Elote Cafe is consistently rated one of the best restaurants in Sedona, serving elevated Mexican food with a strong focus on local ingredients and scratch cooking. The namesake dish — roasted corn dressed with chile, lime, cotija cheese, and cream — appears in various forms throughout the menu. The chile-braised short rib and the mole dishes are particularly good.
The restaurant is small, popular, and takes no reservations. Arriving before opening and joining the queue is the standard approach. It is located in the Arabella Hotel on Jordan Road in west Sedona, away from the main tourist strip, which keeps it feeling like a local favourite even in high season.