Orchard Tavern — Restaurant in Phoenix

This wasn’t our first time at Luci’s, but first time checking out Orchard Tavern. The patio looked great, but between the humidity and the misters blowing the wrong way, it was just too hot. Smart move heading inside to the bar.

Mike at the bar was awesome — super friendly, great convo, and absolutely nailed every drink he made. Everything was perfectly mixed, couldn’t have asked for better.

The Woodford Sour completely blew me away. Hardly anywhere in the valley does a true whiskey sour, but this one was perfect. Sorry Phoenix Bourbon Room, you just lost your top spot. Super well-balanced, not too bourbon-y, just the right amount of sweet, and the charred cinnamon stick on top kicked the aroma up to a whole different level.

The Blurred Limes (Dobel Diamante, lime, green chile vodka) were good, but the green chile flavor/heat was super light. The Pink Moon (Grey Goose, hibiscus tea, blueberry, elderflower, lemon, cranberry) smelled amazing and was light and sweet — my husband loved it. The elderflower was a bit bitter for me, but not bad. The Orange Drop (Stoli Ohranj, Magdala, simple, lemon) tasted just like a lemon drop candy with a little orange twist — really good. Mike even hooked me up with the extra from someone’s Bloody Mary — super balanced, and of course I added Cholula because I like a little kick.

Staff was great, place was spotless, music wasn’t blasting, and bonus points for comfy bar stools with actual footrests.

Food-wise: the Deviled Eggs (house-seasoned yolk mousse, bacon chip, and relish) were a little sweet for my taste but I’d still crush a dozen. The Fig & Goat Cheese Bruschetta (Noble bread, fig jam, herb goat cheese, arugula) was really solid — great char on the bread, fig came through strong, arugula balanced it out, though the goat cheese kind of got lost. Still would definitely order it again.

But the Shakshuka Skillet? So good. You almost never see that on menus and they absolutely nailed it. Spicy tomato sauce with peppers, onion, garlic, feta — tons of flavor. Perfectly runny eggs mixed right in, and honestly some of the best feta I’ve had. The grilled pita was perfect for scooping up...

My wife and I initially were seated outside, but decided it was a bit too warm, and since they didn't have any tables available at that time, we sat at the bar

Our bartender was Mike, and was a great conversationalist

I ordered the Blurred Limes; Dobel Diamante, lime juice, green chile vodka, lime salt rim The rim was VERY tart, but all the other flavors were quite subtle, overall refreshing

Pink Moon; Grey Goose, hibiscus tea, blueberry, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, cranberry Hibiscus is present but not loud, no taste of alcohol

Kona Cactus; Dobel Blanco, pineapple, coconut & lime juice, pineapple foam, Li Hing Tart, nice pineapple flavor, slightly sweet but quite refreshing

Deviled Eggs; house seasoned egg yolk mousse, applewood smoked bacon chip, relish The bacon chip was large pieces and the smoke flavor comes through, which make for a nice bite, the yolk mousse was velvety, the relish was understated

Fig & Goat Cheese Bruschetta; Noble bread, housemade fig jam, herb goat cheese The fig jam is amazing, this was some of the best feta cheese I've ever had, the toast was thick like Texas toast but nicely blackened, it was served on arugula which perfectly cuts the sweetness of the fig and feta

Wife had the shakshuka skillet; 2 easy eggs cooked, spicy tomato sauce, peppers, onion, garlic, feta cheese, grilled pita bread Nice heat, could have had more cheese for the volume of the dish, pita bread would be better toasted

Mike was a great host and bartender, Luci's was a great experience, will return, would...

Very nice atmosphere with outdoor seating (although we sat inside on the very comfortable and soft couches).

We arrived on Sunday at around 11 and had only a very short wait. Our waiter, Alex, was super attentive. He took our drink order right away and was very patient while we chatted with out of town guests.

Once we ordered our food arrived quickly and the coffee was filled regularly (and it's very good coffee).

All our food was very tasty...

To start we had the spinach dip with tortilla chips. The dip was warm and creamy and the chips seemed freshly made.

The rest of our food...

1. French toast-large portion, fresh berries and the vanilla bean marscapone (?) is delicate and yummy.

2. The Yogi-a smaller portion of yogurt with berries and granola. The yogurt is delicious. I didn't try the blueberry muffin but it looks delicious.

3. Eggs Benedict- we ordered both the regular and the corned beef hash, both were fantastic.

4. Pepperoni pizza and mushroom pizza-pretty big pizzas, plenty for two people to share. Both had loads of toppings.

Again, the service was great and they were patient in allowing us to sit for quite awhile.

I would love to come again and sit outside, maybe for another brunch and have a bloody Mary (another person in our group ordered one so I was able to try it).

My only complaint was the persistent fly that continued to bother us but hey, if I were outside we'd have that same issue, right?

Overall a great place to sit, chat and have some great good with...