La Merced

This Mexico City-style restaurant in Mesa takes its name from the largest traditional food market in Mexico City, a fact that seems contrary to its small, unassuming home in a near-vacant strip mall but not of its gigantic plates of boldly flavored and affordable eats. Street food fare includes stellar flautas full of moist shredded chicken or beef, huaraches topped with tasty tinga de pollo, and monster-size tortas. For dinner, there’s heady chilaquiles verdes, carne de Puerco, chunks of tender pork in a spicy, green chile sauce, and garlic-tinged carnitas. Wash them down with a sweet horchata, a bracing agua de fruta of pineapple and lemon, or a fruity malt. Or, for a refreshing meal of the liquid kind, try a Bomba served up in a giant-size martini glass.