Carolina's Mexican Food

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1202 E. Mohave St. Phoenix, AZ 85034

602-252-1503

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Critics'
Pick
Best Tortillas
Award Winner 2011

Cuisine(s): Mexican

Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-7:30pm, Sat 7am-6pm

Price: $

Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards, cash
Attire: casual

Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Catering

Serving: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

Alcohol: None
Reservations: Not Accepted

Parking: Lot Available

Description

A Valley legend since 1968, Carolina's has a cult following for its out-of-this-world homemade tortillas. But folks from all walks of life line up at the bare-bones (no A/C) shop to gorge on green corn tamales, enchiladas, red machaca burros and, on weekends, menudo. Breakfast burros are another delicious treat.

2011 | Best Tortillas

Carolina's sets the standard for flour tortillas in the Valley. In a land where Mexican food is found on every corner, we use these giant, tender 'tillas as the baseline for excellence. It's really not fair to the competitors. Carolina's has won "Best Tortillas" more times than we can recall, and with good reason. The tortillas are made in-house and roll off the grill warm and tender. These formidable flour discs somehow manage to be so thin they're almost transparent, yet they hold up to... More »
2009 | Best Tortillas

Carolina's is legendary. A Phoenix institution. A family-owned business for more than 40 years. And now, it's bigger than ever. While the Mohave location remains ultra-busy, serving the downtown business crowd as well as hungry locals, and Carolina's on Cactus keeps people well fed in the North Valley, this past year has seen the addition of a third Carolina's, in Peoria. The expansion was inevitable, we think, because Carolina's tortillas make everything taste good. They're deceptively thin... More »
2008 | Best Tortillas

Tucked away on a quiet street southeast of downtown Phoenix, the original Carolina's would appear to be off the beaten path. But step through the front door and you'll be surprised at how bustling this place is; there's usually a line at most times of the day. (To be fair, the packed parking lot sort of gives it away.) Indeed, folks come here from well beyond the barrio to get their Mexican food fix, and not just because it's affordable. It's the killer tortillas that keep them coming back... More »
2007 | BEST TORTILLAS

We've given Carolina's "Best Tortillas" more times than we can count, but don't assume we're being lazy just because we're giving them the honor again. Seriously, we spend all year thinking about tortillas, comparing the offerings at every Mexican place we visit to the hot, homemade beauties we find here.Indeed, there are lots of tasty tortillas in these parts, but Carolina's are still the gold standard. They're thin and stretchy and almost delicate, but big and firm enough to hold a... More »
2006 | BEST TORTILLAS

We tried -- no, make that really tried, just ask our editor -- to see if anyone in town could beat out Carolina's, the perennial winner of Best Tortillas. Surely, we thought, this sprawling metropolis has got to have a feisty new contender in this category. And indeed, there are some great homemade tortillas to be had around town. But nowhere else do they transform such seemingly simple food into something as sublime as what Carolina's cranks out by the hundreds. Stretched until they're hu... More »
2005 | BEST TORTILLAS

We purposely set out to find tortillas better than those at Phoenix legend Carolina's, ate our way across town, and ended up about 40 pounds heavier. What did we glean from our efforts That Carolina's still has the best tortillas this side of the Mexican border, tortillas so exquisite that they only need a little butter when grilled to melt in your mouth like savory cotton candy. Of course, they're equally delicioso wrapped around green chile, machaca with egg, chorizo with potatoes, or any... More »
2004 | BEST TORTILLAS

A visit to Carolina's is nearly a religious experience, one that's catholic, with a little "c," meaning it's almost universal in its appeal. Park yourself in front of the main entrance to the dingy, warehouse-like structure with its school-cafeteria tables and chairs, and you'll see what we mean. Every sort of person, regardless of class or ethnicity, walks through those doors: a businessman in wrap-around sunglasses, and a construction worker on a lunch break; a pregnant woman by herself,... More »
2003 | BEST TORTILLAS

The menu at Carolina's offers these toppings for their tortillas: cheese, with red, green or machaca meat, or slathered with butter. We admit that we've made a major meal of ordering one of each. Pure heaven. What is harder to come clean on, though, is that before we leave the restaurant, we buy a dozen more tortillas, and have been known to eat them all, plain, on the drive home. The aroma of Carolina's fresh-griddled wraps is intoxicating. The recipe is simple: unsifted, white enriched... More »
2002 | Best Tortillas

When we're in Rocky Point, we start most of our days with a steaming hot cup of coffee and a handful of made-that-morning flour tortillas. We pull them one by one, still warm in their plastic bag, delivered right to our doorstep.Since 1968, Arizona's closest contender for a Rocky Point tortilla experience has been Carolina's. And to this day, it still is. Carolina's delicate wraps are made on an endless line of hot griddles, hand-tossed until paper thin and stretchy. We can get them by... More »
2000 | Best Green Corn Tamales

Had Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes, grown up in south Phoenix and not Alabama, she might have written Green Corn Tamales instead. And if she had, her inspiration couldn't have come from a more mouth-watering specimen of the titular delicacy than the steamed fluffy packets offered up at Carolina's.Long famed for her tortillas, Carolina really shows her culinary flair with these heavenly blankets of golden masa wrapped around a few green chile slices, a sprinkle of fresh... More »

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phoenixnewtimesbestof | Phoenix, AZ | 315 Reviews

| Wed, May 6, 2009

Tucked away on a quiet street southeast of downtown Phoenix, the original Carolina's would appear to be off the beaten path. But step through the front door and you'll be surprised at how bustling this place is; there's usually a line at most times of the day. (To be fair, the packed parking lot sort of gives it away.) Indeed, folks come here from well beyond the barrio to get their Mexican food fix, and not just because it's affordable. It's the killer tortillas that keep them coming back � tortillas that truly have no match in this vast Valley of Mexican restaurants. Why's that? Well, the easiest way to find out is just to taste them. They're remarkably thin and light, with just enough stretchiness to contain a burro's worth of fillings, and a moist, soft texture that makes them equally good unadorned. The fact that Carolina's tortillas are so popular is somewhat of a self-perpetuating success, since the high demand means the folks behind the counter are constantly making fresh ones. And once you get a bite of a hot one off the griddle, we're sure you'll be a fan.
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rufus2176 | Phoenix, AZ | 9 Reviews

| Wed, May 12, 2010

Best tortillas EVER. Also has some of the best machaca in the city.
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robertsonservices | Phoenix, AZ | 2 Reviews

| Tue, June 8, 2010

Best Tortillas in town , I recomend the Green Chili Burro.
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Carolina's Mexican Food

1202 E. Mohave St. Phoenix, AZ 85034

602-252-1503

Description

2011 | Best Tortillas

2009 | Best Tortillas

2008 | Best Tortillas

2007 | BEST TORTILLAS

2006 | BEST TORTILLAS

2005 | BEST TORTILLAS

2004 | BEST TORTILLAS

2003 | BEST TORTILLAS

2002 | Best Tortillas

2000 | Best Green Corn Tamales

10 Favorite Burrito Joints in Metro Phoenix

By Laura Hahnefeld | Mon, May 7, 2012

Ten Favorite Phoenix Hot Sauces and Salsas

By Shannon Armour | Tue, May 1, 2012

Cheese Enchiladas from Carolina's Mexican Food

By Erica O'Neil | Thu, March 1, 2012

20: Oaxaca Special at Carolina's

By Michele Laudig | Mon, September 20, 2010

Summer Guide: Cheap eats

By Michele Laudig | Thu, June 05, 2008

phoenixnewtimesbestof | Phoenix, AZ | 315 Reviews

rufus2176 | Phoenix, AZ | 9 Reviews

robertsonservices | Phoenix, AZ | 2 Reviews

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