re: Question for the folks in Arizona

Yeah Barrio Queen is my favorite as well....their margaritas are really good. Their street tacos are good as well. Great atmosphere and food not as pricey as other old town places.

Catch you guys later, heading to airport. Thanks for all the information, very much appreciated

Sorry, I fell asleep last night before you responded. It sounds like you have a plan, but if this is her first time out I would highly highly highly recommend that you wake up early enough in the morning to beat rush hour and get out to Sedona.

Come in from the south side of town where you'll see Bell rock first. You can drive through the town easily to see all the rocks. Really consider doing a pink jeep tour in the morning or early afternoon. Get lunch somewhere in town there around the shops or in Tlaqapaque (which is a really cool outdoor mall with art galleries etc.)

IF you end up sticking w your Flagstaff plan and come south I would say that you must do your best to eat dinner at Elote in Sedona. There are no reservations, but if you get there around 5pm you can get in fairly quickly. It is worth waiting an hour for. In fact, if I ever go to Sedona and can't figure out a way to eat there a little piece of me dies inside.

You can miss Elote if you do Sedona for the day and want to eat in Phx for dinner. I have taken many people to Sedona and I've never heard anything negative. I have also taken many people who are "foodies" to Elote and every one of them loved it.

To me, recommending Elote is like recommending someone not from Louisiana to go to a bomb crawfish boil done right.

If you want to eat in Phx I would NOT go to the tortilla factory. I thought it was crap. Barrio Cafe (better than barrio queen bc the Cafe is the original) and The Mission are better choices. Mission or Citizen Public House would be the places to go in Old Town.

A couple of more options I'll throw out to you is to get a reservation at the restaurant in the Four Seasons Scottsdale. It's called Talavera. If you decide to do it, make sure you get an outside table for around 6:30 so you can see the sunset. The view there is literally ridiculous. I figured this would be a place you could make on your way back from up north. Another cool place you could eat to watch a sunset would be the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix. Cool setting.

If you'd prefer to eat a little closer to Mesa I would recommend eating at the Farm at South mountain. The place is called Quiessence. There is no spectacular view, but the place is charming and romantic. Also, its the best food in Phoenix. People I've taken there still bring it up to me. You wouldn't regret it.

If you do eat at Talavera or CPH or MIssion and you have energy left I'd highly recommend stopping by the Sanctuary resort restaurant Elements to see if you can get a dessert to eat outside. That's all I've got.

TLDR-
See Sedona at some point with daylight
Dinner choices: 1a) Elote 1b) Quiessence 2)Talavera or Wrigley Mansion for sunset only 3)Citizen Public House/Mission

Heading home after the week in AZ. Thanks for all the suggestions that were provided. Spent one day SE of Phoenix thru Tucson down to Tombstone and back thru Sierra Vista. Next day was flagstaff to Sedona and Jerome before back to Phoenix. Wife enjoyed the trip so again thanks to everyone