Bacanora Is a small but very well received Sonoran Mexican Restaurant and Bar located in Phoenix Arizona. They have been named by Esquire one of the best new restaurant of 2021 in America. Our local food critic said in her latest review said the Bacanora is an instant classic.

The restaurant really is very small with less that 10 tables inside, a few bar seats, and a few tables outside.

All the cooking is done on one wood fired grill that. is very close to the bar.

Did you know that Bacanora is the same name as a Mexican clear alcohol from agave plants from the town of Bacanora? Speaking of alcohol Bacanora (the restaurant) offers an interesting cocktail menu. Some of the cocktails that they offer are margaritas, an Oaxacan old fashioned, something called chicken milk with mezcal and all kinds of things, micheladas, and an over the top option called Con Fuego of adding hot coals and smoking aromatics.

Just lke the vestibul sized restaurant the menu also isn’t the largest. They offer elote (charred corn with seasoned spiced creama and cotija cheese) as an appetizer and special of the day appetizers. The special of the day appetizers today were cucumber salad, a butternut squash appetizer and halibut aguachili.

The main digs that they offer are a carne asada burrito, A Sonoran style (fried in fat) carne asada tostada, pollo asada and daily specials.

Today’s specials were a. shrimp and chorizo entree and a tomahawk steak.

I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time but read about waiting around ninety minutes for a table. I recently found out that Bacanora now takes reservations. When I made my reservation they were already booked up for a month on the days I wanted.

Everything we tried was delicious with unique flavors that you won’t find anywhere else. The food wasn’t upscale but was homestyle….meaning that you had to peel the shrimp yourself. You also had to peel the chicken skin off because it wasn’t edible. The proteins today were prepared reasonably well (slightly over (shrimp & chicken breast) and slightly under (chicken thigh & leg))) but had very good flavors. My hands smelled delicious all night long.

That was my trip to Bacanora Restaurant in Phoenix AZ.

www.BacanoraPHX.COM

1301 NW Grand AVE PHX AZ

602-612-4018

Everything is subject to change

First & Last at this time (Feb/22) is a newly opened modern American restaurant located in downtown Phoenix Arizona. They serve an ever changing seasonal menu of starters plates and vegetable plates, fresh pastas, and interesting and different entrees, cocktails, local beers, small production wines and more!

Innside might be shotgun style. The restaurant is mostly long and narrow but also is open and airy. There is a high ceiling with hanging plants and lanterns.

In the picture below if you look at the middle of the picture above the bar you might be able to see that they also have some seating above the bar.

They also have a small patio with a few smaller tables.

Tonight we sat inside.

We started out by sharing a vegetable plate of butternut squash.

The butternut squash was adorned with a little heat from chilis, some sweetness from grapes, some yum from pine nuts and was tied together with a ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend) vinaigrette. This was interesting and different and not too heavy.

But my GOSH!! The WINNER WINNER was the Chicken Dinner called Chicken Et Crouton. It was FORKING FANTABULOUS!

This chicken was developed with delicious flavors and was so tender and deliciously juicy…….It just was a YUM! DINGER! Chilis, crispy Swiss chard, sweet tomatoes, lemon and rosemary pan sauce just enhanced everything and there also was this fresh made focaccia in there that just soaked up all the goodness. I do have to say that this was one FANTABULOUS dish.

My husband tried the grilled quail dish. We both were a little worried that it would be dry because almost nobody knows how to prepare quail.

No worries here! This quail was moist and delicious! It came with a little spinach, goat cheese, truffle salt, farro porridge in a brown butter jus.

I made sure that I save a little room to try dessert. They only had one dessert tonight and it was a cheesecake. Generally we both are not fans of cheesecake but we were assured that the cheesecake here wasn’t the typical cheesecake that is heavy and dense (and taste sour to me).Tonights dessert was a lemon ricotta cheesecake with a little fig jam.

It’s not a beauty but……….

It was embellished with fresh whipped cream and a little sharp tasting fig jam. The cheesecake is LIGHT and fluffy, not too sweet, with a really great cheese taste……..(It taste like my own home made ricotta)………I have to ask about the cheese and I was right. The chef made the cheese too for this dessert. I can taste it. WOW! what a great dessert this was!

First & Last Restaurant Phoenix AZ – Fantabulous Modern American Cuisine – Worth a Fork!

First & Last

www.FirstandLastPHX.com

1001 N 3RD AVE PHX AZ

602-975-8297

Parking may or may not be difficult because it is in downtown Phoenix. They have a few parking spaces by the entrance and there is a small free parking garage across the street.

Everything is subject to change.