After breakfast and a shower I went to get my bib for tomorrow’s half. The race expo was part of a bigger community health expo so there were a lot of booths – but not the usual race themed ones. 
Need some medical care? Go to Mexico!
I didn’t spend too much long here, just grabbed my bib, walked through the giant colon and was on my way.
We had grand plans for lunch so I tried to keep my mid-morning snack light – cheese stick and celery. What? It’s not normal to pull a stalk of celery out of your purse?!? Too bad.
Ben and I spent some time walking around downtown Phoenix just enjoying the sun and sights.
The weather was perfection and even though we have pretty good weather in SoCal we don’t enjoy it enough!
I’m partial to orange animals so I had to say hi to Vegas’ long lost brother sleeping on the porch of a restaurant.
Touristy times call for touristy pictures, right? This centipede was super hot and Ben almost burned his leg! 
My scorpion was in the shade so he didn’t get me.
Ben got a snack that I stole a few sips of at some point…
We walked up and down the streets for a while before deciding to head to lunch. Ben was on a mission to hit up a Triple D establishment and printed out a whole list of options! We ended up at Chino Bandido
This place is a Mexican – Chinese restaurant. You pick your own combination and can eat a quesadilla with teriyaki chicken and fried rice. It’s really random, but delicious!
Look who we found (a picture of)!
The options are almost overwhelming! Luckily, the employees were super patient and helpful (we were not the only ones that looked like deer in head food lights). I went with a combination – jade red chicken, salad, black beans and rice
Here’s my combo plate…
Here is Ben’s fried rice, refried beans, jade chicken and some kinda Mexican pork
And the cherry on top that made me fall in love with this place… every order comes with a free cookie! You have a choice of chocolate chip or snickerdoodle. Even though I’m a chocolate chip girl I realized they are known for their snickerdoodles so I went with one of each.
This is THE BEST snickerdoodle of my life. It was thick, chewy, buttery, sweet and magical. Seriously. I intended to share it with Ben but he barely got a crumb.
Here is the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives Chino Bandido episode:
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area some more and ended up at an outdoor mall.
We wanted to sit down and relax before dinner and ended up at a bar. Ben got a margarita.
I stuck with water because of the race tomorrow.
He was so happy with his drink I stole a few sips
And the next thing you know I ordered my own with strict instructions that he had to help me with it. See the waitress even brought 2 straws!
No one likes to drink alone, so I kinda took one for the team?
Finally we hit up a Panera knock off for dinner. I got a Thai Chicken salad
And Ben’s sandwich came with a cookie so we had PB Chocolate Chip, again Ben only got a crumb. My new nickname is Crumbly. 
My life’s mission to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie continues though 
Chino Bandido’s was too crumbly and thin, Paradise Bakery’s was not sweet enough and the chips weren’t good quality chocolate. My “Goals for Life” list is not getting any shorter – I better find that cookie soon!
Oh, I have a race to run tomorrow! I better organize my stuff and get some sleep!!
I’m just catching up on blog stalking you and got such a kick out of the Chinese-mexi restaurant and wanted to let you know if you ever find yourself in Maine (which you should! beautiful!) you must go to the Irish-mexi restaurant Pedro O’Hara’s, because what two cuisines go better together?!?
I kind of love this because I joke that my last name should be O’livas!
You look great in that sundress! It made me want spring to get here so I can whip my dress stash out- but then I realized I better get on my strength game if I want my arms to look like yours 😉
I joke with family and say that Guy Fieri is my long lost brother. How I love him so…My husband and I would love to go cross country just to hit up Triple D stops.
If you are in search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie..it’s right here in my kitchen or so my family and friends tell me:)
omg. i’m drooling. must. visit. arizona.
🙂 read your recap post too.. congrats!
Paradise Bakery has a coconut chocolate chip one that is pretty amazing! I’ve heard a lot of good things about Chino Bandido, but I’ve never been there–I will have to try it sometime!
I don’t like coconut 🙁
Hope you had a fun time at the race! Snickerdoodle cookies are awesome. I could never find one that’s as good as my grandmother’s was though.
Have a great race today 🙂
Oh, and when you find that perfect Choc Chip you are after, you must do a Public Service Announcement about it, lol!!
P.S. Have you eaten a Doubletree Hotel Choc Chip Cookie? That cookie (when it’s baked perfectly) is in my top 5 of choc chip cookies.
Oh my gosh! I forgot about those!! Haven’t had one since H.S. Better go back 🙂
Good luck today!! That margarita looks too good to pass up 😛
After reading this I could really go for some Moe’s…..yes I realize its 10:30am over here.
I love Black Chile in the Biltmore. Good luck with your run!
Looks like you are doing Phoenix right! Glad you made it to Chino Bandido. Their Snickerdoodles are amazing.
Oh my gosh, yum! Your lunch looks so good. I’m very jealous of your Mexican food!
Good luck at your race! I love the giant bug pictures – too funny!
I would have to respectfully disagree with Paradise Bakery being a “Panera” knock-off. We have Panera and I do enjoy a cinnamon crunch bagel. Paradise is definitely its own place. Wish we had them here.
Now I want a bagel. Oy.
Good luck in the race! Will be in Arizona in a few days myself.
The Kidless Kronicles
Have a good race!
You know who has really really good chocolate chip cookies?…Potbelly. Are there Potbelly’s in Cali? There are several in Texas – it’s a sandwich/salad place. I also like Einstein’s chocolate chip cookies. I’m a snobby choc chip cookie person too, so I’ll be dying to know when you find the perfect cc cookie. Good luck this wknd!
http://www.potbelly.com/Food/Menu.aspx
I don’t think there are pot belly’s in CA, but I remember them in MD. Never tried a cookie though 🙁
ah! I grew up in Arizona and Paradise Bakery is known for their cookies!! Seriously the best sugar cookie and chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had! The one you got DOES NOT look like a typical PB cookie 🙁 they normally look like this: http://blog.healthyandsane.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/img_3146-450×337.jpg
Don’t give up on Paradise Bakery!! I promise if you try another location, your mind will be changed 🙂
Mmm. I would do anything for a margarita in a sundress on an outdoor patio. Way to go taking one for the team! I am jealous. Good luck tomorrow!
Okay, so I’ve been stalking/lurking on your blog for awhile now…(love it!) but I had to comment because I work a few miles away from Chino Bandido. I’m not usually a snicker doodle fan, those are the best! I love the idea of Chinese Mexican food. I love that place. Have a good race tomorrow.
Thanks for un-lurking Jaime 🙂
Looks like a day of some tasty eats and sips! Im jealous, the RnR Pasadena expo was tiny and no internal organ tunnels to speak of. Have a great race tomorrow!
My favorite chocolate chip cookie is a recipe from a kids cookbook I got when I was little. I loved those cookies so much that cook book has come with me through my adult life! 🙂