La Vida

You don’t have to be Catholic to enjoy a trip to Autom, but it probably helps. No matter what your religious tendencies (or lack thereof), this west-side emporium is stocked to the gills with interesting items, from actual priestly garments and church supplies to stuff for laypeople such as books, home decor, and more. If you’re looking for something bearing the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe — the version of the Virgin Mary that is celebrated all over Mexico and the American Southwest — Autom has a wide selection of goods, from statues and Christmas ornaments to rosaries and candles. Keep an eye out for Autom’s Dollar Days events, when the reasonable prices drop even lower.

Of all the flavor combinations, cinnamon and sugar may be our favorite. Which is why we get our hands on a piping-hot churro from Dulce Churro Cafe every chance we get. The offerings here are beyond comparison, mainly because the host of options means we can get exactly what we’re in the mood for. Sometimes, we’re craving the basics: a hot, fresh, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside churro dusted with our beloved cinnamon and sugar. Other times, when we’re really vibing out, we get our churro dipped in chocolate and sprinkles, or with a mango, caramel, or cheesecake dip. Whatever we choose from Dulce Churro Cafe, we know it’ll hit the spot.

What a concept: an eatery that puts equal emphasis on solid Mexican food and mouthwatering desserts. It’s worth the drive to Tacos + Cakes to get our fix for both essential food groups in one spot. Tacos + Cakes has a decently sized menu of typical south of the border dishes at reasonable prices (we like the chicken chimichanga and the rolled tacos filled with shredded beef). It serves breakfast all day, too. But we always save space for the desserts, in particular the tres leches cake. Flavors vary, but on any given day you might find chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pecan, or lemon. You get a hefty square of cake that’s perfectly sweet and not too moist. The shop operated as the Pasteleria Elizabeth bakery for a number of years before adding the food component in early 2020, so it’s no surprise that the desserts sing here.

To call a paleta a Mexican Popsicle is to undervalue the charms of this traditional frozen treat. Paletas Betty’s offerings change from day to day, but usually include traditional combinations, like the Arroz Con Leche, made from milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, and studded with rice, and the Pina Con Chile, a sweet and spicy blend of pineapple, sugar, lime, chiles, and salt. We also love when Paletas Betty gets experimental with it, allowing us to try varieties like the Zarzamora (a blackberry-lavender blend) or the Pepino (a cucumber and mint treat made with Greek yogurt). It’s the mix of the old and new concepts of the paleta that make Paletas Betty our favorite shop in town.

There’s no shortage of great Mexican food in the Valley. But forget about tacos or even chiles en nogada and focus momentarily on desserts. Specifically, the raspado, which is — and this is a vast oversimplification — shaved ice, fruit syrup, and fruit (and sometimes ice cream, lechera, and/or chamoy sauce). Few places have perfected the form like Oasis Raspados. These are among the peak of raspados, which are both sweet and fruity but also savory and spicy for good measure. Yet Oasis’s tasty treats go so much further, and whether you opt for the indulgent Obispo or the light and creamy Fruti-Nieve, you can expect a perfectly refreshing blend of quality, craftsmanship, and creativity. Oasis has also refined the overall experience and sense of community that comes with these taste sensations. It’s not about artisanal ingredients, lines out the door, or a decent presence on Instagram — this is the dessert all of us can enjoy.

Last year, a Latin-influenced restaurant from the same team behind Taco Guild opened Ofrenda (or “offering”) on the main strip in Cave Creek. The eatery offers an extensive wine and cocktail list, as well as menu items like pork empanadas, lobster tacos, and tomahawk steak. This new north Valley restaurant also hopes to amass a bigger selection of agave-based spirits than any other in the world — and it’s well on its way. A colossus of a 300-seater with two stories of outdoor tables, Ofrenda has a 20-foot-tall “library” of tequila and mezcal accessed by ladders (remember that scene in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast?). Behind a bar near the entrance stands prominent bottles: Mezcal Carreno, a brand with some Arizona roots, and El Tesoro. “We’re going for the world record,” Carlos Marquez, executive chef, told New Times earlier this year. We think they’ll pull it off.

Messing with a perfect thing is dangerous. It’s a wonder, then, that so many bartenders feel the need to gussy up the margarita, one of the world’s few perfect drinks. CRUjiente does attempt some pretty wild riffs on the good, old-fashioned marg, like coconut and passionfruit-serrano. But the Premier Cru, the restaurant’s lower-end, ordinary margarita, taps into the classic cocktail’s legendary refreshment. Co-owner and bar maestro Jason Morris adheres to the tried-and-true classic recipe: blue-agave tequila, lime, and agave syrup. He rebalances the equation a bit to include more tequila and a kiss of orange imparted by muddling a slice. It’s a small final touch, but adds complexity and bracing goodness, making for a perfect marg. 

The hot summer months become a little more bearable with a well-made — but not too expensive — margarita in hand. At Juan Jaime’s, margs will run you only $5.50. And you’re definitely not going to stop with just one margarita here. The mix of tequila, triple sec, and house-made sour mix isn’t overpowering, but it’s so smooth that you’ll surprise yourself by ordering another margarita within minutes. (A skinny version of the same margarita is also up for grabs.) The ambiance adds to the mix; the restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, and a bar area ripe for people watching. We recommend ordering some chips with spicy salsa after your second marg — you don’t want to enjoy too many of these on an empty stomach.

Local chain Los Altos Ranch Market feels in many ways more like a community space than a supermarket. The store is always abuzz with activity: at the quasi-food court, a long, cafeteria-style setup that sells burritos, tacos, and quesadillas for takeout or dine-in at the indoor picnic tables; at the bakery, where customers pick up big, puffy conchas and eye the cakes in the refrigerated cases; and at the full-service meat and fish counters. You can buy and sell gold at the kiosk near the exit, or buy a pinata for your kid’s birthday party. Los Altos has a decent selection of American grocery items, but if we were just looking for some peanut butter, we’d go elsewhere. We come to Los Altos for Sonora-style tortillas the size of vinyl records, for huge chunks of fresh cotija cheese, for tubs of red and green mole. The upbeat music and positive energy we encounter when we visit is just icing on the tres leches cake.

Should I stop for a box? Or a quick concha? Or a tamale or burrito? The sequence of questions flickers through the mind of every in-the-know driver passing the west Valley location of this esteemed panaderia. This summer, the answer became easier once La Purisima released its Suns-themed concha, spiraled with waves of crunchy purple and orange sugar, its bun soft and yeasty. The old classics slap hard. Marranitos are soft and chewy and rich, with dusky notes of molasses. Orejas dipped in chocolate and simple squares of tres leches cake are everything they can be. Staring down the pastry case, you can only go right. 

Kids may get excited in traditional candy stores, but we’re old enough that M&Ms and gummy bears just don’t thrill us anymore. Still, we can’t help but marvel at the selection at Dulceria Valentinas, the local chain of party shops. They do have some American offerings, but those are old hat. We’re much more interested in the dizzying array of Mexican sweets, which Dulceria Valentinas has in abundance. There are a few things we’re familiar with by now, like the De La Rosa peanut candy. But we’ve had a whale of time browsing the aisles and picking up some new-to-us treats to sample, like Mamut, the chocolate-covered cookie-and-marshmallow dessert, and Pico, an orange and chili-flavored powdered candy. We return every so often to discover a new batch of favorites.

We drove past La Frontera #1 for years, barely noticing it, until the day we stopped and grabbed a meal at the truck. Now, every time we rush past its home parking lot in downtown Phoenix, we think about all the food that lives there. Bean tostadas, the creamy frijoles hidden under a pile of avocado, onion, cabbage, tomato, and cheese. Burritos heavy with some of the best al pastor in the city. The truck serves breakfast in the morning and stays open well into the night, so there aren’t many hours in the day that you can’t satisfy your craving for simple, well-done Mexican food at La Frontera #1. La Frontera #3 is stationed in the same parking lot, making the corner of 16th and Monroe streets a mini food court (La Frontera #2 can be found in the west Valley). Oh, and don’t forget to bring cash — they won’t take your card.

The deceptively large Mexican Arts Imports in central Phoenix is a riot of color; everything from the home decor to the clothing and accessories to the kitchenware is done in bright hues of blue, red, yellow, and green. We don’t visit the place, which has been in business for more than 50 years, as often as we’d like — we don’t have the willpower to browse without leaving with a shopping bag full of goodies. But we go there for the gorgeous, hand-tooled leather bags, Talavera serving bowls (they make excellent housewarming gifts), painstakingly painted trinket boxes, and more. So much more we can’t list it all here. The store recently added the ability to shop online to its website, but nothing beats a trip to 24th Street to take in all this gem has to offer.

In college, we went to a party that featured a pinata full of mini liquor bottles, condoms, and underwear. Not our classiest moment, but we tell the story to illustrate the fact that you’re never too old for the joys of whacking a hollow object with a stick. Dulceria La Bonita has the best selection of pinatas in town, from the whimsical many-pointed stars in a variety of colors, to cute animals, to popular characters like Batman, Baby Yoda, Elmo, and more. And when you’re there, you’ll find everything else you need to outfit your party, like disposable dinnerware and party favors. There’s also a staggering array of Mexican and American candy, which makes far better pinata filler than … well, you know.

When you walk into a small bookstore, the experience is so often the same no matter the city or year. The bestsellers. The classics. The currently trendy fiction and nonfiction volumes that are all the rage in literary circles. Walking into the new location of Palabras on Roosevelt Street is a different experience entirely. Here, the literary canon is smashed. The shelves are curated according to more searching, freeform, and truly independent tastes. Books are in English or Spanish. Minority authors are nicely represented, especially authors from the Southwest and Latin countries. Events pull serious talent — and not big empty literary names, but writers making a true difference.

Latin dance joints may dot Phoenix’s nightlife scene, but La Flor de Calabaza differs from other local discotecas and clubs with its unique setup and a more varied music selection. Es verdad. Primarily a high-style cantina with a menu of dishes sourced from throughout Mexico, it transforms into a lively lounge where the vibe, crowd, and soundtrack evolves throughout the night. Opening at 5 p.m., evenings on weekends are more family-friendly with live music from rock en Español on Fridays and Saturdays or mariachi ensembles on Sundays. DJs take over later in the night, and the playlists are a mix of regional styles such as Tejano and norteño, plus Latin pop, hip-hop, and EDM. Members of the club crowd dance in whatever space is available between tables. If you want more than just Pitbull or Bad Bunny bangers powering your nighttime outings, get your culos over to La Flor de Calabaza.

It’s been nearly two decades since Mariachi Pasion began in a music class at Arizona State University after eight students decided to play together for a family member. Now, with nearly twice as many musicians, the all-female group is still blending beautiful mariachi music with charm, grace, and emotive power. The group plays all around the Valley, helping to bring mariachi music and culture to new audiences. Sporting crisp and elegant traditional mariachi outfits that signal their professionalism and passion for the music they make, they always bring a smile to those who hear them play. By combining musicianship, melodic voices, and soulful expression, Mariachi Pasion creates new mariachi fans wherever they go, helping to assure this exquisite art form thrives far into the future.

Julia Chacon, whose Julia Chacon Flamenco Theater group began as Inspiración Flamenca in 2008, takes viewers on journeys through a beautiful hybridization of cultures reflected in this Spanish art form filled with emotion and movement. She’s adapted throughout her journey, bringing others along with her to create new connections rooted in the power of cultures to unify and enlighten. The group’s performances are precise but passionate, and Chacon surrounds herself with artists who are truly dedicated to their craft and the community they share. When the pandemic presented challenges for teaching live dance, the dance theater took its classes online, assuring that flamenco would continue to serve as a unifying force. It’s impossible to witness Julia Chacon Flamenco Theater perform without catching flamenco fever, then finding more ways to make the art form’s beauty and power a part of your life.

More than three dozen creatives are part of the artist community at Xico, which showcases Latino and Indigenous artists. Xico excelled this year in finding new avenues to get artists’ work in front of eyeballs despite the challenges of the pandemic. Xico created a series of videos featuring studio visits, which gave people a rare chance to see where these artists work and to hear them talk about their creative practices. It presented several exhibitions online, in a format that helped people feel like they were actually walking through the gallery space. And it curated murals on the exterior of a shipping container in Roosevelt Row, showcasing the work of emerging artists in a nontraditional format that appeals to a wide range of audiences, from art nerds making the gallery rounds to hipsters biking down the street.

The Sagrado Galleria opened in south Phoenix in 2016 as the place to go when you want to experience a wide range of works by Latino artists. The gallery presents exhibitions featuring emerging and established artists, and works to foster connections between the two that help up-and-coming artists grow and thrive in their creative paths. It’s a community hub where everyone is welcome to explore Latino culture through visual art, performance, and food. The gallery also holds events in other community spaces, creating more opportunities for people to learn about Latino art and artists working in and beyond metro Phoenix.

Maria’s Frybread may not keep 24/7 hours like so many Mexican drive-thru restaurants around town do, but what it lacks in availability, it makes up for in the quality of the food. The red chile beef open frybread is our pick — the pillowy bread laden with savory meat and fresh lettuce, tomato, and cheese tortures us with its irresistible aromas from the passenger seat until we can get it home. But there are also plenty of other options, including burritos (breakfast and otherwise), tostadas, pozole, enchiladas, and more. If you can spare the time, we also love to sit and eat in Maria’s tiny dining room, where the red-and-white checked tablecloths provide the perfect ambiance for the down-home delicious offerings.

President Joe Biden, then a candidate, stopped into Barrio Café with Kamala Harris for a photo op in October 2020. And somehow, the legend of Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza grew. It’s been growing for a while, since she opened on 16th Street two decades ago. Most recently, during the first months of the pandemic, she turned Barrio Café into a community kitchen, stewing chile and folding burritos for her “fellow man” in need. Times got hard even for Barrio Café. Still, it remains one of the most interesting, thoughtful, and on-point menus in town. Esparza still rocks out her famous dishes, like guacamole with chiles en nogada, and seafood enchiladas that blend Mexican and French techniques. Over the years, she has adapted, incorporating the smoker more and more. Sitting at the tiny bar with cochinita pibil and a frosty margarita remains one of the great culinary and cultural pleasures in town.

We recommend you bring a big appetite to Dick’s Hideaway. Small portions aren’t really a thing here, and that most certainly includes the relleno platter, one of the most satisfying plates in town. The fried peppers are stuffed with your choice of pork, cheese, smoked turkey, beef, or duck. (We love the decadent richness of the duck, but there’s not a bad option.) The peppers are topped with red chile sauce or green chile sauce, or you can get it Christmas style (that’s both sauces, for the uninitiated). Add in heaping piles of Mexican rice and pinto beans, and a giant tortilla, and you’ve got a traditional New Mexican plate that sings with flavor and leaves you very, very full.

Most trendy Mexican restaurants in town plate all kinds of thoughtless crowd-pleasers. Chantico swings bigger. Sometimes it misses, sure. But the hits are upper-deck home runs that hang with the best progressive Mexican food in town. Walter Sterling and his team cook a crispy duck leg smothered in dark-as-night mole negro, offset by the warmth of vanilla and brightness of orange. Their version of cocinita pibil features a medley of stellar pickles, offering crisp freshness to cut through the heat and fatty dissolve of the pork. The restaurant itself? A knockout indoor-outdoor space with impressive tiling and beach-style lighting, a scene that whisks you far away. 

In recent years, a formidable vegan Mexican dining scene has sprouted up in Phoenix. One of the more recent celebrated upstarts, Pachamama, features predominantly Mexican food with Pan-Latin elements. This west Phoenix restaurant comes from Kevin Lebron, a Puerto Rican chef who formerly cooked at La Grande Orange, and his vegan wife, Maria. They crisp tortillas for tacos de papas on the long plancha, sliver hearts of palm for vegan ceviche, blend a light, fruity, ethereal salsa that portrays chile in a nimble way. The tacos feature Yukon Golds touched with coconut milk and cashew-chipotle crema. Their shatter reverberates through your mind and body. All said, it’s one of the most impressive meatless tacos in town. 

This already beloved traveling taco stand changes its menu monthly (or so), with themes rooted in Mexican cuisine — and a few distinctions thrown in. Founded by owners Lawrence Smith and Aseret Arroyo during the pandemic, Chilte Tacos channels the varied traditions of Arroyo’s experience with Sinaloa cooking. Smith (who was an NFL player with the Indianapolis Colts before going to culinary school) has cooked in impressive kitchens himself, including Elements, Ghost Ranch, and Match. One past theme was birria, which saw birria matched with tacos, ramen, and fufu — and they’ve tucked that tender birria into tortillas blackened by squid ink to create quesabirrias, something we’ll never forget. They’ve served hot chicken tortas, bulgogi tacos, and chapulin tamales too. What they cook varies as widely as their location, which ranges all over town.

Ask anyone who’s lived or spent time near downtown Mesa if they know the bright-pink Mexican food restaurant with the old-school neon cocktail sign, and most likely, the answer is yes. That’s because the family-operated eatery El Charro Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge has been at the Country Club Drive spot since 1958 (though it was originally located at 416 West Main Street when it opened in the 1940s). El Charro is known for plush red booths, classic memorabilia, neon beer signs, and strong takes on simple Mexican-American classics: chips and salsa, enchiladas, and margaritas. Since 2017, El Charro had sat vacant, a sign at the entrance reading “CLOSED FOR VACATION OPEN AFTER LABOR DAY.” Then, on May 5 — Cinco de Mayo 2021 — the eatery reopened, offering just takeout. Eva Munoz Orta, the daughter of previous owner Fred Munoz, who died in 2012, has taken the reins — and customers can dine in now, too.

The perfect downtown taqueria doesn’t exi — wait, it does. At Taco Boy’s, two generations of the Cornejo family have been throwing whole sacks of lump charcoal onto the Santa Maria grill for two years, giving slips of ruby beef next-level char and supreme tenderness. The taqueria pulls massive crowds into its modest, brightly painted space. Friday nights, it’s pretty much standing room only. Just about everything you can order here is very good, from simple grilled chicken all the way to a salty, crispy tripa and a cabeza with about 30,000 leagues of flavor. Taco Boy’s cradles meats on masterful flour tortillas driven up from Sonora. Though the taqueria bustles in the heart of downtown, you feel as if you might be feasting at a rollicking backyard grill-out. 

COVID-19 may have prevented live music shows from happening at downtown venue Crescent Ballroom for most of 2021, but its in-house restaurant Cocina 10 was open for takeout. Temporary pandemic relief was something we sought out wherever we could — at Crescent, it was found by diving into a plate of crunch-tastic I-10 Nachos. These feature a heaping portion of tortilla chips topped with cheddar and Oaxaca cheese, refried beans, cilantro, pico de gallo, sour cream, and more cheese (that’s cotija sprinkled atop the crispy, savory tower). In addition to being an addictively delicious platter, it has a perfect chips-to-toppings ratio, so you’re not left wishing you had more chips or fixins. Vegans, no worries, you’re covered, too: The chips in that version are loaded with a thick and creamy vegan cheese and bean dip, guacamole, cilantro, pico de gallo, and vegan jalapeno crema.

Though the Maskadores micro-chain has grown to several locations, quality hasn’t dipped at all. It remains a fun blue space adorned with heroic images of lucha libre wrestlers donning their iconic masks. The quick-serve, vaguely fast-casual Mexican restaurant brings it on a whole lot of plates, but none better than its enchiladas. An order comes with two tight, crispy corn tortillas — not the usual enchilada tubes but half-moons, utterly maximizing surface area for the enchilada sauce (red or green) smothering and seeping to the far edge of the plate. With rice and an unbelievably soulful side scoop of pinto beans, these enchiladas make for a supremely satisfying gut-busting lunch. 

By the time we order a chimichanga, we’ve already come to terms with the fact that we’re about to eat a deep-fried burrito topped with a bunch of stuff, all of which will come on a platter with even more food. Since we’ve committed to this calorie-laden feast, we may as well go big or go home, which is why we like Rosita’s Place when it’s time for a cheat meal. You’ll never forget the first time a Rosita’s chimi is slid in front of you: it’s massive, topped with dollops of guacamole and sour cream and sprinkled with cheese. Fillings include chicken, machaca, or beans, which you’ll find when you bust through the crispy exterior. Add in a side of rice and beans, and you’ve got a sublime plate of Mexican cuisine.

Another year, another win for Rito’s, one of our most reliable, humble, great Mexican classics. Whether green chile beef or red chile beef, whether shredded chicken or beautiful refried pinto beans, whether deep-fried into a chimichanga or sauce-drowned into an enchilada-style burro, you cannot go wrong with a burrito from any of the Rito’s locations. A fragrant, lightly toasted flour tortilla wraps the saucy package like a rough sail. In its package, it looks about as big as a football. You can add rice and cheese to the middle, but would you add new brushstrokes to a Picasso? These deeply comforting burros are perfect as-is. 

Breakfast burrito is kind of a misnomer, because we’ll eat an egg-stuffed burrito from El Norteño any time we can get one. We like it with chorizo, or sometimes bacon; add potatoes and cheese and you’re still well under $10 for something that will leave you full and happy. Each component is well-executed, from the moist (but not runny eggs) to the crisp bacon to the soft potatoes. The red sauce that comes on the side adds a pleasant kick, but you don’t need it to enjoy the burrito. Make sure you’ve planned a place to eat your burrito; there’s not a whole lot in the way of seating at El Norteño. And don’t forget to stop by the ATM; it’s cash-only. Once you’ve got the logistics handled, though, you’re well on your way to breakfast burrito bliss.

In our city, where eating cold, citrus-bright fresh fish is a summer necessity, the stellar ceviche options are many. The truest to the dish’s refreshing, simple spirit might be the version plated by Chefs Carlos Diaz and Doug Robson at Gallo Blanco in Garfield. Gallo’s ceviche de pescado is a ceviche of the day. It changes with the freshest offerings available from Chula Seafood, but the other core components remain largely the same. Plenty of herbs. Slivers of pepper. Citrus. Olive oil. Every last one of its elements converges to highlight the fish, celebrating it with the joy that only a desert city in a landlocked state can. 

The quality of a tamale really rises and falls on the masa dough; we’ve had plenty of dry, mealy, tasteless tamales that made us less-than-appreciative of this traditional dish. That’s not the case at The Tamale Store, where the goods never fail to delight. The selection of fresh tamales changes a little from day to day, but our favorites include the mildly spicy pork red chile and the creamy green corn with cream cheese. All the tamales are lard- and gluten-free, and there are a number of vegan options, too, such as the hearty Southwest veggie, which comes stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, corn, and salsa. If your favorite variety is unavailable fresh when you stop by, make sure to grab some packages from the freezer case in the mercado section, where you can also find Tamale Store-branded salsas and other goodies.

This self-professed king of the torta lives up to its name. Since 2001, Los Reyes has been slinging a wide array of tortas that stray minimally from their Mexican origins. This isn’t a place where you’ll see progressive garnishes or newfangled ingredients that “improve” on the classics. Here, tortas tend to be about 25 percent soft bollilo roll, 75 percent fillings. Layers upon layers of tender, paper-thin bistec are heaped between bread. Many tortas have a warm, gooey layer of melted mozzarella. One unites chorizo, pork, and Spanish omelet — and that’s before we even get to the avocado, tomato, and chipotle sauce. Sandwiches are about ratios, and the ratios on these tortas, whether spotlighting breaded chicken or onions and jalapeños, are flawless.   

The very best bite of Mexican food in town might be the quesadilla with marinated pork from Tacos Chiwas, nirvana attainable for $6.50. How can this simple combo of cheese, tortilla, and pork be so outstanding? Well, the tortilla isn’t a circle of shirt cardboard but a craft product that the Tacos Chiwas founders, Nadia Holguin and Armando Hernandez, press themselves. These tortillas are toasted with high skill: browning them, crisping them, and bringing their grainy spirit to full life. Glorious asadero cheese oozes. And the pork is tender and radiant with heat and all the goodness chiles can muster. A Phoenix cheap eats hall of famer, first ballot.

Christopher Hudson uses local ingredients to make fancy-as-fuck Sonoran-style tortillas. Some of these are simple: tortillas made with lard, with heritage grain, or even with corn. Others get stupendously weird, like blueberry-honey-Bordeaux. Hudson won’t hesitate to put chocolate or mulberries in tortillas, but he will hesitate to serve tortillas not up to his standards. He has thrown out batches before, and probably will again. To get his stuff, you need to arrive at the Gilbert Farmers’ Market early, as these tortillas fly out of the specialty bin. Also, you have to use them fast, because they’re made with perishables. Luckily, they’re also available more regularly at Arcadia Meat Market. 

The stewy, saucy Mexican bites known as guisados are the homestyle focus of Just Tacos, run by a team that includes Violeta Cortez. Just Tacos opened a few days before the world shut down in March 2020, yet has won a loyal following. The call of the guisado cannot be denied, especially when we’re talking about a chile relleno absolutely stuffed with panela cheese, battered and fried, and served on a tortilla that when folded can barely hold the glorious pepper. Chicken tinga is shredded to deep tenderness, lifted with gentle spicing. Braised pork in guajillo adobo has a deeper, harder, more beautiful kick. Hit the happy hours right (fish Fridays!), and you might become a regular yourself if you aren’t one already. 

The jiggly yolk of a fried egg stares at you like an eye. It’s perched atop a deep bowl of thick tortilla chips laced with red dust. Chopped herbs, red onion curls, and drifts of cheese cling to the chips. These chips? Tortillas cut and fried to order. The red dust? More of a tight sauce powered by guajillo and pasilla chiles. The chile flavor has a rare depth, rich notes of judiciously added chicken stock mellowing the cool burn. All said, this chilaquiles bowl is a masterclass in soulful flavor and textures. Chef Javier Perez simply reaches another gear with this breakfast staple. 

Elote — that savory dish usually composed of corn, cheese, crema or mayo, lime juice, and seasonings — is prone to one particular pitfall: the weird soupiness that arises when all the ingredients are thrown into a Styrofoam cup. But you don’t have to worry about that at Dilla Libre, where your corn is still on the cob, perfectly roasted and slathered in lime, garlic, cotija cheese, Tapatio crema, and chile lime Tajin seasoning. You can slice it off the cob or eat it picnic-style; the bright flavors sing either way. We recommend Dilla Libre’s elote as a prelude to its hearty quesadillas or burritos. But a word of warning: Despite the fact that cilantro is not mentioned in the menu description, our elote came generously sprinkled with it. If you’re a cilantro-hater like we are, make sure to order it without.

On our great corridor of Mexican food, the vibrant central Phoenix stretch of 16th Street, the crown jewel of the Valley’s Mexican seafood scene awaits. Painted the teal of the sea and the orange of coral, MPH, opened in 2002 by Jose and Maria Maldonado, is approachable and wide-ranging. The move is to sit on the patio, order a marg or a giant glass of beer, and go to town. Molcajetes festooned with shrimp and giant, multi-tier seafood towers adorned with salsa-laced crab legs and oysters electric with aguachile will satisfy groups. But you could also swing a solo lunch here, putting away tacos gobernador or a tostada heaped with ceviche. MPH is simply a sunny, michelada-tinged, old-fashioned good time. 

Mexican food aficionados understand that guacamole is like a fingerprint — everyone’s is a little different. At restaurants around town, we’ve had chunky guacamole and smooth, stripped down to its bare essentials or adorned with nontraditional ingredients. The guac at Diego Pops leans more toward the fancy side; order it at the Old Town Scottsdale hotspot and you get a cup of avocado laced with orange, cotija cheese, blistered jalapeno, and lime juice. It comes surrounded by a sea of hot, fresh tortilla chips. The citrusy notes of the orange and lime give the guac a brightness, the jalapeno injects spice, and the cotija adds creaminess for a version of this beloved dish we order time and time again.