HikeArizona.COM

If anyone can confirm or deny this below, previous post of mine (by having eaten here & other Mex restaurants in the area), please post your comments:

"Special Note: I now have it from high authority from an eight year local from Globe that THE PLACE to eat the best MEXICAN FOOD in GLOBE is:
Libby's El Rey Mexican Food Restaurant..
(East into Globe on Hwy60 north side, after Hwy188 intersection and before reaching Hill Street(which is the right turn off Hwy60 for this Six Shooter Trail hike)..Look for a Circle-K and Car Wash on the south side of Hwy60..)"

Original name/address/phone# is "NO LONGER":
Libby's El Rey Cafe
999 N Broad Street, Globe, AZ 85501
928-425-2054

NEW name/address is as of this 1/9/18 edit post:
J&R El Rey Café Reynoso's
999 N Broad Street, Globe, AZ 85501
928-425-8154
Location coordinates: 33.40423 -110.79260
(after dark easy to miss)

Chalo's is very good, but calling it the best Mexican food in AZ is a stretch. I'd start the list at Rigo's in Tucson (across from the dog track), but that's my take.
Isn't there a place in the Gila Valley on the Salsa Trail, or whatever it's called, and a bunch of joints in the area that are great Mexican restaurants?

i think what you guys want to say is the 'best Sonoran mexican food in arizona'
the best mexican food can only be found in mexico. La Hacienda is pretty close. I mean, sheesh, they carve a whole roasted freakin pig right at your table! ­
you guys ever have grouper fried in chipole oil and duck fat then wrapped in a banana leaf?
too bad they closed. ahh, we still have Rito's, Oaxaca, and Carolina's (buy the fresh tortillas)

OK, post-hike greasy spoons. I know of what I speak as to Springerville. In Springerville you can hit the new Mexican restaurant, Sylvia's, and boy, talk about a greasy spoon! Ditto, Booga Red's, which serves burgers, steaks, chicken fried steak and Tex-Mex style of "Mexican" food. Ditto Safire, but it is worse than Booga's. There is another Mexican restaurant in Springerville, open only in the summer, called Los Dos Molinos. Food there is very hot, but you can ask the waitress for something that is not too hot. Locals DO NOT LIKE Los Dos Molinos, but people from out of town seem to love it.

The worst Mexican food on the mountain is to be found at Bear Wallow Cafe in Alpine. It is just bloody awful. Are you guys aware of what a St. Johns taco is? It is a taco with a hamburger patty inside, and is as bland as you can imagine. This is what they serve in a lot of restaurants in the White Mtns., so you have to be careful! If you go to a greasy spoon up here and they have hamburgers at the top of the menu, then you had better order hamburgers. Like at Bear Wallow Cafe--the hamburgers are greasy, but taste good. The Mexican food is horrible there.

However, when I lead hikes out of Springerville (I live next door, in Eagar) I always take my pals to Java Blues. Most of my pals want to eat salads and sandwiches both before and after a hike. I have also taken them to Los Dos Molinos, which they liked. (They are mostly all people from Tucson, and one of my constant backpacking pals is from Mexico.) Out of 10 hiking pals I find you will always have at least two or three vegetarians, so it is good to think of them as well, when you choose a restaurant.

As for Taco Bell, I have only had a sit-down meal in Globe once or twice, but not at a Mexican place. This takes too much time. I am always only passing through there, and am trying to make it to Tucson in 4 hours. Yes, it is possible to make it to north Tucson in 4 hours from Springerville!

azbackpackr wrote:I have also taken them to Los Dos Molinos, which they liked. (They are mostly all people from Tucson, and one of my constant backpacking pals is from Mexico.) Out of 10 hiking pals I find you will always have at least two or three vegetarians, so it is good to think of them as well, when you choose a restaurant.

There's a Los Dos Molinos down here in Phoenix! It really softened in the past few years though, and the food got less spicy and more expensive, and my family stopped going as a result. Very true about the vegetarians though, and it can be tough with Mexican food. Most legit Mexican joints cook their beans with lard. Taco Bell has veggie beans, as do most popular chain Mexican restaurants.

Some of my other favorite diner-type spots are

Beeline Cafe, Payson
Reb's Cafe, Benson
Downtown Diner, Flagstaff

sshhh.. beeline cafe is a secret
tell you one thing, if Linda makes a chocolate malt, you will go to heaven. period.

azbackpackr wrote:Yes, it is possible to make it to north Tucson in 4 hours from Springerville!

Heck you can go from Ahwatukee to Marana in 50 minutes. It's the rest of that fricken city, errr

azpride wrote:Taco Bell has veggie beans

No clue to the truth. I've been told their beans come in powered and go through a three? stage process to rehydrate. Of which one stage they turn green As does the meat, which I read comes in a five gallon bucket dehydrated.

Perhaps they should go into the camping business cause it's certainly better than Mountain House!

hey Joe, wally world has black beans in a bag, dehydrated. Fry's also has pinto refried beans in similar package. both are about $2.50 and will make 5-6 big burritos. sure beats $7 for Mt. House!

I worked at the Taco Bell on Wetmore in Tucson, summer of '95. The meat was shipped pre-cooked and frozen to the store, in wrapped in large plastic packages. Just thaw and heat. The beans may have been dehydrated--I think they were, but I think you just added water and heated them up, just like backpacking food. At the time I worked there we actually made up a fresh salsa--we had to chop tomatoes and cilantro and onions, etc., called Pico de Gallo. I'm pretty sure it was just a temporary offering, as it was time-consuming and messy to make. It was the best thing they had because it was all fresh. At that time they had a lot more chicken items, too. However, I do usually attempt to forget that period in my life. I didn't mind working in the kitchen area, but having to work out front on the registers was pure hell.

There are three Los Dos Molinos restaurants, I'm told, all owned by the same family. One in Springerville, one in the Valley, and the third in, of all places, New York City! (Reminds me of that TV ad for salsa.)

The Beeline Cafe is not a secret! Get real! Everyone eats there! I think we ate at Reb's Cafe one time in Benson, but I don't remember anything special about it.

In Safford there is a Mexican restaurant, I can find it if I'm there. It's pretty good. As I recall, it's on a corner on 191?? I remember nice waitress, good enough eats, very plain decor.

One thing about Safford, there is the old Main Street. I hope people go in there and start businesses, fix it up a little. It is kind of a neat old street. There is a mom 'n' pop place there that is okay as I recall--it's in one of those very narrow old-fashioned store-front buildings--the type of store that is long and narrow. When they built them that way it was so they could fit more stores onto the block. (Re-reading this I'm thinking I need to visit Safford again soon! It's been awhile!)

Amazing! I come back from five days away and log on to HAZ and there are 34 new forum posts on this topic!

Grasshopper wrote:Amazing! I come back from five days away and log on to HAZ and there are 34 new forum posts on this topic!

Many of which have nothing to do with the original query. No one hijacked the thread, but it sure drifted.

JamesLyding wrote: I'd start the list at Rigo's in Tucson (across from the dog track), but that's my take.

It's good to hear from another Rigo's fan - they get a poor second billing to Mi Nindito - but the quality is the same and there's rarely a wait! One of my faves.

Another good place if you're in Tucson and looking for really quick Mex. is a place called Maico just west of Park on 22nd. It's a dive, but they put a really good pico on most of their stuff, and I love their carne asada. (They also serve a mean Sonoran Taco).

Isn't it fun to start a post and have it go nuts? Sometimes they do completely forget what you were hoping to talk about, don't they!

As for the Globe Taco Bell, I went through their drive-thru window on Sunday afternoon, ordered two tacos. Ate one, gave the other one to Molly. (Molly is a dog.) Molly was happy, anyway! We stopped later in Coolidge and got a good sandwich.

as a ex resident of globe ,the rule used to be elreyes for guacamole,then get the rest as take out,on the high st do not recall name.In the past copper hills motel used to have some of best Chinese outside of San FRan

I finally tried Los Hermanos in Superior last month. My judgment might have been impaired by extreme hunger, but I found it quite satisfying.

big_load wrote:I finally tried Los Hermanos in Superior last month. My judgment might have been impaired by extreme hunger, but I found it quite satisfying.

You are correct with your assessment. The food there is very satisfying. But, never, under any circumstances get American food there, or you will have quite a different experience.

I have been rock climbing at Queen Creek Canyon/Oak Flat maybe 100 times. Out of those 100 times, there may have been 5 times that I did not stop at Los Hermanos. I really miss that place.

azbackpackr wrote: In Safford there is a Mexican restaurant, I can find it if I'm there. It's pretty good. As I recall, it's on a corner on 191?? I remember nice waitress, good enough eats, very plain decor.

One thing about Safford, there is the old Main Street. I hope people go in there and start businesses, fix it up a little. It is kind of a neat old street. There is a mom 'n' pop place there that is okay as I recall--it's in one of those very narrow old-fashioned store-front buildings--the type of store that is long and narrow. When they built them that way it was so they could fit more stores onto the block. (Re-reading this I'm thinking I need to visit Safford again soon! It's been awhile!)

On main street is El Coronado and they have the best salsa hands down, they sell it by the gallon. The owner has won countless salsa contests with her recipe.

Trek north of Globe today with Mike Mattes checking out an obscure archeologial site...


Afterwards, wanted to check out the purported best Mexican Restaurant in the Superior/Globe area - Chalo's or Libby's El Rey.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3458&hilit=best+mexican+Restaurant

We ended up in Chalo's. It was O.K., but I'm sorry to report it won't make my Top 10 List. Gotta give Libby's El Rey or Guayo's El Rey a try next time...

Either you didn't get the steak fajitas or you didn't hike hard enough

I'll have to remember that since I rarely order fajitas. And I have never ordered a burrito in my life, so any talk of burritos I have to ignore. Not that I haven't eaten a burrito, mind you. I used to COOK in a Mexican restaurant in Hawaii! Anyway, if someone serves me a burrito I tend to empty it out and eat the filling, leaving most of that bland, doughy flour tortilla on the plate.

We have a brand new Mexican place in Springerville, Sylvia's. Right as you come into town on 60. Go right past it, don't stop. There is a Los Dos Molinos in Springerville (yes, same family as the one in the Valley, same VERY hot food.) Locals do not like Los Dos, which is open sporadically, but all my Tucson hiking pals always want to eat there! It is usually open in summer, most days. And then there is Booga Red's, which is very popular with locals. Go right past that one, too! They have this Tex-Mex sort of Mexican food, plus steaks, burgers, chicken fried steak, nasty white cream gravy on a lot of their food. Yuck. Very greasy. There used to be a place that served healthy lunches, the Bluebird Cafe. They are not open at this time, but maybe will open again sometime. Go to Java Blues and you can find some healthy food on the lunch menu. The last place in the world you want to order Mexican food is Bear Wallow Cafe in Alpine. Order a burger there instead. Their tacos are what we call "St. Johns style." This is a popular local way of making a taco: Take a regular hamburger patty, no spices in it AT ALL, and stick it into a corn tortilla and fry it in deep grease. That's it. People here have no taste.

Also you really need to skip the Chinese restaurant in Springerville.

I eat at Java Blues in Springerville, and also out at Coyote Creek steak house. Both are passable. Greer has some ok places, too, but they change chefs up there like most people change underwear, so they are all very inconsistent. And that guest ranch where I'm working now, Hidden Meadow, (if you can find it!) has a great restaurant, if you have a LOT of money...! Very expensive. Lunch menu entries are less than $20 per person if you want to try it out. Employees are given lunch daily, which is how I know it is very good!