arizona food favorites
I've recently had the pleasure of visiting Phoenix, Arizona. My partner, Chase is based out of AZ, so we got to go in December for the Holiday, and work brought me there just this past week and a half. I love it there (minus the dust storms) and they've got really amazing food. Here are some of my favorites.
Lolo's Chicken & Waffles
I visited the Lolo's in downtown Chandler and OMG. YAS chicken and waffles. The grits were great and the hot sauce was even better. I mean I totally just went to town thinking it was going to be like fake hot sauce. I was highly mistaken. It was LEGIT hot sauce that was to die for. I will also add that the service here is amazing and you have to order the Lolo's punch. It's basically kool-aid on steroids with a hint of Vodka, or hold the vodka. I didn't try it because I'd have gone into a food coma if I did, but I hear it's DIVINE.
Original Chop Shop
If you want feel-good food you have to go to Original Chop Shop. I had a Korean steak bowl with a sweet potato hash. The best thing ever. It tastes great, feels great (in the sense that you don't feel like trash after you eat it), and it's not expensive at all. Their juices are also good and they have desserts that are perfect in every way. I loved the seating and how chill the vibe is. It's in downtown Chandler which isn't too far from where Chase and I will be living this fall. Definitely somewhere I can go get work done when I'm tired of working from home.
Mambos Dominican Kitchen
I got to visit Mambos during the holiday. I think I mentioned it in my last blog post but Chase brought me here for a very Dominican Christmas Eve and it was incredible. Now nothing is like your Dominican grandmothers' food but this hit the spot. Great sancocho, perfect tostones, and super lean bistec. I didn't visit my second time around but when I go back I certainly will and I'm sure I'll go there a ton when I'm missing home. Us east coast folks know how easy it is to go to your neighbors house, or down the street and get some sancocho.
Snooze
This is probably my favorite place to eat in Arizona. Snooze has EVERYTHING. Tons of locations, tons of food and drinks too. The breakfast is perfect and so is the brunch. The service is even better, but the lines will break your heart. Especially on the weekends. Chase and I went on a weekday and the wait was said to be about thirty minutes but we only waited 10 minutes. This past Sunday I went with my friends Michelle and Jessi, and the wait was an hour and 45 minutes. THE FOOD IS SO GOOD, but ain't nobody got time for that kind of wait when you're starving. It'll have to be a place we go to during the week because there's no way I'm waiting that long for a table. But I don't know because the pancakes though.
Nico Heirloom Kitchen
The food at Nico is good. Great for a light and relaxing brunch with your friends. If you sit outside, beware of bees. There are so many of them. Mimosas are fantastic and the service is okay-ish, but not slow enough for me to never go back. I think I'm just used to the robots we have as servers here on the East Coast. It's also right down the street from Snooze which is how we discovered this place. That hour and 45-minute wait turned into a trip down the street. Coincidentally, it's also next to Lolo's and a great Mexican spot, Barrio Queen.
Oreganos
Let me start off by saying that it's not a NYC dollar slice BUT this pizza is probably some of the best pizza I've ever had. We ordered a deep dish and I also hate deep dish but it didn't feel like you were eating 19 slices of pizza in one. We also had a pizookie which is like a pizza cookie thing, and that was also great. I'm not a huge sweets person so the pizza was on the money for me. Go there. Every day of your life if you can. Then get a gym membership.
Honorable Mentions
(mostly places I was too hungry to take a photo of. )
- Gallo Blanco Phoenix - Food was great. Service was too slow for my taste but the tamarindo water was rockin'.
- Orient Sushi & Grill Gilbert- The best sushi ever. There's nothing else to say except go.
- Cornish Pasty Phoenix - I had no idea what a cornish pasty was but they will literally make you one with anything in it. They are amazing!
- Filibertos, Del taco, and of course In & Out are all great fast food options. I usually only do fast food when I want to try something for the first time, and I usually only ever get fries.
Let me know what your fav food spot is in AZ!xo