Christopher’s and Crush Lounge

Awesome atmosphere the best food in town. He is a really nice guy comes and says hi
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I decided to come here for the Phoenix restaurant week which happened to be going on at the same time I was here for my lazy vacation away. Honestly, the reviews from some friends looked god and it looked like a decently nice place so I decided to come by.
There were two hostesses and they were dressed pretty casually. Not a big deal, but I came a bit early for my reservation (by myself). I know that it’s strange sometimes for someone to go to a restaurant by themselves, but I felt like I was ignored by the hostesses. It took a while (about like 15 minutes after my reservation time) before I got seated — even though there was PLENTY of space.
I did end up going with the restaurant week menu and had a pretty good time.
I started off with scallops. There was a weird taste on the actual scallops which I disliked a lot. It was kind of fishy and not all that good. The petite ravioli that came with it were delicious and my favorite part of the dish.
My main course was the duck — I do love me some duck breast. It was a little more pink than I liked it, but it was still so good. Probably my favorite dish.
I ended with the Gaetuae. I loved the ice cream, but didn’t love the other parts.
Overall, the service by my waiter was great, but my food was just average and okay. The service by that hostess — please no. I could do without her attitude about me coming in a bit early for my reservation and her accusatory tone for coming in as one person.
Protip: food’s decent. service by the waitstaff is good.

My husband and I were given $ 150 goft card by a group of teachers to show appreciation for a project we did with them. Frankly, we can’t afford such expensive eateries so had never been and were slightly intimidated to go, so we saved it for special occasion. We went ther on 6÷3÷16. Decided to savor all the flavors by trying the tasting menu which cost the entire $ 150 card, but we decided we could afford a bottle of wine to accompany the special dinner. When time to pay, they denied use of gift card saying it had expired. That hurt, as a couple living on SSI that hurt. So basically Christopher’s got paid $ 150 for nothing and we were stuck with a $ 250 tab (including tip). That’s a rip off, taking advantage of a school teachers’ gift, and two disabled customers.

Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
One of my wife’s favorite restaurants. French cuisine with a Southwestern twist is what got Chef Gross his James Beard Award and it’s well-​deserved. It’s always a plus to see chef himself there almost every time we’ve been there.
My wife always, always, gets the escargot en croute. She loves this dish, especially here. I’ve always enjoyed the foie gras. The frisee salad (yes, very early-90’s) has always been good, improved with the addition of the poached egg. The deconstructed lobster pot pie is a signature here, and the pig’s feet and hanger steak have been excellent.
The restaurant deserves 4, almost 5 stars, for food and service. But I’m including the Crush lounge experience here too, and that is more unfortunate.
My biggest knock, the lounge prices are as high as the food quality is good across the way. That’s for the drinks. Food prices are the same but that means paying a little more for «bar food» if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s slick inside, the patio outside is small, but I’ve just never felt comfortable in the Crush Lounge side.
So a solid 4 stars for the entire lot. Considering all the fine dining, not just in Arizona, but in the States, this place is worth making repeat visits to.

Always have an incredible dining experience her with my wife. We come and build our own tasting menu based off there small plates we order 8 – 10 and always get a great pastry at the end. Beverage wis very smart wine list and a cocktail program that includes one of my favorites the corpse reviver. Besides the food and beverage the service is always on point well timed and extremely knowledgeable of all dishes. Hands down one of our favorite spots in the area to eat. Keep up the great food!

Sunday brunch here was a great experience! I had the croque madame and the other meal we ordered was the express lunch for $ 20. Which included roast red pepper soup, which I’m not generally a fan of red peppers, but this was yummy, mushroom and cheddar burger, and the chocolate mousse tower! I ordered the gâteau marjolaine-​layers of crispy wafers and mousse with a brandy snap basket on the side, filled with a wonderful, rich chocolate sorbet. So good! Definitely one of the best restaurants in Phoenix! The service was also really great, which makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. We also got to actually see the chef, Christopher Gross, cooking in the kitchen and he was very friendly. We’d totally recommend this, great food, good service. Definitely coming back to try more items on the menu.

We eat out often…4 or more times a week. Once again, we had probably the best meal we have had in ages. Almost flawless! We do like the ambience, but the food is more important to us. We all had fish… one had the incredible scallops, one had the salmon (FRESH) oh, so good, and two of us had the Sea Bass. All four of us were 100% impressed with the way the food was plated, the freshness of the fish, and the simple, wonderful prep, including the vegetables on the plate. Two had the caesar salad and it was a bit bland this time and someone had the escargot and thought they were outstanding. It was a wonderful evening and the servicer was excellent and added to it being a wonderful evening. Thanks.

Lunch at Christopher’s and Crush Lounge was just okay. The service was very good, but the oversized /​overcharged plates with small portions of food get a naaayyy waaayyy in my book. I understand they have to pay rent, but damn, have some plating respect.
Also, why they ax’ing if we had reservations… uh, the restaurant was empty. But, okay, they’re keeping up appearances. Go ‘head wit’cha bad self.
Like many other restaurants, if you want to eat vegetarian your only food choices at Christopher’s are from a short list of salads, pizzas, and sides. I was hoping to try a soup, but the soups were made with chicken stock so I passed. [My mouth had already been violated that week from another restaurant that put sausage on my vegetarian pizza. Hisssss!]
Pre-​meal the waiter served each of us a portion of bread and sat a serving of butter on the table. I have no idea why a bread basket wasn’t placed on the table, it would have saved him from having to come over again and again to give each of us one more portion. Damn, is bread going extinct? Ain’t like it was the best bread in the city either. It was a hard crusted baguette — crunchy and not too chewy because the inside was hardly there at all. It had more holes than swiss cheese. My jaws were tired.
First course:
Salads for vegetarians ($ 10 each) and escargot in puff pastry for carnivores ($ 14)
Second course:
veggie pizza ($ 12), bacon and shallot pizza ($ 16), scallops with veggies ($ 19), burger with mixed fries ($ 12), and side ($ 9)
Third course:
Desserts ($ 10 each) — chocolate mousse tower, tarte tatin, cheesecake, and berry tart.
Of the desserts the tower was the most eye-​catching, but I don’t like mousse so I didn’t taste it. I tasted the other three and liked tarte tatin the best. It was warm with large apple chunks, good crust, and not overly sweet. Served with a side scoop (er, a side spoonful) of ice cream in a sugary cookie crisp.
I think the cheesecake was made with ricotta cheese, but I’m not certain. I’ve had good ricotta cheesecake, but unfortunately did not like this one. The crust was similar to an eggroll wrapper and was only crispy on the edges; the rest of the wrapper was chewy. And the cheese seemed egg-​y as well. Weird. The sauce was the best part of that dessert but it couldn’t cover up all that egginess jazz.
The berry tart had fresh berries sitting in a pastry dough with yucky yellow custard stuff. Try it at your own tastebuds’ risk.
Back to the food… this is what I ate:
— Arugula salad with point reyes blue, fennel & poached pear ($ 10)
Seriously, Christopher, what’s hard about serving a decent salad? One slice of pear and one slice of tomato? Fu¢k!ng insulting. Cheese crisp and candied nuts shouldn’t be the main ingredients of a salad!
— Tomato trio, mozzarella & basil pizza ($ 12)
I requested my half of the pizza without mozza and it was delicious. The tomatoes themselves were like sauce and really made the pizza. Perfect flavor and good dough too.
— Side of yam fries ($ 9)
Typical serving of mechanically thin cut fries accompanied by ketchup and mayo/​aioli. For that price? Really?
So, anyway, I’m glad that I went, but honestly I don’t see what the fuss is about. The only thing upscale about our afternoon out was the bill. But, that’s Biltmore folks! That’s Biltmore.

Recently we stopped in for drinks at Crush Lounge. Fun location and very trendy bar. I love the burlesque décor and ginormous bottles of champagne-​what more could you ask for! A small, intimate setting with fantastic French music in the background. Fantastic for conversation. Drinks were yummy-​I am looking forward to returning to Christopher’s to try out the food because it smelled delicious!

We were lucky to have been invited her by some friends for dinner one night. Both the food and service were excellent! The Duck two ways was perfectly cooked and full of flavor. Also make sure to get yourself a pot of their French Pressed coffee after dinner.
I look forward to coming back.

Always a pleasure to dine here. The food is creative and delicious, the service excellent. It was a pleasure to have Julio serve us at our last visit — we followed his recommendations for wine, entrée and dessert and all were spot on. As always, I’m already looking forward to the next visit.

Couldn’t love this place more! We stumbled upon this by accident while looking for a store in the mall. The hostess came out and told us we had cute little dogs and when we asked if it was dog friendly she said, «Yes!!! We had already had dinner, but we saw a cheese plate on the small plates menu and thought wine and cheese would be nice. Well, we ended up staying for 2 hours working our way through the cheese selections and several small plates. We absolutely LOVED the steak au Poivre, the chicken and waffles, scallops with vanilla dust (my favorite), and the various cheese selections (cow, sheep, and goat’s milk options).
We loved it so much we came back for lunch the next day and had mushroom soup with a very generous portion of foie gras, a half order of lamb cooked medium rare to perfection, curried duck confit served over straw frittes (cut super thin and fried to a perfect crispness), egg baked in red wine and mushrooms (which is great served on crispy toast), and a dark chocolate mousse tower with vanilla bean and white chocolate crème anglais… tres magnifique!!!
Truly a wonderful restaurant — excellent food, impeccable service, and very dog friendly.

What a wonderful lunch today at Christopher’s…I could not believe how quiet it was considering the amazing food they deliver from this kitchen! I thoroughly enjoyed my perfectly cooked salmon with sauteed haricots verts — fresh, flavorful and simply delicious. For dessert we enjoyed the chocolate mousse tower and the cheesecake — wow, just wow… complete works for art! Nice atmosphere, great service and amazing food — a winning combination!

Absolutely delicious! As soon as we arrived, we were treated well by the staff.
Crusty bread and butter was promptly brought out with water.
The mushroom soup was decadent and rich, I’ve never had anything like it. The salad was fresh and tasty, I don’t usually care for beets and these were great.
My love and I shared the filet mignon and scallops with a side of au gratin potatoes. The scallops were the best I have ever tasted and they were served in a lobster butter sauce that was scrumptious. The filet was melt in your mouth delicious.
And the piece de resistance was the chocolate tower. Ours had a raspberry sauce on the bottom, along with the vanilla sauce. The chocolate mouse was perfect, the presentation beautiful.
We will be back some day! It is a special occasion restaurant for our budget.

The food and service was amazing. We ordered the «duck two ways» and the «lobster pastry» and they were definitely really good. I would definitely recommend this place.

Wish this review could be about the food but I never had the chance to try it. Came here yesterday for lunch with a couple coworkers and after we were sat none of the servers ever came to the table, not even for a drink order. After more than 20 minutes of us sitting their with our waters I saw a waiter drop something off near a table and said very politely excuse sir but we haven’t seen our server and we have been here a while. He said rudely that someone would be with us in a few minutes. At that point we just got up and left. No point in giving a place your business if they don’t want it.

Amazing! Everyone is so nice and the food is off the charts!!! Loved the Express lunch menu!!!

Went to Christopher’s for lunch today with my family. Service was excellent, we didn’t need to struggle to catch anyone’s attention, and I felt a bit bad because a 20% tip didn’t seem enough for the multiple servers that waited on us given the low prices.
Three of us ordered the express lunch: a starter of soup or salad, choice of protein meal (there is a veggie option), and choice of desert. I don’t know how they can serve so much for $ 20. The portions were larger than I expected, and the meat was succulent. Mom loved the soup — it was very rich and not greasy. My starter was the arugula salad, which was delicious with the right amount of dressing, The chicken was cooked just the right amount, juicy, served with the skin. We also ordered the Grill Salad, which had excellent cuts of meat and was substantial, for only $ 16. The only quibble I had was that the penne pasta in the express lunch was drenched in too much rich pesto sauce for my preference. The pasta wasn’t overcooked. The deserts were incredible creations and perhaps a bit too large.
I plan on going back next time I’m in Phoenix to try their dinner menu. We had a wonderful experience. This restaurant deserves to be packed.

Try the seasonal tasting menu with the wine pairing. The roasted duck with Sherry reduction is to die for. Props to the chef.

Came here for HH. Sat at counter area by the open kitchen. I ordered the cheeseburger and comes with mixed sweet potato & truffle fries. Then I added petite crispy raviolis. Everything was so so good and flavorful. The service was fantastic. And sitting at the open kitchen, it was neat to see the other dishes and seeing the chefs prep for a large party.

My husband and I went here today for Date night during Restaurant and Oh My God! The food was so good. I had the Duck Confit for my second course and I thought the flavors were so well combined along with the wine pairings that they recommend. I would definitely return to this place any day.

Christopher’s is my favorite restaurant in Arizona. The food, atmosphere, and service is top quality. Everyone in the kitchen is wonderful, and Christopher Gross himself is a gracious and amazing chef. This is my first choice when showing family or guests my favorite place to eat in Phoenix, and I have enjoyed celebrating many special events at Christopher’s. Furthermore, the Happy Hour is amazing. Burgers are incredible, as are the wood-​fired pizzas, salmon salads, bell pepper soup, cheese plates, and pommes frites. Also a great fan of the duck, seafood, and beef. The petit plates menu provides a great exploratory offering of French cuisine in a smaller serving size. The restaurant is beautiful and I enjoy the clientele. Plus… amazing wine, great service, and a fine menu. Fabulous.
— cam

We stopped in here the other day for some happy hour apps and drinks in the lounge. Much to our chagrin, we were ignored completely for about 6 minutes, which is an eternity when the bartender passes you to serve the other three bodies in the joint about twice each minute! Weak, to say the least…

Anyone in the mood for duck? Then you HAVE TO come to Christopher’s. No one does duck like this man. Need a wine pairing. ALL, not one or two or just the bartender, knows exactly what to recommend. Have friends in the Valley and need to impress them with your culinary wilds? Stop researching and get your tookas over here!!! They will fall over when they try the tasting menu.
Basically, just get over here and say hi to me and my Mom. We are totally here.

Picked Christopher’s for our anniversary dinner and it couldn’t have worked out any better. Our mid week night out was a special treat.
Had big plans to try some delicious looking entrees, but ended up filling ourselves with a selection of their petit plates. Mixed pommes, Smoked tuna spoons, crispy pig ears, foie gras, and scallops all delighted us with their fantastic flavors and presentation.
Jeannie wasn’t sure if she could finish it, but she went ahead and ordered the smoked salmon salad and I couldn’t resist ordering the clams and frisee salad. Their in house smoked salmon is the best I have ever had! I was so full, but had to finish the perfectly prepared clams. Did enjoy my salad as well!
We were too stuffed to order dessert, but were treated to a special chocolate messaged «Happy Anniversary» plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sitting in a delicate edible chocolate flavored cup. Add to that the sparkler candle, and it was the end to a wonderful meal.
We were well taken care of at Christopher’s and enjoyed every minute we spent there. Look forward to another visit. Next time we will sit at the bar and watch the chefs work!

So much potential, yet the result is awkward and kinda drab.
Sat at the tiny bar and ordered a slew of appetizers, wine, and cocktails.
The garlic fries were very good. The burger was average and the escargot were overwhelmed by garlic & butter. Our cocktails were decent, but at an establishment that portrays itself as upscale, the experience fell flat.
Their wine list is one of the best in the area, but I just dont see myself coming back as the dinner menu isnt all that motivating.

Was honestly hoping for more given all the 5 star reviews. I did see a trend in several of the reviews around spotty service and that is a fair description of our experience. Maybe overall deserves 3.5 stars but I just couldn’t round up to 4.
Hosted a dinner for about 16. Had a nice location in one of the private rooms. Would have liked a few more options for starters as it’s nice to have some table food while everyone is getting settled, chatting, having a drink, deciding on mains etc. We ended up ordering the a few of the charcuterie platters (eh, ok — would skip it next time) and a few of the bacon shallot pizzas (very good) to snack on to start.
Salads and mains covered the full gamut — salmon, scallops, duck, lamb and steaks. I had the scallops for main and they were OK — nothing great — just very average and nothing to distinguish from many other scallop dinners I’ve had. Feedback from the rest was similar — food was fine but none really blown away by the dining experience.
As noted above, service somewhat spotty — felt like there were long gaps at times and with a group of 16, someone usually needs a refill, refresh, etc. so the visits should be more frequent. Overall just felt somewhat unfulfilled. A bill for 16 ($ 1600+) comes with a large gratuity so feel like the service should reflect that.

Just had the most amazing meal at Christopher’s and had to write about it. Not only is the service exceptional, the food is extraordinary. First off, the restaurant itself is beautiful inside. Very elegant, modern and romantic. There are several different private dining rooms as well as a more casual up-​scale bar area that also offers outdoor patio seating. Christopher’s is perfect for group happy hour, private group dining or a romantic dinner for two. The wine list is extensive and the menu offers many choices from small plates to traditional multi-​course dining options. The cuisine is mostly French although I noticed wood oven pizza on the menu which would be perfect for the bar or for lunch.
The meal: we enjoyed a few different appetizers to start including Christopher’s House-​Smoked Salmon served on an edible spoon ~ delish! Not to mention, so much fun to eat! We also ordered the 4 cheese plate with olives along with foie gras ~ all incredible! Christopher’s house made bread complement these appetizers perfectly and is absolutely out of this world!
For our main course, we ordered the Lamb Neck (serves two — we did not realize this until after the fact so there was more than enough, even for take home!) and the Duck Two Ways. The presentation of both was a work of art. I had to take pause just admire the food and take photos. Everything was just so exceptional!
Christopher is known for his desserts so I could not wait to check out the dessert menu. We enjoyed a completely edible crispy cinnamon bird’s nest that included an edible candy coated egg filled with chocolate mousse. It was absolutely delightful to break into the egg shell to discover the decadent filling. I loved the whimsical nature of this dessert and cannot wait to come back to check out the other desserts on the menu.
Christopher is a remarkable and talented French Chef who is a legend in the Phoenix fine dining scene. It is a worthwhile stop for any foodie, especially if you like French food.

Beautifully and freshly prepared food with a french flair. I eat alone a lot and sitting at the chefs bar is perfect. You cant go wrong here. Many original dishes you can only get here like Cedar River’s AZ smoked truffle infused filet mignon. Rivals the best I’ve had in Paris

Dinner was phenomenal!
My friend had the scallops that were «out of this world“good! Also enjoyed an arugula salad with beets that was great.
The only question I have is, why haven’t I dined here more?

Had a wonderful visit at Christopher’s. We have been going here since they were across the street from the current location.
The appetizer we enjoyed was the escargot, charmingly referred to as «snails» on the menu. The pastry covering the escargot was light, flaky and wonderful. The butter and garlic the escargot was sauteed in was superb, easily the best in Phoenix.
My wife loved the lobster puff pastry. It had a beautiful looking crust.
I enjoyed the truffle infused filet mignon. It was done absolutely perfectly and was a delight.
The desert we had was amazing; the berries tart with the homemade, well Christopher’s made ice cream.
Even the coffee was perfect, a french press of coffee.
All in all another wonderful visit.

Not good, not good.
We had a nice dinner planned at Crush Lounge; unfortunately there was an accident with a member of our party and we were unable to attend dinner. Hilarity then ensues.
They make you SIGN A CONTRACT for DINNER. That’s right, that meal you eat every day now requires paperwork. In this case, it’s several hundred dollars to NOT EAT. I’m going to quit my day job and start a business not serving dinner for $ 750.
In a post-​apocalyptic world, if I had choose between eating at Crush Lounge or chewing my arm off, I’d go with the latter. And then I’d use the stump of my arm to sign the contract.

Christopher and his A Team delivered 5 stars on New Years Eve! We chose the tasting menu to start the new year right! Gary had the sweetbreads– soft, tender and juicy with an amazing sauce-​I had the smoked salmon with crème fraîche and a chive panne cotta topped with cavier…, amazing!
Second course-​/​Gary had the lobster I rave about!
I went outside of my normal box and got the chestnut soup with Fois Gras!!! Wow!! the combination of taste and texture was something I will dream about! Main courses were amazing as well! By this time we are stuffed!!! Did I mention the portions are extremely generous??? It was an amazing evening– Happy New Year to all!

Come here for happy hour. That is all.
Ok, that isn’t all… come on. The husband and I came here for happy hour and it was lovely! We sat at the kitchen bar and got to watch them cooking all of the food, which was neat. (we also got to see the chef use a laser pointer to call his waiters… heh). They start you with delicious house made bread and butter… so good. For happy hour we had the cheeseburger with cheddar and bacon (7 $) and the goat cheese and garlic pizza (7 $ ish), a glass of wine (4.5 $) and a beer (4 $ ish). The burger looked great, but tasted just ok… it wasn’t anything terribly special. The pizza was delicious! It had a ton of goat cheese on it, big chunks of tomato, and perfectly roasted garlic… the pizza was a real winner. I would come back for the pizza for sure. If you are looking for a good happy hour, stop looking and check this place out.
PS they have a cute tapas menu now that seemed really nice, I would like to try this sometime too.