By Nicholas Folkman and Greg Freitas
A cafeteria-style market of independent restaurants opened downtown Saturday in the two-story historic DeSoto Central Market on Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street. DeSoto’s managing partner, Shawn Connelly, said he was pleased with the opening weekend.
The market houses seven independent eateries, although some have yet to open.
“On Saturday morning there was a line out the door and all the way to McKinley,” Connelly said. “It makes sense. Localism is looked for in Phoenix.”
One food outlet is Adobo Dragon, an Asian-Latino cuisine restaurant that specializes in Bao steamed buns. The steamed buns are a soft, fluffy bread that can be dipped in numerous sauces. Customers can choose between beef, chicken, fish and pork as their filling. Vegetarian buns are also available.
Adobo’s lead chef, Allan Inocencio, said it’s only restaurant in the area that sells Bao buns.
“My personal favorite Bao bun is the pork,” he said. “The pork is a real fusion between Mexico and Thai. It has been modified from carnitas with different spices.”
Adobo Dragon saw a lot of business Saturday, much like the rest of the building, said Adobo employee Maria Corral.
“It was so busy on Saturday that we were running out of food,” Corral said.
Another option inside DeSoto is Radish, which specializes in salad and juice. Radish is located next to Adobo Dragon and also has an original menu.
Related: Radish offers cold-pressed juice and locally sourced produce at DeSoto Central Market
According to co-owner Bryan Marscovetra, the salads are made with only high-quality and natural ingredients. One of the more popular menu items is the “Hungry like the Wolf” salad. This salad is filled with grilled steak, arugula, blue cheese, roasted potatoes and herbs.
As for juices, Radish offers five different options. The sweet juice drinks include “Rad But True,” a watermelon, cucumber and mint mix and “Kale Me Maybe,” a blend of kale, Fuji apples, celery, cucumber, lemon and ginger. All of Radish’s juices are cold-pressed and served in 12-ounce cups.
In addition to salads and juices, Radish also has side orders of hummus, pita chips and their soup of the day. Radish has made health its primary goal. Marscovetra feels that the quality of the ingredients they use is what separates them from many other similar businesses.
“We only use the best and freshest ingredients,” Marscovetra said.
A third option in DeSoto Central Market is the DeSoto Central Market burger bar. It offers a typical grill menu, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers with sides of french fries. The burger joint will also serve to the market’s full indoor and outdoor bar, which is not yet open.
Bar and building manager Jillian Newman is excited for what’s to come. Newman describes the cafeteria-style restaurant as a “community gathering place” for anyone to enjoy.
“We had all walks of life in here,” she said. “A lot of people, a lot of energy.”
Though no advertising connections have been made between DeSoto and ASU, both Newman and Inocencio see it happening in the future.
“We are in the works,” Inocencio said. “We are talking to the landlord and the other chefs about how we can connect to the universities here and what we can offer them.”
DeSoto Central Market is open to the public but still a work in progress. There is no set date for when the building will be complete.
Contact the reporters at nrfolkma@asu.edu and greg.freitas@asu.edu.
