ARCADIA, AZ — Most people don’t expect to find a date ranch near some of the most popular Valley nightclubs and restaurants, but the Sphinx Date Ranch is in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale.
It's known for its delicious date shakes and other Arizona culinary delights.
“So our date shakes are just ice cream, (medjool) dates, and milk — no big secret here!"
Rebecca Seitz purchased the business with her mother 10 years ago.
“A lot of people don’t realize dates only grow in Southern California and Arizona in the US, so it really is a regional specialty for us here.”
Renaming it The Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry, they’ve made it their mission to make sure more people understand the legacy of Arizona dates and other things that are grown here.
“We’re here to help continue that story and really just talk about the date industry in Arizona in its entirety, which is a pretty big business here in the state.”
The history of the Sphinx date goes back to the 1920s when it was originally discovered.
Seitz says the person who found it said it was a new kind of date and wanted to grow more, so a grove was planted in Arcadia.
"It was a farming neighborhood that became residential in the 1960s, and those same trees are still producing these dates in the yards of this Arcadia neighborhood today."
In the Montgrove neighborhood near 44th Street and Camelback Road, you’ll find nearly 300 date palms. It's where the black sphinx date grows almost exclusively.
Residents harvest the dates every mid-September and sell them to places like The Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry so that we can all enjoy them together.
IF YOU GO:
Sphinx Date Co Palm & Pantry
3039 N Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
480-941-2261
