Have Fork Will Travel: Mesa, Arizona Offers New Stops on the Foodie Trail

Mesa, Arizona is garnering lots of attention as the culinary gateway in the Southwest with a flourishing collection of charming, neighborhood farms and food-centric outposts providing a year-round bounty of seasonal goods for visitors to enjoy. These linked experiences create the Fresh Foodie Trail® and carve out the ultimate foodie road trip for those travelers with a penchant for good eats. This guided path will find them dining on homemade ice cream, peaches, heritage grains, olives, and so much more.

The trail stops share more than just great food, it's also a chance for the gourmands-in-training to dive a little deeper and discover why dining local matters and they should get to know their farmer. In the Town of Queen Creek, it is education-plus-experience that makes their 'agritainment' stops memorable. An assortment of salivating, epicurean activities can be enjoyed including watching the cold-pressing of fresh olives and tasting early harvest and late harvest extra virgin olive oil at the Queen Creek Olive Mill or foraging for the freshest produce with the farmer at Schnepf Farms. Touring the community garden at Agritopia and dining at Joe's Farm Grill also delights visitors, showing them how farm living has fast-forwarded to meet the needs of modern day.

The newest experience is the long-table 'in the wild' dinner tables set and staged by the food stylist pros at Cloth & Flame. The shared community table is set at the southern base of the storied and legendary Superstition Mountains. Visitors head out for adventure on a dusty Arizona trail to soak in this full-sensory immersive dining experience. Guests arrive in plenty of time to watch the sun set and stay just long enough to take in a night sky unlike any other. Several courses featuring local purveyors and the best of Arizona are in store for diners.

Another standout on the trail is Jalapeno Buck's, tucked away in the middle of one of Mesa's original citrus orchards that dates back to 1915. This BBQ-meets-Southwest roadside restaurant packs them in and people come from other states just to load up on brisket and pulled pork. The flavor profiles here are rich and tasty with homemade 'secret recipe' sauces, salsas and baked beans.

For a complete list of Fresh Foodie Trail® stops or to download the Arizona Agritourism guide, head online to the Fresh Foodie page on our website.

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