Is it fair to dock a star for not accepting credit cards? That's of course a rhetorical question that could fill up Yelp Talk threads for weeks. For me, the answer is yes and the main reason I stayed away from El Norteno for so long despite living just down the road. Look, I never have cash on me and 99% of businesses these days accept cards. Hell even the vending machines at my office take cards now. So its an inconvenience for me to find a branch of my bank, grab a twenty and then go somewhere. You may disagree with me, but that's my stance and I'm sticking to it. So you may ask what finally got me over here? Glad you asked. The short answer is the Phoenix New Times. Of all the Mexican joints the New Times staff tried throughout the entire valley, the consensus amongst their staff was that El Norteno had the best Machaca Chimichanga in the entire valley for 2018. Oh, really? Finally, on the way home from work on a Wednesday, I bit the bullet, stopped at an ATM, and then came to El Norteno.
Residing on the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and Roosevelt, El Norteno takes up space at one of Downtown's busiest intersections. Which probably explains the lines I typically see after work here. The building is a dive, seating is scarce, and getting in and out of here during the work day is a task. But nevertheless this place is busy every time I drive by. Latino, white, black, white collar, blue collar, rich, poor, every walk of life comes here. Today was no different and I walked up to place my order. Here you walk inside to a tiny ordering counter, give them your order, pay cash, get your number, and then wait outside.
I ordered the #14, a Chimichanga with beans and rice. You've got a bunch of meats to choose from, but I took the New Times' advice and ordered Machaca. Total cost including tax? $9. Took about 10 minutes as there were about 8 other orders prior to mine. As what little seating here was in use, I got mine to go. So did this chimi live up to the hype? Well, its complicated. The portion of the chimi was big as I expected, but they totally drenched my chimi in guac and sour cream. I certainly love guac and sour cream, but I should've asked for them to put it on the side. By the time I dug into my chimi, the shell was already a wet mess with only a slight crunch. The beans were also just meh and tasted basically like bean puree. Now I will say the machaca and the rice were both excellent and particularly good when mixed with the cream and guac. So it wasn't an unpleasant meal at all.
On the whole, I would say this chimichanga measures up fairly evenly with Rito's (14th St & Roosevelt), but I will side with Dominic Armato of the AZ Republic that Carolina's (12th St & Mohave) has the best chimi in Downtown Phoenix (and possibly the entire valley). El Norteno certainly gets the job done in terms of delivering a hearty inexpensive meal with some high points. But between the Cash Only rule and the so-so taste, I probably wouldn't make another ATM run just for the pleasure of a meal here. Rito's too used to be cash only, but their business boomed once they joined the credit card movement. Here's hoping El Norteno will join that revolution. read more