World > U.S. > Arizona > Phoenix/Scottsdale

La Grande Orange Grocery

Owned by the same people as La Grande Orange Pizzeria, people come from near and far for the thick, chewy homemade English muffins at this neighborhood nerve center in a stretch of town at Arcadia's western edge. You can grab muffins to go, pair them with espresso, fresh-squeezed juice, and a newspaper, or stick around for lunch at the counter. It's become an institution after only a few years, and the big, happy orange on the kitchen entrance sign reaffirms the hospitality. Floors are concrete and the sunny space is small but packed with things you never knew you needed: greeting cards from Paper Joy (a stationery shop with its own outlet a few doors down) and sprinkle-laden birthday cakes complete with fondant candles from Tammie Coe Bakery. (Her shop's also in the complex; Coe has become the cake baker in town, and her oversize chocolate chunk cookies are tasty, too.) LGO owners Kris and Craig DeMarco also sell brightly colored oilcloth wallets, pet toys, and an assortment of olive oils, plus seasonal items like velvet Halloween pumpkins and bags of pink penny candy for Valentine's Day.