Location: 6710 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 Hours: 4:30-9:30 p.m. daily Information: 480-488-8031; www.CartwrightsSonoranRanchHouse.com

Cartwright’s Sonoran Ranch House honors the spirit of Arizona’s ranching days with rustic yet upscale hacienda-style dining.

The menu includes grilled steaks and game along with seafood, poultry, pasta, and an award-winning wine list. Located on Saguaro Hill and overlooking Black Mountain and the Sonoran desert foothills, the restaurant’s ambience inside is as captivating as the setting outside. A hacienda style dining room, enclosed patio and private wine room boast artistic touches such as straw-packed walls, sandstone and slate accents, woodwork from local mesquite, and a wood-burning fireplace in each room.

The interior was designed to recall the original ranch house built by Jackson (Manford) Cartwright in the early 1900s. His father, Redick “Red” Jasper Cartwright, a former Union soldier in the Civil War, brought the family west, braving a 2,000-mile wagon trip from Coles County, Illinois, to northern California – one of the longest such treks on record.

Five years after settling just south of the Oregon border, a bitter winter froze Red Cartwright’s cattle herd to the ground. He, his wife and 10 children spent three months migrating to Arizona, where they almost reached Prescott before their famished oxen and weak horses gave out. The U.S. Cavalry at Fort Whipple in Prescott came to their rescue.

Three years later, in 1877, the family moved to Phoenix and became farmers and ranchers around present-day Maryvale. Cartwright and his sons helped build the Grand Canal, and Red also built the first schoolhouse near 59th Avenue and Thomas Road. A school there still bears his name, and the area continues to be called the Cartwright District.

In 1887, Red Cartwright traded his land for 160 head of cattle and, after a conversation with an old miner friend at a Phoenix saloon, soon moved north to the head of Seven Springs in Cave Creek. Though there was plenty of grass and a year-round spring, no one wanted the land. But it was perfect for ranching. In 1902, Red’s son Manford built a home with his new wife, Beulah Green, and started a family. A graded road wouldn’t run to the Cartwright Ranch until 1928.

Eventually the Cartwright Ranch occupied 65,000 acres and herded 5,668 cows. Red and Manford Cartwright became charter members of the Cattle Growers Association. Manford’s beef was so prized that chewing gum magnate William Wrigley bought two carloads to take to his Wrigley Mansion on Catalina Island in California. Manford ranched until age 71, when a horse fell on him and the saddle horn penetrated his stomach.

He continued to run the business, but left the riding to his son, Jackson “Jack Jr.” Cartwright. He took the reins in 1938 and ran it until 1980, when he sold it to a Mesa family who continue to operate it. The ranch was in the family for more than a century.

Today, Cartwright’s Sonoran Ranch House owners Eric Flatt and John Malcolm yearn to share the story of these three generations, and named their fine dining venue – located just south of the ranch – after the family. Several descendants are honored to see their surname grace the building and are frequent guests of the restaurant.
True Western hospitality survives here, and only the best quality food is served. Cartwright’s was voted best new restaurant by Phoenix Magazine in 2001 and has been a jewel of the Cave Creek dining scene ever since.

One reason it has thrived is because Flatt is not only a trained chef but has a background in raising and butchering beef, so guests can be assured he chooses only the best cuts. Also, he’s committed to offering only all-natural meats. Arizona beef is 50 percent grass-fed and finished on a grain mixture for six months, which makes the meat tender and flavorful. It’s wet aged 28 days before butchering.

Colorado range-fed lamb, prairie-fresh pork from Kansas, and wild North American elk and buffalo round out the list of meats that chef Montez Crane is proud to serve. Steaks and game are slow-cooked over a crackling mesquite wood fire, creating a unique and irresistible smoky flavor. Guests choose their sauce, starch and vegetable, all of which is included in the price.

Fresh seafood includes specialties such as shrimp, crab cakes, ahi tuna and oysters. Entrees such as lobster, crab, Chilean sea bass, halibut, trout and salmon are prepared to the guests’ liking, with a choice of four styles: Asian, Mediterranean, European or Sonoran Desert.

Breads and desserts are made in-house daily by pastry chef Amanda Crick, who was profiled in Phoenix Magazine for her make-you-smile endings such as Cowboy Campfire S’mores, Chocolate Sonoran Ranch House Cake with Mexican Chocolate Kahlua Sauce and Fresh Green Apple Fritters. Enhancing the experience is a Wine Spectator Award-winning wine list, specialty martinis and a bevy of fine whiskies, bourbons and Scotches.

All of these temptations are served in a casual Western ambience – with Southwestern patterns, custom wrought iron bar stools and carved mesquite wood – while retaining a feel of romance and class. An artist-made glass wall evoking desert mountains further sets the stage for a special meal.

To one side of the 60-seat main dining room, an enclosed 70-seat Ranch Room patio offers diners an al fresco aesthetic with all the comforts of indoor dining. To the other side, the cozy 24-seat Wine Room houses enticing displays of the wine collection and a vintage-looking map highlighting food and wine of the world. All areas boast fireplaces, and the open raised brick fire pit with copper hood in the dining room is an eye-catching centerpiece.

Cartwright’s is a stunning tribute to a family who helped pioneer ranching traditions in the American West. It is available for private events and off-site catering. Reservations are recommended.