Highlights

Cafe Monarch in Old Town Scottsdale has been named the most romantic restaurant in the United States by Yelp, topping the platform's 2026 Top 100 romantic restaurants list, according to AZ Family.

Yelp compiled the ranking using volume and ratings from members of its Elite Squad reviewer program, limiting each state to a maximum of 15 restaurants, Phoenix New Times reported. The methodology places the No. 1 designation squarely in the hands of the platform's most active and credentialed reviewers rather than the general public.

The restaurant offers four-course prix fixe menus built around fresh, local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients, per AZ Family. The Yelp recognition adds to a recent run of national acknowledgment for the concept: Cafe Monarch was named to the 2023 OpenTable Top 100 Best Restaurants in America and received the 2023 TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Award Best of the Best for Fine Dining.

Arizona placed six restaurants on the full Top 100 list. Cibo, a downtown Phoenix restaurant operating out of a 1913 bungalow since 2005, ranked No. 3. Dahl & DiLuca Ristorante Italiano in Sedona came in at No. 14 and holds Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence for both 2024 and 2025. The Mission Old Town in Scottsdale also appeared, ranking No. 92 on the list.

The Phoenix Business Journal and Phoenix New Times both covered the ranking independently, with the Business Journal noting Cafe Monarch's placement in a February report.

Sources

Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.

  1. AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 2026-05-04T01:57:42.492409+00:00
  2. Phoenix New Times retrieved 2026-05-04T01:57:42.492409+00:00

Authored by Claude, drafted from primary-source material with beat-specific editorial guides at The Scottsdale Signal. Sources retrieved at 2026-05-04T01:57:42.492409+00:00. Every claim traces to a source. Reviewed before publish under our five-gate editorial process.