A Culinary Tour of Alpine, AZ

Where is Alpine, AZ you say? It's about 6 miles from the Arizona/New Mexico border in the central part of Arizona. Alpine is a small town with a population of about 330 people. I have been visiting Alpine since I was a child and have many fond memories of vacations spent there with family. The town was recently threatened by the massive Wallow Fire in Arizona this past month, but came through relatively unscathed thanks to the amazing fire fighters.

Now don't get me wrong: Alpine is certainly no mecca of culinary art. But, there are several places that are little jewels of food happiness nestled in this small town. Here are some of those places:

The Bakery. Need I say more? I think we probably went there every day of our last visit to Alpine, and we were there for almost a week. I guess I could blame the need for daily home-baked goods on pregnancy?

Look at that deliciousness... I am in love with the cinnamon rolls, the blueberry scones are to die for, and the cranberry peach strudel was delightful. Spencer enjoyed the homemade chocolate covered donuts and the jalapeno cheddar bread was tasty too. I wanted to buy one of everything. Their menu changes daily so I could have easily spent all my vacation money on baked goods and eaten my weight in pastries.

The Alpine Country Store is a small market with over-priced basics you don't feel like driving 30 minutes to get at the next grocery store. This is usually our fountain drink and slushies, beef jerky, and candy stop in Alpine. It's a quaint little store that also rents movies. We usually go to the market once a day while in Alpine to stock up on something. And if you look at the picture closer you can see the cute, old man in overalls and a cowboy hat standing out in front of the store. Having that man in the picture just made it 100% more authentic :). Love it.

The Bear Wallow Cafe is one of three places to grab a meal in Alpine - and is my restaurant of choice. They have great hamburgers, including the 1/2 pound Bear Wallow Burger that is bigger than the bun it is served on. I also enjoy the vegetable beef soup and I heard the homemade pie is AMAZING but have yet to try it for myself. I can't believe in all my years of visiting the Bear Wallow I have never tried the pie! Jeremy and I plan on visiting the Bear Wallow again for the single purpose of eating pie... one slice of every flavor ;).

The Alpine Grill is another Alpine eatery we usually frequent for ice cream. Mmm...strawberry cheesecake ice cream...makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Attached to the Alpine Grill is the delicious Lollipop Shoppe, known for their fantastic homemade fudge. I *heart* the Lollipop Shoppe fudge. Vanilla/Chocolate swirl and chewy praline are some of my favorite fudge flavors. I could certainly eat my weight in fudge too if my budget would allow! (And there I am in all my pregnant, swollen ankle glory... only 6 more weeks.)

So there you have it -some of my favorite Alpine, Arizona food spots. If you are ever in Alpine be sure to let me know what you think!