Zagat names top 11 restaurants in Phoenix, Scottsdale

Zagat recently released a list of the "11 Hottest Restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale."

Dallas-based Farah Fleurima wrote the list for the restaurant guide company, which is owned by Google.

We've eaten at all of Fleurima's picks, and our opinions are pretty well aligned. Here's what we said about each place.

Details: zagat.com.

Southern Rail

300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix. southernrailaz.com.

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Crudo

3603 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. 602-358-8666, crudoaz.com.

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Seftel Top 10

Nobuo at Teeter House

Heritage Square, 622 E. Adams St., Phoenix. 602-254-0600, nobuofukuda.com.

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Top 10 restaurants for small plates in metro Phoenix

The Gladly

2201 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix. 602-759-8132, thegladly.com.

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Review: The Gladly resembles older brother, 3.5 stars

Pizzeria Bianco

Heritage Square, 623 E. Adams St., Phoenix. 602-258-8300, pizzeriabianco.com.

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Top 10 pizza restaurants in metro Phoenix

Sweet Republic

6054 N. 16th St., Phoenix. 602-535-5990. Also, 9160 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale. 480-248-6979, sweetrepublic.com.

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ShinBay

7001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-664-0180, shinbay.com.

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Bink's Midtown

2320 E. Osborn Road, Phoenix. 602-388-4874, binksmidtown.com.

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Top 10 vegetarian restaurants in metro Phoenix

The Henry

4455 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix. 602-429-8020, foxrc.com.

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The Local

1011 N. Third St., Phoenix. 602-441-4333, iamthelocal.com.

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First Bite: The Local in downtown Phoenix

Otro Cafe

6035 N. Seventh St., Phoenix. 602-266-0831, otrocafe.com.

The 10 Best Cities to Raise Children Scottsdale ranked as number 1!

Ranking was determined by:

• Crime Rate
• Public School Ranking
• Public Parks Per Capita
• Average Family Salary
• Cost of Living

Number 1 is Scottsdale, AZ, followed by:

• Fremont, CA
• Irvine, CA
• Chandler, AZ
• Raleigh, NC
• Plano, TX
• San Diego, CA
• Honolulu, HI
• Henderson, NV
• San Jose, CA

It became clear very quickly these two things were the most important of the five criteria we used to judge the best cities to raise your children. No city ranked worse than 28th in crime rate, and all cities were 17th or better in public school rank. It seems that parents are concerned with these two things the most, so it was no surprise it was a huge factor. What did surprise us was that every city in the top ten had a relatively high cost of living, but we surmised that this was simply due to the high average income, and that you possibly have to pay a little more for the perks.

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