We went to Caramba's Fresh Mexican Food this weekend after hearing about it from some friends. We have been looking for authentic Mexican food here in Phoenix and not having to drive to Tucson to find it. Don't take this wrong, there are some really good Mexican restaurants in Phoenix, but Tucson has great Mexican food!
Caramba's is more of a dive-ish / dinner style restaurant that offers quick and friendly service and really good (almost to greatness) food. They were voted "Best of Phoenix" and Best Mexican Restaurant" by Hispanic Newspapers. They are extremely low cost and offer HUGE serving sizes. What I like the most about Caramba's is they do not use lard nor MSG! You can tell their food is extremely fresh and they offer several LOW CARB options for the healthy conscious.
My Chipotle loving friend left this place vowing never to eat at Chipotle again after eating their Machaca Beef Burito. Their Machaca Beef Buro is HUMUNGUS and very tasty! Their chicken and shrimp Quesadilla's were also delicious and HUGE. They were served on a pizza pan for goodness sake! Their carne asada and and pollo asado are also very good. They give you a bowl of warm, homemade chips and have a salsa bar. The two things that are keeping my experince from being 5 stars:
1) Yes they have a salsa bar and their salsa is very good but they give you these little salad dressing size cups to put it in. They are so small you can't fit a chip in them...
2) They charge you for soft drink and ice tea refills. I appreciate the fact they serve a good variety of domestic and foreign beer but sometimes you just want ice tea, especially during lunch. No one charges for tea refills!
Despite these two very small quirks, I recommend you try the Caramba's Fresh Mexican Food on Bell and I17. They are better than or as good as any Mexican food available in Phoenix. I'm looking forward to my next visit! I'm planning to try their Chile Relleno and Tamales!