Port wine blueberry streusel tart with cinnamon swirl ice cream at Kingfisher. The restaurant offers a great dessert menu, thanks to pastry chef Marianne Banes.

Photos by Chris Richards / Arizona Daily Star

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We are totally flummoxed:

Kingfisher restaurant has barely changed since it opened in 1993.

Booths still rim the dining room, art by the likes of Cynthia Miller and James Davis still hangs from the walls, and the walls are still exposed brick or brightly colored (though one wall did show food stains that really should be painted away).

Yet the restaurant continues to feel fresh, its menu (which has changed more than the décor) intriguing, the place hip.

Ah, if only we all aged so gracefully.

What keeps Kingfisher really young and exciting, however, is the food. While some favorites remain on the menu (those baby back pork ribs have been there for ages, and we're grateful for them), the choices change regularly, and they are often exciting and satisfying.

Especially during the summer, when the restaurant offers its "road trips" — the menu changes every two weeks with different cuisines from a particular part of the country.

Right now, it's in the Southwest; come Friday, it'll be heading to the Pacific Northwest.

So we've some advice: Don't waste a moment. Run over there today or Thursday and order up a plate of the carne asada ($18) from the special menu.

Chunks of tender steak, grilled to a perfect medium rare, came on a plate loaded with fluffy rice, rich black beans, fresh calabacitas and perfectly ripe avocados. The big flour tortilla wasn't as fresh as it could have been, but this colorful plate was greatly pleasing, nonetheless.

Kingfisher offers its regular menu all summer long, too. So you can indulge in delights such as the sea scallops ($21). This dish features four meaty scallops cooked to keep their silky texture and sweet taste. The pumpkin seed crust adds a crunchy outside for the soft in, and the lemon-garlic aïoli provides a tangy bite.

And the pork ribs ($23) are a messy delight. Slathered with a gooey prickly pear barbecue sauce, the meat almost drips off the bone it's so tender. And we admit we are a sucker for Kingfisher's traditional coleslaw (served with the ribs). The slaw is barely kissed with mayonnaise and has a pleasing tang.

But of all the delights at Kingfisher, we confess our biggest weakness (next to desserts) is the hamburger ($9.75).

These babies are thick patties of juicy beef, cooked to be crunchy outside, and just how you like 'em in. Fresh rolls — so fresh that toasting isn't necessary — and an array of toppings add to the meat. On one recent visit, we opted for crispy bacon and Gorgonzola cheese. Mmmmm.

On the plate with the burgers (and the ribs) is a mountain of crisp, salty, very tasty shoestring fries. Double mmmmm.

Kingfisher is right up there when it comes to the best burgers in town.

Of course, it's up there, too, when it comes to desserts. Pastry chef Marianne Banes has risen to goddess status as far as we're concerned.

Banes changes the desserts often, so there's never a chance to grow tired of anything.

Though we would love an opportunity to tire of the lemon cheesecake ($8). The dense, towering slice with a graham cracker crust has just a whisper of lemon. You take a bite, taste the cream cheese, wait a few seconds and get a gentle whiff of lemon. Heaven. This is New York-style cheesecake — a favorite of ours, we admit. But Banes takes it to new heights. Yup, she's a goddess.

Check out azstarnet.com/special/restaurants for more restaurant reviews.