For me, Culinary Dropout was just OK. Nothing was actually wrong, but it felt like the brainchild of a restaurant group that it is. The decor is is retro like all new restaurants are these days - tufted banquettes and wing chairs - not like the sleek modern restaurants I normally associate with Scottsdale. And the menu is of course comfort food - again like every other new restaurant. Sandwiches, fried chicken, even a potato chip/onion dip appetizer. (Haven't had that for at least 25 years.) Four of us went for dinner during a girls weekend on Sunday night and it really wasn't that busy considering it's high season in Phoenix. All the food was uniformly good but nothing was terribly original or different.
I'm surprised it won a best new restaurant award from Phoenix Magazine last year. Then again, new restaurants were few and far between last year in Phoenix. If your goal is comfort food done well, you'll probably like this place. And the prices are certainly more reasonable than its big sister across the street, Modern Steak.