Rito’s Mexican Food

Rito’s Mexican Food is not to be missed

There is no shortage of good Mexican food in Phoenix. Anyone looking for a quick fix of the basics, prepared to order, from scratch, and served in the most informal way, won’t do better than a visit to Rito’s in the Garfield Historic District. It’s a small place – more kitchen than order area – and all on-premises seating is outdoors on one of two adjoining patios. Everything is sold in take-away containers.

What should I eat at Rito’s Mexican food?

Step up to the order window and look left, to the kitchen. There you see meat being shredded and burros constructed. This is a by-hand operation. The signature dish is a burrito served enchilada style, meaning it comes smothered in melting orange cheese and your choice of red or green chile sauce. It is a huge, hugely satisfying plate of food, brilliantly flavorful thanks to the hot red or hotter green salsa that smothers it. Inside are beef along with green or red chili, or vegetarian mixes of beans and/or rice.

The rest of the menu at Rito’s Mexican Food is unwavering regional fare: burritos, tacos, chimichangas, enchiladas, and tostadas. The tostada, much smaller and less imposing than the burrito, is easy on the tongue and, in its guacamole-topped variation, cool and refreshing. While not as broad as the crisps more typical of Sonoran Mexican eateries farther south around Tucson, this tostada is nonetheless a challenge to eat: too crisp to cut with a knife and too precarious to balance on the way from wrapping paper to mouth. Eating one is a strategic dilemma … a very yummy one.