^ I Support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of the New Times clear. Grocery shopping is a chore for some and an adventure for others. Browsing a farmers market, picking products from your favorite grocery store, ordering a whole roast chicken in a top-notch carniceria – it all sounds like heaven. The valley offers a wide range of grocery shopping options. Here are our Best of Phoenix 2020 winners in this category.Best Farmers ‘Market Uptown Farmers’ Market5757 North Central AvenueMany local farmers ‘markets have similar amenities and vendors, but what sets the Uptown Farmers’ Market apart from other such hangouts is critically important in these socially distant times: space. Ample parking is available at his home in North Phoenix Baptist Church so you don’t have to walk the blocks to get your fresh farm loot to your car. (And in the summer, when the pandemic doesn’t keep us apart, it’s nice to have a hearty breakfast burrito in the church’s air-conditioned family life center.) The vendors can spread out well, so we are We can distance ourselves socially, while we shop for beautiful breads from Proof Bread, award-winning tamales from The Tamale Store, sweet treats from The Bakery PHX, and organic produce from local favorite McClendon’s Select. To keep your hands clean, there are many hygiene stations around the site. The Uptown Farmers’ Market allows us to shop for popular stores on the Phoenix Metro and still feel safe during these times. EXPAND The Tempe Farmers Market is jam-packed with local produce. Lauren Cusimano Best Boutique Grocery Store Tempe Farmers Market 805 South Farmer Avenue, TempeTempe Farmers Market stands proudly across from a brand new Whole Foods and next door to a brand new Trader Joe’s. Proud because it’s full of jam packed with products made in Arizona. Identified by its bright red T for the city it serves, this small grocery store has been open in downtown Tempe since 2009. On the shelves, you’ll find local produce, cheeses, meats, and liquids from cream to beer. The locally run market is also something of a bodega with a vegan deli, known for its excellent vegetarian and / or gluten-free wraps and colorful organic smoothies (we recommend the Desert Palm). Another perk of the Tempe Farmers Market? At the east end, you can find cocktails and live music in The Dark Side bar. EXPAND Los Altos Ranch Market on Roosevelt and 16th Street. Los Altos has several other locations throughout the valley. Jacob Tyler Dunn Best Mexican Grocery Los Altos Ranch MarketMultiple LocationsA pandemic habit we’ll hold onto long after that plague leaves us? Avoid the grocery store. What an incredible convenience it was to order fruit, milk and frozen pizzas with the click of a laptop. Truly, we live in the future. However, we’re making an exception for Los Altos that answers the question, what if the oppressive lighting, boring brands, and sunken cart pushers at your local grocery chain were replaced with something more technicolor and livelier? ? Los Altos is like a Walmart-sized bodega; There are curiosities next to the essentials. Need a Spongebob Pinata? Several dangling from lights. A little yellow garden chair for a child? Some are lifted over the frozen section. A whole third of a corridor is dedicated to seeds. Two women stack and pack fresh corn tortillas, which roll one after the other on a conveyor belt. A vendor near the entrance sells steel toe boots. Another is buying gold. There is a salsa bar. There is a juice bar. There are bright, beautiful, elaborate Quinceanera cakes. You can order a torta or chicharrones or menudo for lunch and eat at the indoor picnic tables. “We are here to serve and enrich others,” reads the wallpaper above the cash register, which is painted in both Spanish and English. Mission accomplished. EXPAND H Mart covers all your soy sauce needs. Kris Vera-Phillips Best Asian Market H Mart 1919 West Main Street, Mesa When H Mart, the popular Korean supermarket chain, opened its first Arizona location in Mesa this summer, we waited outside, in the sun, with face masks to get inside. And it was worth it. H Mart blends modern grocery aesthetics like dark woods and clever graphic signage with a dizzying array of Asian grocery products. However deep you want to immerse yourself in Korean cuisine, you can do so at H Mart, whether with marinated galbi ready to cook (delicious) or frozen durian (hard pass). The fish section is huge and packed with seafood known and unknown, and there is an entire side of an aisle devoted to ramen. The store also carries a pretty decent selection of western foods that you can find in any regular grocery store so you can get your gojuchang and fresh udon noodles along with your pop tarts and orange juice. There are even more culinary delights to discover in the adjoining food hall. It would take a long time to discover all that H Mart has to offer, which is why we keep coming back. EXPAND Lamb and Pork Chops at the Arcadia Meat Market in Phoenix Chris Malloy Best Butcher Arcadia Meat Market3950 East Indian School Road, # 130Cattle, one of Arizona’s 5 Cs, is the star of this elegant neighborhood meat shop – and not just because it is with Grass fed Beef comes from some of our finest ranches. The selection of cuts of meat at the Arcadia Meat Market is majestic: Tomahawk Ribeye, Bavette, Short Ribs, Tri-Tip, Tongue, Heart, Brisket and so on. Nick Addante, owner and shop fitting, also sources Arizona chicken, local pork, and grass-fed lamb. You can watch animals being carved up in the back room, where dry-aging cuts hang and build up taste almost like fine wine (but in far more wacky directions). As a bonus, AMM stocks products from a number of local food and beverage artisans. And they shuffled supplies in the early days of the pandemic to accommodate not only those producers but also customers struggling with shortages in grocery stores. Like any really great butcher, this shop has proven to be a cornerstone of the neighborhood. EXPAND Carniceria Cuernacava is located on 68th Street, north of Thomas Road, in south Scottsdale. Shelby Moore Best Carniceria Mercado Y Carniceria Cuernavaca2931 North 68th Street, ScottsdaleMexican food in Scottsdale? Not your best choice. This small carniceria, bodega and snack bar, which is run by the Santana family without fanfare, is an exception. Behind its long glass case, you can find pretty much any piece of pork or beef you like. Regulars flock to the few tables in the Mercado Y Carniceria Cuernavaca for prepared food. The whole roasted chicken special offers deep flavor and incredible value. The creamy, seed-filled, dark orange salsa is hauntingly good and certainly one of the most memorable in the valley. If you’re looking for some meaty soups for lunch, longaniza and pork chops for grilling, and tortillas and hot sauce for your fridge, this carniceria is a boon. EXPAND La Belle Vie can only be found at two farmers’ markets a week and sells out long before lunch. Chris Malloy Best Bakery La Belle VieMultiple LocationsA croissant made from the hands and oven of Nathas Kraus from La Belle Vie is not a pastry. It’s roasted wheat and rich butter in one of its highest forms – not just breakfast, but a portal to grain fields, dairies, and the country. That’s his art: targeting French baked goods, especially vinnoiseries, and making them so well that they seem to transcend what they are. This croissant? It has such a complicated calculated fraction. You can feel the care he puts into the form, into the lamination. This is just one of Kraus’ baked goods and one of his most basic. Everything from his chestnut-colored caneles to cream-filled “rhinoceros” croissants to his simple French bread is fascinating. Expand Marranitos from La Purisima Bakery. Chris Malloy Best Panaderia La Purisima Bakery4533 West Glendale Avenue, GlendaleWest Valley Panaderia La Purisima, now in its fifth decade, is still our best and most popular. Conchas are soft, fragrant, and fortified with just enough sugar. Puffy, pork-shaped marrinatos are simple beauties with plenty of chew and notes of molasses that roll and roll. Flaky empanadas filled with sweet pumpkin drops in autumn. Regulars flock in like clockwork for quick orders for sugar-encrusted pan dulce. What many people also grab is an underestimated aspect of this longstanding willingness: hearty dishes. The next time you have cookies or sweet yeast bread, grab a burrito or tamale to take with you. The first dedicated and certified gluten-free bakery in the state. New Times Archives Best Gluten-Free Bakery Gluten-Free CreationsMulti-LocationsAs Arizona’s first dedicated and certified gluten-free bakery, Gluten-Free Creations has a reputation to live up to. The two locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale rise to the challenge (heh). We dream of these delicious, homemade and freshly baked delicacies – the cinnamon rolls and all bagels in particular. As an added bonus, many of the options, like the marshmallow treats and berry champagne cupcakes, are vegan. There is also a selection of sugar-free items such as coconut bread and vegan super seed bread. We recommend everything. Keep Phoenix New Times Free … Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we want it to stay that way. We offer our readers free access to concise coverage of local news, food and culture. We produce stories about everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with bold reporting, stylish writing, and staff who have won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Feature Writing Award to the Casey- Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with the existence of local journalism under siege and the setbacks in advertising revenues having a bigger impact, it is now more important than ever for us to raise funds to fund our local journalism. You can help by joining our “I Support” membership program which allows us to continue to cover Phoenix without paywalls.
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