Los Dos Molinos

Best Perfect Phoenix Sunday in Fair Weather

The weather outside's delightful, and it really would be frightful to bounce around your apartment on such a lovely day. So don't. Get the hell out and discover what life here is really about at these signature destinations.

Our positively ponderous municipal preserve — the nation's largest, at 16,000 acres — features mile after mile of hiking, biking, climbing, and horseback trails, plus picnic and recreation areas and the South Mountain Environmental Education Center. The park's one of those enchanted places where newcomers, skeptical of all the gab about what a desirable place the PHX is, look around and say, "Ohhhhh, okay. Now I get it."

After you've worked yourself into a lather on one of the basin-to-range trails — or just driven to the top and sucked in the 360 views — you'd be wise to treat yourself to an appropriately named Kick-@ss Margarita or three at nearby Los Dos, a mellow watering hole/restaurant located in the charming former home of singing cowboy Tom Mix. We recommend the trifecta — if you don't need to be anywhere for a while. Unlike the pansy-ass varietals you'll find in snootier parts of town, the Los Dos maggies are as big as a boxer's fist and pack a similar punch. They numb you to the effects — delightful yet brutal — of the cafe's flaming New Mexican cuisine, which is so good that the Los Dos folks opened a successful offshoot in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. Manhattan!

The truly brave — say, those who've just conquered the mighty, 20-plus-mile National Trail that runs the length of the South Mountain crest — might try Los Dos' green chile enchiladas, hot. Afterward, you'll love us, you'll hate us, but we're pretty sure you'll say, "Ohhhhh, okay. Now I get it."

Best Machaca

Do you ever find yourself ordering one particular thing whenever you see it on a menu? We're that way with machaca. And ever since we discovered the outrageously good machaca at Los Dos Molinos — where there's a whole menu full of memorable dishes — we've had to keep returning just to satisfy our cravings. Here, the classic shredded beef dish is impressively tender, with a rich, meaty flavor that stands up to Los Dos' signature spices. This is kicky stuff, for sure, but it's heat we can handle. Better yet, there are three different machaca dishes. You can get it wrapped in a burro slathered in enchilada sauce, tucked into a crisp, golden chimichanga, or spooned onto the machaca pizza, a huge, crispy tortilla topped with tomatoes, red chili, and gooey melted cheese. That last one is our favorite, an entrée-sized appetizer that we'd be happy to devour alone. Sorry, but if you want to eat machaca this good, you're on your own.