Anita’s Cocina

Hour of Operation

TUESDAY – SATURDAY
10:30am – 8pm

SUNDAY
10:30am – 4pm

Wickenburg, Arizona is a place where you can “play in the past” and find “modern-day” amenities; a perfect place to walk the same streets where history was made. Fine dining, saloons, museums, attractions and much more.

An 1862 gold strike on the Colorado River near the present-day Yuma inspired hardy prospectors and miners, predominantly from California and Mexico, to search for minerals throughout central Arizona. It was the miners who helped found the community of Wickenburg in 1863. The best thing about Wickenburg is how the past is preserved for everyone to enjoy.

Less than an hours drive away (54 freeway miles) from the hustle and bustle of modern Phoenix, Arizona’s the most western community stands guarded from the metropolitan masses. Resting on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert, just below Arizona’s mountainous country, the Wickenburg area abounds in natural beauty. Stoic emerald-green saguaros dot the landscape. Dove-colored mountains are shadowed purple from passing clouds. Lush desert foliage follows along the meandering Hassayampa River. And while the area’s geological treasures attracted the miners from around the world, the Hassayampa River flood plain provided fertile soil for farming and ranching.

For centuries, the western Yavapai (or Tolkapaya as they called themselves), made the banks of this oasis their home, irrigating their crops of corn, beans, squash, and tobacco with river water. They named this place Haseyamo, “following the water as far as it goes,” from which the word Hassayampa derived. Ranchers and farmers built homes along the fertile plain of the Hassayampa River accompanied the miners. Many of the resourceful and committed settlers came from Sonora, Mexico, giving this area the distinction of being the northern edge of the Hispanic ranching frontier. Anita’s Cocina is a flavorful example of Mexican heritage that you can taste.

Then there are the modern-day legends, not everybody’s heard of, although the folks at Anita’s Cocina know who they are. If you want to know more about Wickenburg and its legendary characters from the past and those here today, you’ll just have to stop by Anita’s Cocina for food or drink and we’ll tell you some stories you’ve never heard.