Flagstaff, Arizona – Baby boomer travelers looking for a delicious and casual dining experience should make a reservation at Criollo when visiting Flagstaff, Arizona.

Located in the very popular historic district of Flagstaff, Criollo bills itself as hand-crafted, Latin-inspired, local food.

Criollo’s menu proudly displays the area farms from which their food is sourced, and the menu includes paella, tapas, tortilla soup, pork belly tacos, along with a host of other Latin-inspired creations.

In the hand-crafted department, Executive Chef David Smith is in the kitchen putting his personal touches on everything that is presented to the restaurant’s guests.

A graduate of the Arizona Culinary Institute, Chef David was introduced to the Slow Food movement after a stint in the Pacific Northwest, and is now crafting his magical cuisine to the praise of the foodies of Flagstaff and beyond.

We asked owner Paul Moir what he was looking to offer guests at Criollo:

“All of our restaurants, Brix & Criollo in Flagstaff and Proper in Tucson, are local, sustainable food based restaurants.  Criollo specifically is a casual, urban, farm to table restaurant serving latin inspired cuisine and cocktails.  We wanted to present to the world a local food based restaurant with a casual atmosphere and affordable prices.”

When we walked in the front door, the restaurant was packed and our very first impressions were that of a casual, local haunt, mixed with Northern Arizona travelers all gathered together to enjoy good food, drink, and companionship.

In keeping with Criollo’s desire for local and sustainable, we found the walls adorned with local art pieces for sale, all of the pine materials used in the restaurant is locally harvested Beetle Kill Ponderosa and Rodeo-Chediski salvage wood, and the table tops, bar top, and bar shelves were created by a local welding company.

After we were comfortably seated, Chef David came out to visit our table.  We found him to be a very affable guy beaming with pride about his cuisine.  The chef visited our table several times throughout the night, and we were able to laud him with numerous praises.

While everything was delish, real standouts were the salmon tostadas, pork belly tacos, tamales, and our friend Bob was all smiles over the relleno vegetables.

Bravo!

Photographs from our Criollo Latin Kitchen Dining Experience

Coconut & Masa Fried Calamari (mango slaw, cilantro aioli)

Tortilla Soup (free range chicken, tomato broth, corn tortilla, cilantro)

Criollo Tamale (roasted corn, green chili, roasted red pepper, cotija)  YUM!

Salmon Tostada (seared alaskan salmon, goat cheese, black bean spread, jalapeño glaze, lemon crema, spagetti squash, toasted pepitas)

Relleno Vegetables (roasted poblano chile, roasted corn, butternut squash, black beans, jack cheese, spicy tomato polenta, warm goat cheese vinaigrette)

Pork Belly Tacos (slow-roasted pork belly, cabbage, house pickles, mild salsa, jalapeño glaze) Wowza!

Photography by David A. Porter, © The Roaming Boomers, LLC.

See!  Doesn’t that all look fabulous?

If you’re visiting Flagstaff, be certain to spend a casual night of dining at the Criollo Latin Kitchen.  You’re certain to thank us later.

Link: Criollo Latin Kitchen

Disclosure: our wonderful dining experience was provided by the kind folks at Criollo Latin Kitchen.  Thanks!

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