Summer is a time when things slow down at most Valley restaurants. Not so at AZ Food Crafters, where there’s been a flurry of activity. The Chandler cafe and takeout shop that specializes in hand pies – aka hot pockets, empanadas, or calzones – just completed interior renovations. Now it looks less like a commercial kitchen (left) and more like a colorful eatery (right).
Owners Eddie Castillo and Mike Caliendo also have partnered with Scottsdale-based Bre’s Petites to be a retail outlet for the bakery’s gourmet cupcakes. AZ Food Crafters carries three flavors: Chocolate Euphoria (chocolate with chocolate-truffle filling), Velvety Red, and Carrot Cake ($3.50 apiece).
And Castillo and Caliendo have come out with a new dessert hand pie of their own – S’Mores (pictured) – which debuts Saturday and will be available for the rest of the month. AZ Food Crafters, on the southeast corner of Alma School and Ray, is open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Saturday.
