Your October Dining Guide: What to Eat at Sedona Center

There’s something about October in Sedona that makes you want to linger a little longer.

The afternoons are getting cooler. The light turns golden earlier. A day spent hiking, shopping or exploring Uptown suddenly calls for dinner with a view…and something sweet before you call it a night.

So this month, we’re doing something a little different. Forget the appetizers. Skip straight past the entrées. We’re starting with dessert.

Whether your idea of indulgence involves layers of cake, creamy Italian custard, a warm cinnamon-sugar creation or a towering ice cream sundae, Sedona Center has a treat with your name on it.

Open Range Grill & Tavern: Seven Layer Chocolate Cake

Sometimes dessert calls for subtlety. This is not one of those times.

At Open Range Grill & Tavern, the Seven Layer Chocolate Cake is every bit as decadent as it sounds: seven layers of dark, moist chocolate cake sandwiched with rich chocolate filling.

And did we mention it’s colossal?

This is the dessert you order when the table agrees to share, then quietly regret that decision after the first bite. Pair it with an October evening overlooking the red rocks, and you’ve found a pretty sweet way to end dinner in Sedona.

Find Open Range Grill & Tavern at the upper level of Sinagua Plaza at Sedona Center. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 928-282-0002 for more information.

Sedona Pizza Company: Mocha Panna Cotta Cake

Leave it to an Italian-inspired restaurant to make dessert feel elegant.

Sedona Pizza Company’s Mocha Panna Cotta Cake combines silky cooked sweet cream with rich espresso and a deep layer of chocolate. Whipped cream, fresh berries and a drizzle of chocolate sauce finish the plate.

The result brings together coffee and chocolate in one creamy, decadent dessert. Consider it your after-dinner espresso and dessert rolled into one.

Find Sedona Pizza Company at the lower level of Sinagua Plaza at Sedona Center. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 928-203-5656 for more information.

Don Diego Mexican Cuisine: Banana Chimichanga

At Don Diego, even dessert knows how to have a good time. The Banana Chimichanga starts with a banana wrapped in a cinnamon-sugar tortilla and deep-fried until warm and crisp. Then comes the ice cream, followed by a generous caramel drizzle.

Hot and cold. Crisp and creamy. Cinnamon and caramel. This is not a subtle dessert—and that’s precisely the point.

Order one for the table after tacos and margaritas, grab a few spoons and see how long it last.

Find Don Diego Mexican Cuisine at the Trading Post building at Sedona Center. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 928-203-5655 for more information.

Canyon Breeze Restaurant: Have it Your Way at Sabrina’s Gourmet Ice Cream

Sometimes choosing dessert is easy. Other times, you’re standing in front of an ice cream case wondering how you’re possibly supposed to pick just one flavor.

At Sabrina’s Gourmet Ice Cream (inside Canyon Breeze Restaurant), that’s part of the fun. Keep it classic with a scoop or two in a cone, turn your favorites into a shake or go all in with a sundae or banana split piled with all the extras.

It’s an especially sweet ending to an October afternoon in Uptown Sedona. Grab your treat, find a spot outside and enjoy that wonderful stretch of the season when the temperatures cool and the red rocks seem to glow a little brighter.

Find Canyon Breeze Restaurant at the Canyon Breeze building at Sedona Center. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Call 928-282-2112 for more information.

Life is Short, Order Dessert

Four stops. Four very different ways to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Make dessert the finale to dinner, stop in for an afternoon treat or gather your favorite people and create your own Sedona Center dessert crawl. We won’t tell anyone if you try all four.

Come hungry, save room for something sweet and taste your way through October at Sedona Center