El Chullo Peruvian Restaurant & Bar
On the hunt for top-tier Peruvian food? Head to either location of El Chullo. The original is located in the Coronado district, where the family-owned restaurant has been a go-to spot for arroz con mariscos since opening in 2014. A new location, just a few miles away on Seventh Avenue, opened in the summer of 2023. Menu items include a crispy chicharron de calamar, lomo saltado, ceviche mixto, and the arroz chaufa — a Peruvian-meets-Chinese fusion-style dish of fried rice. Another highly recommended dish, actually an appetizer, is the anticuchos — 10 hot, dense, chewy cutlets of marinated grilled beef heart kebabs. Eating beef heart is making use of an organ that would otherwise be discarded, so you can feel fulfillment in your psyche as well as your stomach. (The menu also offers vegetarian dishes like arroz chaufa veggie and veggie saltado.) The bar program includes cocktails like the Pisco Soour and Maracuya Sour, or imported Peruvian beers like Cerveza Cusqueña and Cerveza Cristal, all of which taste better in El Chullo's cozy, colorful dining rooms.
($$)
2605 N. Seventh St., Phoenix, 85006