Of the dozens of restaurants that opened in metro Phoenix this fall, try these 3 first

This fall, metro Phoenix welcomed over 100 new restaurants. We tried many of them, but there are three we can't stop talking about. One serves smashburgers in a highly stylized counter service space (with a full bar), another offers Thai cocktails and a diy grilling situation and the third is a James Beard Award-winning baker's new Phoenix outpost.

After eating four loaves of fresh baked bread, crushing a smashburger with a side of olive oil and sea salt ice cream (as one does) and grilling my own coriander beef over a mookata downtown, I can safely say that these are the new places you should try first.

Bad Jimmy's

James Piazza, the owner of Bad Jimmy's food truck, opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the downtown Phoenix space that formerly housed Breadfruit and Rum Bar.

Order the double smashburger with its crispy edged locally sourced beef patties topped with American Cheese, sweet griddled onions and briny pickles. Don't eat meat? The formidable veggie burger gives falafel vibes.

Whatever you do, don't skip dessert. The vanilla soft serve with a swirl of grassy, herbaceous olive oil and salt is a surprising and satisfying combination. Fun fact: it's Chris Bianco's exclusive olive oil.

Details: 108 E. Pierce St., Phoenix. @badjimmys on Instagram.

Barrio Bread

Barrio Bread belongs to the James Beard Award winning Tucson baker, Don Guerra. Fans were thrilled to skip the long drive south when Guerra brought the loaves to metro Phoenix in September 2023. One day per week he bakes at Hayden Flour Mills in Gilbert and sells the loaves for pickup every Tuesday.

I ordered four loaves: Sonoran epi ($8), Einkorn miche ($13 for half a loaf), chiltepin cheddar fougasse ($13.50) and red fife with pumpkin and sunflower seeds ($14.50). It was hard to choose a favorite.

Einkorn refers to the oldest wheat he uses, while miche is the style of bake, in this case, a large country loaf with a tighter crumb the color of rye bread. Add some butter and honey and you've got yourself a meal.

The fougasse had a fun kick thanks to the chiltepin. The red fife with pumpkin and sunflower seeds had a lovely nutty flavor, open crumb and crunchy crust. But if you twist my arm, I might have to put the pain epi on top of the list.

Essentially a baguette shaped like a wheat stalk, Guerra uses Hayden Flour Mills Barrio blend, BKW hard red wheat flour, water, sourdough culture and Sonoran sea salt for a loaf with a bit of acidity, a crispy crust and airy crumb. Even after a few days on the counter, I gladly devoured one of the ears. (Don't be like me. You really shouldn't let bread sit on the counter for more than three days and never refrigerate it. Freezing left over bread and reheating later is the best way to preserve the quality.)

Place an order online by noon on Saturday for pick up on the following Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Make sure to notify the bakery by 10 a.m. if you can't pick up the bread, otherwise, there will be no bread and no refund.

Details: At Hayden Flour Mills, 932 N. Colorado St, Gilbert. 520-275-1194, barriobread.com.

Mr. Baan's Bar and Mookata

At Mr. Baan's, I fell hard for mookata, a style of eating that involves a tabletop charcoal grill, a moat of broth and slices of meat or seafood you cook yourself.

As I cooked my precut black pepper chicken, soy pork and coriander beef (my personal favorite) on the dome of the grill, the juices ran down into the warming pork broth, adding intense flavor. I added green onions, tofu, cabbage and glass noodles to the broth, then tossed in some raw egg. Once the egg was cooked, the soup was ready to eat.

I pulled bites of meat from the dome and spooned broth and vegetables in my bowl. While waiting for more meat to cook, I spooned some of the broth over the dome to deglaze it and add more flavor to the soup below.

The green sauce, made with made with Thai chili sauce, sugar and Thai basil, was my favorite for dipping the smoky meats, as it added a punch of spice and bright tang that elevated the meal.

Paired with a funky Som Tum Smash or Khao Soi Cowboy, it's a new favorite weekend destination.

The cocktail bar is open Wednesdays to Sundays, but mookata is only available on Friday and Saturday nights by reservation on Tok.

Details: 218 E. Portland St., #B, Phoenix. 602-675-0522, mrbaans.com.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Try these new Phoenix restaurants first: Thai, burgers and fresh bread