The wife has  a work conference next month in Scottsdale and I am tagging along. What are some cool places to go while we are there? I will have a lot of time to kill during the day. Any good gun shops and restaurants to recommend?

Check out the Scottsdale Gun Club in north Scottsdale. Nice indoor range, plus a good selection of firearms to buy and rent. As far as restaurants, what kind of food do you like? There's also plenty of hiking in the McDowell Mountain Preserve just north/east of Scottsdale, and also Camelback Mountain, if that's your thing. The weather here will seem really nice compared to where you are in MN.

Biltmore Fashion Plaza?

Go to Scottsdale Gun Club and US Autoweapons, they are literally right next door to each other.  If you like beer, go to OHSO distillery which is ahout 1/2 mile from  SGC.  OHSO has good bar food (burgers, samdwiches,etc) and a great list of beers on tap.

For restaurants, where will you be staying and what do you like to eat?

good bbq, chinese food, pizza, mexican, burgers, steak, hole in the wall, mom and pop etc. nothing fancy. Think Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. We have a rule that when we travel we will not eat at a place we can go to at home.  We will have a rental car so we are not limited to just Scottsdale. I also like checking out any neat pawn shops or military surplus places. We like to camp so any kind of outdoors store.  My wife has knee problems so anything active like hiking is probably out of the question.

For bbq, Bobby Q's in Phoenix.

You'll be hard pressed to find excellent chinese food in Arizona.

WHAT!!!???? Asian Café Express and China Magic Noodle House, right here in the valley and both are amazing.  At China Magic Noodle House you can watch them hand make all their noodles. Desert Jade also gets a mention, not as good as the two mentioned but still damn good.   Becketts Table is good American along with The Windsor, can't go wrong with the Porkwich or the crab cake BLT.

I'll be giving them all a shot.

If you're thirsty Four Peaks Brewery is great... http://www.fourpeaks.com/our-pubs/

A ton of great eating in the Old Town/South Scottsdale and Biltmore/Central Phoenix area.

Atlas Bistro (best restaurant in town IMO), Donovan's, Mastro's City Hall, Beckett's Table, Crudo, Virtu, Posh, Elements, Pig and Pickle, Eddie's House, Citizen Public House, Cowboy Ciao...I could go on and on and on. Best dining in the state is in that area.

And for some reasonably priced, huge portion comfort food, Texaz Grill is a longtime favorite of mine.

Agreed on all of these....except Mastros, J&G destroys Mastros City Hall, but I might be a bit biased.

J&G is solid, and a better view for sure.

I just like the ambience at City Hall. Not to mention that it's one of the few places in town where a $15 dollar cocktail is actually a $15 dollar cocktail.

Just ate at Asian Cafe Express tonight.. that place is FOB!

could you give me a run down of each place? just a couple of words to describe the kind of food. I would very much appreciate it

The Grind on N 40th St and Camelback.
SW corner of the intersection.
It is a little hole in the wall type bar that makes outstanding hamburgers, the name is because they grind their own meat.

FIFY

Hit Bobby Q's, order the Whole Hog platter. Enough for the both of you, with leftovers.

Donovan's and City Hall are both high end steakhouses.

Atlas Bistro is one of the only BYOBs in town, and serves a vast array of amazing and different contemporary American dishes where the menu changes nearly daily. A lot depends on what exactly they can get fresh that morning. Can't stress enough how good this particular restaurant is, and the BYOB option makes bringing in your own bottle/bottles of wine or craft beer great.

Crudo is a really unique modern contemporary Italian restaurant. It is set up with four different menu options with several different small course options in each category. It's designed to encourage multi course dining that you the diner customizes. 3 courses for $35, 4 for $45, 5 for $55, etc. It's a really cool dining experience and the food is great.

Beckett's Table, Cowboy Ciao, Virtu and Citizen Public House are all pretty much an array of contemporary American dishes with some southwest kick - though I'd more say Citizen in particular is just modern contemporary American. Cowboy Ciao also has the most expansive and impressive restaurant wine list in the entire state by a mile. Virtu has a bit of an Italian twist as well.

Posh is high end multi course contemporary American. You tell them what you don't eat, and they'll make a custom multi course menu around that for you based on how many courses you want. Unique experience for sure.

Elements is high end modern contemporary American with a celebrity chef. Eddie's House is similar, and also with a celebrity chef, but far more laid back and less expensive. Personally, I think Eddie's House kills it with their appetizers. I typically order three of them instead of an entree when I go there. Their lamb lollipops and rock shrimp with dough balls are epic.

Pig and Pickle is "high-end" American comfort food. Yes, you heard that right. It's not priced much higher than typical comfort food at most regular spots, but they definitely bring comfort food up to a higher level. Really cool spot. They offer what I'd call "gourmet" tater tots that can differ every night that are a must addition to your entree. You never think of a tater tot as gourmet, but they bring them to a new level.

Texaz Grill is old school American comfort food. Their chicken fried chicken and steak in particular are both legendary. And their gravy is award winning, and as good as it gets.

The Westin Kierland

ice place and great location.  There are lots of good recommendations  in this thread already.  

Here are some more:

Greasewood Flat is an old stagecoach  stop which is now an outdoor cowboy bar with firepits and a killer green chili cheeseburger.  They will be closing down and/or moving from their original location this spring so I'd check it out for a lunch or dinner if you can.  It's not fancy but it's a fun place.  

http://www.greasewoodflat.net/


Chino Bandido is a hole in the wall place that serves chinese and mexican food. It's a good lunch spot and was featured on  diners dives and drive ins.  
http://chinobandido.com/

Cartwright's steakhouse in Cave Creek is a good option for a nicer dinner. Mastros is good, but it's a chain and not all that unique imo. Cartwright's  has good food, and it's  located in an old ranch house so there is good ambience. They also have a good whiskey list at the bar.
http://www.cartwrightssonoranranchhouse.com/

If you have an open Friday night, go to the Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek and watch bull riding.  They have a small area behind the building and it's a fun cowboy bar. The food at buffalo chip is very average so I would eat somewhere else amd just get drinks there.
http://www.buffalochipsaloon.com/

Frank & Lupe's and Barrio Queen are excellent places to eat in Old Town.  For something more upscale, La Hacienda at the Princess resort is amazing
 

This would be true but...

Yuma Palace in Yuma is really good.

Oops, double tap

Not necessarily food, but if you want a nice night out, at the Scottsdale Quarter there is a theater called I Pic. You can actually watch a movie in a recliner with blanket and pillow with your own waiter and get a bottle of wine. Did this a few weeks ago. Was a very nice night out.

https://www.ipictheaters.com/

Scottsdale is one of the great entertainment cities in America.  Bars, restaurants, gun stores, high end malls, resorts, sports, etc....  Your problem will be what not to do, not finding something to do.  I love the Scottsdale Gun Club and take my kids and clients there all the time.  It is really nice.

And when your wife is stuck in her meetings, go tour Dillon Precision. Not to far from where you are staying.

If you have time to kill and like go karts, check out Octane raceway http://www.octaneraceway.com/

Thanks everyone for the ideas!

Bumping this thread. I am going to Scottsdale in mid-April on vacation. This is a great list. I'm hoping this trip goes well because I am secretly trying to persuade the girlfriend and I to move out to the valley from NY

And right next to the Ipic theatre is a great burger joint called Zinburger. Phenomenal burgers and fries and the best milkshake I've ever had (the Nutella Hazelnut Crunch).
Also in the Scottsdale Quarter is True Food Kitchen, which is excellent. True Food is American with a organic/healthy slant, but everything I've had there has been exceptionally flavorful and satisfying. Great place for lunch on their patio.

Neither restaurant is pricey (around $25-40 for two people).

Both of these are very close to the Westin, basically across the street to the east.

Top Golf Scottsdale 100% recomended.

Its not that pricey really.. if you don't golf, have like 4 different bar areas. The food is good, and its very fun.
$25-$45 an hour no limit on the amount of people.

If you don't like it.. the Indian Casino is right behind it :)