Order “the special” at one of the oldest and most popular food trucks in the northwest Valley.

It’s worth a trip to Chandler to sample these bold and delicious Jamaican dishes.

Barbecued fish, fried spare ribs, mapo tofu, spicy stew, noodle dishes, pan-fried specialties, and veggies offer a glimpse into the vast universe and contemporary possibilities of Sichuan cooking at Original Cuisine, Mesa’s latest hot spot for Sichuan-style Chinese.

It might be summer in metro Phoenix, but at least we have tepache.

Perfect Pear Bistro, a locally owned micro-chain, is this kind of restaurant. It has quietly carved a niche for itself in the Valley as a destination for happy hours, low-key first dates, and as a place to feed your hankering for fancy grilled cheese in Metro Phoenix.

Metro Phoenix may feel far removed from the Deep South, but Southern-style eats and traditional soul food staples long have been a part of our local food culture, and it continues to be, with restaurants like these five soul food gems.

Phoenix might be home to the world’s first camp-themed restaurant.

There are still plenty of new restaurants coming your way in 2017.

At La Poblanita, hard-to-find cemita sandwiches, sophisticated mole, and farmhand enfrijoladas breakfasts make this unassuming restaurant a Maryvale destination.

With half of 2017 already in the books, now seems like a good time to highlight some of our favorite spots that have opened in metro Phoenix so far this year. From a high-profile chef’s buzzy new osteria to a 37-seat neighborhood gem, here are 10 restaurants that are making the Valley a more delicious place to eat and drink.

You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a classic Tex-Mex puffy taco.

Heng’s Kitchen is a small counter-service Chinese restaurant tucked into a corner of the food court at Mekong Plaza in Mesa. It might be the least flashy restaurant at Mekong, but it offers an extensive menu of traditional Chinese dishes (more than 100 at last count), including a pretty broad repertoire of Shanghainese and Sichuan specialties you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere in the Valley.

This family-owned taqueria is run by perfectionists. The made-to-order dishes may take a little time, but the results, from killer buche tacos to fresh-made corn tortillas, are totally worth it.

Highly refined, modern Sonoran cuisine comes as a welcome surprise at Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen in the Andaz Resort, Scottsdale.

You won’t find these crispy, saucy, Guadalajara-style tacos at most taco shops around town.

Tacos are served on fresh-made corn tortillas at this Buckeye Road staple, along with the Sinaloan specialty, aguachile, a chile-spiked ceviche.

You won’t find stale or crumbly tortillas at this Avondale taquería and tortilla factory.

The beloved Flagstaff noodle shop, SoSoBa, opened in Downtown Phoenix last fall, adding inventive, non-traditional Asian cuisine to Roosevelt Row.

This beloved Mesa hole-in-the-wall serves up some killer carnitas.

The carne asada and tacos de chicharrón really shine at this family-run restaurant on Phoenix’s east side.

Are you a new school or old school diner fan? We can’t decide, so here are our top five.