Scottsdale has a ton of fancy restaurants (which I don't mind) but we were looking for something more \"local\" and stumbled upon Basil & Garlic Bistro thanks to our handy Yelp app.  To get to this one year old restaurant, we came off E Cactus Rd, and we had to drive right into the residential neighborhoods. Once we saw the small plaza where Basil & Garlic Bistro was located, we said to each other that there was no way we would have found this place just by driving by because you just don't \"drive by\" the area where Basil & Garlic Bistro was located.\n\nOnto the food. it was all amazing.  The chicken steak deluxe has a wonderful mixture of meat, veggies, and cheese.  There was a HUGE chunk of pepperoni in each half of the sandwich and my fiancee commented that \"this is the amount of pepperoni some places put on an entire pizza!\"  My fiancee's Vongole pasta with red sauce and clams was one of the better pasta dishes we've ever had, anywhere. And it was only $14, definitely a great deal because you're at a family owned establishment in a local neighborhood.  We finished off the meal with homemade tiramisu which was not overly sweet and did not have an overdosing of rum.  It was decorated with drizzles of chocolate sauce and cocoa powder with bits of whip cream on the side.\n\nI come to Phoenix every so often for work and would definitely count Basil & Garlic Bistro as the place I'd try to come out to for dinner when my schedule allows me to make the drive out there.