Phoenix Food Blog

After his last day on April 18, the Oregon-born Native American (from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz) will return to the Northwest to work at Snoqualmie, Washington's Salish Lodge, a luxury resort not far from Seattle.

Executive chef Michael O'Dowd and consulting chef Janos Wilder remain.

"Life is like a sandwich. The more you add to it, the better it becomes."

America's carne asada tacos: Finely chopped everything.

By Jay Bennett

My new favorite place to get a cheap, quick, but good lunch is America's Taco Shop, on Seventh Street north of McDowell. The new taquería, which has been open for about a month, joins a pretty amazing stretch along Seventh that includes Lisa G, Coronado Café, La Piccola Cucina, and That's a Wrap! Like those establishments, America's is in a converted old house, so its got lots of charm, especially at night, when the cozy front porch is illuminated by strings of colored lights.

America's (named for proprietor America Corrales) boasts the "greatest carne asada in the Valley," and I have to say that they may be onto something with that proclamation.

South by Southwest: Some good flavors going on in here.

By Jay Bennett

Looking for a cheap and quick breakfast that's a couple steps in quality above McDonald's, Jack in the Box, or Carl's Jr.? The clean and inviting Acacia Cafe, on Indian School Road and 37th Street, likely will fit the bill for you.

The strip mall eatery is strictly a breakfast and lunch place, closing at 3 p.m. on weekdays. It's got a nice, tree-lined patio and pleasant neighborhood feel inside, the kind of joint where you can be comfortable reading the morning newspaper while sipping on coffee and munching on a muffin, cookie, or one of the several breakfast offerings on the menu.

Rib tips and mac and cheese: A lunch you can't beat.

By Jay Bennett

Do you know what a "lazy pescatarian" is? It's how my wife describes herself in regard to her eating habits. She aspires to be a vegetarian but knows she loves fish and other seafood too much to abstain from eating our underwater friends. That's the "pescatarian" part. The "lazy" part rears its head when we happen to pass a place like Stacy's Smokehouse, a welcome purple beacon for the carnivorous among us. The lure of good barbecue becomes too much, and she falters.

But who can blame her? Stacy's is smokin' good.

McCormick & Schmick's chipotle-potato taquitos: Cheap and addictive.

By Jay Bennett

At first glance, the two parts of the headline on this blog post may appear to contradict each other. What, you may be asking, does eating on the cheap have to do with a chain of upscale seafood restaurants found in just about every major city in the country?

Well, at the McCormick & Schmick's location in the Camelback Esplanade shopping/office complex, there's a nice little happy hour special that just may be impossible to beat. Since discovering the special a couple of years ago, I've found myself at M&S several times enjoying the restaurant's happy hour. I must be a cheapskate, because I've yet to sample the restaurant's considerably pricier regular dinner menu even though I'm sure it's a fine place to eat.

So last night, I slipped out of my work clothes (sneakers and T-shirt), threw on some respectable shoes and a collared shirt, and headed over to McCormick & Schmick's to meet the missus after work for some happy hour goodies. As usual, the attractive bar was filled with classy-looking business-type folks who must've filed out of the office high-rises at Camelback and 24th Street and marched straight over to the bar.

By Jay Bennett

If you've never been to the Ranch Market at the Chinese Cultural Center, you have to check it out for a colorful experience. And if you're looking for Chinese cuisine that goes above and beyond the run-of-the-mill stuff served at seemingly most Chinese restaurants, you have to check out Hong Kong Express, a little cafeteria at the back of the Ranch Market.

I almost never eat at Chinese restaurants because I'm almost always disappointed with the food they serve. I don't claim to be an expert on "real" Chinese food because I've had it only once, about 10 years ago when an American friend and his new Chinese wife moved back to the U.S. and cooked me a Chinese dinner that tasted nothing like the food I'd eaten at Chinese restaurants.

I'm still looking for food like that. I can't say that I found it at Hong Kong Express, but I can say that the food there was better than what I've had at most Chinese restaurants. It was heartening to see that I was one of the only Anglos eating at Hong Kong Express; the place was packed with Chinese people. I can't say that for some of the other restaurants, like Golden Buddha, down at the Chinese Cultural Center, on 44th Street north of Washington.

By Jay Bennett

Times are tough, indeed, but I was surprised to find a really good and relatively inexpensive Thai spot in Tempe to be dead on a recent Saturday night. What gives? Has it gotten to the point where folks can't drop $10 for an entree anymore?

Here's hoping the dreadfully slow Saturday night at Tipps 88 Thai Cuisine was an anomaly, because this strip-mall joint, on a sleepy stretch of East University Drive, deserves better.

This is no college-town hole in the wall. Tipps 88 is tastefully decorated, clean, and inviting, with a nice, shaded patio for al fresco dining now that the weather is so pleasant. For dinner, I'd prefer the lights to be dimmed a bit more, but they weren't offensively bright, either.

By Jay Bennett

I usually don't have much reason to enter Old Town Scottsdale — it oftens seems kind of a like a foreign land to me — but perhaps I have a reason now since checking out a fun little place called Terrace Café, which sits on the corner of Third Avenue and Marshall Way and shares space with a salon/boutique. I was steered toward Terrace by an acquaintance who said the small bistro is in the midst of reinventing itself.

I was a little wary of just how Budget Beat-appropriate Terrace Café was going to be, considering its address. But I'm pleased to report that the menu — consisting mostly of salads, hot and cold sandwiches, and soups — was quite affordable, with most sandwiches being $7.50 or $8 and the salads being $10 for a large order and $7 for a half order.

This is the kind of place where you order at a counter, grab your beverage from an open cooler, and grab a seat at one of the handful of tables inside or outside on the patio, which is where we sat on a recent cool evening. For me, the patio — with its high-top bistro tables attached to the wrought-iron fence along the sidewalk on Marshall Way — is a big selling point. With trees and strings of lights overhead, it was a comfortable and inviting spot to munch on food and enjoy some prime people-watching.

Chef Anthony Armstrong: Makes a mean pumpkin soup.

We chatted with new executive chef Anthony Armstrong and manager Blair Hoffheins, who were excited about amping up the menu and boosting the profile of Terrace Café. Armstrong, who's worked at numerous Valley country clubs and Scottsdale restaurants such as Roka Akor, was quick to point out the soup specials that he makes everyday.

On our visit, we sampled his pumpkin soup, and, indeed, it was delicious. It didn't have a pumpkin pie flavor, which I expected. It was almost more of squash taste, but sweet. Very good. And, to boot, the soup comes served in a small, hollowed out pumpkin. Great idea.

We were disappointed that they'd sold out of a few menu items that appealed to us (hummus, roasted veggie sandwich), but apparently they'd had a big lunch rush that day. There any other diners there on the night we visited, but Hofheinz explained that a lot of people come in to order a takeout dinner.

I ordered a turkey pesto pressed sandwich. It was kind of a like a panino, filled with fresh pesto, big chunks of avocado (always a good thing), and Swiss and Muenster cheeses. It was a really good sandwich and would've been even better with higher-quality turkey. This was that processed lunch-meat kind you might find at the Safeway deli counter. Still, it was good sammie. And it came with a tasty little salad of mixed greens, strawberries, and a light but flavorful balsamic dressing.

Pressed sandwich: Lotsa advocado!

After striking out on the roasted veggie sandwich, the missus ordered a pizza off the specials board. Topped with goat cheese, basil, and roasted red pepper, this 10-inch pizza was excellent. She really liked the cracker-thin crust and big dollops of goat cheese. The sauce seemed food service-y to me, but everything else about the pizza made up for that shortcoming. Even at 10 inches, it was such a thin and light pizza that wasn't too big for one person.

Pizza: Dig the thin crust. (Photos by Laura Hahnefeld)

With the beautiful weather nigh, it's time to enjoy al fresco dining. The problem is that so many places around here with outdoor dining have their patio next to a busy road or overlooking some lame parking lot. It's nice knowing that Terrace Café is a viable option for outdoor dining that isn't hampered by such drawbacks. And given that chef Armstrong promises an updated and improved menu, Terrace Café may wind up to be a regular stop for me this fall.

I'd love to hear what you think of Terrace Café and I'm always interested in hearing your suggestions on where to eat on the cheap. Please e-mail me jay.bennett@newtimes.com.

Terrace Café
at Third Avenue and Marshall Way in Old Town Scottsdale
480-603-1011

By Jay Bennett

The Two Hippies empire has expanded to include a fun taco and burrito stand on East Camelback Road. Said hippies (who also own Two Hippies Magic Mushroom Burger on Indian School Road) took over the shuttered boutique Gold Lion, on the corner of Camelback and Fifth Street, to open Two Hippies Beach House, a much-needed taquería in that part of town. Mind you, it's pretty white-bread Mexican grub at this point (it's been open only two weeks), but it does fill a niche, and it's a cool place to stop in for a cheap, quick, and filling bite to eat.

If it weren't sitting 20 feet from busy Camelback Road, Two Hippies would feel like the kind of food stand you might at the beach. There's virtually no room inside for anyone other than the person ordering food at the tall counter. Those who don't mind the crowded interior can stand and wait for their food while gazing at walls festooned with posters and record covers from the '70s and lots of comic books in plastic sleeves.

If you're not taking your food to go, there is an outside counter with stools where you can munch on your tacos, and there are four picnic tables situated on a wooden deck that is elevated about 4 feet off the ground. It is covered, misted, and filled with plant life. Even with the weather still being toasty, the deck is a great place to enjoy your eats.

Two Hippies' sign declares it to be "home of the fish taco," which is what really caught the eyes of the missus and me. Ain't nothing better than a good fish taco. Back in our Michigan homeland, we'd never had such a thing. Even in Chicago, where we'd live before Phoenix, a fish taco was a rarity. Since moving out here, we've fallen in love with the delicacy.

I'm pleased to report that the fish taco at Two Hippies is pretty good, though not quite a home run. Going for it is the fish itself — chunks of actual whitefish (not some processed fish stick). It was super-flavorful and, obviously, cooked fresh to order. It was garnished with shredded cabbage, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese, which is a no-no in my book. A fish taco does not need cheese, especially when it's lame, food-service shredded cheddar. Also, the flour tortilla was not great. Corn is superior in the world of fish tacos. Don't get me wrong; the tacos were decent and, at $4.50 for three big ones, an amazing deal.

Fish taco: See that drink? It's mango lemonade. Yum!

I tried the pork burrito, which wasn't bad and, at $4, was also good deal. Filled with not especially flavorful pork, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, and more of that wretched food-service cheese, the burrito was big and filling and fit the bill for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, the flour tortilla wasn't as fresh and flavorful as probably should've been. Because the edge of the tortillas was crunchy, I got the feeling that it'd been exposed to the air too long as it sat in its bag. Overall, it was just sort of bland-tasting. Luckily, they give you a little container of both green and red salsa with which you can dress up your burrito.

Pork burrito: Filling, cheap, but kinda eh. (Photos by Laura Hahnefeld)

Like I said, Two Hippies is brand new and likely still working out the kinks. There's a lot to like about the place. For one thing, the menu is simple and small — mostly tacos and burros featuring all the key meats. Though I wasn't blown away by the food, I can see myself hitting up this place fairly frequently because I like the concept, the vibe, and the fact that it exists where it does.

I look forward to hearing what esteemed Budget Beat readers think about Two Hippies because I have a feeling this place is going to catch on as sort of a cult favorite cheap-o place to eat.

Please e-mail me at jay.bennett@newtimes.com with suggestions and recommendations and places you'd like to see me cover in this blog.

Two Hippies Beach House
501 East Camelback Road
602-277-0399
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By Jay Bennett

I can never eat a "regular" pancake again after trying a few bites of the sweet potato pancakes at Lil' Mama's Soul Cafe, a little storefront eatery on Seventh Avenue halfway between Indian School and Camelback roads.

The missus and I ducked into this unassuming little strip-mall joint for a late breakfast last Sunday and we were sufficiently impressed. The place was dead, and I'm not sure why. The food was great. We indulged in an excellent breakfast before vowing to go back for dinner someday — the dinner half of the menu looked just as tempting as the breakfast menu.

This stretch of Seventh Avenue is home to a bunch of antique stores, vintage shops, a groovy coffee shop, a record store, a great guitar store, several bars, and other assorted cool merchants. It could be an absolutely great shopping destination if someone in this car-crazy burg would get a clue and turn it into a walkable shopping area. Some traffic-calming measures on the busy, five-lane thoroughfare would do wonders for this area. Until then, you have to get in your stupid car just to go from shop to shop.

But I digress. Lil' Mama's has a small but efficient menu, featuring some staples of Southern cuisine: fried chicken, waffles, catfish, ribs, BBQ sandwich. It's all stuff that you wouldn't eat every day, but once in a while is an indulgent taste treat. Everything on the breakfast menu is about $8 or $9 while most things on the dinner menu are $11 to $13, prices that surely should appeal to the budget-minded among us.

The missus loves her some pancakes (or pan-pies, as my dad likes to call 'em), and I thought she'd died and gone to Heaven after she took a bite of those sweet potato pan-pies. In fact, she's the one who declared she'd never go back to plain ol' pancakes after munching on the sweet potato variety. Not a fan of such hyperbole, I had to try some for myself. Well, it's fitting that it was Sunday and all, because eating a Lil' Mama's sweet potato pancake, doused in syrup, was as near a religious experience as I've had in a while. In short, get thee to the nearest purveyor of S.P.P.'s now, preferably Lil' Mama's.

Sweet potato pancakes: Like candy for breakfast, y'all.

I ordered the pork chop (with two eggs and hashbrowns) because I hadn't had a pork chop in eons, prolly since I was knee high to a grasshopper, back when Mom used to make them occasionally. Mom's no slouch in the kitchen, and Lil' Mama's pork chop was darn near as sublime as hers.

This slab of meat was crazy-juicy and grilled to perfection. It was flavored with a housemade blend of spices that has had me dreaming of that mouthwatering chop for the past few days now. Yes, it's that good! The hashbrowns were okay, but not great. I could've used a bigger serving. The eggs, well, they were eggs — a nice complement to the chop. Just for kicks, we ordered a side of mac 'n' cheese because, you know, it's mac 'n' cheese.

Pork chop: Suddenly, all I crave is pork chops. Weird. (Photos by Laura Hahnefeld)

The one drawback was the slow service. We were pretty much the only diners in this small place, but it took at least 25 minutes for us to get our stuff. Granted, it's all made-to-order, but still, pancakes and pork chops don't take that long to cook.

It's cool that there's no shortage of good soul food places in Phoenix (Lo-Lo's, Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe) and I'm glad Lil' Mama's is there for those of who live north near the Camelback Corridor.

If you're looking for something different for a weekend breakfast outing, try this place. And if you happen to go there for dinner, please let me know what you think. Write to me at jay.bennett@newtimes.com. And, as always, feel free to clue me into your favorite budget dining options.

Lil' Mama's Soul Cafe
4306 North Seventh Avenue
602-266-9980