Bacanora

Reservations become available the first day of every month and fill in less than 15 minutes. Crazy! But everyone wants a crack at Andrade’s rustic but vaguely chef-y Sonoran food: bone-in rib-eyes, pork ribs, local chickens, ears of corn and homemade flour tortillas, all charred over mesquite on a Santa Maria grill that Andrade (pictured) calls the restaurant’s “heart and soul.”

He and his small, talented crew turn out six to eight specials each day — maybe birria, aguachile, ceviche or a crisp cucumber salad. His soupy, herbaceous beans, a menu staple and frequent accompaniment, are pure comfort, with crisp-edged potatoes, grilled green onions and blistered peppers. Mexican-inflected cocktails fuel the lively vibe.

Part of the mystique, though, lies in the national attention heaped on Andrade and his tiny restaurant, a quirky, pink-painted space that seats 32. The first accolade came from Esquire, which named Bacanora one of the “40 Best New Restaurants in America” in 2021; that was followed by a James Beard Award nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2022. In 2023, Andrade was a semifinalist for Beard’s Best Chef Southwest award, and this year, he won the same category.

Impressive, yes, but this rock star who remembers years of “no birthdays, no holidays” is not exactly an overnight success. He’s worked hard to get to this moment, cooking in kitchens in his native Nogales as a teenager before coming to the Phoenix area to attend the Scottsdale Culinary Institute. “They taught us French, Italian, the fancy-fancy,” he recalls. “It was never about my culture.”

After culinary school, he worked for several well-known Phoenix-area chefs, including Matt Carter at The Mission and The House Brasserie, Beau MacMillan at Elements, Gio Osso at Virtù Honest Craft and Aaron Chamberlin at Ghost Ranch. At one point, Andrade had what he calls “a zoom-out moment” when he asked himself, “Why am I doing Asian? Why Italian? I should do what my roots are, where there’s passion behind it.” 

He also took sage advice from legendary pizza maker and Beard Award winner Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, who urged him, “Just cook. Simple food from the heart will take you where you want to go.” Now he follows that prescription in his own restaurant, hauling fiery chil-tepins from his family’s Sonoran ranch and serving them at Bacanora. Every day, he brings his culture to the table, and in the process of feeding our minds and bellies, he nurtures his own soul.