Bite Club: Frybread Lounge serves Indigenous fare in Old Town Scottsdale

• Mother-daughter duo Denise Rosales and Heather Tracy were already running Native Art Market in Old Town when a space next door became available.
• "It kind of fell in our lap," Tracy told the Phoenix New Times.
• They launched The Frybread Lounge with chef Darryl Montana, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, who'd helped lead Owamni, Minneapolis' first Indigenous restaurant.

Zoom in: Montana uses only traditional meats like bison, elk and duck, and the menu features Native dishes made with local ingredients.

• He told KJZZ last year that he also doesn't use white granulated sugar and instead uses agave and maple as sweeteners.
• You can order the "Rez" charcuterie board, with sausages made from bison and venison and salami from elk and duck; a Three Sisters salad with tepary beans, squash, hominy, quinoa and berries; or a rice bowl topped with "Wojapi" Lakota berry sauce.

Best bites: As tempting as the pan-seared bison ribeye sounded, I figured I couldn't make my first trip to The Frybread Lounge without getting frybread, so I ordered the taco, topped with ground bison and Ramona Farms O'Odham tepary bean chili.

• The meat was savory and flavorful, and the entire package was a straightforward, no-frills treat; though, to be honest, I probably couldn't tell the difference between their ground bison and beef.
• If you think the word "taco" implies hand-held, you've got another thing coming. This thing is huge, and your knife and fork aren't optional.