Chino Bandito

This post is long overdue…When visiting Arizona last March, my friend’s husband recommended we eat at a local dive called Chino Bandito. In normal circumstances, I’d avoid a restaurant that is known for serving food in pie tin plates and uses folding furniture, but when I heard that Chino was featured on Triple D, I wanted to give it a try.

Their food isn’t what I’d called fusion but more a mix and match combination of Chinese and Mexican. There are two meal options – a small plate with one entrée and rice and the large plate option with 2 entrees, beans, and rice. Each entrée is a protein that can be ordered plain or in either a burrito or quesadilla. I was happy to learn that they have a “tasting station” where you can try bites of their most popular dishes. When ready to order you fill out their form and hand it to the cashier – not only are there a number of entrée choices, but there are also 2 types of beans and 4 types of rice.

I went for the Jade Red Chicken by itself, carnitas quesadilla, refried beans, and chicken fried rice. It was really strange to go between bites of sweet and sour chicken to refried beans. I ended up eating each item separately since the mixing of bites started to weird me out. Everything was really good…I’d definitely go back. Good recommendation TJ!

Diners Drive-Ins and Dives Segment