Hidden Gems – Huauchinango

Steppin' on in to Huauchinango. Photo by Michael West

Well here we are, the tenth and final stop on my glorious and damn good Mexican Food Hidden Gems search. And wouldn’t you know it, they saved the best for last.

Welcome to Huauchinango.

Hidden Gems – Rolando’s

Welcome to Rolando's! Photo by Michael West.

It’s coming down to the nitty gritty on my ten-stop Hidden Gems Tour, and stop number nine took me to into North Phoenix and a place they call Rolando’s.

Hidden Gems – Pedro’s

Welcome to Pedro's Mexican Restaurant in Glendale, AZ. Photo by Michael West.

On my Hidden Gems Tour, compared to where I live in Tempe, I’ve been South with it.

I’ve been East with it.

I realized I needed to get North with it, pronto.

That’s where Pedro’s in Glendale steps in.

Hidden Gems – El Sol

Welcome to a glorious little spot called they call "El Sol." Photo by Michael West.

I head South down the 101 Freeway into the city of Chandler for my 7th stop on my Hidden Gems Tour around the Valley… and good God almighty, my 7th Heaven was a little place called El Sol.

My Mexican Food Slideshow/Dubby Dub Original Rap

Our assignment for Online Media class was to make an audio slideshow of pictures I have taken.

Since this blog is primarily about my undying love for hole-in-the-wall Mexican food joints, I figured I might as well make a song of my own, because no other song out there would be able to express what I’ve seen, where I’ve been and what I’ve eaten.

For whatever reason, I’ve been making an array of original songs since about 2004, and figured that by concocting up my own lyrics and thinking outside the box a bit, I could make an audio slideshow that was less of a slideshow and more of a detailing of where I’ve been and what I’ve eaten… with a little bit of humor thrown in there as well.

My initial end result was a one minute, 20 second song is titled, “I Love Comida Mexicana.”

But for a 100 point assignment, our task was to create an audio slideshow longer than 90 seconds that pertains to our blog topic. So with the teacher giving me the OK, I extended the original song to be close to two minutes and 30 seconds, freshly strapped with a repeat of the chorus and a new verse.

Enjoy.

And Nancie, grade nicely.

All lyrics written by Michael West.

All photos taken by Michael West.

Credit to Sean Divine on the instrumental.

Hidden Gems – Mi Patio

The sign outside of Mi Patio Mexican Food Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo taken by Michael West (me).

I now have to count on two hands the amount of different Mexican food joints I’ve been to on my Hidden Gems search, and the first place I can count off on my other hand is Mi Patio Mexican Food in Phoenix.