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This buzzy, colorful downtown taqueria is a collaboration between chef Suny Santana, artist-designer Gennaro Garcia, and restaurateur Aaron Chamberlin. The spartan menu includes five tacos served on house-made tortillas, a selection of Mexican botanas, as well as classic Mexican cocktails (margaritas and Palomas) and a small selection of Arizonan and Mexican wines.
Pitmaster Phil Johnson, aka Phil the Grill, calls himself the “Jay Z of barbecue.” A veteran of the competitive barbecue circuit and food-truck world, Johnson’s first brick-and-mortar:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62591407/trapp_haus.0.0.jpg)
restaurant brings his distinctive take on smoked meats to downtown’s Roosevelt Row Arts District. Hickory-smoked brisket, applewood-smoked St. Louis ribs, and shareables like cheesy jalapeno grits and “Philly crack wings” are unabashedly filling.
After a two-year hiatus, chef Doug Robson’s beloved Gallo Blanco Cafe is back in a renovated, 1920s-era brick building in downtown’s Garfield neighborhood. The rebooted m:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62591408/gallo_blanco.0.0.jpg)
enu features old favorites like elote callejero, a wood-grilled ear of corn topped with mayo, cotija cheese, chile piquin, and smoked paprika; the Naco Torta (now featuring soft, mildly sweet telera rolls, which are baked in-house); and stripped-down tacos highlighting deftly marinated meats. With bright Mexican-inspired modern art on the walls and a youthful crowd that packs the house nightly, the ambience is as upbeat as the food.
