Phoenix munchies, sorted

Aureliano Dominguez started this with a borrowed cart around 1990, and it's widely credited as the spot that put the Sonoran dog on the map in Phoenix. The dog is the classic build: bacon-wrapped frank, soft bolillo, beans, pico, guac, crema and cotija.

The 35th Avenue stand is the one regulars point to, and there's a second spot at 9444 N 19th Ave. It runs late, which is the whole point. Go hungry and go after dark.

A nighttime cart run by Pablo and Monica Perez since 2001, parked in a lot near Indian School and 20th Street. The bacon-wrapped dog comes loaded with beans, onions, tomato, mayo and mustard, and the condiment table has jalapeños and sliced mushrooms if you want to go further.

Picnic tables fill up with a late crowd, and nobody is in a hurry. It's evening only, so this is a post-sesh move, not a lunch plan.

Carolina Valenzuela opened on West Hilton Avenue in 1968 and the restaurant moved to Mohave Street in 1986. It has been a Phoenix fixture ever since, mostly because of the tortillas: homemade flour, chewy and soft, nothing like the bag.

The machaca is the move. Get it in a soft taco or in the breakfast burrito with eggs and potatoes, which is big enough to count as a nap. It's a short ride from downtown Phoenix.

The kitchen inside the Crescent Ballroom music venue does Sonoran-style tacos and chimichangas, and it stays open late on weekends. It's an easy grab before a show or after one, without leaving downtown.

Order a chimi here and you're participating in the argument above. Pick a side.

Chris Bianco started making pizza in the back corner of a grocery store in 1988, moved to a strip mall in 1994, and landed in this old brick building at Heritage Square in 1997. The menu is short on purpose. The six staples are the Margherita, Marinara, Rosa, Wiseguy, Sonny Boy and Biancoverde.

The Rosa and the Wiseguy are the two people argue over. There's also a Pizzeria Bianco at Town & Country if downtown is out of the way.

A bar and restaurant inside a mid-century department store building downtown, known for thin-crust pizzas and a late kitchen. The room looks like a movie set from the 1950s.

It's the best downtown answer when it's late and you want pizza that isn't from a box.

A tiny retro diner with a pink neon Welcome sign and a front patio, just east of downtown. Southern comfort food is the lane: the Welcome burger, buttermilk fried chicken, fried chicken livers, chorizo con papas, mac and cheese.

The famous order is the fried chicken biscuit with cheddar and sausage gravy. Finish with banana pudding or an ice cream float. It runs later on weekends.

Open since 1972 right on the edge of the ASU campus. The burgers are grilled over real mesquite charcoal where you can watch, and the staff swear by their "magic dust" seasoning. Some employees have been there for decades, which tells you something.

It's the classic Tempe burger stop. Smoky, simple, cheap enough that you won't think twice.

This shop started as a date ranch in Phoenix's Arcadia neighborhood and has been selling dates for roughly 75 years. It now lives in a midcentury plaza near Hayden and Osborn.

The date shake is the reason to go. It's simple: ice cream and date milk. Thick, caramel-sweet, cold enough to make the drive worth it.

Old-school ice cream in a 1940s red brick building on Central. Scoops come in pretzel cones, and the ice cream sandwiches are built on homemade cookies.

Order the Fat Elvis sundae: peanut butter ice cream, salted caramel, bananas, whipped cream and chocolate rocks. It's a lot. That's the point.

Creative flavors and the Dough Melt, which is any ice cream and topping pressed inside a warm, halved glazed doughnut. It's the kind of idea that only sounds reasonable after a sesh, and it's delicious anyway.

The Grand Avenue shop is the original, and there's a second one in downtown Mesa at 40 N Macdonald #2.

Small-batch ice cream with flavors that rotate with the seasons and local ingredients. The standbys are Salted Butter Caramel Swirl, Madagascar Vanilla and Belgian Chocolate.

There are also shops at 410 N Scottsdale Rd in Tempe and 9160 E Shea Blvd in Scottsdale, plus one inside Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 if you need a last scoop before a flight.

A fully vegan shop known for the tSoynami: house soy soft serve blended with a pile of mix-ins. They also do vegan baked goods and coffee.

Good call for the dairy-free friend in the crew, and honestly good for everybody else too.

Locally sourced ice cream with flavors that rotate weekly, plus sorbet and gelato. The signature is a cookie cup topped with macarons and a toasted marshmallow.

It's a short walk from the galleries and murals on Roosevelt Row, so it fits right into an art walk wander. There's a Scottsdale shop too.

Build-your-own street tacos, and it stays open into the very small hours every day. This is the 2 am answer in Old Town.

Nothing fancy. Exactly what you want at that hour.

A tucked-away bar on Main Street with a kitchen that runs late. The Beverly Burger and the truffle fries are the munchie play, and the filet bites are there if you're feeling flush.

Italian and pizza served late every night, with a bruschetta board that's built for passing around. A sit-down option when tacos from a counter won't cut it.

Pizza and a live show on what the restaurant calls the largest Wurlitzer theatre organ in the world: four keyboards, more than 6,000 pipes, the biggest about 32 feet tall. The core of it was built for a Denver movie palace in 1927 to play along with silent films.

The first Organ Stop opened in Phoenix in 1972 and the Mesa room followed in 1975. The organ plays almost every day of the year. When those 32-foot pipes go, the whole room rumbles. Eaten in the right state of mind, it's a religious experience with pepperoni.

Part of the Carolina's family started by Manuel and Carolina Valenzuela, with the same focus on homemade tortillas, burritos and tamales. It's the East Valley's easy way into the tortilla tradition without driving to south Phoenix.

There are other Carolina's locations in north Phoenix, Peoria, Glendale and Chandler.