My wife and I are going on vacation to the Grand Canyon.  Flying into Phoenix and driving to the Canyon.  On the way back to Phoenix we'd like to stop in Sedona for a couple of hours.  Anything we should see?  Restaurant recommendations?

Does your wife like to shop? A couple hours won't be enough.

Jeep Tour?
Copter Ride?

ETA: I think I've eaten at the Open Range Grill. Get there before 5:30 as sunset is at 5:48.

Eat. There are some great places to eat there.

Elote Cafe it is supposed to be the best food in Sedona for dinner.

Coffee Pot home of 100 omelets

There is snoopy rock you can check out.

There is a big famous church that is supposed to be at the center of the universe and have a great view.

Slide rock Park.

Yes Slide Rock State Park is pretty fun if you go in the water & the temps are not too cold... Yet!  Drive down from Flagstaff & you get to see some awesome scenery coming down the switchbacks into Oak Creek Canyon too.  After Slide Rock you get to see all of the Red Rock area too.

Elote is Meh, even by tourist standards, their claim to fame is their elote appetizer, which can be found in many places, that taste much better.   (Harrys Hideaway in Cornville has much better elote), drive a bit down 89a, and you can take the Fish Hatchery road to do 5 or 6 really great wineries.   On 89a, above uptown sedona, right past slide rock park, there is a restaurant called Garlands, which is a destination spot for those in the know.   You will need reservations, probably out farther than your trip is scheduled for (Some years it is up to a year wait), but you could get lucky.    The food is 5 star, no tourist food, you will meet the chef, it is a fixed menu of the day, so no thinking is involved, enjoy the drive up to it, as once you leave 89a to go up their driveway, you will have a 50 foot drive across the oak creek, I mean, across, you will traverse about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of water as there is an active dam that you drive over and the water is always flowing. Keeps the riff-raff out also.

Unless you have a burning need for a plastic tomahawk, avoid Uptown completely.   There are a couple of hidden gems there, but fighting to them through the tourist hordes is almost not worth it.  Sally's BBQ is there, and it is worth it - I mean, really worth it.   Good friends of my spouse and I own Oaxaca Restaurant in uptown,  they always put out a great meal.  They have a very nice outside dining area that you can look down on the teeming throngs of people.    If you are looking for a good pizza (really good!) either famous pizza locations will do it for you and they deliver to all of Sedona.  There is one right below the Y and one in West Sedona.   Moondog pizza also produce a good pizza but it is not as consistently good as Famous pizza.  

If you have a hankering for the best hotdog you will ever eat, here are two places, Simons in the Oak Creek Brewery (Go up coffeepot hill road and make a left on to Yavapi, it is kind of hidden).  Simon will make for you a variety of colombian style dogs, it is no surprise that at one moment in time, Simons, in his little niche inside of the brewery was named as the Greatest hotdog in America by several magazines.    He will make it for you himself and make sure you are happy with it, he too has an elote to die for, and he makes his own tortillas.   Another great dog can be had by driving down 89a until you get into Cottonwood proper, on the left side right before you pass the sizzler is an open parking lot, you will see a sign for Hermosillo's Hot Dogs.  Do not let the fact that it is out of a truck fool you, order one of his Everything dogs and thank me later, it is a bacon wrapped dog, deep fried, with refried beans, avocado, and aiello sauce, on a steamed bun.  You will think about either Hermosillo's or Simons for days afterwards, in a good way.  

Barking Frog is a great restaraunt, their Cactus fries are really good and they have a cubano sandwich that is simply amazing.   There are a slew of restaurant on 89a that are owned by the same owner, so their menu is kinda the same.  Tourist food, but she does a yeoman's job to make it a decent meal.   Red Planet diner is an experience, it is right on 89a in the middle of Sedona, the food is Meh, but the ambience is fun if you like that kinda thing.

Tlaquepaque is a largish mall of sorts that ladies enjoy shopping at, jewelry, clothing, knick-knacks.  It is right below the Y.  

Any questions?  PM me or drop a message here, I will be happy to help you out.

Thanks everyone.  We'll only have a few hours but we'll try to hit at least a few of the sights given.    Not sure how we'll pick which restaurant to try.  They all sound good.  I think we'll use the scientific method....flip a coin.  

Another thumbs up for Barking Frog.

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I just picked up a copy of the Elote cookbook for the SO for a Christmas gift. Paid a lot for it as well.

Sorry dude, not trying to rain on your parade, being able to cook these things for oneself is much better than going to the actual restaurant.   Because, lets face it, getting into Elote is a PITA, no reservations, waiting in lines that snake out the door and down into the parking lot.

They have some great recipes, I am sure the cookbook will be well received.

Thanks. She loves to cook. I love to cook.