Fry Bread House

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The flight to Phoenix was uneventful, and the pilot got us to Phoenix about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. After getting my luggage and picking up my rental car (a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu LT), I headed to Fry Bread House, a restaurant in Phoenix that specializes in frybread, a Navajo specialty, and a James Beard Award Winner, according to its sign. You can read the story of Fry Bread House here.

According to a 2008 article in Smithsonian Magazine,

Navajo frybread originated 144 years ago, when the United States forced Indians living in Arizona to make the 300-mile journey known as the "Long Walk" and relocate to New Mexico, onto land that couldn't easily support their traditional staples of vegetables and beans. To prevent the indigenous populations from starving, the government gave them canned goods as well as white flour, processed sugar and lard—the makings of frybread. Frybread appears to be nothing more than fried dough—like an unsweetened funnel cake, but thicker and softer, full of air bubbles and reservoirs of grease—but it is revered by some as a symbol of Native pride and unity 

I got the Ultimate Taco, with red chili beef, refried beans, onions, sour cream, and lettuce, with a Dr. Pepper fountain soda to wash it all down. Needless to say it hit the spot, as American Airlines did not serve us lunch on the flight.

The Ultimate Taco (before it was eaten)

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