Best Mexican Party Store 2013 | Sueños y Recuerdos | La Vida | Phoenix
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Best Mexican Party Store

Sueños y Recuerdos

Friendly, helpful workers make this bright, fun store that much better. At this one-stop shop, you get everything you need to throw a fabulous party. You can pick up one of the piñatas it has in stock or, if you give them a week's notice, you can custom-order one. Need a water slide? They have it available for rent. Ditto for jukeboxes and karaoke machines, along with margarita, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cone, slush machines — and even a mini-hot dog cart you can haul away for the day. True to the name, Sueños y Recuerdos also carries delicate, frilly recuerdos (keepsakes) for weddings, baptisms, first communions, baby showers, and quinceañeras.

Best Mexican Tchotchkes

Mercado Mexico

A flock of ceramic chickens greets you at Mercado Mexico. We could say it's almost like they're egging you on to explore — but that would be cheesy. And the chickens are only the beginning. Past the chickens are brightly colored turtles, frogs, lizards, and pigs — all keeping warm under blazing metal suns. There are candle holders, wrought-iron works of art, pieces twisted and flattened into flowers, potted-plant holders, and decorative wall pieces. And there are pots; oh, how there are pots — pots with lids, pots for planting, giant pots just for display, pots emblazoned with desert landscapes and Mexican or Indian villages. Don't be chicken; get shopping.

Best Mexican Home Goods

Mexamigo Furniture

No matter what you want, this place has it. Rustic, leather-covered chaise lounges. A six-foot pine bar with built-in drawers and a wine rack. Decorative vases and pots that range from "Hey, let's plant a few herbs" to suitable for an indoor queen palm. Mexamigo gets its goods from a factory in Guadalajara, so it's as authentic Mexican craftsmanship as you can get. As packed as this place is, it is clean and organized, easy to maneuver. There are rows and rows — and stacks upon stacks — of crosses, wall art, paintings, mirrors, tiles, wood and ceramic statues, talavera pottery, fountains, wrought iron gates, doors, antiques . . . Well, like we said, no matter what you want, this place has it. If they don't have it, you can custom-order it and they'll create it.

Best Mexican Market

El Rancho Mercado y Carniceria

We love the large supermercados in town, but when all we need is a cone or two of piloncillo or a package of chipotles, this tiny market in Mesa is just the thing to fill our shopping basket. With the same selection as the big stores (but edited), the shelves of this small shop (and the delicious bakery attached to it) burst with Mexican cleaning products, pickled jalepeños, every type of dried chile used in Latin cooking, and a quick-moving and well-priced produce section. The meat counter running the width of the store is packed full of house-cut meats, which are expertly seasoned and cooked for the small and affordable ready-to-eat food section, with a food coma-inducing $5 torta. Grab a Mexican Coke and enjoy every bite before even leaving the store, at one of the thoughtfully provided red laminate tables.

Best Margarita

Margarita Especial Sierra Bonita Grill

How did we know we'd likely stumbled upon a winner in the Best Margarita category? The name, silly. A high-class joint like Sierra Bonita Grill was hardly going to call a margarita special if it wasn't. And, oh, this one is. The not-so-secret ingredient that pushes it over the edge is brandy, but from top to bottom, this drink is all good: shaken orange juice, Cointreau, reposado tequila, and homemade sweet and sour. Be sure to bring your designated driver; this drink is a strong one.

Best Tequila

Senor Rio Tequila Jalisco International Imports

It used to be a private, friends-and-family-only, small-batch tequila going back three generations in the town of Tequila, Jalisco. Today this smooth premium tequila is a gift resulting from the reunion of an estranged father and daughter, bringing an elegant tequila to the American market. Stone oven-cooked blue agave hearts are the foundation of a spirit that's double-distilled and shipped from Jalisco to Queen Creek, where Debbie Medina of Jalisco International Imports Inc. and her partner, Jonathan Gach, bottle the family secret. At $50 for the French white oak barrel-aged Reposado, it isn't a bargain, but this light amber liquid isn't a shooting tequila — it's a tequila for sipping neat while sharing your own family secrets.

Best Tequila Selection

Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails

Ever spend an hour trying to pick out a tequila from a list of 100 bottles? We don't like our tequila-sipping time being wasted by bottom-shelf tequila. We want to get to the good stuff and get to it fast. Give us a tequila list with an opinion and some editing or give us gin.

Hold the gin bottle, though; Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails has done the editing for us and put together a thoughtful list of fewer than 25 tequilas, all sip-worthy, no salt, lime, or sour mix required. Not being a Mexican restaurant may give the sleek Blue Hound a leg up in the tequila competition by allowing it to be more selective. If you still can't figure out what to sip, chat with Steph the bartender and let her help you decide.

Best Latin DJ

DJ Kyko

According to Miguel Morales, he isn't much into twerking. And he felt that way long, long before Miley Cyrus made the notorious booty-shaking maneuver even more infamous (and earning worldwide scorn as a result) on the VMAs earlier this month. The 31-year-old, who's also known as DJ Kyko, says he leaves that to the ladies to handle. "I'm a dude," Morales quips. "And dudes shouldn't ever twerk."

He's happy to bring that about by dropping Latin songs with some serious tempo and bounce, like maybe "Wiggle Wiggle" by Fulanito, during his Friday night main room hip-hop and reggaeton set at Monarch Theatre or up at Q-Lounge when he's there on Tuesdays and Saturdays slinging more Latin sets filled with merengues. But only, he says, when the time is right. After DJing professionally for more than a decade, like any ace selector, Morales has learned to read a room properly and pick the perfect songs for the particular mood and crowd. "If it's a majority of ladies, they're gonna want more of a Latin feel," he says. "Dudes want more machismo so I go with reggaeton or hip-hop." Both sexes, however, really dig it when he cues up super-popular tracks like "Echa Pa'lla (Manos Pa'rriba)" by Pitbull, which has resulted in one giant sing-along at Monarch. "I can shut off the music and have 600 people at once singing an entire hook of a song by themselves, and I mean they'll go word for word," he says. "It's amazing." But not nearly as astounding as when he saw 15 girls twerking together in unison. "That was fun to watch," Morales says. It's just one of the many perks of being a DJ.

Best Latin Night

Sabados Latinos, Saturdays at Q-Lounge

Latin dance fans who can't get their culos into Q-Lounge by midnight on a Saturday might as well stay at home. ¿Porqué? Because you missed out on the best moment of the weekly Sabados Latinos night, wey, and it's a quite a spectacle. Allow us to set the scene: Adjacent rooms inside the barbecue joint/dance club are packed to capacity with hundreds, each wielding balloons and glowsticks as uptempo Latin dance music blasts out. The high-energy soundtrack builds to a crescendo, confetti cannons fire away, the bouncing and dancing increases, and buxom beer girls hold aloft signs urging everyone to go even harder (as if that were possible). It's an epic conflagration of sound and movement that's truly a sight to behold. If only you could've been there. We suggest arriving earlier in order to enjoy the whole night, which includes R&B and Top 40 mixed in with reggaeton that echoes through the main room while salsa, cumbia, and bachata dominate next door. Both options require fast moves and quick feet, especially if wanna keep up with the chica next to you, cabrón.

Best Latin Club

Sky Lounge

When it comes down to it, getting into Sky Lounge on Friday and Saturday nights is pretty easy. You just dress nicely (read: no caps or sportswear), wait patiently, and don't be a dick to security. Really, it's getting out that's the hard part. And not just because it gets really busy on weekends. Sky Lounge features the enticing combination of cheap drinks (including the ever-popular Adios Motherfuckers for $3 until midnight) and two levels filled with hot sounds and even hotter women. However, most of the crowd that comes to this longtime downtown Phoenix discoteca (which has been around since 1992) come to dance. And the DJs are glad to oblige. One floor typically is the domain of Latin genres such as salsa and bachata, while the other is hip to the Top 40 and R&B tip. Another reason to stay inside Sky Lounge is its 3 a.m. closing time, which allows you to avoid the usual chaos of the Washington Street club scene that ensues when neighboring clubs kick their patrons out onto the sidewalk at closing time.

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