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| - As a Southwesterner, I'm inundated with Mexican food restaurants. American fast food mainstays like McDonald's are drowned out by hole-in-the-wall shacks ending in "-berto's." But the fact of the matter is, for all their ubiquitousness, most of these taco stands are downright awful. I mean, they'll do in a pinch, such as when you're drunk at 1AM and looking for something to compete with tequila for the remaining space in your stomach, but no one ever says, "Man, the burrito I had at Filiberto's was stellar!" That's just not the itch those places scratch.
So, you can imagine how apprehensive I was when I walked into Carolina's Mexican Food and found that it did indeed look "dive-y." Would the food fit the atmosphere? No way, José! Carolina's served up some of the best Mexican food I've had in Arizona. This is the real deal: tortillas that melt in your mouth, chorizo that hits just the right savory/spicy notes, and a red chili sauce that bites back.
I ordered the Oaxaca Special, a savory symphony of chorizo, potatoes, chese, and beans. For a burrito that fit snuggly my hands - at a price of $3.50 - it filled me up just as well as a $5 burrito from a "-berto's" joint, albeit with more flavor and better presentation.
Having dined with three other family members, I had the chance to sample three other dishes. The quesadilla melted in my mouth like butter. It's no wonder people line up out the door just to buy Carolina's tortillas. My wife's chimichanga, through some sort of black magic, was crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Does the kitchen staff practice brujeria? Maybe. I'm not sure.
I am sure of one thing, though: when I have an itch for great Mexican food, I'll be making the trip down to Mohave Street. You won't find better Mexican food in Phoenix at such an attractive price point.
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