“I’ve helped open plenty of restaurants, but this is the first sandwich shop that I’ve owned,” he says. “My background isn’t in sandwiches at all, but when people find out that I have studied in certain Michelin kitchens, it starts to make a little bit of sense.”
Fresh off a remodel that gutted the building and replaced everything except those windows, The Oakmont captures the elusive feeling of being at a neighborhood gathering place. And the menu combines elevated American comfort food with Asian and Mexican influences, offering familiar classics peppered with unexpected twists.
When That Place Projects — the restaurant group that also owns Tinderbox Kitchen, Tourist Home Flagstaff Café and Annex Cocktail Lounge — took over the building in 2021, its principal, Nick Williams, knew the group wanted to build an Italian restaurant, so it seemed natural to name that restaurant Teatro, which means “theater” in Italian.
“Our goal with High Country Motor Lodge was to celebrate Flagstaff and Route 66’s storied roadside culture and the region’s undeniable natural beauty,” says John Grossman, the CEO of Marc & Rose Hospitality, which operates the lodge. “Throughout the property, darker color palettes are showcased alongside rustic woods and 1960s-inspired fixtures and furnishings, hearkening back to when Route 66 began to flourish.”
“Our initial goal was to be a small ‘coffee shop’ brewery and serve six pints an hour,” Larami says. “In our first two weeks, we sold out all our beer and had to close for two weeks to replenish.” Since then, Dark Sky has continued its upward trajectory.
In 2019, the Sandlins built a kitchen and partnered with Pizzicletta to serve Caleb Schiff’s signature pies at Dark Sky. Then, in 2020, they realized a neighboring historic building, constructed in 1963 as the City Hall Texaco, was available.
Owned by the Arizona Snowbowl ski area, Basecamp was known as the Ski Lift Lodge before a 2021 remodel to update and modernize the accommodations. The renovated rooms are warm and cozy, with crisp white linens and walls adorned with stunning photography of the region’s landscapes.
Conley’s Mexico wanderlust continued after his college years, and Salsa Brava’s menu has evolved as his travels have taken him from coastal towns to the interior and south of the country. The original fish tacos now are joined by a bevy of street taco options, including the lightly fried shrimp tacos, which are topped with pickled red onions and chipotle tartar sauce. For adventurous spirits who can stand the heat, the adovada tacos bring spice and flavor.
In their past lives in Flagstaff, Marnie was a doctor in family practice, while Steve worked as a radio announcer and pilot. For a change of scenery, they lived in Vermont for three years. “Our neighbors around the corner had a B&B and started sending us their overflow guests,” Marnie says. “That was where we learned about doing a B&B.”
The couple returned to their Flagstaff home, which had a spare building that had been used as a workshop and office space. They added a bathroom and a bedroom to make it a 450-foot suite, and in late 2011, Elden Trails was born.
Ed Grant, Karma’s general manager, attributes the restaurant’s staying power to a simple formula: Be good leaders and good partners, and give back to the community. It doesn’t hurt that the menu is full of innovative sushi rolls and Asian-inspired cuisine that tells a story about Flagstaff’s history and Karma’s commitment to this mountain town.
But the McMillan is about more than prime real estate: Its imposing stone building encapsulates nearly 140 years of history. Sheep rancher Thomas McMillan originally opened it in the 1880s. The ground floor was a bank, and the upstairs served as a hotel.
