All it takes is a walk-up counter, rough English and absolutely no ceramic plates, and you know you’re in the right place.
Best in Tempe: Los Favoritos
When a Mexican restaurant is nestled right between a gritty concert venue and a plasma-donation center, you know it’s going to be good in all the bad ways. Los Favoritos is a 10-year-old Tempe staple, and after all those years its logo is still straight out of Microsoft Paint. But a torso-less Mexican standing in front of a cactus is all the advertisement this place needs.
“Los Favoritos is an authentic place,” says Chelsea Andrade, a biochemistry senior and Mexican-food enthusiast. “It’s one of those places I would never want to go in the back — never. But it’s so good.”
Painted on the outside window is a sombrero-ed man beckoning “Try our breakfast burrito.” And with good reason: the chorizo and egg is Andrade’s favorite item. Chorizo is her game, and Los Favoritos’ has the winning blend of heat and flavor. But with huge portions and authentic zest, anything on the menu is a good choice.
“That place is a serious dump but their shrimp tacos are good and dirt-cheap. Everything there is dirt-cheap,” says Tom Bonfiglio, English professor and faculty advisor to the Desert Epicurean Society. Sounds like the perfect place to satiate a college appetite on a college budget.
Don’t feel bad enjoying the three decades-old video game booths and the pool table in the corner, and ignore the fact that the website is barely functioning. Chill out with a cup of horchata and realize that Los Favoritos is one of the best worst places you’ve ever been.
Best in Phoenix: Tacos de Juarez
If having “Juarez” in the name is intimidating, more so is the fact that this place is right next to a bus station that will take you to the city itself. There’s no door on the street side, but a half-painted skull mural and a sign proclaiming “WE ARE OPEN” should be enough to get you in. That or the judgment-shattering food.
Voted “Best Tacos” by the Phoenix New Times some 11 years ago, Tacos de Juarez is not to be forgotten or overlooked. The corn tortillas are still soft, the cow intestine still chewy. Get crazy and try a taco with cabeza (beef cheek), or stick to the classics; either way, it’ll be cheap and delicious. But be careful: the salsa is too spicy to be calmed by even the coldest Mexican cokes (read: real sugar, mas delicioso).
After a night checking out the art galleries on Roosevelt Row, meander up Seventh Street to Tacos de Juarez, where you can pick a song on the jukebox and feel a little more adventurous than you did yesterday.
Best Overall: Carolina’s
It takes a solid foundation to build anything magnificent, and Carolina’s has just that: tortillas. Made in-house with gigantic mixers, the chewy, made-with-love tortillas are the basis for foot-long burritos packed with machaca beef, red chile chicken, chorizo and beans – or more. And each for under $4. Can you go wrong?
“You know when you go to Mexico and get the bean burritos on the beach from the lady?” asks Andrade. “It tastes just like that.”
Carolina’s was established in 1968 by its namesake and has been in its current Phoenix location since 1986. And by the looks of it, not much has changed. It’s a white, rectangular building with the name and phone number painted in red and bars on the windows. Despite long lines and plain decorations, Carolina’s is a cozy neighborhood mainstay.
“Their tamales are ubiquitous come Christmastime and everywhere I go, someone seems to have them, and it feeds into a sense of community that, quite frankly, is lacking in Phoenix,” Bonfiglio says.
On a block with small, unique houses and across from a yellow-painted dollar store, Carolina’s is Phoenix at its truest (and tastiest). Make sure to grab a bag of a dozen tortillas on your way out.
Reach the reporter at kaila.white@asu.edu
If you go…
Los Favoritos
1340 E Broadway Rd # 105, Tempe
480-966-0535, http://www.losfavoritostacoshop.com/
Tacos de Juarez
1017 North 7th Street, Phoenix
602-258-1744
Carolina’s
1202 East Mohave Street, Phoenix
602-252-1503, http://www.carolinasmex.com/
