Scottsdale Blog - Things to do in Scottsdale, Arizona » Downtown Scottsdale

Cafe Carumba: Spirited Southwest Grill

Mitchell Tay — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:42:48 +0000

Scottsdale has a wide selection of restaurants ranging from American to Western style dishes making where to eat sometimes a difficult decision. If you’re in downtown Scottsdale and unsure on where eat let me make a recommendation for you, check out Cafe Carumba.

Pork Gordita

For those of you that love Mexican food you might be asking, “What a minute, that doesn’t look like a gordita!” Cafe Carumba has a unique food palate that’s primarily Southwestern infused with a bit of Mexican style cooking. What you see above is an open faced gordita loaded with beans, pork, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and fresh cheese with a side of sweet potato fries. The ingredients were very fresh and juicy. The gordita tortilla was fluffy, a great base to all the fixings on top. I’m a pretty big eater and this definitely hit the spot. It wasn’t too little or too much.

My colleague, Kelly, had the Chicken Chili Club Sliders.

Chicken Chile Club Sliders

This is their most popular dish on their $5.99 lunch menu. The Chicken Chile Club Sliders has two very generous portion sliders that has chicken, bacon, green chile, pepper jack cheese, and tomatoes. Kelly kindly let me sample a piece of one of her sliders and I have to say it was quite good. The chicken was very juicy with the tasty crisp bacon that’s smothered with the pepper jack cheese and green chiles. Another thing I really enjoyed was the chips and salsa which is complimentary. The chips were warm and lightly salted. The salsa is more of a garlicky style that’s not too spicy but not really mild, a great appetizer.

Their $5.99 lunch menu is a great deal. You can check out their menu here. They plan to add to their delightful selection seasonally so be sure to check that out. If you find that nothing on the lunch menu strikes your taste buds at that moment they have a fairly good amount of dishes to choose from their regular menu. Best of all, Cafe Carumba is in the heart of downtown Scottsdale and very easy to find.

Night Lights on the Canal

Mitchell Tay — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:01:31 +0000

Night Lights on the Canal brought many patrons to downtown Scottsdale along the canal next to the Waterfront residences. Various exhibits and exhibitors showcased their creations or talents lighting up the walkway next to the canal. The local talent attracted many people to gathered around the exhibitor displaying their talents such as a fire juggler, ice sculpture, and a artistic hula hoop dancer. One other unique exhibit was the Moon Theater. It is best explained as shining a flashlight on the wall making shadow puppets. Moon Theater puts a twist to that by creating funky looking designs when placing your hand over the light. What really caught my eye were these robotic spheres by SWARM. Many people did not know what to think of the unique looking objects as they rolled around, lit up, and made noises. Kids were so fascinated by these objects believing they were controlled by voice command. However, these orbs actually are rolled around by remote controls or GPS coordinates. The main attraction Beautiful Light by D.A. Therrien was postponed due to weather but will debut soon!

This was the 3rd and final showcase of the Night Lights on the Canal.

Night photography is something I love to do so please enjoy these photos.

Edge 103.9 Third Thursday Free Concert Series Relocates to Downtown Scottsdale

Mitchell Tay — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:15:15 +0000

Third Thursday is moving from Tempe Marketplace to Downtown Scottsdale at Craftsman Court, between 5th ave. and 3rd ave. Since early 2008, The Edge 103.9 has been hosting free concerts bringing in popular national alternative rock artists such as The Ataris, Alien Ant Farm, MGMT, and The Presidents of the United States of America. Third Thursday is presenting Marcy Playground next week on November 20th starting at 7:00pm.

Some other things to do within walking distance from Third Thursday:

Scottsdale ArtWalk (7:00-9:00pm): To see a map of the ArtWalk Galleries, click here.

Night Lights on the Canal (7:00-11:00pm): This event features premier music and light-based art installations-the kind you might find at the legendary Burning Man or Coachella music festival-along the beautiful Scottsdale Waterfront (Scottsdale Rd & Camelback).