Mesa, Arizona is garnering lots of national attention as the culinary gateway in the Southwest with a flourishing collection of charming, neighbourhood farms and food-centric outposts providing a year-round bounty of seasonal goods for visitors to enjoy. These linked experiences create the Fresh Foodie Trail® and carve out the ultimate foodie road trip for those travellers with a penchant for good eats. On this guided path you will find yourself dining on homemade ice cream, peaches, heritage grains, olives, and so much more. 

In Mesa, The Orange Patch introduces visitors to all sorts of Arizona grown citrus and offers tours of the production area that shares the rich history the state shares with this tasty fruit. Just around the corner, guests can learn all about what makes Arizona BBQ different from the rest at Jalapeno Bucks. This roadside restaurant fashioned out of a container-ship is nestled in the middle of one of Arizona’s oldest orange groves dating back to 1915. At Superstition Farms, ice cream is the central focus where guests can belly up to the Moo Bar and get milk in dozens of flavours and taste their signature Udder Delights ice cream – all while learning about this multi-generation family farmstead. Or, look to the future at True Garden Urban Farm where bio-diverse produce is being grown on less land and using less water that most factory farming. This ‘living produce’ is starting to appear on menus across the Valley and tours here illustrate to visitors how they can grow rich-tasting produce using no soil. In the Town of Queen Creek, it is education-plus-experience that makes their ‘agritainment’ stops memorable. An assortment of salivating, epicurean activities can be enjoyed including pasta and pizza making classes with ancient grains at Hayden Flour Mills at Sossaman Farms, watching the cold-pressing of fresh olives and tasting early harvest and late harvest extra virgin olive oil at the Queen Creek Olive Mill, or foraging for the freshest produce with the farmer at Schnepf Farms. A visit to Agritopia is a great way to cap off your road trip tasting Arizona wines at the farm winery, Garage-East, and the ever-changing craft beers at 12West Brewing. On Saturdays, if you find yourself in Downtown Mesa, head to the Cider Corps tap room which is a showcase for apples and other unique local flavours that reflect the partnerships with area coffee roasters, farmers and more. Even Mesa’s Beer Research Institute is known to unveil their coveted peach beer every summer with local peach grower, Schnepf Farms.  

Visitors that want to put the focus on the food and let someone else take the wheel can reserve a full-day Fresh Foodie Trail® tour with premier tour outfitter DETOURS offering guest pick-up and drop-off at all area hotels. For a complete list of Fresh Foodie Trail® stops, or to download the Map & Arizona Agritourism guide, go to www.FreshFoodieTrail.com.