Darrin Chandler

American Restaurants in the Phoenix East Valley Area

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Mexican

• Los Sombreros Cafe & Cantina
  2534 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, 85257
  480-994-1799

  This is another recommendation from Chowhound's Southwest. The big difference with Los Sombreros is that large numbers of people praised it very highly, and I never saw any negative comments whatsoever. Now that's rare enough that I absolutely had to try it.

  We were seated quickly and chips and salsa arrived almost immediately. At first taste my wife liked the salsa, but I thought it was very pedestrian. After a few more bites my wife agreed with me.

  I had one of the day's specials, chipotle pork enchiladas, and found them quite tasty. Bonus points for the light touch with chipotle. Almost every restaurant that has anything chipotle on the menu overdoes it so bad that it's disgusting. Not so here. The plate came with sides of rice and beans. The rice was flavorless and disappointing. The beans were obviously vegetarian beans and were also disappointing. The waiter assured us that the beans were not vegetarian, but I knew better and had my knowledge confirmed by a more senior member of the staff.

  My wife ordered a seafood burrito and was not thrilled with the sauce. However, she was pretty impressed that they used chunk crab.

  After finishing our meals we moved to the bar for more margaritas. Our Scottish bartender was personable and had a good sense of humor, and he makes a very wonderful margarita!

  I had a good experience overall with Los Sombreros, and I'd readily bring guests there. However, it's not the best Mexican food I've had and there are definite shortcoming. I don't understand the absolutely glowing reviews.

• Los Dos Molinos
  260 S Alma School Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210
  480-969-7475

  I first tried Los Dos many years ago when they were located in an old Pizza Inn building with about six tables. I probably drank two gallons of water with that meal to cool my mouth. But I finished every bite: the food was delicious. Since then they've moved to a larger Mesa location and opened more. The spiciness has cooled off a bit but it's still fiery, and it's as delicious as ever.

• Matta's Mexican Restaurant [Web Site] [Menu]
  932 E. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85203
  480-964-7881

  I've been going to Matta's since I was a boy, and it will always be one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. For me it's comfort food. Two noteworthy items: the regular salsa may be the best "chips & salsa" salsa in the world, and their chili rellenos are a unique recipe with finely ground meat rather than just cheese. I've tried almost all of their menu over the years, but I always come back to the Combination #4, comprising a cheese enchilada, taco, chili relleno, and rice.

• Blue Adobe Grille [Web Site] [Menu]
  144 N Country Club Dr, Mesa, AZ 85201
  480-962-1000

• Filiberto's Mexican Food [Web Site] [Menu]
  6339 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85205
  480-854-7688

• Serrano's Mexican Food [Web Site] [Menu]
  1964 E McKellips Rd, Mesa, AZ 85203
  480-649-3503

  Good old Americanized Mexican food. If that's what you're expecting then you won't be disappointed. Probably the most memorable thing is the bean dip that comes with chips as an appetizer. It's a decent place to take your friends or family from back East.

• Rancho de Tia Rosa
  3129 E McKellips Rd, Mesa, AZ 85213
  480-659-8787

  The decor is nice, they have patio seating, and they're pretty much always crowded to the point it's hard to find a parking space. That's usually a good sign! But it's a little misleading here. The food is okay, but the menu is pretty limited. The patio seating in front doesn't seem to have any servers. There's a much larger outside area that does get regular service, but the atmosphere is more like an outdoor cafeteria than a cozy patio. The food is adequate but nothing special. I do know people who love it, though. So you might want to give it a try.

Brazilian

• Fogo e Brasa [Web Site] [Menu]
  4909 E. Chandler Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85048
  480-783-6060

  Who says eating out on a low carb diet is difficult? This place makes it easy. It's a Brazilian Churrasco steakhouse, with a salad bar well stocked with seafood. It's easily the most Atkins friendly restaurant I've ever been to. For one price ($30) everything is covered except drinks and dessert. Servers bring many varieties of meat on skewers and slice off as much as you like. This continues until you're done. The meat is cooked to perfection, and if you'd like it well done or rare then tell them and they'll be back with what you want. Unlike some other places, they keep it coming at a pace you can't keep up with. They give you a colored wooden block. Put the red side up when you need time to chew, green means go. Don't put green up until you're really ready, because they'll be there within seconds. Highly recommended.

USA

• NobHill [Web Site]
  3799 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas NV 89109
  702-891-7337
  

  “The food was very nice, though my wife says it's a notch down from her experience at Aqua.”
  Read my review of NobHill

• The Landmark Restaurant [Web Site] [Menu]
  809 W Main St, Mesa, AZ 85201
  480-962-4652
• Waldo's BBQ
  4500 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85205
  480-807-6475

• Giant Hamburgers [Web Site] [Menu]
  2753 E Broadway Rd, Mesa, AZ 85204
  480-733-6542

  The atmosphere is reminiscent of a 50s diner, and it's so clean it jumps out at you. The staff is hardworking and polite. The burgers are made to order and tasty. Highly recommended! You should eat there rather than take out, since even five or ten minutes wait takes something away from the burgers. I've tried some of their other dishes and they're good, but go there for burgers, since that's what they do best.

• Rally's Hamburgers
  343 W McKellips Rd, Mesa, AZ 85201
  480-461-9676

  If you want cheap fast-food burgers, then Rally's is the place. You'll spend about the same as at Mickey D's or BK, but the burgers are much better.

• House of Tricks [Web Site] [Menu]
  114 E 7th St, Temp, AZ 85281
  480-968-1114

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Contact Info

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