Fresh Foodie Mesa, AZ Itinerary

Fresh experiences and a treasured heritage of family farms and long-standing festivals make for lasting memories. Mesa is a culinary gateway with the region’s neighboring farms providing a continuous bounty of seasonal goods for visitors to enjoy at restaurants and resorts throughout Arizona. The agritourism experiences on our Fresh Foodie Trail® are one-of-a-kind and keep visitors coming back for more.

DAY 1 - FARM TO FORK

QUEEN CREEK OLIVE MILL - 2 ½ hours
Arizona’s only family-owned and operated working olive mill and farm where olives are grown and pressed for the production of high quality extra virgin olive oil. Visitors can enjoy a full-length tour and tasting. VIP tours include lunch at the mill’s Tuscan-inspired eatery paired with wine. Guests can also dine outside in the lush olive grove.

SCHNEPF FARMS – 2 hours
Enjoy a traditional American family farm and 300-acre peach orchard. Annual events include the Pumpkin & Chili Festival (Oct), U-Pick Peaches (May) and Peach Blossom Festival (Feb). Farm dining includes fresh baked pies and cinnamon rolls, homemade fudge, and a variety of jams and preserves. Events feature hay rides, train rides and live entertainment. Arizona Governor’s Designated Treasure Award.

SUPERSTITION FARM – 2 hours
Features a petting zoo, fresh milk and homemade ice cream, and a fully-stocked boutique featuring fresh eggs, cheeses, and local jams and honey.

DAY 2 - FLAVOR-FILLED DINING & CULINARY EDUCATION

AGRITOPIA – 1 1/2 hours
Forage with the farmers at Agritopia. This urban farm features a patchwork of specialty crops with pathways that allow visitors to easily view the growing produce. The same-day harvest is sold at The Farm Stand, as well as the being served at Joe’s Farm Grill and The Coffee Shop. All of the produce grown on the farm is grown under the USDA organic protocol. Educational tours with farmers are offered featuring heirloom crops and growing practices.

JOE’S FARM GRILL – 1 HOUR
This original farm home was built in 1966 and is surrounded by 100-year-old trees and a community farm and garden. Today it is a modern burger stand and full-scale restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri – the chefs make their own pickles, marinades and use the fruit, vegetables, and herbs from The Farm at Agritopia.

LUNCH & DINNER DOWN THE ORCHARD – 2 HOURS
Visitors can make reservations for an exquisite dining experience at Schnepf Farms for their Dinners Down the Orchard program. Held in the middle of the organic peach orchard on their 300 acre farm, this event is held several times a year. Dinners are farm casual and include numerous courses paired with wine and served at sunset and under the stars.

A TASTE OF NEW MEXICAN CUISINE: THE ORIGINAL BLUE ADOBE GRILLE – 1 HOUR
The spicy flavor of red and green chilis from New Mexico combine with traditional Southwestern style cooking. Specialties include the spicy Carne Adovada, consisting of pork simmered in red chili and served in a flour tortilla.

TRUE GARDEN URBAN FARM – 1 HOUR
This 5,000-square-foot vertical urban farm is a center of education sharing knowledge on how to produce healthy and nutritious food using no soil. Visitors can enjoy their weekly farmer’s market featuring living produce and stop in for seminars and food-education programming about organic growing practices, nutrition and overall health and wellness.

A CRAFTSMAN COLLECTIVE: BARNONE – RETAIL AND DINING OPPORTUNITY
A new gathering place was made from an World War II era grain storage Quonset hut. The structure has been brought back to life as an innovative artisan collective on Agritopia’s urban agriculture campus. Barnone features 14 resident small businesses across a wide array of disciplines including an Arizona farm winery and a nano-brewery. Two restaurants are onsite, Fire & Brimstone featuring hearth-based cooking using locally grown and foraged ingredients, and Uprooted Kitchen, a vegan eatery featuring produce grown steps away in the Agritopia farm.

DINE IN THE WILD - CLOTH & FLAME DINNERS – 3 ½ HOURS
This memory-making dining experience takes place in the middle of the stunning Superstition Wilderness. Events range from intimate 12-person brunches to corporate events for 300. Enjoy several tasty courses featuring the seasonal harvest while dining with new friends under the stars.

DAY 3 - DINNER & A SHOW

ORGAN STOP PIZZA – 2 HOURS
There is no other place in the country like Organ Stop Pizza. The mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ takes the stage every evening with a live musical performance. Built in 1927, its nearly 6000 pipes, numerous percussions, and countless traps are masterfully presented by the restaurant’s world-class musicians.

ITINERARY EXTRAS: ARIZONA WINE EXPERIENCES

Few know that Arizona offers up fertile ground for winemaking in the Southwest. In fact, each year more and more Arizona wines are earning national acclaim. The state now has 90 licensed wineries producing great grapes from the soil-rich desert plains south of Tucson to the high desert hilltops outside Sedona.

GARAGE EAST: This self-described farm winery is part of the Barnone collective at Agritopia. Featuring the award-winning blends of Arizona winemakers Todd and Kelly Bostock, wine lovers can enjoy wines on tap, have fun doing their own on-site blending of wines, and even try the newest craze, breakfast wine, featuring seasonal fruits from Agritopia’s organic farm.

POSTINO WINE CAFÉ: Each week, the wine menu features thirty-six unique, approachable wines. Paired with simple, delicious food with local ingredients. The outdoor dining options are plentiful and the scene inside the wine café is vibrant and festive with hand-selected tunes for every generation.

THE WINDMILL WINERY: The Windmill Winery offers one of the most unique farm settings near Mesa. Located in historic Florence, Arizona, you’ll find a picture-perfect rural farm with giant red barn and recycled-stone pathways and surrounding mountain views. The Wine Tasting Room is open weekly, with special sommelier-guided tasting events by appointment.

ITINERARY EXTRAS: CRAFT BEERS & BREWERY TOURS

ARIZONA BREWERY TOUR – 2 HOURS
Hop aboard an and get a behind-the -scenes look at the Mesa area’s best craft breweries. The two-hour experience features a private custom tour with tastings, food pairings, safe and fun transportation between 3 breweries and a knowledgeable beer guide and take-home souvenir.

BEER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Home brewers and long time friends Matt Trethewey and Greg Sorrels have been conducting Beer Research one pint at a time for the last decade. After successfully home brewing for several years, they decided to bring their craft to the public with the B.R.I.. They are both heavily influenced by some of the top breweries in the industry that focus on Belgian Styles and West Coast American Styles.

CIDER CORPS: We are a craft cidery & taproom in Downtown Mesa, and the first in Arizona. Started by two veterans, the ciders feature names that reflect military references.

DESERT EAGLE BREWING COMPANY: Mesa's original owned and operated micro-brewery, creating specialty craft beer for beer lovers in the heart of Downtown Mesa. Also has a second location located in East Mesa at Falcon Field Airport.