"I heard there was a lot of people that had flown in and drove from different states," says Caesar Bravo-Valenzuela, chef and son of the owner of the restaurant. "So I was like, 'I know I've seen that guy before. That's Jim McMahon, you know, from the 1985 Chicago Bears. He's from the best team ever.' So I was like, 'Okay, it got serious.'"
McMahon was the star quarterback of the Chicago Bears in the mid-1980s. He led his teammates to a win in the 1986 Super Bowl by steamrolling over the New England Patriots to clinch the championship.
McMahon, Kyle Turley, the former offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs, and Eben Britton, a former NFL offensive tackle who was not present at the dinner, were in town to launch RevenantMJ in Arizona. Their new cannabis line includes flowers, pre-rolls, edibles, vape cartridges, and RevenantMJ emblazoned merchandise.
Raul Molina (bottom row wearing a black shirt) was the host, and NFL stars Jim McMahon (right of Molina) and Kyle Turley (top right corner) were the special guests.
Courtesy of Raul Molina
"I've been coming here forever. The place has great prices, huge portions, and it's as close to Mexico as there is in Phoenix," Molina says.
Bravo-Valenzuela — an avid football fan — presented the crowd with a buffet of grilled meats.
He and his sisters served pollo asado, carne asada, beef ribs, and al pastor in portable stainless steel parrillas, a type of grill that contains smoldering charcoals to keep the food warm.
Placed atop the wood-and-tile tables, the parrillas were surrounded by sides of rice, beans, flour tortillas imported from Mexico, veggies, guacamole, red house salsa, and frijoles a la charra, a homemade soup with pinto beans, bacon, cilantro, and onion.
"McMahon ate the ribs," Bravo-Valenzuela recalls. "And the other football player [Turley] he made chicken tacos from the grill."
The players made toasts to one another with glasses of horchata, jamaica, and tamarindo aguas frescas, limonada, and bottled Mexican Coca-Cola. The invitation-only dinner lasted until 9:30 p.m. The guests, all content with the Sonoran-style Mexican meal, mingled for about an hour, and then called it a night.
The next day, most of the group reconnected at the Mint Dispensary in Guadalupe for a meet-and-greet with the football players and to showcase the new RevenantMJ products. Afterward, they attended the monthly mixer of the Arizona chapter of the Marijuana Industry Trade Association in Phoenix where they spoke more about their cannabis advocacy and the dinner they all enjoyed the night before.
The 16th Street restaurant's name translates to "a grill north of Sonora," Bravo-Valenzuela explains.
"My father worked at this restaurant as an employee, then roughly around 2003 or 2004 it wasn't doing so well, so he bought it, created the menu, and started working it from the ground up," he says.
Now, 18 years later, the whole family works at the restaurant, Bravo-Valenzuela says, including "my parents, my two older sisters who are twin sisters, then me, and then our two younger sisters, and our 16-year-old brother who works part-time."
It's not often the family has former NFL superstars in their restaurant. On any regular day, the small eatery churns out tacos de lengua, tender cow tongue, and tripas, tripe served crispy, chicharrones-style.
Another specialty, the burrito de barbacoa, is made with shredded beef shoulder.
"They all take hours for us to make," Bravo-Valenzuela explains, "because we chop it up, clean it, throw it in the pots, fill it with the spices and everything, and then just let it sit on the stove for a couple of hours. Everything is slow-cooked."
The family also makes a mean torta, complete with a bolillo roll, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and a mixture of carne asada and pollo asado. The pollo asado combos are the restaurant's best-seller, Bravo-Valenzuela says, adding that the half or whole chickens come with corn tortillas, salsa, beans, and veggies.
For dessert, "my sister introduced the churro cheesecake," Bravo-Valenzuela says. "It's really popular because we never really carried desserts here."
The sweet cinnamon churro treat is rich, creamy, and the perfect way to wrap up the meal.
Whether customers are football superstars or just fans hoping to watch the game while feasting on some Sonoran barbecue,Bravo-Valenzuela's got them covered.
Asadero Norte de Sonora
122 North 16th Street602-253-4010
asaderonortesonora.weebly.com/menu.html
