7 Best Restaurants in Northeast Arizona, Arizona

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.

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.

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.

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.