THE 19TH HOLE By Carey Sweet
WHAT WOULD LEFTY EAT?
MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN’S MESQUITE GRILLE OFFERS PLENTY OF VARIETY WITH AN UPSCALE SONORAN VIBE
Staples like a bone-in, double cut pork chop (far left) and Phil Mickelson’s favorite, Scottish salmon (left), go well with some fine bottles of wine in the swanky dining room of Mickelson’s McDowell Mountain Club.
P
hil Mickelson’s favorite dish at his McDowell Mountain Clubhouse and
Mesquite Grille is the Scottish salmon, just in case you were wondering. As co-owner of the north Scottsdale golf property, “Lefty” favors the pan-seared fillet draped in Dijon sauce and partnered with spring- fresh asparagus risotto ($19). But the PGA Tour star also
enjoys Coach’s green chile pork, an appetizer portion of tender house-smoked pig topped in melted pepper jack that we fold into warm flour tortillas ($12). “Coach,” of course, is a reference
to his longtime coach and business manager, Steve Loy. For a perfect “Phil”
experience, savvy diners order both, of course. Located in McDowell
Mountain Ranch community southeast of Thompson Peak Parkway and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, the Mesquite Grille features a lot of variety through daily breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has to, since beyond its golfing clientele, the open-to-the-public restaurant serves thousands of area residents and tourists coming in for a resort-like setting, and assumedly craving familiar favorites ranging
16 | AZ GOLF Insider | SPRING 2017
from tacos (two for $10/three for $12) to a bacon cheddar burger ($13) to a classic beef tenderloin, presented as two 4-ounce medallions plated with roasted cauliflower, au gratin potatoes and asparagus ($29). It’s quite a change from
when the McDowell Mountain course opened in 1990. Back then, it was called Sanctuary Golf Club, and sat pretty much in the middle of nowhere. If you didn’t golf, you didn’t go, except as I did, to hike the gorgeous desert. When Mickelson took over six years ago, he and Loy plowed $1.2 million into the golf club, followed by an extensive restaurant remodel and expansion in 2012. It was good timing. Today,
there are 4,000-plus homes surrounding the fairways,
greens and restaurant. Happily, the views are still breathtaking, spanning the adjacent McDowell Sonoran Desert Preserve. Now, think swanky
Sonoran, in a dramatic space glowing with blond wood floors, a vaulted wood rafter ceiling, chic orange-round box chandeliers, and the focal point: a soaring stone fireplace admired through a folding glass wall. A long bar to the side of the dining room invites game watching on a large TV, while the patio encourages lounging on cushy armchairs in front of that fireplace, or on sofas in front of another corner-set fireplace. I love to claim a patio seat here for sunset cocktails and a meal — it feels like a private paradise, overlooking
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MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN CLUB
MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN CLUB
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