Chew on This Five top frybread spots in greater Phoenix. Chris Malloy BY JULIE LEVIN I f you’ve never had frybread before, you’re in for a treat. Although it might be new to you, the dish actually dates back more than 150 years, to the time when the American government gave Native Americans flour, salt, baking powder, lard, and other rations for their confinement and forced marches. The ingredients were foreign to them — it wasn’t the normal farm crops or desert fruit, seeds, and berries — but the people were resilient. The dough was mixed together and cooked on rocks (later deep-fried). Today, many Native Americans still make frybread, though with its complicated origins, it can be a tough topic for some. Order it crunchy or soft, savory or sweet, as a taco, plain, or with sugar on top. Here are some of our favorite places in the greater Phoenix area with excellent frybread: 28 Emerson Fry Bread Food truck In 2011, Lorenzo Emerson and Roxanne Wilson launched the Emerson Fry Bread food truck, known for its use of organic produce and scratch-made sauces and beans. The frybread is puffy and rich in flavor, with a good chew. Offerings can change, but one of the most popular menu items is the mutton sandwich with chile, half a baked potato, a piece of corn, and onion and peppers. There’s the Navajo burger, too, with two patties, cheese, chile, lettuce, onion, and tomatoes. The plain frybread is also delicious on its own. Be sure to enhance your meal with one of the truck’s two signature drinks: prickly pear lemonade or the Sedona Sunset, which blends the lemonade with orange juice and grenadine. Follow the Emerson Fry Bread Facebook page for the latest hours and locations. Frybread smothered with red chili from The Stand. Fry Bread House 4545 North Seventh Avenue Fry Bread House is worthy of all the praise. The 2021 Best of Phoenix winner was the recipient of a James Beard Award in 2012, and for good reason. The frybread is puffy, crunchy, and chewy all at the same time, and is fried in vegetable shortening. Founder and Tohono O’odham member Cecelia Miller has since passed away, but daughter Sandra faithfully continues her legacy. The restaurant is temporarily closed after a fire in December, but we know there will be lines out the door again once it reopens. If you want something simpler, try the plain or cheese melt (add beans and sour cream for a bit extra) or frybread topped with hot green chile beef or spicy chorizo. There’s a vegetarian taco, too, and a burger sandwiched between two hand-sized frybreads filled with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Or go for the stew of your choice with frybread dunked in. For dessert, save room for frybread drizzled with chocolate or dusted with powdered sugar. You truly can’t go wrong. Hope’s Frybread 144 South Mesa Drive, Mesa (coming soon) Owner Hope Peshlakai first started selling Navajo tacos as way to raise money for a neighbor. Using her grandmother’s signature recipe, she placed beans, lettuce, cheese, onion, and tomato on a deeply browned, chewy frybread. After 10 years of selling her food at a roadside stand, Peshlakai is hoping to have her brick-and- mortar location open in March, just south of Main Street and Mesa Drive. Peshlakai and her husband, Aaron, also serve their food to the masses on certain pop-up days in the downtown Mesa area. There you’ll find frybread in many forms, from the Asian Persuasion chicken teriyaki >> p 30 FEB 3RD– FEB 9TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
