Rumors is located at 22720 S. State Route 89 in Yarnell. For information and reservations, call 928-427-4200.

© Richard Maack

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Rumors Has It

Yarnell Scottsdale restaurants might get most of the attention, but there are a few places in rural Arizona where it's possible to get surprisingly good food. Some places make sense.Sonoita/Patagonia, for example, could be explained by the concentration of area wineries. But how to explain Yarnell? Nothing about the town that stretches along 9 miles of State Route 89 between Wickenburg and Prescott would suggest a proliferation of good restaurants. Yet there's hardly a bad choice.

For breakfast and lunch, The Ranch House, practically an institution, bustles with big men with big appetites who come for hardy, housemade fare. Ladies who lunch flock to the Cornerstone Bakery with its pretty flower garden, freshly baked goods, soups and sandwiches. Rumors Grill also serves lunch, but for dinner, the restaurant has the town to itself. And that's a good thing.

Siggi Gesser opened Rumors in 2005 in a single room of a former horse stable with just an ice cream case and three or four tables. But the restaurant quickly gained a following for its generously loaded handmade pizzas. In July 2008, Siggi took over the rest of the building, and Rumors now seats about 30 inside, with additional seating on the comfortable patio and live entertainment monthly.

The furnishings are quirky: black metal patio tables with white oilcloth tablecloths and pink paper placemats. Classical music plays in the background and Picasso prints hang on the walls. The wide-ranging menu includes a variety of pasta, steaks, fresh salmon and wild Idaho trout. Schnitzel, a house specialty, is served two ways: hunter style, with wild mushrooms, bacon, peppers and onions; and Vienna style, lightly breaded and cooked in lemon butter. The portions are ample and the prices reasonable, from $8.50 for a burger to $28 for a chef's choice, five-course dinner. The chef's choice changes daily, Siggi says, "depending on what I have and what I feel like cooking." Though, he admits, no one has ordered one so far.

Siggi immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1961 and has cooked in restaurants all over the West, including Beverly Hills; Vail, Colorado; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With a head of white hair and matching beard, he often wanders the dining room wearing his kitchen apron, chatting and joking with customers, many of whom are regulars.

Be sure to order Siggi's signature apple pie. It's homemade and well worth the $5 price. And if you want beer or wine, take your own. Rumors is BYOB. Forget, and your choice of beer and wine will be limited to the selection at the nearby service station.

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