Offbeat Eats

After a morning spent looking at the most excellent native art collections at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, as well as having a quick trip over to Wes Bolin Plaza to look at the various memorials, we decided that we needed a quick lunch. Luckily, Phoenix has the same, healthy taco truck economy that I’ve come to expect from any major Southwestern city. Easy to miss the place, since you can’t directly see the truck from the street without eagle eyes, since they’ve ensconced it in several blue tarps to make a seating area of a few rickety tables and chairs (as well as a place to get out of the sun). The truck itself makes one wall of the dining area, so you wander up to the window and place your order, and then hang out and relax as they assemble it…

(Closed) One of the biggest things I miss living in rural New England is that Mexican breakfasts are almost non-existent. Good Mexican places are few and far between, those that serve breakfast doubly so. But my parents live in Mesa, AZ, which always has had a reasonably good selection of Mexican restaurants, with even more showing up in recent years. And, luckily for me, most of them serve breakfast. So when we had a free morning while visiting my parents, Carol and I were craving breakfast burritos, so I decided to check out Amado’s Mexican Food…

On Christmas Eve, we did one of our usual hikes in the Phoenix area (South Mountain’s National Trail), and afterward, we decided to grab a late lunch. Of course, this isn’t always the easiest thing to do on Christmas Eve, since most businesses aren’t open (in the past, we’ve ended up at TGI Friday’s for similar reasons). Of course, Southwest Mesa (and the adjoining area in Chandler) have developed a substantial Asian population, and now the area between Dobson and Alma School from roughly Main Street in the North, down to Ray Road in the South, has gotten quite the selection of Vietnamese Pho shops. Several of these were open on Christmas Eve, including Pho Nhat on Southern…

(Closed) Wandering about Scottsdale, we noticed a little shop on Stetson Drive called “Lee’s Cream Liqueurs” which featured a variety of ice cream flavors, many of which were made with real liqueurs. While all sorts of little ice cream stores seem to be popping up everywhere, and some of them (like Humphrey Slocombe in San Francisco, whose cornflake and bourbon ice cream I reviewed last May) have the occasional liqueur-infused flavor on the menu, most places don’t feature it outright. There’s actually a good reason for that, in that the much lower melting point of alcohol makes it hard to make a good ice cream without sacrificing a little bit of firmness. That said, Lee of Lee’s Cream Liqueur seems to have figured it out, since about half of her flavors are either outright liqueur-flavored, or have liqueur-flavored swirls in them. But Lee’s Cream Liqueur looked to be relatively popular, and the ice cream looked enticing, so we decided to give it a try…

The Phoenix area is one of those areas that I visit often enough that I’ve started to have a “hit list” of places that I like to visit every time I’m in town. Sure, it cuts into my exploration of new places, but since I’ve enjoyed these so much in the past, I like to go back for another visit. The list is rather varied, but includes places such as The Chuckbox, Ted’s Hot Dogs, Haji-Baba’s, and Pizzeria Bianco. Indeed, I actually visited all of those places this visit (oddly, Carol hadn’t been to the Chuckbox or Bianco yet!), and they are all still going strong. But it’s worth talking about Pizzeria Bianco a bit more, since several changes have happened since I last reviewed them…

Sometimes it pays off to take the back roads and shortcuts. I’ve always found Yuma to be a bit challenging when it comes to finding a righteous breakfast. Actually, on my previous trips, my best breakfasts have all been out at the Proving Ground, that being the breakfast burritos from the bowling alley, and Sidewinder Cafe (the food truck across from Luguna Airfield and the Free Fall School). And in town, I’ve done all right at Brownie’s Cafe, and found that Arizona Donut has a surprisingly good breakfast burrito, but in general, I haven’t been wowed. However, on last June’s trip to Yuma, I took a shortcut from Burger’s n’ Beer on 20th street back to my hotel on Hwy 95, which took me through the residential area east of 4th Ave. Heading north on 1st Ave, between 19th and 20th Street I saw this little unassuming neighborhood grocery store call “Stan’s Grocery”, and I noticed their sign said “Voted Best Breakfast Burritos in Yuma.” I put it on my Hit List as a place to check out the next time I’m in town.

One of the things I always enjoyed about the Phoenix area was the vast array of businesses that cater to the Mexican population. Unlike most places I’ve lived, it’s relatively easy to go out and get some fresh masa, a wide variety of chile peppers, tamales, and the like, with most neighborhoods having either a grocery store that caters to the Mexican market, or at least does a good job of carrying Mexican staples and tortillas from some local bakery. However, on my last trip through Mesa, Arizona, I noticed that Ranch Market, the long-time Phoenix Mexican-themed supermarket, had now opened a location in Mesa, so I decided to go in and check it out, since I hadn’t been to Ranch Market in a while.

It’s time to talk about the other great joy of going to Yuma. No, I’m not talking about the green chile burgers at the Yuma Proving Ground bowling alley (although they do make a pretty good burger). I’m talking about the variety of taco stands that can be found all over Yuma. Around 5-6 pm every day, all sorts of sleepy little stands all over town (but centralized on West 8th, aka Calle Ocho) fire up their grills and start mixing up fresh jamaicas and horchata. Yes, to me, that is the real Yuma culinary experience, eating tacos from all manner of little trucks, stands, and tents located on vacant lots and parking lots.

Anyone that’s been reading this blog for a while knows, for as long as I’ve been doing the blog I’ve had periodic trips to Yuma, since it’s the Army’s premiere spot for, well, throwing crap out of airplanes (I’ve got several projects at work that involve parachutes and parachute guidance systems). I’ve now been to Yuma enough times that I’ve got a lot of favorite restaurants (more on that when I do the next installment of my taco adventures), traditions (getting a Route 44 cherry limeade at Sonic to celebrate successful testing after a long day in the desert), and places that I keep meaning to try (Mar Azul, for example). Brownie’s Cafe I discovered on my first trip to Yuma years ago (it’s hard to miss, being on 4th Ave/I-8 BL/Old Highway 80), with a most distinctive storefront (which I’ve done a mediocre job of capturing with this 2008 image), and I usually go there for breakfast once every trip…

For years people (both friends in AZ and credible bloggers) have been telling me that I have to try Pizzeria Bianco, since it’s the “best pizza ever”. Yeah, I’ve heard that many times before, for many places, and usually when someone says a place is that good? It’s usually good, but no Pepe’s, Lombardi’s, or Punch (to name three of my pizza favorites). However, Bianco has gotten a huge amount of buzz, consistently, for years. And Chris Bianco has even gotten a James Beard award…