Ella on the Park is the restaurant at the newly remodeled and rebranded Hotel Solaya in Old Town Scottsdale. The menu leans into elevated Southern fare, and we enjoyed mostly everything we tried.
In the category of starters and salads, the standouts for me were the gulf crab fritters, the smoked mackerel dip with crackers (I was skeptical and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it) and the spring pea and grilled asparagus salad. The heirloom tomato salad is, on paper, a pretty basic option but the rich blue cheese and absolutely outstanding bacon makes it a winner.
Re: entrees, the smoked-in-house BBQ beef ribs are my pick. The bones are enormous and doused with a sweet sauce, with plenty of meat on them, and the side of beans are wonderful, too. The New York striploin was...fine. I think everything else was so good that it paled by comparison, but it didn't wow me compared to other steaks I've had lately. Maybe it needed more seasoning. The pulled pork sandwich is another excellent choice if you're looking for something at a lower price point.
The drink menu leans heavily into tequila and mezcal. I was partial to the Better Than Your Ex, a play on the paloma. The Whiskey Business is a strong and tasty choice that blended flavors of peanut butter, coffee and whiskey. My absolute favorites were the Strawberry Fields and the Raspberry Tease.
The restaurant shares the neutral-toned palette of the rest of the hotel--it's stylish and understated. The patio that overlooks Civic Center Park will be a wonderful place to hang out when it's not so hot. Service was great. It wasn't busy, but I think that will change once word starts to spread--it's only been open a week or two, I think.
Overall, I think Ella on the Park is a great addition to the Scottsdale dining scene and I would return, both to reorder certain things and continue to explore the menu. read more