As the feminine form of “bravo,” brava translates from Spanish and Italian to “well done,” “excellent,” or “good.” Brava is often used to praise a female performer, often in conjunction with or preceding requesting an encore for a performance well executed. Stemming from Italian and Spanish, brava can also be used to mean brave, angry or fierce. I’m one of those Hispanic gents who expects…make that demands, salsa to be fierce and angry. I want my salsa to bite me back, to reenforce through its potency and piquancy that pain is a flavor. That’s especially true when a Mexican restaurant sports the audacious name “Salsa Brava.”
Salsa Brava is a perpetual “best of the city” award-winner in Flagstaff. It’s been earning “best Mexican” and “best salsa” accolades for the entirety of its nearly four decades years serving “The City of Seven Wonders.” My hopes were that one of those seven wonders was indeed Salsa Brava’s eponymous salsa. Make that salsas. Shortly after you’re seated, your server will ferry to your table three salsas and a basket of chips. The three salsas are a classic pico de gallo (mild), fire roasted-tomato chipotle (medium), and a pineapple/habanero (spicy). Salsa is complimentary, increasingly a rarity among Mexican restaurants. Though my asbestos-lined taste buds didn’t find any of the three salsas especially fiery, they were all super delicious. The pineapple/habanero was especially good, an interplay between tropical sweetness and fruity heat with tropical nodes. The fire-roasted tomato chipotle salsa was also superb with a sublime smokiness! Salsa Brava’s salsas are handcrafted daily. More than 700 pounds of tomatoes a week are used in the creation of these terrific salsas.
Salsa Brava is situated on Route 66 not quite a block west of its sister restaurant (and a Gil favorite) Fat Olives. Both restaurants are owned by Chef John Conley, a much-honored culinary luminary who’s earned “Chef of the Year” accolades from his peers from Northern Arizona Chapter of the American Culinary Federation. In 2006, he was honored with the President’s Award for outstanding culinary skills and community involvement. Salsa Brava has continued to be recognized both by the local and national cooking communities for the last 38 years. The front-facing facade depicts whom I surmise to be La Llorona, the notorious weeping woman of Mexican mythology.
Salsa Brava has twice been featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Its first appearance was on Season 5, Episode 5 in 2009 when the show’s theme was “Return to Route 66.” Salsa Brava was also featured in a 2014 episode entitled “Real Deal Mexican.” Host Guy Fieri appreciated Chef Conley’s cuisine so much that he also visited Fat Olives. In a section titled “What Guy Ate,” Salsa Brava’s menu pays homage to the two dishes Fieri enjoyed during his visit: stuffed sopaipilla and a Navajo taco. Chef Conley has since become a recurring figure in the “Guy Fieri universe,” appearing as a judge and contestant such shows as Guy’s Grocery Games.
Salsa Brava’s menu is extensive, offering something for diners of all stripes. Most noteable in my eyes are the fruit-based sauces and salsas: peach sauce, mango salsa, peach and habanero, and more. The menu offers dishes prepared with both “chili” and “chile” though out server couldn’t tell us where the chile was sourced. Carnitas, burritos, enchiladas, tacos and chimichangas are featured fare. Despite the fierceness of the restaurant’s name, not every dish is sauced for those of us who can eat lava straight from a volcano. My Kim’s choice, for example, had the piquancy of ketchup. That was the classic carnitas plate (slow roasted pork glazed in it’s own juices, accented with fresh citrus orange with a side of guacamole and hand stretched flour tortillas). The fresh citrus accent was reminiscent of the marinade used on cochinita pibil, one of the very best dishes to come out of Mexico. Only the tortillas were a disappointment. “Hand-stretched” must mean stretched to the thinness of tissue paper. There was no way we could use those tortillas to fashion tortilla spoons with which to scoop up beans and rice.
It certainly wasn’t because of my admiration for Food Network glitterati Guy Fieri that I ordered the stuffed sopaipilla (traditional frybread / house pinto beans / smoked chicken / topped with cilantro cream sauce / cilantro and onion blend / pickled red onion / lime crème / sour cream). As an unabashed New Mexican, it galled me to see the sopaipilla described as “frybread.” Sure, it is frybread, but that’s a term more closely associated with Native Americans. Nor was the sopaipilla particularly fluffy and flaky as those prepared by savvy sopaipilla savants in the Land of Enchantment. It had a texture somewhat reminiscent of pizza dough. Not that this stuffed sopaipilla wasn’t delicious. It had much to like. The smoked chicken had the texture and moistnesx of a stewed chicken but with smoky notes. Also quite excellent was the cilantro cream sauce and the pickled red onion. Cilantro cream sauce may never replace red and green chile in my book, but in a pinch it will do.
Salsa Brava may not be worthy of its name if the intent is fierce, angry salsa, but it does warrant several “bravas” when the term is inteneded as applause. Salsa Brava is an excellent Mexican restaurant!
Salsa Brava
2220 East Route 66
Flagstaff, Arizona
(928) 779-5293
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LATEST VISIT: 21 December 2025
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$ – $$$
BEST BET: Salsas Bravas, Carnitas, Stuffed Sopaipilla
REVIEW #1503