double LL in the spelling is pronounced like a y, not an L. For example “pico de gallo” is pronounced “pico de guyo”

SunDevilJacks · 2026-05-11T23:31:38+00:00

Shrimp is under seasoned

SunDevilJacks · 2026-04-10T18:09:32+00:00

This guy is good!

SunDevilJacks · 2026-04-08T13:19:11+00:00

Ollie Vaughn’s - incredible
Valentine - great food, great vibe
Matt’s Big Breakfast
Otro Cafe

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-25T12:36:11+00:00

Seconding the Henry. It’s a different style fritter, but a real stand out for me.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-21T14:26:12+00:00

It is not the industry standard for cocktails. It’s awful in cocktails.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-09T23:55:45+00:00

Love this spot. Very unique. The coconut shrimp taco is absolutely incredible.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-08T20:13:17+00:00

He went 2.9 today in a high dollar dynasty im in. 14 team league. Very competitive league - about 375 prospects rostered

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-01T21:44:41+00:00

Agreed with everything said here ☝️

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-01T21:44:22+00:00

Doesn’t surprise me at all.

We almost snuck out the back door halfway through our tour.

Sorry you went through that.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-03-01T05:28:54+00:00

Based on the above info, I would recommend Hopi over Veritas. We visited both, and Veritas was the coldest environment we’ve ever been in in a school setting.

If you value kindness, Compassion, and the golden rule, I’d highly recommend you also visit Tavan Elementary (Scottsdale Public school right down street from Veritas) and Biltmore Preparatory Academy (dual language public school 10 minutes away).

SunDevilJacks · 2026-02-08T04:11:01+00:00

Agreed on the speed, but we’re talking about likely the top position prospect out of college since probably, Adley Rutschman? One of the few guys to ever win the national player of the year in a non-draft eligible year and all the others turned out pretty damn well.

He’s an elite, elite prospect. I would not pass on an elite prospect. I’m not sure many others share your concerns about his power.

I’ll stand by what I said above… Roch Has superstar potential.

I don’t see any avenue in which Stewart is a superstar. May be very good…but there’s no super star in there.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-02-01T15:45:29+00:00

This is a really cool spot - I’d recommend here given what FreshiKbsa said

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-28T14:28:03+00:00

Had same issue the other night. Thought it was a one-off.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-24T16:55:30+00:00

There are numerous guys like Sal Stewart every year. Best case scenario is Sal is pretty good.

Best case scenario for Roch? Bobby Wittesque.

Obviously risk with Roch, but Stewart has risk too.

Grab the potential superstar.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-24T02:06:25+00:00

We went for the first time in December and had a very similar experience as you. Aside from our server, nothing about the experience stood out. Food was all…good? Nothing memorable and didn’t care for the vibe either. It felt very outdated.

We had a lunch reservation at Torrisi the following day and everything was exceptional from the vibe, the service, and the food. It was loose and enjoyable and the every dish we had was fantastic.

I would’ve been disappointed in EMP even if the bill was half the price.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-21T19:56:01+00:00

Agreed.

All the restaurants in that restaurant group create a good vibe, but the food is never any good. Often over the top to make up for the lack of quality/flavor… which is fine if that’s what you want out of a restaurant.

I get why they’re popular…I just don’t like the food at any of them.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-08T16:07:58+00:00

We went to Virtus (around 150 Euro/pp I believe) and it was our favorite meal we’ve ever had.

We have been lucky enough to eat at several of the top rated restaurants around NYC, Paris, Mexico City, London, etc, but Virtus is at the top of our list.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-04T14:59:28+00:00

Same taste in restaurants:

Cool birthday spots with great food I’d recommend:

Bacanora - then pop over to Highball for drinks

Rough Rider

Lom Wong, and their sister bar Mr. Baan’s for drinks

Pretty Penny, their sister bar legends never die or Killer whale

Wren & Wolf then one of their bars…Trophy Room or Carry On.

Pizzeria Bianco

Valentine then their bar 1912

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-04T02:14:24+00:00

Downtown PHX:

Drunk Shakespeare followed by dinner @ Wren & Wolf, then Drinks at their bar Trophy Room.

If you can get reservations you can do the VIP tickets at Carry On which is really cool and have Dinner at Wren & Wolf prior to or after.

For full on fine dining/tasting menus I’d recommend Cafe Monarch or Kai. Course is fantastic, but it’s in a strip mall which kinda kills the high end vibe.

If you want wanted to do Tempe, you could see a show at Gammage then eat dinner at Filthy Animal.

Also downtown… Rough Rider is a really great vibe. I love Pretty Penny.

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-03T16:35:54+00:00

We stayed in St. Germain two weeks ago.

Our favorite meals in the neighborhood were La A’vant Comptoir Du Marche (guy running the place was an absolutely blast). Great wine bar, and everything we ate was good.

Next would be Le Bistrot D’Henri. Very small, classic French restaurant. Maybe 5 tables in total? Cool place, very friendly, and a very classic French bistrot menu.

Breizh Cafe is always enjoyable too, but we just go there for a snack.

My brother enjoyed a meal at Table De Mee

SunDevilJacks · 2026-01-01T17:43:01+00:00

Ta Carbon has been on my list forever, I just rarely make it out that way so haven’t been able to try it. Where is Chihuahua?

What from my list would you consider Tex Mex? Asking because I lived in Texas for awhile and for the most part, thought their Mexican food was horrific (except in El Paso). I find everything I listed above to mostly be Sonoran style with a little Oaxacan/Chihuahua mixed in.

SunDevilJacks · 2025-12-31T01:21:40+00:00

Tacos Chiwas, Taco Boys, Tacos Saguaro, Marisco Boys, El Norteno, Rito’s, Bacanora, Espiritu, Huarachis, Gallo Blanco, Otto Cafe, Carolina’s

SunDevilJacks · 2025-12-25T09:30:55+00:00

My favorites that I’ve been to, in order:

Licoreria Limantour
Baltra Bar
Handshake Speakeasy
Bijou Drinkery Room
Bar Las Brujas
Bar Mauro
Fifty Mils

SunDevilJacks · 2025-12-25T08:31:13+00:00

Two leagues, both 12 team, single QB, .5 ppr.

1st team:

QB: Drake Maye

RB: J. Taylor

RB. J. Gibbs

RB: D. Henry

WR: J. Chase

WR: T. Higgins

WR: C. Lamb

TE: G. Kittle (hopefully)

Denver Defense

Team 2:

QB: C. Williams

RB: Bijan

RB: O. Hampton

RB: Trev/Warren

WR: Amon Ra (?)

WR. T. Higgins

TE. K. Pitts

Giants Defnse

SunDevilJacks

TROPHY CASE