Viva Variety!
From Tamales to Tabbouleh, Tucson's Culinary Scene Has It All
In the beginning was the tortilla. And Tucsonans saw that the tortilla was good—especially with a plate of beans and shredded beef. By the time anyone thought to open a restaurant here, Tucson was basically a Mexican outpost, and Mexican food was what you ate, whether you stayed home or dined out.
But then the Anglos arrived and felt that the menu was without form and void, with a darkness over their plates. So the Anglos said, “Let there be steakhouses.” And Tucsonans separated the Mexican food from the American food, and called it the Southern Arizona Restaurant Association.
No, wait—that came later. First were the long decades of culinary tedium, the choices coming down to T-bones versus tacos, chops versus chimichangas. Maybe a bit of barbecue for variety, plus the morning comfort of conventional coffee shops—or a pile of spaghetti serving as the primary ethnic alternative.
Chinese immigrants had lived here since the 1880s, but they didn't have a big impact on the local restaurant scene until the Chinese-food craze hit America in the 1950s and 60s. That's when things really started to get interesting.
New immigration from across the seas brought forth newcomers with excellent cooking skills. An influx of international students arrived at the University of Arizona—with a hunger not only for knowledge but for the food they grew up with. Refugees from conflict in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America found that one of the easiest ways to enter the workforce in this strange new land was to open a restaurant.
By the 1970s and 80s, Tucson tongues were wagging with curious taste buds, and there was a restaurant to satisfy almost every culinary desire. First sprouted the cafés specializing in wholesome vegetarian and organic fare. Then good Indian restaurants started to appear. World-renowned chef Janos Wilder applied classic French techniques to locally grown ingredients and helped spur the Nouvelle Southwestern movement, along with visionaries at other notable restaurants such as Terra Cotta. A wave of little Vietnamese restaurants was followed by a wave of little Thai restaurants, and then an inundation of sushi in the 1980s prepared Tucson for the Pacific Rim fad of the late 90s.
You still can't get good Afghan yak in Tucson, and a few other gaps remain in local restaurant pantries. But, for a city of its size out in the middle of the desert, Tucson offers a surprising number and variety of restaurants.
You'll find Peruvian, Guatemalan, and Ethiopian restaurants within about a mile of each other. Haute cuisine vies with a local chain of fruit-slush shops for your attention. And fear not. We'll always have those T-bones and tacos.
Of the city's 3,000 eateries, give or take a taquería or two, a mere 150 or so serve Mexican cuisine. Our variety of Mexican fare eschews chili, to the distress (or smug satisfaction) of Tex-Mex fans, and it's quite different from the ubiquitous flat enchiladas and green and red chiles of New Mexico. Tucson's style of Mexican food is based on northern Sonoran recipes, as adapted over the decades by border chefs. Tacos here are folded, not rolled. Shredded beef plays a significant role. Flour tortillas wrap around a variety of fillings, from beef and chicken to refried beans, while local traditionalists eye fajitas with suspicion.
Good Mexican restaurants have spread around town like frijoles on a combination plate, but you'll find their highest concentration in South Tucson. Local favorites include Micha's Restaurant, Guillermo's Double L Restaurant, and Mi Nidito. All offer unpretentious, first-rate Sonoran fare. A second Mexican restaurant row has developed on a little strip of Grande Avenue, just west of Interstate 10 between Speedway Boulevard and St. Mary's Road. Try the convincing soy chorizo at Tania's “33” Mexican Food, or pick up a dozen flour tortillas, hearty but never lardy, at the Grande Tortilla Factory. Mariscos Chihuahua, despite its puzzling name—mariscos means “shellfish,” but Chihuahua is a landlocked Mexican state—knows its way around Guaymas shrimp and refreshing ceviche. If you find yourself on the northwest side of town, drop by Miguel's for a Sonoran and Sinaloan take on fresh seafood.
Elsewhere in town, mariachi musicians serenade you Tuesday through Sunday as you peruse the traditional Sonoran menu at La Fuente Restaurant. You'll find a charming cantina atmosphere and spicy shrimp at El Mezon del Cobre. Locals know Lerva's for their green corn tamales. Downtown, the resilient El Charro Café has been operated by the same family since 1922 and prides itself on its machaca (spiced shredded beef). Way up on the north side of Tucson, Cien Años Mexican Grill offers an elegant place to try Mexico City-style cuisine. Back downtown, Suzana Davila proves that Mexican cuisine can be haute, not just hot, at her Café Poca Cosa. La Indita gives Mexican food a heart-healthy Tohono O'odham twist. Then there's Maya Quetzal, which isn't Mexican at all—it's Guatemalan—with fare that's lighter and perhaps a bit sweeter than the Mexican standard and liberal with black beans.
Steakhouses aren't quite as abundant as they used to be, but there's no shortage of good places to sink your teeth into a slice of grilled heaven. Families wanting a Wild West experience should head for Pinnacle Peak in Trail Dust Town, a vast emporium of mesquite-broiled beef in the middle of a quaint shopping center built to look like an 1880s town. El Corral spreads through an authentic old ranch house, and the portions are much heftier than the prices. For more upscale pleasures of the palate, try McMahon's Prime Steakhouse, Sullivan's Steakhouse, or newcomer Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, which offers 100 wines by the glass.
Three Tucson restaurants have received AAA Arizona's coveted Four-diamond rating for 2005, and if you're in an upscale mood, you can't go wrong with AAA's choices. Janos (at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa), as mentioned, was an early leader in the Nouvelle Southwestern movement, dressing up grilled tenderloin with layers of roasted chiles and an eggplant taco. In the same building, J Bar offers not only alcoholic attractions but a similar—if scaled down—menu that elevates the term “bar food.” The Gold Room (at the Westward Look Resort) serves up spectacular views in addition to its Southwestern-influenced Continental choices. The Ventana Room (in Loews Ventana Canyon Resort) places grilled seafood, meat, and game at the center of most meals, with exacting attention lavished on the side dishes and appetizers.
Another restaurant in this class is The Grill at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort. Don't be misled by the word “grill”; this is no steak-and-chop joint, but a fine restaurant along the lines of the city's other resort venues. The building itself abounds with gracious old-style Southwestern character. Still another longtime establishment that takes surf'n'turf to new heights is Jonathan's Tucson Cork, which features a wine list as good as—but as unconventional as—its ostrich steaks.
For innovative dining that's a little lighter on your pocketbook, try Pastiche Modern Eatery, known for its eclectic bistro-style approach; Barrio Food & Drink, an inventive downtown eatery; Cuvée World Bistro, known for its “melting-pot” cuisine; or Terra Cotta, with its menu ranging from poblano chiles with unusual stuffings to pizzas from a wood-burning oven. Longtime favorite Kingfisher Bar & Grill spends every summer presenting “road trip” surveys of America's regional cuisines, and along with it's sister restaurant, Bluefin Seafood Bistro, not only emphasizes fabulous fish but also boasts one of Tucson's most extensive by-the-glass wine lists. And speaking of regional cuisine, you'll find first-rate Cajun and Creole fare at Nonie New Orleans Bistro, Tucson's own little bit of Bourbon Street. Located in Gallery Row at El Cortijo, Soleil offers contemporary cuisine complemented by stunning city views and Tucson's only Champagne bar.
For breakfast, local favorites include the Blue Willow restaurant, with its hearty omelettes, and Ghini's French Caffe, where your eggs are likely to come with garlic and fresh herbs. Or splurge on Sunday brunch at one of the award-winning resorts.
Perhaps you yearn for a culinary trip around the world. You could start with Le Delice and itssophisticated flavors of France. Then move on to Zemam's for an inexpensive Ethiopian banquet—it's vaguely like Indian food, and you scoop it up with your fingers and little pieces of injera bread. For a falafel fix, not to mention other Middle Eastern favorites, line up at the counter of Ali Baba Restaurant & Market, a treasure hidden in a strip mall. Your passage to India could take you to Sher-e-Punjab, where the ever-changing lunch buffet offers samples of the extensive regular menu. Café Pacific provides a one-stop tour of Asia, adding Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Indonesian items to its basic Chinese menu. Firecracker covers a similarly diverse territory amid Pacific-island decor. Lotus Garden serves all the usual Chinese favorites, while also catering to diners with more adventuresome tastes, offering Cantonese cuisine of Southern China and the more spicy Szechuan cooking of North-Central China. And for traditional Japanese food, you can't go wrong with Yuki's Sushi & Japanese Restaurant, Yama Fine Japanese Dining, or, for entertaining teppan tables, Sakura Teppan Steak & Seafood located on the east and west sides of town.
But wait—we've missed most of Europe! Italian restaurants abound here. A favorite Italian bistro run by a member of the locally venerated Scordato family is Vivace Restaurant, which serves up seafood, grilled meats, and stylish pastas. Other local favorites include Gavi's Italian Restaurant and the more casual Zona 78. For Greek, try Athens on 4th Avenue European Bistro, especially for its Seafood Santorini, or dine alfresco at the Olive Tree Restaurant.
And we haven't even touched on the 70s-sensitive, vegetarian-friendly cafés (such as The Garland Bistro), or the gourmet pizza parlors (Magpies Gourmet Pizza, five locations), or the locally owned fast-food joints (Eegee's, close to 20 locations), or the roughly 2,975 other eateries in Tucson. That's the delightful problem now that Tucsonans, in all their diversity, have created restaurants in their own image, and said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the pantry, and have dominion over every living thing upon the Earth.”
James Reel has written about Tucson restaurants and chefs in his guidebook City Smart Tucson and for the Tucson Weekly, Arizona Gourmet, and Arizona Daily Star.
This article mentions only a small selection of restaurants in Tucson and Southern Arizona. For addresses, phone numbers, and a more complete list, please see our “Desert Dining Guide” in Tucson Guide magazine.
“Think Globally, Eat Locally”
So says the slogan of Tucson Originals, created in 1998 in an effort to counter the rapid expansion of chain restaurants and to encourage local restaurateurs to give back to the community by donating their services to area nonprofits. The organization provides support for independent, locally owned eateries that specialize in menu items as original as Tucson itself. From “white tablecloth” restaurants such as Janos to casual pizza joints such as Magpies Gourmet Pizza, Tucson Originals encompasses the whole Tucson dining scene. For more information, visit www.tucsonoriginals.com.