Chef Antonio Padilla did not waste any time turning up the heat at his new Valley pop-up. At the debut of Alita this week, his mesquite-fired whole chicken wings drew a steady line and were completely sold out before 5 p.m. The open-fire concept keeps things tight and focused, with three wing preparations, a citrusy, fresh salad, and a playful Pavlova dessert that riffs on childhood sweets as Padilla slowly builds the brand across rotating Valley stops.
For the launch at Goldwater Brewery in Old Town Scottsdale, Padilla set two dozen whole wings over an open mesquite fire and moved through them so fast the stand was empty before the early evening crowd fully settled in. He par-boils the wings to render fat, then finishes them directly over the mesquite and dresses them three ways: a mole he describes as a tribute to his grandmother; a tepache-style, charred-pineapple habanero sauce laced with cinnamon and clove; and a serrano-forward, charred-tomatillo “Buffalo” emulsion. Dessert comes as Pavlova Payaso, where a dark-chocolate “face” cracks open to reveal a creamy orange, sea-salt and olive-oil meringue, as reported by Phoenix New Times.
Padilla runs Alita with his partner and front-of-house lead Mandy Workman, keeping the operation lean so the wings can fly out hot and fast. The crew sticks to a weekly rotation, including regular Monday and Friday evening residencies, and fills in additional dates as one-off pop-ups around the Valley. Those extra stops and any schedule changes land first on the pop-up’s social channels, with booking details and a core calendar laid out on the official site, according to Alita.
From Bacanora To His Own Grill
Padilla sharpened his open-fire skills in some of Phoenix’s most talked-about kitchens. He worked under Rene Andrade at Bacanora and staged at Huarachis, experiences that pulled him toward a project built around smoke, memory and the kind of dishes that feel simple until you look closely. Those stints, layered on top of a run of Valley kitchen jobs, gave him the technique and confidence to launch Alita, where seemingly straightforward snacks get fine-dining attention. Local collaboration listings and menus highlight his roles at Bacanora and Huarachis, according to COURSE.
Menu Highlights And What’s Next
The wings are the main event, but Padilla is already sketching out a comfort-food side of the playbook: albondiga French dips, chicharron chips with dip, and a tater-tot casserole pulled from his culinary school days. Smoke, bright citrus and a slow-building heat tie the whole menu together, and the mobile setup gives him room to test which ideas might stick around for a future permanent spot. Details on the early run of the pop-up and these in-the-works dishes were laid out in coverage of the debut, as reported by Phoenix New Times…