Good Egg Award: Best meal to follow with a nap

Best meal to follow with a nap: Chino Bandido

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Sounds like a solid, if hard-to-remember password — or if you’re at Chino Bandido in west Phoenix, it’s an order for Jade Red Chicken, Jade Red Chicken Quesadilla and Jerk Fried Rice combination plate.

One might describe the Chinese/Mexican hybrid restaurant located in a strip mall on 19th Avenue and Thunderbird as a “hole in the wall.” Enter the restaurant to a wall festooned with local awards, Diners, Dives and Drive-ins publicity, and a homemade “Body by Chino” t-shirt.

First-time diners are given samples and quick tutorial on how to fill out the menu (Read how to do it). Some favorite items: Jade Red Chicken, a sweet fried chicken dish. Jerk Chicken, chicken marinated in spicy peppers. Egg Foo Yung, egg and sprouts cooked into a pancake and smothered in gravy. Also available, any of these items made into a quesadilla or burrito.

Single items are served over a bed of white rice. Combo meals come in a deep silver tray with rice and beans (may I recommend the black beans, which are slightly spicy in a caribbean way and so, so delicious). Anything you order will probably be dense. Very, very dense.

Each meal is punctuated with a buttery snickerdoodle cookie.

After you eat this heavy-and-flavorful combo, I guarantee you’ll be ready for a nap.

Chino Bandido
15414 N 19th Ave. Suite K
Phoenix, AZ 85023
(602) 375-3639

Photo from Yelp.com.

5 things you should eat when in Phoenix

A Wiseguy pizza @ Bianco’s Pizzeria
Chris Bianco’s amazing pizza pies have been topping best-pizza lists nationwide for years, but his fennel sausage and caramelized onion version is a favorite. If you’re in the Phoenix area, brave the 3-hour lines and see what everyone (including Gayle King from Oprah) is talking about.

Note: You can drink wine/beer and nibble on olives (and get 3-hours-of-wine-drinking tipsy) at the next door bar — or arrive early-bird style (4-4:30 p.m.) and get in the first seating of the night.

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Enchilada dinner @ Los Dos Molinos
Los Dos, as locals call it, is known for super spicy salsa and strong margaritas. Along with those, order one of the beef, chicken or cheese enchilada plates, which comes with a fried egg on top. A fried egg makes everything taste better.

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Braised Leeks, Mozzarella, Mustard Bread Crumbs & Fried Egg @ F&B
Food & Wine Magazine voted this as one of the 10 best restaurant dishes of 2010 – but that wasn’t the first I’d heard of it. Every person I know who’s been to F&B, which has a rotating menu featuring farm fresh ingredients, has raved about this being one of the best things they’ve ever eaten.

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Del Rey Torta @ Los Reyes de la Torta

So much meat never tasted so good. These piled-high sandwiches are full of different meats (mini hot dogs anyone?) along with other good things like egg, avocado and cheese (to name a few).

Note: Order a lime Agua Fresca (frosty lime drink), which could possibly be the most refreshing beverage ever created.

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Carne Asada Burrito @ America’s Taco Shop
Sit outside on the patio at one of America’s now-three locations and enjoy a marinated cubes of beef, guacamole, pico de gallo and carmelized onions wrapped in a soft, delicious tortilla.

Note: Like it spicy? Get it “America’s way” with diced jalapenos.

Any additions?

Good Egg Award: Best cool off

Best cool off — Hawaiian Ice @ The Water Connection

When it’s 110+ outside, what sounds better than a big domed cup of ice?

Very little.

Last summer I discovered a treasure — a tiny water store on the corner of 40th Street and Camelback that sells Hawaiian ices.

The ices come in a tall styrofoam cup domed with freshly-shaved ice. You then pick up to 3 flavors that include the usuals: strawberry, grape, cherry, pina colada, or some more unusual flavors: chocolate, vanilla, tiger’s breath (my favorite), which is a combination of strawberry, cherry, and coconut.

The shop makes its own syrup from flavoring, sugar and their own water, which the woman helping us claims “is the best in the state.” The ice is also made from the same delicious water.

If you like sour, they have a special sour spray to give it extra tart. “That’s really tart,” said my husband with a puckered face. Be warned.

The price is $2.50 for a small (which is large) or $3 for a large (which is really large).

When I was finished with my ice-y treat, I was freezing. I had to sit outside to warm up a bit.

Score.

Water Connection
3929 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85018-2609
(602) 553-8419

Good Egg Award: Best place for dogs

Best place for dogs: Schreiner’s Fine Sausage

Not woof, woof dogs,  I’m talking about wieners, brats, chorizos and  60 more varieties of sausages, which have been handmade here for more than 50 years.

You’ve probably passed the little red and white shop on 7th Street north of Osborn a million times. Stop inside and you’ll find 2 cases full of  delicious meats and a couple of shelves stocked with condiments like kraut, fancy mustard and pickles.

It’s the perfect spot pre-barbecue, but also  a delicious lunch destination.  Their lunch special is available daily: your choice of dog (chicken, polish, brat, beer hot, jalapeno cheese, etc. ) and a drink for $4.95.

Schreiner’s Sausages
3601 N. 7th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85014

Good Egg Award: Best Chase Field snack deal

Best Chase Field snack deal: Kettle Corn $4

Traditional baseball fare might be a Diamond Dog ($4) and a beer ($9 — who wants a little beer?). But sometimes ballpark dining is more of a snack than a meal.

I haven’t yet tried  the two-pound “victory knot,” (a gigantic pretzel that can feed about four people) but of all the baseball fare I’ve sampled, I’m going to say that the best deal at Chase Field is the small bag of kettle corn for $4.

The small bag is more than enough for 1 person (see pic), and a large, which is twice as big, is only $2 more.  It’s lightly sweet,  mildly salty, and compared with garlic fries…not sooo bad for you.

Good Egg Award: Best street for mid-century furniture

Best street for mid-century furniture: Hazelwood off of 7th Ave.

Turn west on Campbell from 7th Avenue and make your first right on Hazelwood and you’ll run right into 2 of the best mid-century modern furniture stores in town.

Phoenix Metro Retro has been around for awhile selling refurbished modern pieces at reasonable prices. Since I’ve discovered the store, I’ve added a sofa and love seat set, and a fireplace to my home and coveted countless other items.

Modern Manor, the new kid on the block, is situated in a larger space right next door, and houses inventory from Phoenix Metro Retro, the former Da’s Modern Furniture as well as their own vintage finds. There you’ll find an ever-changing inventory of chic buffets, sleek seating and super-cool entertainment stands. On a recent trip, I told one of the owners I was looking for a modern-style queen bed. “Try Craigslist,” he replied in all honesty. “That’s where we find a lot of our merchandise.”

How refreshing.

Tip: If you’re looking for something specific, let the owners know. They might have a line on it, have it in inventory elsewhere, or call you if the item comes in.

Phoenix Metro Retro
708 W. Hazelwood
Phoenix, AZ 85013
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Modern Manor
716 W. Hazelwood
Phoenix, AZ, 85013
Open Thursday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Good Egg Award: Best Fancy vintage

Best Fancy vintage: Vintage Fashion, Inc.

“This store is going to be dangerous for you,” my husband said after I dragged him into Vintage Fashion, Inc.

Truer words have never been spoken.

We had visited the store a few months back when it was filled with $1200 dresses and visitors weren’t allowed to touch. Someone must have forgotten to tell the owner he opened a store in Phoenix.

I guess he got the memo, because the new and improved store has done away with the couture (it’s in the back for those of you who can afford it ). The store is now filled with designer vintage from the 1950s – 1990s at the upper-end-of-reasonable price points. A 1950s black dress from Bullock’s is tagged at $145. A vintage DVF wrap dress is in the $200s.

The staff is friendly and helpful. While trying on aforementioned black dress, the sales woman came by with a drop-waisted lace number from the ’60s she thought I might like.

I did. It’s now in my closet.

As I said, dangerous.

Vintage Fashion, Inc.
4700 N Central Ave #121
Phoenix, AZ 85012
(480) 280-6838

Good Egg Award: Best gyro

Best gyro: Haji Baba

Haji Baba, which I affectionately refer to as “Haji’s,” is nothing fancy.

Really.

The restaurant shares a building with a middle eastern market. Upon walking in, one of the waitstaff will waive you in the direction of one of their woodgrain formica tables. Order middle eastern faves such as falafel, shawarma and hummus. But the reason I continue to drive the 20 minutes it takes from my home in Phoenix to Tempe: the Gyro Plate ($6.99).

This giant combination plate includes a pile of gyros meat covered in yogurt sauce, fluffy rice, a simple salad and a piece of pita bread. I  like to liberally shake sumac, a purple powder available at the table, over my dish. The taste is subtle, but it looks pretty. A more zippy addition, Sriracha.

Tip: The plates are enormous. Consider sharing.

1513 E. Apache Boulevard
Tempe, AZ
(480) 894-1905

Good Egg Award: Best hangover meal

Best hangover meal: Torta Del Rey + Aqua Fresca @ Los Reyes de la Torta

The morning following a night of excessive drinking, there are probably a few thoughts going through your head:
Did I really need that last drink?
Am I going to barf?
Why didn’t I drink more water and take an Advil last night?
I need something greasy.

That something greasy could be — no SHOULD be — a Del Rey Torta ($7.99) from Los Reyes del Torta. Imagine a sandwich bun filled with 6 or 7 different types of meat (including chorizo and mini hot-dogs), eggs, avocado, cheese and jalapenos. Visions of a heart attack will completely replace any thoughts of a hangover.

To complement this meat explosion, order an Aqua Fresca ($3.25. I like lime), a frosty fruit drink that tastes like a fruity cool breeze in a glass.

Tip: If hung over, don’t make the mistake of ordering the healthy-sounding Vampiro. While a medley of blended veggies might sound like a good idea, “it’s about as refreshing as the contents of a garbage disposal, ” noted one friend as he ogled the Aqua Fresca.

Los Reyes de la Torta
9230 N. 7th St.
Phoenix, AZ

Good Egg Award: Best Japanese Market

Best Japanese Market: Fujiya Market

Sure Ranch and Lee Lee’s are amazing Asian Food markets. There’s no disputing that.

But your best bet for a Japanese convenience store experience, try Fujiya Market.

Find boxed curries, candy and a fish cakes in all shapes and sizes. A limited selection of produce (daikon radishes and other strange-looking roots), and usually an assortment of bento boxes and donburi bowls (rice bowl). On the occasional Saturday, they’ll make takoyaki (octopus balls) fresh in store.

For all those Japanophiles, there are Japanese TV shows and videos for rent to brush up on language skills.

Fujiya Market
1335 W University Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85281