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| - I have been looking forward to trying Cowboy Ciao ever since my boyfriend visited Phoenix earlier this year. He needed a dinner recommendation, I told him I'd seen good things about Cowboy Ciao, and the next thing I know, he comes home raving about this mythical brown butter ice cream and bearing gifts of delicious bacon-caramel-chocolate popcorn. Clearly I had to try Cowboy Ciao for myself.
Thankfully, it lived up to the months-long hype! First, our server was fantastically good at his job. That wine list is insane, but he told us we could tell him what we were looking for and a general price range, and he would find something we liked. And he did! The mixed drinks were great too - one of my friends had what she claimed was the best martini of her life.
Second, the food was aaaah-ma-zing. I now understand why the menu lists a rave review rather than a description of the famous chopped salad. We split it as an appetizer for the table, and it was utterly fantastic. Best salad of my life? It's possible. We also ordered a mac and cheese for the table, and it was good too - though I felt a little sorry for it, having to share table space with that chopped salad. I confess we neglected it a bit. Sorry, mac and cheese.
As for dinner, we all went with small plates which were generously portioned and certainly enough for a meal. I had the crab enchiladas, which were heavenly. One of my friends wasn't too enamored of her scallop and beet risotto, but I tried it and liked it. Not as good as my crab enchiladas, but still a solid dish.
By now, I'm sure you've guessed that I HAD to order the blondie with the brown butter ice cream. We also ordered a bread pudding, which I thought would be my favorite, but I was wrong. I'm not usually a blondie fan, but this was really special - generously portioned, warm, and perfectly crumbly. Our waiter even gave us an extra scoop of the brown butter ice cream since he knew how excited I was to try it. How nice!
The best part? It wasn't even that expensive. Ordering small plates as a main course certainly saved some money, but even with two appetizers, wine, and two desserts, I was pleasantly surprised at the final tally. We had a great evening, wonderful service, and fantastic food. I will definitely be back the next time I'm in the area!
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