South of the Border >>

• Best Gourmet Mexican Restaurant
  La Hacienda
  7575 East Princess Drive, Scottsdale
  480-585-4848
  Don't expect to find any piñatas, colorful serapes or beer-touting sombreros here. This reproduction of a 19th-century Mexican ranch house is impeccably tasteful, down to the last carved, dark wood chair, white linen tablecloth and soaring silk flower arrangement. But the lavish decor is just... More >>
• Best AZ-Mex Restaurant
  El Bravo
  8338 North Seventh Street
  602-943-9753
  A glance at El Bravo's menu is deceptively ho-hum -- beef burros, chicken tacos, chimichangas, combo plates. Don't be fooled. This food may sound like Taco Bell, but it tastes authentic. Everything is made fresh in the restaurant's open kitchen, and owner Carmen Tafoya isn't shy about... More >>
• Best Chorizo
  La Cabana
  3100 West McDowell
  602-447-8088
  We're not morning people. We admit it. If God had meant for people to be awake in the morning, he wouldn't have had to create alarm clocks. There's little that can convince us to leave our warm bed at the crack of dawn (has anyone else noticed that a mattress never fits so perfectly as it... More >>
• Best Fish Taco
  Rita's Mexican Food
  1402 North 35th Avenue
  602-278-7376
  Who'd have thought that something so simple could be so good? While other places may fry their fish in batter and pile on the sauces and cheese, chef-owner Rita Aramburo leaves the Mrs. Paul's approach to seafood tacos to others. The catfish here is remarkably flavorful, sautéed in... More >>
• Best Mexican Seafood
  San Carlos Seafood Restaurant
  1901 East McDowell
  602-340-0892
  Sure, we could tell you that the seafood cocktails here are so fresh that you'll swear you can hear sea gulls overhead. Or that the Sea of Cortez cookery (try the garlic shrimp with rice and beans) is so authentic that you'll actually think you can smell the salty ocean air. Or that a visit... More >>
• Best Green Corn Tamales
  Carolina's Mexican Food
  1202 East Mohave
  602-252-1503
  Had Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes, grown up in south Phoenix and not Alabama, she might have written Green Corn Tamales instead. And if she had, her inspiration couldn't have come from a more mouth-watering specimen of the titular delicacy than the steamed fluffy packets... More >>
• Best Carne Adovada
  Blue Adobe Grille
  144 North Country Club Drive, Mesa
  480-962-1000
  Chile experts warn us never to touch any sensitive part of our body after handling spicy peppers. The Blue Adobe Grille's carne adovada will remind you why. Red chiles grown in New Mexico are notorious for their wicked heat -- a fact that the chefs here adroitly exploit in their torrid sauce... More >>
• Best Chimichanga
  Mangos
  44 West Main, Mesa
  480-464-5700
  When made correctly, a chimichanga is a wicked indulgence of crisp shell and juicy innards. Mangos knows this. It also knows that for a killer chimi, the staples, including the hubcap-size flour tortillas, must be freshly made. Equally important is meticulous deep-frying. The shell must be good... More >>
• Best Camarón
  Acapulco Bay Company
  3030 North 68th Street, Scottsdale
  480-429-1990
  The shrimp here are served in a molcajete, a large bowl carved out of lava rock and sent to the table bubbling hot and furious. The dish is called Camarón Azteca, and the volcanic container keeps the fresh-from-the-oven meal wickedly warm. It's a good thing, too, because it takes us a... More >>
• Best Cocido (3 Comments)
  Lulu's Taco Shop
  610 North Gilbert Road, Gilbert
  480-545-8219
  Should soup be served in a wine goblet? Only if it's as special as the cocido crafted by Israel and Lourdes Aviles, owners of Lulu's. For more than a decade now, the Avileses have been tempting us with their authentic, Guadalajara-style cooking, including dreamy cocido, a traditional beef... More >>
• Best Mole
  Hacienda Mexican Food Restaurant
  1603 East McDowell
  602-712-1470
  Only a supernatural being would have thought to combine more ingredients than those which make authentic mole. There are as many recipes for mole as there are regions in Mexico. But our local favorite -- a rich, velvety sauce containing a dozen types of dried chiles, nuts, seeds, vegetables,... More >>
• Best Paleteria
  Flor De Michoacán
  734 East Main, Mesa
  480-655-7755
  It's almost impossible to walk five blocks in any Mexican city on a summer day without passing at least one stand or parlor that specializes in paletas. Paletas are a traditional, distinctly Mexican take on the Popsicle concept: frozen natural-fruit bars that border on a survival necessity in... More >>
• Best Nueva Mexican Restaurant
  Norman's Arizona
  4410 North 40th Street
  602-956-2288
  Chef-owner Norman Fierros has been wowing us for two decades with his offbeat, innovative approach to Mexican food. From a small stand in a dicey south Phoenix neighborhood to his current, tony locale, he hasn't lost the innovative edge that put him on the map. And when it comes to the... More >>
• Best Margarita
  Old Town Tortilla Factory
  6910 East Main, Scottsdale
  480-945-4567
  Old Town Tortilla Factory has a "connoisseurs guide" to its more than 100 premium tequilas. That's nifty. But even better is that we can upgrade our margaritas with any of their fancy tequilas for just an additional dollar. The custom option is just one of the things that makes Old Town's... More >>
• Best Selection of Mexican Imports
  Mercado Mexico
  8212 South Avenida del Yaqui, Guadalupe
  480-831-5925
  In the market for authentic Mexican furniture? No need to head for Nogales; just go south of the Tempe border, down Guadalupe way. Mercado Mexico quite possibly has the most comprehensive inventory of Mexican home furnishings in the Valley. Statues, fountains, furniture, dishware and, yes,... More >>
• Best Chips and Salsa
  Pica Poco Taco
  3945 East Camelback
  602-912-0048
  Some Mexican restaurants have great chips. Some have great salsa. The red and green neon lighted salsa bar at Pica Poco Taco has them both. The chips here are homemade, stacked high in a large bin atop the bar, where they're kept warm and replaced constantly through the day. They're thick and... More >>
• Best Mexican Takeout
  El Norteño
  1002 North Seventh Avenue
  602-254-4629
  Don't feel like cooking? El Norteño has been a Valley takeout favorite for years. The small space is nothing fancy, but the food is. El Norteño's kitchen cranks, even producing menudo on weekends. The staff has you fed morning to night: Breakfast on spicy, homemade chorizo-and-egg burros;... More >>
• Best Authentic Mexican Restaurant
  San Diego Bay Restaurant
  9201 South Avenida del Yaqui, Guadalupe
  480-839-2991
  Anyone who's spent time in Mexico knows that the food there isn't what we're used to seeing on our chain restaurant menus around town. All it takes is a four-hour drive to Puerto Peñasco to discover that authentic-style Mexican food is lighter, more crisply flavored than we might expect, and... More >>
• Best Hideaway Eating Establishment
  Taco stand at Hacienda Mexican Restaurant
  1603 East McDowell
  602-712-1470
  Sometimes we crave a good meal but don't want to put up with overly chipper waiters, bright interiors and hostesses telling us to have a nice night. That's when we head to Hacienda Mexican Restaurant and the tiny taco stand hunkered in the shadows outside the kitchen door. The cart's an... More >>
• Best Tacos
  Tacos de Juarez
  1017 North Seventh Street
  602-258-1744
  At Tacos de Juarez, the cooks stuff their soft tacos with generous portions of mild-mannered tripes de leche (chunks of beef small intestines), pork, cabeza (beef cheek), carne asada and chicken. Hard tacos -- slicked with just enough oil to leave the slightest sheen on our fingers -- are... More >>
• Best Designer Taco
  Golden Swan
  Hyatt Regency Scottsdale
  7500 East Doubletree Ranch Road, Scottsdale
  480-991-3388
  Ordinarily, the prospect of paying $12.50 for a single taco would be enough to send even the most ardent Mexican-food lover into, well, shell shock. But that's before beholding Golden Swan's majestic model, a saffron-infused corn tortilla about the size of a tea saucer. Presented on a bed of... More >>
• Best Refried Beans
  Rosa's Mexican Grill
  328 East University, Mesa
  480-964-5451
  More than just a side dish, frijoles are the glue that holds a dish together. They're the heart of a truly good Mexican meal. What's an enchilada, after all, without soft, gloppy beans to mix into the cheesy sauce between bites? Fish can be the finest, but it soars to new levels when tucked... More >>