Tirion Boan
Audio By Carbonatix
When a new spot opens in town, we’re eager to check it out, let you know our initial impressions, share photos and dish about menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened – an occasion to sample a few items and satisfy curiosities (both yours and ours).
Before you walk into Funky Frida’s, prepare yourself. The color-drenched space visually screams at you from every angle.
The barstools are bright blue. The booths are draped with serapes striped in black, green, fuchsia and yellow. The tabletops are decorated with purple, turquoise and pink swirling leaves. The lights come in one of every color. Stained glass panels cast rainbows across the space. The back wall is adorned with hundreds of pink roses. And every inch of the ceiling is covered with small, framed pictures.
The longer you look, the more you’ll see.
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Tiffany lamps in the shape of parrots and butterflies hang overhead. And in the middle of it all, somehow, a massive, glittering disco ball almost blends in.
Don’t come to Funky Frida’s if you have a headache. Otherwise, settle in for a fun, and yes, funky, experience.
Tirion Boan
What is Funky Frida’s?
Funky Frida’s opened on Indian School Road and 48th Street in mid-October. It’s the latest concept from Jon Lane and his team, who run O.H.S.O. Brewery + Distillery and Starving Artist. Funky Frida’s sits right next door to O.H.S.O., sharing a parking lot with the Arcadia brewpub, where it replaced another of Lane’s concepts.
The bright blue-painted building was formerly home to Little O’s Arcadia Market. The coffee shop and cafe closed in June, with Lane promising a summer break and a renovation. And renovate they did. The space transformed into the funky cantina inspired by Frida Kahlo. Dotted among the rest of the decor are prints of the famous Mexican artist’s paintings.
Choose a seat inside the bright dining room or head out onto the spacious patio, which backs right up to the bike path along the canal. As you start to peruse the menu, complimentary chips and salsa will hit your table to nibble on as you read.
Tirion Boan
What’s on the menu?
The drinks list is as expected, including a dozen different flavors of margaritas, a few fruit-forward cocktails and a selection of agave spirits. The surroundings beg for a margarita, appropriately served in a giant, sturdy glass with a glistening rim of salt.
When it comes to food, there’s an interesting mix on the long menu. Some dishes lean American, such as the smash burger, which is cut in half and griddled, face down on a sizzling fajita skillet.
Many dishes are what Lane previously described as “traditional gringo Mexican food,” an accurate description of the Pollo Fundido, made with poblano cream cheese and served “chimi style,” and the taco salad served inside a fried tortilla shell.
The fajitas, in your choice of steak, shrimp, chicken or veggie, come hissing and sizzling, with an accompanying plate loaded with tortillas, cheese, pico, guacamole, lettuce, rice and beans, just like they would at any national chain popular in the early aughts.
Some dishes aren’t traditional Tex-Mex, but do blend American and Mexican flavors in a different way. Try a half rack of chipotle barbecue ribs served with corn on the cob or dig into a cascabel chile-glazed bone-in pork shank, served with poblano-spiked mashed potatoes.
Other dishes leave the gringo influence behind entirely, and lean much more toward traditional, regional Mexican cuisine.
Tirion Boan
On Fridays only, try the pozole rojo or start your meal with a refreshing shrimp cocktail, swimming in a blend of tomato and clam juice. One unique dish that exceeded our expectations of the casual, sour cream joint was the Chile de Pueblo.
A tender, roasted poblano is stuffed with marinated chicken, shredded cheese and pico de gallo. So far, fairly standard. But then cubes of dried apricot and spicy walnuts join the party, bringing sweetness and crunch. The whole thing is drenched in chile verde sauce and roasted red salsa and served with white rice.
The dish is a slight tweak on the traditional chiles en nogada and is both savory and sweet, with a range of different textures to rival the restaurant’s intricate decor.
Funky Frida’s is the sort of place to choose your own adventure. Want to post up at the bar with a Modelo and catch the game? There are plenty of TVs. Prefer to sip margaritas and snack on chips and salsa on the patio? The breeze gently blows through as cyclists woosh past.
Or, if you want to squish into a booth and chow down on some unique Mexican food in a buzzy space filled with friends and neighbors, Funky Frida’s has a spot under a rainbow lamp and a bowl of chips and salsa ready for you.
Funky Frida’s
4910 E. Indian School Road
Appetizers $8-14; Tacos $5-6; Entrees $15-27; Desserts $5-7; Margaritas $12-18.
