| rev:text
| - I am shocked at the few reviewers who gave this less than 4 stars.
Some of the other reviews recite horror stories about wait times and being told to wait outside. Weird. I live downtown and am a regular here. After dozens of meals I have yet to wait more than 5 minutes for a table. They do take reservations. I went with a large party recently and the hostess did not insist that I stand around until my party arrived. She seated me and gave me the drink menu while I waited for the other guests. I can't speak to the experiences others say they had being told to stand outside for hours while there were empty tables inside. That's just never happened to me.
Fate is one of my favorites and I go there a lot. When someone from out of town visits (or when I somehow manage to convince an annoyingly skeptical suburbanite to come downtown), I always take them to dinner here, and they are always amazed. By the end of the night, with Fate being the starting point, I usually hear comments along the lines of, "Wow, I had no idea Phoenix was like this!"
The descriptions of the atmosphere in the other reviews sum it up nicely and I can't add much to them. The consensus seems unanimous that the decor is very cool, hip, and trendy. You will completely forget that you're in what was once known as a sleepy desert golf town for retired people.
The size of the entrees is good. The food is fresh, well made, and it will fill you up. I suppose they may be "too small" compared to what most Americans expect when they dine at a typical chain restaurant expecting to over-eat. But for me (and I like to eat), the entrees have always been more than enough. The appetizers are also superb (my fave is the crab puffs). The beer list is exotic and interesting: you'll find brews from as far away as Macau, Korea, and Vietnam.
EDIT 9/22/07: After much contemplation I'm accepting the criticism of other Yelpers here and downgrading to 4 stars for the time-being. If you are coming to Fate on a night when downtown Phoenix will be busy (primarily First Fridays), please beware of Fate's lack of a proper seating system. Good friends of mine had a nightmarish experience one night upon showing up, being promised a table within 15 minutes, and ending up spending TWO HOURS waiting. The problem in my lay opinion seems to be a lack of coordination in seating guests who show up to put their name on the list versus those who called in earlier to make reservations. Even worse, my friends spent those 2 hours on the outdoor patio on a hot summer night, and the staff was unable to get them even a glass of water due to their being overwhelmed.
In fairness First Fridays have gotten far more popular than anyone in the downtown community anticipated. Fate appears to have been caught by surprise by this phenomenon and hasn't adjusted accordingly. I strongly recommend you make reservations if your plans aren't flexible or if you're driving a long distance to eat downtown.
On slow nights, you shouldn't have a problem. I love that I can come here at 2:30 am and eat a great Asian dinner after a hard night of partying.
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