Chino Bandido is a casual one of a kind unique restaurant located in North Phoenix Arizona. According to Food Network Chino Bandido is one of the top places to eat in the country. A quote from Guy Fieri of Food Network, “One of the most original on DDD” (TV Show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives) The menu offers food that is sort of American Chinese style, some food is Mexican-ish, and some food is Jerk Style. You can pick your pan of food as a single entree with a side or for only a little over a dollar more get a combo with two sides. Then you have even more choices. You can upgrade and burrito-ize any entree. You can also quesadilla -ize any entree. There are almost endless combinations. (according to Food Network they calculated nearly 90,000 combinations)

Here’s the menu the rest is up to you.

When you come in you fill out your order on a slip of paper on a small desk by this wall near the door you just came threw.

Then you wait in line.

It’s always busy.

When you get closer it looks like this.

The menu is up on the wall and the TV on the right plays Food Network shows with Chino Bandido.

You almost don’t see the mascot unless you look for him.

He’s in a corner of the main dining area.

After you order and pay. You get your beverage and seat yourself. When your meal is ready someone will run out of the kitchen calling your name with your tray of food and run it to you.

I got my usual Chile Relleno with emerald chicken with white rice and black beans and my husband got the carnitas quesadilla with hengrenade chicken, jerk rice and black beans.

It’s a lot of food. For me this is two meals but my husband eats his whole pan. We share one cookie for dessert. The Chile Relleno is very large and it’s packed with lots of cheese. The coating is a lot of crushed saltine crackers. I always like the emerald chicken. It’s white meat chicken that is always tender and moist and it’s topped with fresh ginger and scallions. I think it goes with the white rice and black beans.

The snickerdoodle is always a perfect sweet ending.

Hey I got two tasty meals that are better than fast food anywhere and are also cheaper than fast food.

I have to say-

Chino Bandido is Worth a Fork!

www.ChinoBandido.com

Everything is subject to change. (I bet the prices will have to go up a little sometime) Also a dog friendly patio is posted on the door but on the day of my visit they didn’t have patio tables yet.

******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS *****Smashers EATS is a casual full service not too fancy inexpensive restaurant located in a strip mall in North Phoenix Arizona. The main dig at Smashers EATS are various smash style burgers but they also offer other things. They also offer appetizers, salads, various sandwiches, a few entrees, some pasta dishes, a children’s menu, milk shakes, some desserts and alcohol. They also do make some home made desserts …….I heard that the specialties are cheese cake and cookies….but they are made on Tuesdays so by the weekend they are all gone.

It looks like you order at the counter but you don’t and seat yourself instead.

The walls are bricked and decorated with lit stain glass panels.

A few big screen TVs are on the walls. The Table tops are unique with carving and colors.

My husband went with a 6oz. green chili burger (doubled (ANOTHER 6oz….for $3.00 more and brought some burger home for the dogs) and picked onion rings as his side.

Under the seeded bun top are some pickles, lettuce and tomato slices. In the mouth was a juicy nicely seasoned delicious burgers with a good amount of melty pepper jack cheese, bacon and green chilies. He got a generous amount of crispy onion rings with it too!

I had the house cured pastrami melt with Cole slaw as my side.

Just the way I like it!

Really greatly thin grilled toasty marble rye and the tasty delicious flavorful pastrami. It had the just right amounts of sauerkraut Russian Island dressing and melty Swiss cheese. WOW! It was a YUM-DINGER! The Cole slaw was really great too. Nice fresh and crunchy with the just right amount of sweetness.

I don’t know how everything is at Smashers Eats but the smash style burgers and the cured in-house pastrami melts are recommended.

******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS********

I haven’t found a website for Smashers EATS but they are on Facebook.

16816 N Cave Creek Rd PHX 85032 602-283-5600

Tue.-Sat. – 10am-8pm

Everything is subject to change.

Halo Halo Kitchen is a casual Filipino Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. This restaurant is mostly cafeteria style and also offers some grocery and desserts. Parking is easy because they are in a strip mall. You might be wondering what does Halo Halo mean? The restaurant might be named after Halo Halo the popular Filipino dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and may contain boiled beans, coconut, palm tree starch, jelly, potatoes, and fruit.

Here is the cafeteria line.

You either order what is on the line or order off a menu board. They offer all day Filipino breakfast plates called silog plates that were only $8.95 today. (subject to change)

Today (Saturday) They also have Lechon (roasted baby pig). I noticed that the Sunday special is Filipino spaghetti with fried chicken.

Halo Halo offers many other Filipino foods that are a fusion of Spanish, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian & American. I made a cheat sheet of some of the dishes so I’d know what they are.

Halo Halo is also part grocery store with dry goods, frozen foods and refrigerated food and also sells pastries and desserts.

Once you decided on your order you pay and seat yourself with a number card. They will run out whatever you didn’t get to pick up.

After your meal you might want to visit the dessert bar for a Halo Halo, a boba slushy or a flan.

Some of the dishes we tried here were.

all day breakfast Sisig plate with pork.

corned beef Sisig plate (our mutual least favorite)

grilled pompano fish with bittermelon vegetable medley and steamed rice

tofu, eggplant, vegetable dish with rice

coconut chicken

adobo pork

beef dish

adobo pork more recently (this plate was only $6.75….subject to change)

It doesn’t cost much to dine here. Two meals today were only with tax $18.00.

That was a taste of Halo Halo Kitchen in Phoenix AZ.

Every FORKING thing is subject to change.

wwwHaloHaloKitchen.com

Pane Bianco is a small casual urban gourmet sandwich and more restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. Pane Bianco is a sister restaurant of the famous Pizzeria Bianco by James Beard award winning chef Chris Bianco. Pane Bianco focuses on serving a limited but high quality menu of foods that lean towards Italian. The bread made here is from wood fired fermented heirloom grain dough. The most popular sandwich here might be the split focaccia bread stuffed with tomato basil mozzarella sandwich made with house made mozzarella cheese. Pane Bianco offers sandwiches, salads, focaccia slices, calzone, specials, desserts, wine, beer and some dry goods for sale.

Before the pandemic Pane Bianco looked like this.

Today it is pretty much the same but the community tables outside were removed and only one table was on the patio that is now partially enclosed.

It looks like this when you walk in. You can order from the counter or seat yourself in the dining room.

The inside is mix matched in a charming way with lots of character.

We started out by sharing the salad of the day. It was a refreshing but simple watermelon salad with fennel, parsley, salt, and pepper.

For my main I tried the spinach calzone.

It is made up of house made mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta cheese, a little bit of spinach and Bianco tomato sauce.

The dough is paper thin. This calzone is large with a lot of cream rich delicious melty cheese. For some people it might be two meals.

My husband got the Italian combo sandwich today.

It’s made of crusty bread, mortadella, spicy soppresatta, romaine, provolone cheese, and a little vegetable salad garnishes the plate.

Currently but SUBJECT TO CHANGE…Pane Bianco is only open for lunch..But that does change every now and then…….11-3 Monday-Saturday.

I’ve been here for dinner before and used to enjoy the pizza here.

Here are not all but some of the things we tried from Pane Bianco.

soppressata and aged provolone with wood roasted red bell pepper

Albacore tuna salad sandwich

soppressata with aged provolone and wood roasted onion

focaccia

nutmeg Italian ice

Available for purchase.

I have to say….

Pane Bianco in Phoenix is Worth a Fork!

www.PizzeriaBianco.com

Everything is subject to change and everything usually does eventually change.

Bobby Q Restaurant is la BBQ restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona and also does have a location in Mesa and a smaller location in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. The original Phoenix location is very unique with mature plantings and very large old trees seldom seen in Phoenix. The old building has character and rustic charm of yesteryear. According to Opentable Bobby Q is one of the best 30 BBQ restaurants in the country.

The above dining room isn’t always used and a wall rolls down to close it off.

This place is enormous.

Oh and they sell some souvenirs.

They start you off with complimentary Johnny cakes and soft creamy butter and the rest is up to you.

We shared some of the Q Rolls appetizer.

They are pastry wrapped around the signature 16 hour BBQ beef brisket served with a BBQ sauce and a chipotle ranch dressing.

Each Q roll is very large and is PACKED with lots of tender smoky brisket.

Today my husband got a two meat plate of BBQ sausage and BBQ pork with BBQ beans and macaroni and cheese.

I got the Bob’s salad.

It’s a humble rotisserie chicken salad adorned with some apples, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese tied together by dijon vinaigrette.

On a past visit I did try the salmon.

I remember that I thought that the salmon was better here from Bobby Q than the more expensive seafood chain restaurant nearby across the highway and it cost around $10. less at Bobby Q.

Once at lunch my husband had the three meat lunch plate.

I tried the BBQ chicken sandwich with peacan slaw as my side.

The apple pie here might be like something a neighbor or a relative might serve you.

They always send you off with bag of complimentary PIPING HOT thank Q doughnuts.

That was a little taste of Bobby Q in Phoenix AZ.

www.BobbyQ.net

Everything is subject to change.

Superstition Meadery is a award wining producer of ancient honey wine called mead. The original location is in Prescott Arizona and they have a location in downtown Phoenix Arizona. The Phoenix location also offers chef crafted food parings of sharing boards, small plates and large plates. Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot.

They have the fanciest bike racks that I have ever seen.

When the weather is nice you can bring your furry best friend or friends on the patio.

The patio is much larger than the view I got. It goes down the whole side of the building.

Inside it looks like this.

At the end of the bar are big bottles of mead and maybe some ciders.

I’m not sure if I ever had mead before…..

We decided to share the flight of 12 for $24. (subject to change)

My favorite was the one called lemonade in retrograde. It was bright, refreshing and had a nice lemon zing and wasn’t too sweet. My least favorite was the one called Tahitian Honeymoon made with Tahitian Vanilla bean mead aged in oak…..

There were many sharing boards, small plates and large plates to pick from.

We started out by sharing the piri piri chicken small plate and the warm cannellini bean salad.

The piri piri chicken is spicy chicken breast covered with crushed peanuts and served with some sliced grilled baguette bread.

The warm cannellini bean salad is made up of beans, farro, spinach, Thai basil, and wood roasted onion dressing.

Our main was the gorgonzola & herbed butter skirt steak. Today it came with wood roasted shitshito peppers, radicchio (Italian chicory), mushrooms and arugula.

I thought we were done but the desert of the day sounded too interesting to turn down.

It was blondies with chocolate nibs with Marion berry mead sauce, caramel and whipped cream.

I thought we were done.

But I was wrong again.

They gave us complimentary cookies with the bill.

Everything was delicious and detailed nicely. Service was very attentive and helpful.

Superstition Downtown Meadery & Restaurant is –

Worth a Fork!

www.SuperstitionMeadery.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Miracle Mile Delicatessen is located in Phoenix Arizona. This is a cafeteria style deli that is family owned and ran since 1949. The well known dishes here are hot pastrami, corned beef, beef brisket, stuffed cabbage, and turkey dinners. Lesser known dishes are the baked cod with puffy cheese and the honey dijon veggie wrap of avocado. peppers, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, crispy onion strings with honey dijon dressing in a spinach tortilla. You order while walking threw the line, pay and seat yourself indoors or outdoors.

Here are the sides that you can pick for your sandwich. There’s fresh fruit, apple sauce, carrot and raisin salad, Cole slaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, Not sure but I think the one on the end looks like pasta salad.

They also offer desserts. The bread pudding is made in house.

We shared a pastrami sandwich and a corned beef sandwich on marble rye bread.

The sandwiches come with very good pickles.

They both are Arizona style sandwiches. Well we are in Arizona so that is what I should expect……….The bread and taste of the meats does differ from East Coast Style. (east coast bread is crusty and usually thin and toasted while AZ rye bread is soft, thick and cold) (east coast pastrami taste smoked and has a peppery rub…we don’t taste much of that here) (east coast corned beef is seasoned more than AZ corned beef) Everything was fresh tasting and the restaurant seemed clean. Plates were cleared quickly.

Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot. Service is speedy because you go threw the line quickly, you pay and seat yourself.

That was a Little Taste of The Miracle Mile Delicatessen in Phoenix AZ.

www.MiracleMile deli.com