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| - In 2012, The Fry Bread House garnered a rare honor. A coveted James Beard Award. Founded by Cecilia Miller in 1992, this Tohono O'odham Nation inspired restaurant was given an American Classics Award by the Beard Foundation. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe that was two locations ago. I can't say for certain, largely because The Fry Bread House has moved around a lot over the last couple of years. First they were in the Melrose District, then they moved east to the Coronado District. Now they're back in Melrose and have stood still long enough for me to finally come by and get a meal. On a Thursday around dinner, it was fry bread time.
You'll find The Fry Bread House's current (and hopefully permanent) location on the southeast corner of 7th Avenue and Hazelwood (midway between Camelback and Indian School). Inside, the restaurant can pretty snuggly sit around 50-60 patrons max. Unsurprisingly you'll see plenty of Native American art, photos, and other symbols adorning the walls of this valley staple. You order at the register here (and negotiate a somewhat odd triangular metal frame used to form the customer line) and they bring the food and drink out to you.
I've had my fair share of fry bread in my time. But for me fry bread was always more of a fair food. I'd had various iterations at the Arizona State Fair growing up and even at county fairs around the state. In fact I've only had fry bread once in a restaurant setting prior to this (a dessert fry bread at a Mexican restaurant in Flagstaff in case you're curious). Here at Fry Bread House it's available both as a dessert and as the main entree itself. The menu here decidedly tilts along the lines of traditional Sonoran Mexican food, but with Native American influences. So for those dining here for the first time, much of the menu options will look familiar to longtime valley connoisseurs of Mexican food.
For my first go around, I ordered as follows: A fountain drink, a Ground Beef Combination Fry Bread Taco, and a Chocolate & Butter Sweet Fry Bread. Total cost for all of this including tax came to $20. Let's first discuss the Combo. Ground beef, refried pinto beans, lettuce and shredded cheese. Sounds familiar right? Now put all that on a piece of warm pillowy soft fry bread that's twice the size of your average dinner plate. Think I'm exaggerating? Look at my photo. Or better yet make the same mistake that I did and try to eat this taco with your hands. You will fail as hilariously as I did. This thing is genuinely huge but the fry bread largely works well here as a vehicle for all those dairy and veggie toppings. While the fry bread is solid, honestly the taco otherwise tasted like...well...a taco. Just in gargantuan form. As for the Chocolate & Butter Sweet Fry Bread? Same size fry bread as my taco, but this one is carved up in pizza form and covered in warm milk chocolate and lots of warm butter. They brag that this has been an award winner for them. If you've ever had a sweet sopaipilla before, this will probably remind you of it's sweetness and crispiness (albeit slightly more oily). I liked this dessert for the most part. It's not especially hearty, but rather a light and airy dessert that can easily be devoured by yourself despite the enormous size of the bread.
All things considered I would say my first meal here was okay. The taco and dessert were decent and in each case the bread stood out as the most noticeable and well made component. Though I will say the rest of the presentation in each case was somewhat bland to me. I trust that Cecilia and her staff are largely sticking to their traditional roots with their menu, and good for them for doing so. I suppose all those years of fry bread at fairs and the variety of Mexican food at my disposal have me yearning for something a little more bold than what Fry Bread House's menu offers. Nevertheless I embrace fry bread's place in our culinary history and applaud Fry Bread House and other fry bread proprietors for keeping the tradition alive. Whether bolder iterations of this bread will evolve beyond the fair circuit? Your guess is as good as mine.
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