Best Contemporary American Restaurants in Fountain Hills / Rio Verde

This was our first visit. Food was excellent and Raymond our server was terrific! Super job from him, very personable and attentive! We wish the wine list was more extensive. We’ll be back!

Food is great, a nice place to have lunch, especially if you’re looking for a hearty, healthful, tasty salad.

Dining at Cafe Monarch is similar to enjoying a wonderful performance. It reminds me of restaurants in Europe, where the waitstaff take their career seriously and see you, as the dining guest, as special, not just a number to be herded through as quickly as possible. During our 3 hour dining experience, we enjoyed the 8 course menu, which was excellent. My companion had the vegetarian, while I had the standard menu. Both were excellent with us truly enjoying 7/8 dishes. The waitstaff are extremely attentive but not disruptive and make the whole experience enjoyable. While it is very expensive for 8 small courses, we both left satisfied. Given that it was a 3 hour experience, I would consider it more than just "dinner" and just that, an experience. I will return again

Good food. Awesome ambience. Great service. Loved the bag piper..

Less is more. I was nervous about ordering the salmon due to the mixed reviews so I opted for something familiar and simple - a burger. And I’m so glad that I did. The patty itself wasn’t as tender as I would’ve liked but the combination of flavors with the bacon, cheese and arugula was amazing. I also opted for the truffle fries which came with a spicy mayo that was really good as well. Less is more. When in doubt, get the burger!