I'm looking for restaurants that are out of the ordinary such as inventive menus, strange food, and atmosphere. If you have ever seen Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmer, you'd get the idea.
Any and all ideas are welcomed.
By Zimmer wanna be
on Jul 15, 2010 05:29 PM
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I can't believe I'm about to do this... I'm going to say your number one place to go in these parts is Rustler's Rooste. It's a tourist trap par excellence. They serve about the most predictable steakhouse menu you've ever seen, except that one of the plates available is steak and enchiladas, and that the meal comes with Indian fry bread. But you aren't there for the steak, at least I hope you aren't. You're there for their signature appetizer, deep-fried rattlesnake. And you're there for the slide that you take to get into the dining room.
Another good place for your list is the Stockyards restaurant, on Washington east of 48th Street, just south of Tovrea Castle. Ages ago the land held the office for the Tovrea Land & Cattle Company, but now the property houses one of the better steakhouses in town. Hiding on their appetizer menu are calf fries, also known to some as Rocky Mountain oysters. If you aren't familiar with cowboy lore, you might be wondering to yourself just what calf fries are. Well... to keep it safe for the kiddies, calf fries are the byproduct of when you turn a young bull into a steer. You may wish to sample the wild boar and venison sausages while you're there too.
And for weird food, a visit to Phoenix is not complete without a trip to Chino Bandido Takee-Outee. They have two locations, one on the northwest side of town (19th Ave and Greenway) and another deep in the east valley (Dobson and Chandler Blvd). Both are bare-bones for decor, with folding banquet tables and chairs. They specialize in Mexican and Chinese combination plates. And when I say this, don't think that one person can have machaca with rice and refried beans, while someone else has sweet and sour pork with fried rice. You can have yourself a sweet-and-sour chicken quesadilla and a carnitas burrito with Cuban style black beans and jerk chicken fried rice, if you so desire. And the meals all include a complimentary snickerdoodle cookie to top it off. It's not Zimmer level strange, but it is one of the most unique dining experiences to be had in the greater Phoenix area.
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Chino Bandido
15414 N 19th Ave Ste K, Phoenix, AZ 85023
Rustler's Rooste
7777 S Pointe Pkwy W, Phoenix, AZ
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And don't forget you can find chapulines (grasshoppers) at Mini Mercado Oaxaca
9407 N. Central Ave. 85020 - 602-395-0867. Also, you can almost always find enchiladas con huitlacoche (corn fungus) at Tlacoyo - another tiny Mexican place at University and Evergreen
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Mini Mercado Oaxaca
9407 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ
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Gelato isn't weird, but Gelato 64 in Chandler has some interesting flavors you might like to try. Perhaps black sesame, chocolate-chili, or durian gelato would provide an interesting dessert after the javelina nipple fritters. ;)
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Gelato 64
2095 N Dobson Rd Ste 5, Chandler, AZ 85224
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