BEST PANADER?A (BAKERY) 2006 | Azteca Bakery & Mexican Food | La Vida | Phoenix
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BEST PANADER?A (BAKERY)

Azteca Bakery & Mexican Food

Everyone has a weakness. For some, it's gambling. Sex. Chocolate. For us, it's Azteca's glorious conchas swirled sweet rolls laced with a ribbon of sugary pastel icing. It's hard to go into this bakery and come out with less than a sackful of the light, flaky pastries. Founded by Bernardo Lopez in 1956, Azteca is now one of the largest local suppliers of baked goods. The shop has since been passed on to his children, and now employs dozens of bakers, but the high quality of its food has never changed. Regular offerings include fruit-filled empanadas (turnovers), cuernos (croissant-shaped rolls) and orajas (puff pastry). It's not unusual to find customers with their noses literally pressed against the glass display cases, ogling the bolillo rolls and butter cookies inside. Sure, the place serves fabulous cosido, a hearty beef soup with root vegetables and corn, but who can think about lunch when the sweet scent of pan dulce is wafting from the kitchen?

BEST LATIN FEAST

The Spanish Place, Fifth Sunday Cultural Event

Whenever a fifth Sunday squeezes into the crowded calendar, Nancy Lewis and her crew of Spanish cultural champions fill their mouths with linguistics and their bellies with delectable Latin food. The group samples authentic Latin cuisine outside of the standard Sonora, Mexico, fare, including the centrally located Havana Cafe (Cuban) and Eliana's (Salvadoran), the West Valley's Mi Cocina (Ecuadorian), and Scottsdale's Pepin (Spanish). In the spring, a group of 35 hungry folks gathered at a recent favorite discovery, Mesa's tiny Restaurante Salvadoreo, chowing on healthy portions of pupusa (thick hand-made corn tortilla stuffed with cheese or meats), fried plantains, and succulent entrees for under $10, including pollo encebollado (chicken with onion) served with black beans and rice. The event is both Spanish- and English-language-friendly, and newcomers are always welcome. Buen provecho!

BEST LUNCHTIME SERENADE

Tradiciones

At Phoenix Ranch Market's new sit-down Mexican restaurant, there's always music. Sometimes it's piped in, but more often, it's performed by live musicians perhaps a band out on the courtyard stage, or a soloist singing romantic melodies from his vantage point behind a keyboard in the busy dining room. The spirited sounds make the festive atmosphere even more fun, and when Mariachi o Trio Alegria is working the crowd, it's an extra special treat to be serenaded at lunchtime. We're accustomed to seeing mariachis after dark, but these gentlemen were tableside on a recent Friday afternoon. Decked out in sharp traditional costumes, these three talented, smiling gents (two guitarists and a harpist) stroll from table to table, taking requests, singing triumphant folk songs, and causing outbreaks of applause at every stop. We're not sure if their performances actually enhance our appetite, or whether they just go well with frosty margaritas. Either way, "La Cucaracha" never sounded so good.

BEST PLACE TO HEAR LIVE MARIACHI MUSIC

La Casa del Mariachi

The worst thing a Mexican restaurant can do is hire a bad mariachi band. Imagine being tied to your table, waiting for the check, while the Mexican Hat Dance plays for the umpteenth time. Shudder. We've been there. Thankfully, you won't have that experience at La Casa del Mariachi. Sure, the interior is pure kitsch, with faux tile roofs, candy-colored walls and burro murals. The music is fabulous, though. On weekends, the Salon Guadalajara banquet facility adjoining the main restaurant transforms into a dance hall. Latin beauties in red skirts twirl around the floor as the band's crooner, in sparkling charro suit and sombrero, sings of love and loss. Even if you're a hardened mariachi-hater, you can't help but tap your toes after a few minutes of the lively beat.
  • 1420 N. 24th St., Phoenix, 85008 Map

BEST MEXICAN RADIO STATION

Club 95 Latino Vibe

Even before reggaeton became all the rage in the Valley, Club 95 was playing hot tracks by reggaeton artists like Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, and Ivy Queen. The station also sponsored various reggaeton nights around the Valley, adding even more muscle to the growing music scene. Club 95's DJs also spin Mexican regional and Spanish pop, but in the past year, the format has become more reggaeton. The "Latino Vibe" is still there, though, and the Phoenix flavor comes through in the Spanglish that saturates the frequency. Club 95 DJs like Mikey Fuentes, Jose El Cubanito, Diamond Boy Luis, and the stunning Jackie Morales are local celebrities in the Latino world, showing up at different station events and promotions, and fielding on-air phone calls from listeners and fans. So despite the fact that Club 95 plays very little (if any) mariachi and accordion music, the station is clearly a bridge between cultures in the Valley, and hands down the most popular station among the young, hip Latino/Latina crowd.

BEST PLACE TO BUY NARCOCORRIDOS

Discoteca de Joyas Musicales

According to author Elijah Wald, there have been public cries to ban narcocorridos, or Mexican drug ballads, in Mexico since the '70s. Baja California jumped on the bandwagon with a voluntary ban in 2002. Even Arizona has considered a radio ban on narcos. Yeah, good luck with that. Often talked about as the cousin to gangsta rap, narcos hide on the shelves of most Latino stores, behind polica-friendly Shakira and Enrique Iglesias CDs. Discoteca de Joyas Musicales doesn't play that game. A glance at the rack offers hard-core narcos from two of the most popular players in the genre, Reynaldo Martinez and Los Tigres del Norte. If you don't speak espaol, you'd better learn some before you shop here. Basic phrases like "how much is this" and "where can I find" are pretty much all you need to know. But for heaven's sake, don't go asking for "Mexican drug music" unless you'd like to get up close and personal with a pistola.

BEST PI?ATA STORE

Dulceria Pico Rico

What's a party without a piata? Boring, we say. And what better way to acquire your piata than with a one-stop party shop at Dulceria Pico Rico? This well-lighted, expansive shop on 16th Street, in the heart of what we've come to call Little Mexico, has a wide array of piatas, in all the probably-not-sanctioned characters of the day from the princesses to the Power Rangers and everything in between. We're hoping for a Shrek piata on our own birthday, along with a color-coordinated fete you can find all the purple and green tissue paper, tablecloths, plates and napkins you can imagine. And don't worry about making an extra stop for candy. Dulceria Pico Rico stocks enormous bags of mixed candy. Exciting!

BEST PLACE TO FIND A QUINCEA?ERA DRESS

Azteca Wedding Plaza

The quinceaera was originally a religious coming-of-age ceremony that declared a young virgin eligible for marriage. Today, it's more like a Hispanic teenager's excuse to party. Yes, it's supposed to be about God, but what would a celebration of womanhood be without the perfect dress? Azteca Wedding Plaza specializes in quinceaera supplies, from frilly white dresses to wax-covered floral headpieces and bouquets. It's not exactly the place you go to be waited on. The staff is largely bilingual and will assist madre with a special-occasion dress, but the quinceaera is usually stuck hefting a pile of gowns to the dressing room herself. Still, we think the massive selection of formal gowns is well worth the extra effort. There are elegant silk sheaths for the damas (think bridesmaids), colorful ruffled A-lines for the modern quinceaera, and rows of white princess ball gowns that symbolize purity and virtue. As for that aforementioned virgin requirement, let's just say the staff at Azteca is smart enough to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

BEST VENUE FOR BIG-NAME LATINO ACTS

Dodge Theatre

There's a reason hordes of Hispanics have been heading for downtown Phoenix in recent months, and it isn't to stage another massive demonstration for immigrant rights. It's because Dodge Theatre has become something of a hot spot for superstar Latino acts over the past year. The topflight, 5,000-seat venue has been packed with Chicanos from across the Valley, who show up in force to peep norteo songsters like Juan Gabriel, Grammy winners Intocable, and Los Tigres del Norte, as well as the likes of gifted Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona, ranchera star Vicente Fernndez, the Mexican pop duo Sin Bandera, and others. They're the kinda tunes you could enjoy every day on any of the myriad local Latino stations dotting your radio dial, if only you'd bother to learn a second language, ignoramus.

BEST LATIN DJ

DJ Big Latin

Andy Herrera, a.k.a. DJ Big Latin, has been spinning cumbia, bachata, merengue, and reggaeton around the Valley for the past four years, and the portly Dominican has always been one step ahead of the trends, helping to launch the Valley's first (and still most popular) reggaeton night at Jackson's on 3rd, networking with the Valley's Latin radio stations, and bringing national acts like Chosen Few and Ivy Queen into his shows. Though he no longer spins at Jackson's, he's filled his schedule with other caliente weeklies and can be found working the turntables at La Perla Cafe on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; Tilly's on Thursdays; Macayo's on Fridays; and CBNC on Saturdays. He makes some mean mix CDs, too, so if you like what he pulls out of his stacks o' wax when you're shakin' your booty on the dance floor, ask him nicely and he'll probably hook you up.

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