Road Tips

Via Delosantos - Phoenix

I was in Phoenix for business three years ago and I met up one evening with my sister, Cindy White, who is the owner of Estelle, a small manufacturer of high quality, hand woven ribbon sweaters for women based in Phoenix.

Cindy White

She asked me what I wanted for dinner and I didn't hesitate.  "Mexican.  Authentic Mexican."  She said she was going to take me to a place that wasn't too far from her shop in central Phoenix, Via Delosantos.

Via Delosantos is a funky little restaurant on North Central Ave. (see map) in a not so nice section of Phoenix.  It was safe enough directly around the restaurant, but you wouldn't want to venture too far in any direction away from the place. 

Via Delosantos may be funky looking on the outside, but it's a Mexican fiesta on the inside.  There are colored hanging lights all around the dining rooms and bar area.  There's Mexican baskets, sombreros and pinatas hanging around the joint, too. 

One of the first things that caught my eye was the amount of tequila they had to offer.  I found out that they over 200 different types of tequila to choose from!  They also had over 20 different types of Mexican beers, too.

Cindy and I both got a margarita with our chips and salsa.  Man, I was torn as what to get.  Everything looked so good on the menu.  And the smell in the place was just heavenly.

I opted for the shredded beef enchilada and just because I'm a sucker for pork tacos, I got one of those on the side.  I ordered a Sol beer and I was in heaven!

Cindy told me that Via Delosantos continually wins the Phoenix area "Best of" categories for their food and tequila.  I've eaten in a number of good little Mexican restaurants during my many visits to Phoenix, but none of them made as big of impression on me as Via Delosantos.  I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Phoenix Inn - Phoenix

I was in Phoenix for business about three years ago and I was traveling with a colleague from Seattle, Matthew Silberstein.  We were going to spend the night out in one of the SE suburbs of Phoenix, but Matthew said, "Hey, I know a place we can stay here in Phoenix.  It's cheap and the rooms are European style suites." 

So he directed me to a place off of 24th St. and near the Biltmore Fashion Park and south of Camelback Road.  We came to this place called The Phoenix Inn and it was a nice little hotel.  The lobby was large and inviting, the staff was attentive (Matthew had stayed at this place many times before) and they gave us rooms on the third floor.

I walked into my room and looked around - it was a suite!  And it WAS like a European suite, at that.  A couple of small rooms and then a bedroom with attached bath.  I called Matthew and said, "We paid HOW MUCH for these rooms?"

Matthew said, "$90 bucks. All the rooms are suites here." 

Well, I didn't know it until about a year ago, but the Phoenix Inn is actually a small chain of hotels that are primarily in the northwest - in Washington and Oregon.  I thought the Phoenix Inn was named after, well, Phoenix.  Hence, the Phoenix Inn. 

And all the rooms at a Phoenix Inn are suites.  They're comfortable, they're roomy and, above all, they're relatively cheap! 

I'd stay there again.  It was nice and nice surprise, at that...