Restaurant Find: Caffe Boa

Because I was going to be up in the Valley for this wedding, I knew I wanted to hang out with my friend Lauren on Saturday. Lauren found a cute little cafe for the three of us to try on Tempe's Mill Ave. called Caffe Boa. It was fantastic. It was this wonderfully tucked away restaurant, with a super sophisticated feel about it. And the food was amazing. We each ordered a lunch special, a salad and half sandwich or half pasta. I chose Caffe Boa's Greek salad and their meatball panini. Probably the best thing about Caffe Boa is the restaurant's emphasis on organic and local foods. Delicious, good for you, good for the environment? Win. Also, the lunch special was remarkably affordable and the meal was thoroughly satisfying without leaving you too full to move.

Restaurant Find: Rosita's

These are the enchilada-style fries that my friend Helene and I split last weekend when we were in Tempe for a wedding and a visit. We found ourselves wanting Mexican food for dinner Saturday night and the front desk clerk at our hotel suggested this little place called Rosita's, just a couple minutes from our hotel. Rosita's is at University and Hardy, but their website also lists a location in Mesa. While I felt like the rest of my food was fairly average, I would keep coming back just for the fries. They're offered with a red, white or green sauce and we chose white, obviously. I would describe these as a better version of cheese fries and Rosita's will always be a stop for me on a trip up to Tempe.