Filibertos - Phoenix, Arizona

Greetings sports fans, from sunny Phoenix, Arizona! My partner and I, her kids and other assorted friends will be spending a week soaking up the sun and sights on a much deserved albeit rare vacation! Why Phoenix, you ask? Well it happens that my employers own a nice condo in the Ahwatukee Foothills and are good enough to let their employees make use of it from time to time. I intend to return home wrinkly from the hot tub but not too much browner as we don't do the tanning thing much anymore. And of course the eating does not stop just because we're out of town, though we have a philosophy for dining when away from Metro Vancouver. For example, we don't seek out  south, south east or east Asian food when in Arizona. Why? Well, we have the best in the world right at home! On my radar in this neighbourhood however is Mexican food, Barbecue and Soul food! Not to mention there is an In 'n Out Burger near by!
Already, on our trek from the airport to the condo, we stopped at Filibertos for a late lunch.

We don't really have anything quite like Filibertos in Metro Vancouver. It is a chain but in quality of Mexican food it is well above the Taco Bell/Time chains that we are used to (and avoid). It is homey Mexican food, maybe Americanized more than I realize and probably not genius by local standards (definitely not an expert) but personally, I am a fan.

With a fresh salsa bar! Not the greatest one I have seen but I can eat my weight in those pickled carrots and jalapenos and there are a couple of salsas.

I tend to forget that restaurants down here do not skimp on the chow. It would make sense to share with my partner more but hey, I love left overs for breakfast. Marie loves Chile  Relleno but when buried in sauce and cheese, the point of deep frying (namely crispiness) is lost. That sadly was the case here although it was still rich and tasty overall (sauce and melted cheese ordinarily seem like a great thing). Surrounded by vast quantities of rice, beans, salsa, sour cream and guacamole, it is filling for about $10. Neither of us were big fans of the guacamole. It seemed a little too blenderized and personally, I am partial to chunky. Is it frozen maybe?

Now the Fish Tacos were great! Tasty deep fried white fish that stayed crispy since it was not covered in anything that would make it soggy. Cabbage, Pico de Gallo and a little crema and decent corn tortillas. Excellent!

Marie's son seemed to enjoy his Beef Tacos. He was the only one to not order too much!

And hey, we're on vacation so we're having dessert! Very good crispy Churros. All together a pretty good way to start our Arizona vacation food adventure! The local reviews seem to want to beat up on this place and admittedly, it is a little threadbare and the staff is semi invisible but to these visitors from the land where Mexican food only recently landed, it is just fine.