Fry Bread House
Native American restaurant · Encanto
4545 N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85013
Highlights
Savory & sweet Native American fry bread creations, James Beard winner
Savory & sweet Native American fry bread creations, James Beard winner
"A James Beard America’s Classics winner and longtime fixture of Phoenix dining, Fry Bread House has been serving Indigenous cuisine since 1992. Founded by the late Cecelia Miller of the Tohono O’odham Nation, the restaurant helped introduce generations of diners to Native American comfort food, especially fry bread — light, crisp, chewy, and big enough to blanket a plate. The savory version is stuffed taco-style with options like green chili beef, red chili, or chorizo and beans, while sweet versions come dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled in honey or chocolate. Most dishes land comfortably under $15, and one fry bread taco is often enough for a full meal. Few places in the Valley are this affordable and this foundational." - McConnell Quinn
"Do beans, cheese and lettuce enfolded in puffy fry bread constitute a taco? 100 percent. Arizona’s indigenous peoples have been eating their own delicious versions of the taco for more than 100 years. In 1992, Fry Bread House founder Cecilia Miller of the Tohono O’odham Nation created a gathering spot for Natives to enjoy the hearty, Mexican-influenced food they grew up on, but customers of every stripe soon discovered how good her food was, including the folks at the James Beard Foundation, who gave them an America’s Classics award in 2012. Although there are eight tacos on the menu, most offer some combination of beans, cheese, lettuce, and beef with additions such as Hatch chile, sour cream, or onion." - McConnell Quinn
"Fry Bread House has more than 20 years under its belt as a metro Phoenix dining staple. The James Beard Award America’s Classics winner specializes in Indigenous preparations of stews, tamales, and hand-stretched, plate-sized fry bread served puffy, golden brown, and faintly greasy. Filled with meat, beans, cheese, and various other savory combos, each fry bread is folded like a giant taco. Of course, there’s plenty of sweet fry bread, too — honey with powdered sugar and chocolate with butter, for example — all profoundly satisfying. Its founder, the late Cecelia Miller, used the Tohono O’odham recipes from her youth, including large, hand-stretched tortillas called chumuth, which accompany hearty stews and form the wraps for behemoth burros. Best for: Experiencing an essential Indigenous dish done right — fried golden, pillowy, and full of history." - McConnell Quinn
"This Phoenix spot is a long-time Arizona favorite, and for good reason: the fry bread. Native American fry bread is a pillowy, frisbee-sized fried dough that serves as a vessel for honey and powdered sugar or filling toppings like beans, vegetables, and meats and cheeses. Cecelia Miller of the Tohono O’odham Nation opened The Fry Bread House in the early 1990s, and it remains owned and managed by the family today. The location has jumped around over the years, but the menu still features the original family recipes from the restaurant’s early days." - lauren topor
"Fry Bread House has more than 20 years under its belt as a metro Phoenix dining staple. The James Beard Award America’s Classics winner specializes in Indigenous preparations of stews, tamales, and hand-stretched, plate-sized fry bread served puffy, golden brown, and faintly greasy. Filled with meat, beans, cheese, and various other savory combos, each fry bread is folded like a giant taco. Of course, there’s plenty of sweet fry bread, too — honey with powdered sugar and chocolate with butter, for example — all profoundly satisfying. Its founder, the late Cecelia Miller, used the Tohono O’odham recipes from her youth, including large, hand-stretched tortillas called chumuth, which accompany hearty stews and form the wraps for hefty burros." - Mcconnell Quinn, Chris Malloy, Nikki Buchanan
