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| - Friendly staff, delicious BBQ, and a wonderfully fragrant setting.
This is such a great place to visit on a beautiful winter day! I had hesitated to come here for a while, because I knew that there really wasn't a whole lot of which to speak of where Val Vista meets the 202 in Northeast Mesa. But my brother told me it was worth visiting and the reviews are consistently great, so I made it here with a couple of family members. I'll be making it here on a regular basis going forward, because it really is a great little place, especially on a winter afternoon. While sitting there waiting for our food, we counted no less than 8 hummingbirds feeding at the edge of the patio. The restaurant is only a few feet from Val Vista, but it's not a particularly busy stretch of the road.
Jalapeno Bucks is set among a bunch of orange trees and is next door to a citrus store that sells a bunch of the produce from the groves surrounding the place, along with some other tasty items (like Arizona honey and tasty candies). As soon as we got out of the car, we were immediately hit by two competing smells: citrus and BBQ. As we got closer to Jalapeno Bucks, the smokey BBQ smell won out, and our mouths were watering.
There are a few picnic-style tables under the roof of the porch. You order at one window and pick up your food when it's ready at the other window. The menu is pretty basic. There are a few different kinds of burritos: red chili with pork and green chili with pork or beef. There are a few sandwiches with different BBQ meats on them. Ribs are available on Saturday. They sell a few different kinds of salsa as well--all are pretty tasty, but not particularly spicy.
I tried all of the different chilis, but I preferred the red chili version that I ordered. The burrito came out piping hot. I tried to exercise some restraint in eating it so that I wouldn't burn my mouth, but I only had so much restraint in me. I may have burnt my mouth a couple of times, but it was worth it. This was a tasty burrito! The red chili was a little spicy--nothing overpowering, but I do consider myself to be a bit of a pepper belly, so keep that in mind. You can add cheese to the burrito for $1, but it was just fine without it.
I'm definitely coming back for more red and green chili and more BBQ.
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