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Northeastern Arizona is a vast area with small hamlets and towns scattered miles apart, and there are few stores or restaurants. With the exception of Page, which has slightly more culinary variety, the region’s restaurants mostly serve basic but tasty Native American, Southwestern, and frontier-inspired American (steaks, burgers) cuisine. Navajo and Hopi favorites include mutton stew, Hopi piki (paper-thin, blue-corn bread), and Navajo fry bread.
It's hard to miss this low-slung, roadhouse-style restaurant in Bluffs—it's tucked beneath a sandstone ridge crowned by two rock pillars that look as though they might topple in a bad storm. Here you'll find the most varied menu in the region with everything from country fried steak to a Navajo burger using fry bread.
The tables are packed with locals who frequent this small establishment, where everything is made from scratch. The delicious frybread is the real draw. If you've never had a Navajo taco or Navajo hamburger, this is a good place to be initiated. The café also serves excellent Mexican fare and traditional American dishes. Dine on the adobe-walled patio in warm weather.
Fried chicken is elevated to an art form at this repurposed Sonic Drive-In with a walk-up counter and covered patio dining. Choose from three crispy coating flavors (original, very spicy, or honey butter) and sides like crinkle-cut fries and broccoli salad. A fried chicken salad and a to-die-for chicken sandwich served on a brioche bun with house-made pickles pair well with a glass of wine or an Arizona-brewed beer.
The westernmost branch of the beloved New Mexico chain of old-school burger joints is technically in the Land of Enchantment (i.e., New Mexico) but just a few hundred feet over the Arizona state line, and within walking distance of the Quality Inn and Window Rock museums. Blake's began in 1952 in Albuquerque and enjoys a cult following for its Angus-beef green-chile cheeseburgers, seasoned fries, breakfast burritos, and milkshakes.
In addition to Navajo tacos, this local favorite plates breakfast burritos in the morning and smoked ribs, fried chicken, and sandwiches later in the day. It's no frills but reliable and budget-friendly.
This small, colorful cantina inside a modest-looking former fast-food restaurant is part of an affordable and consistently good chain. Spend any time waiting for a table perusing the astoundingly long menu's mix of Americanized and authentic Mexican dishes, including charcoal-grilled carne asada and mariscada a la diabla (real crab legs, tilapia, scallops, octopus, and jumbo shrimp cooked in a spicy sauce). Mojitos, margaritas, and other colorful cocktails are served, too.
The lobby restaurant at Chinle's Holiday Inn is low-key, a bit lacking in natural light, and rather ordinary, but people come here because it is one of the area's only non–fast food dining options. You can count on well-prepared Navajo and American fare, such as frybread topped with chili and cheese, but be prepared for slow service and no alcohol. It's a reliable—if unspectacular—choice for dinner. It also sells a box lunch.
At this restaurant inside the Cameron Trading post, you can sample Native American specialties including Navajo tacos made with fry bread and ground beef, Navajo burgers served with fry bread instead of a bun, and Navajo beef stew accompanied by—you guessed it—fry bread. Sandwiches, Mexican favorites, and entrées off the grill round out the menu. In the morning, savor hearty egg breakfasts, prickly pear–stuffed French toast, huevos rancheros, and more.
The fare at this spot attached to the Quality Inn Navajo Nation is mostly Southwestern and American, but the kitchen also serves a few basic Mexican and Navajo dishes. Highlights include tasty barbecue ribs, mutton stew, and honey-dipped fried chicken. The chicken fajitas and pork tamales are also quite good. Breakfast is served, too.
The restaurant at the Hopi Cultural Center is an attractive, light-filled room where you can sample traditional tribal fare. Authentic dishes include traditional tacos, Hopi blue-corn pancakes, piki (paper-thin, blue-corn bread), fry bread (delicious with honey or salsa), and nok qui vi (a tasty stew made with tender bits of lamb, hominy, and mild green chiles). Breakfast is served starting at 6 .
The floating, sandstone restaurant and lounge at the Navajo-operated Antelope Point Marina serves decent American food with contemporary accents—wood-fired pizzas, fish tacos, Angus burgers, and rib eye steak with garlic-herb butter—and has one of the region's better wine lists. It's a long walk from the parking area to the front door, but staff whisk visitors to and fro in golf carts. The restaurant's name is Navajo for "Antelope Springs." Note that there is a $25 charge to park at the marina unless you have tickets or a receipt from an Antelope Canyon tour, in which case it's $2.
This typical no-frills roadside diner with Formica tabletops offers both American and Native American dishes, including Navajo tacos heaped with ground beef, chili, beans, lettuce, and grated cheese. Daily specials may include anything from barbecued ribs to lamb chops to crab legs. There's an ice-cream stand in the same building. Come early—both the diner and ice-cream counter close around 8 pm.
Hampton Inn hotels aren't known for their restaurants, but this attractive spot just off the lobby serves the best food in town. Upholstered Navajo-print chairs with rustic lodgepole frames, hammered-tin sconces, a wood-beamed ceiling, and a mammoth adobe fireplace set an inviting mood for the American fare with a regional bent. The Mazalon club sandwich (ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato in a Navajo taco) is a local favorite, but also consider the rosemary-citrus chicken, New York steak with grilled shrimp, fajitas, or barbecue chicken pizza with house-made barbecue sauce.
Across the parking lot from the Best Western Canyon de Chelly Inn, this sun-filled, airy dining room with cream-color walls, a long granite counter, and a mix of attractive booths and tables has a cheerier feel than any other restaurant in town. Specialties include posole and sheepherder's sandwiches (a tortilla or fry bread stuffed with steak, Swiss cheese, grilled onions, chiles, and tomatoes).
Connected to the View Hotel through a second-floor breezeway, this airy space comprises a few high-ceilinged rooms with massive plate-glass windows framing mesmerizing views of the valley—in warm weather you can dine outside on a terrace, awed by the same panorama. Navajo rugs and local art hang on the walls above the light-wood tables and chairs, and the tribal visitor center's extensive curio shop is attached. The food has continued to improve over the years as more-experienced chefs have come aboard, adding fresh, local ingredients, Navajo influences, and an artful flourish to typically Southwestern fare (although meals can still be hit-or-miss). Consider red chile–posole stew, the Navajo taco, fried chicken, and the like. There's also a smaller self-serve section, where you can grab sandwiches and light snacks. Note that after 7 pm the restaurant is open to hotel guests only.
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