Mesa, AZ

A bright downtown Mesa sandwich shop building craft sandwiches on local ingredients, from a morning croque madame to a serious Italian grinder. Small, community-minded, and a cut above anything you'd expect from 'a sandwich place.'

A boho downtown spot in a repurposed midcentury building turning out Latin American empanadas across a dozen-plus fillings, from pernil to the raisin-and-olive El Capitan. Relaxed, colorful, and unlike anything else in the area.

A wood-fire-and-coastal-Spanish kitchen doing rustic toasts, paella, and Mediterranean small plates from a single hearth. An ambitious, ingredient-driven room that punches well above downtown Mesa's weight.

A cult pizza operation tucked inside Cider Corps' downtown taproom, hand-stretching blistered, naturally-leavened pies to order. The beer-and-pizza combo (their cider, his pizza) is a downtown Mesa institution in the making.

A colorful downtown Mesa mainstay doing Sonoran plates, fresh tortillas, and margaritas in a folk-art-filled room right on Main Street. The reliable, festive Mexican sit-down in the heart of downtown.

A bustling dim sum hall in the Mekong Plaza at the heart of Mesa's Asian District, with carts rolling steamer baskets of dumplings, buns, and chicken feet on weekend mornings. The most authentic dim sum experience in the East Valley.

A barn-like Gilbert smokehouse in the Heritage District turning out pecan-wood-smoked brisket, ribs, and pulled pork on butcher paper, with a giant shade tree out front. The East Valley's benchmark BBQ for two decades.

A farm-to-table burger-and-comfort-food joint set in a 1960s ranch house at Agritopia, an urban farm in Gilbert, with much of the produce grown steps away. Nationally known after a Food Network feature, and still genuinely good.

A restored 1935 grocery in the Gilbert Heritage District, now an all-day cafe doing excellent breakfast, espresso, wood-fired pizza, and pastries under a tin ceiling. The anchor that helped turn downtown Gilbert into a food destination.

A design-forward Gilbert specialty roaster pulling careful espresso and seasonal signature drinks in a bright, plant-filled room. One of the best independent coffee programs in the East Valley, not a chain.

A hacienda-style east Mesa Mexican restaurant with a romantic courtyard, candlelight, and interior-Mexican dishes a step beyond the usual combo plate. The dress-up Mexican dinner when you want atmosphere as much as the food.

A moderate roughly 3-mile round trip climbing the flank of Pass Mountain to a shallow cave alcove streaked with mineral colors, with valley views opening up the whole way. The signature hike in Usery Mountain park on Mesa's northeast edge.

The hard option: a roughly 7-mile loop circling Pass Mountain through saguaro forest, with a long climb to a saddle and big views over the Valley and toward the Superstitions. Real desert mileage close to town.

A flat network of easy paths through a Gilbert wetland built on recycled water, ringing ponds that draw hundreds of bird species, plus a fishing lake and a public observatory. The accessible, family- and birder-friendly counterpoint to the desert climbs.

A web of desert singletrack on Mesa's northeast edge popular with mountain bikers and hikers alike, with rolling loops through saguaro and granite that you can string short or long. The flexible, choose-your-distance option close to the Las Sendas neighborhoods.

A pizza hall built around the world's largest Wurlitzer theater pipe organ, over 6,000 pipes, played live every evening as the console rises out of the floor amid bubbles and flashing percussion. Gloriously over-the-top, a only-in-Mesa institution since 1972.

Arizona's largest arts campus, four theaters, art studios, and a contemporary art museum wrapped in a striking shaded-canyon design downtown. Hosts everything from touring concerts and dance to free rotating gallery shows.

A downtown natural-history museum with a three-story 'Dinosaur Mountain' of animatronic dinosaurs and flash-flood waterfalls, plus mammoths, a territorial jail, and Southwest archaeology. The Valley's best dinosaur fix and a sure thing with kids.

A hands-on art-and-imagination museum aimed squarely at younger kids, with interactive galleries, an art studio, and rotating themed exhibits. The go-to rainy- or hot-day stop for families with little ones downtown.

A flying museum of restored World War II aircraft at Falcon Field, where the centerpiece B-17 bomber still takes to the air. You can climb through some of the planes and, on event days, book a ride in a vintage warbird.

The Chicago Cubs' spring-training ballpark, a relaxed 15,000-seat park with a grass outfield berm and a Wrigley-inspired feel. In March it's one of the liveliest, most affordable ways to catch big-league baseball up close.

A long-running theater-in-the-round in Gilbert staging crowd-pleasing musicals and comedies on a rotating central stage, with no seat far from the action. A polished, family-friendly night out away from the bar scene.

The 1927 LDS temple set in formal gardens with reflecting pools and palms, one of the oldest and most photographed in the West. The grounds and visitor center are open to everyone, and the gardens are a genuine green oasis in the desert.

The remains of a Hohokam temple mound built around 1100 AD, a massive earthen platform that anchored a community that engineered the canals this whole valley still loosely follows. A quiet, under-visited window into who was here a thousand years before the city.

A small park preserving original Hohokam irrigation canals alongside the Brinton Desert Botanical Garden, a low-key spot that ties together the area's ancient and modern water story. Shaded paths and a surprising variety of desert plants.

Mesa's walkable historic core along Main Street, lined with murals, a light-rail line, restaurants, and small galleries that have turned a once-sleepy downtown into the East Valley's most interesting strip. The public art and restaurant scene are the draw.

The historic center of neighboring Gilbert, marked by its landmark water tower, where a few blocks of restored storefronts hold one of the East Valley's best clusters of independent restaurants and a regular farmers market. A genuine small-town main street swallowed by the suburbs.