Sometimes you find a restaurant that is so wonderful you want to keep it all to yourself.
Thatโs how a coworker framed her introduction to Las Originales Carnitas El Michoacano, a restaurant at 5256 S. Nogales Highway that we must have passed by a dozen times without giving it a second thought.
Our friend swore they have the best carnitas in Tucson.
Not one of the best: the best.
We took her at her word and stopped into the sprawling building set deep off the roadway on a not-so-hot Thursday in late May.
We took one bite of their juicy, tender carnitas wrapped in made-to-order corn tortillas, topped with crunchy chopped cabbage and tomatoes and drizzled with their scratch-made smoky chile oil.
She was not lying; this could possibly be the best carnitas in Tucson.
When you find something that good, a part of you wants to keep it to yourself. If they get too popular, the quality will change and it will never be the same as your first time, you tell yourself.
But weโre reporters; weโre lousy at keeping secrets.
Weโre inaugurating a new, occasional restaurant series weโve dubbed โOur Little Secret.โ
These are restaurants we would love to keep to ourselves but they are too good not to share. It might be a restaurant crammed in the corner of a gas station. It could be a strip-mall hole-in-the-wall that serves the finest Mexican coffee weโve ever had. Or it could be one of our favorites that slipped off our radar, and likely off yours.
Weโre starting with Las Originales Carnitas El Michoacano, and we have a few more ideas that weโll share as we go along.
![Carnitas el Michoacano](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=200%2C111 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=300%2C166 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=400%2C221 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=540%2C299 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=750%2C415 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C664 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/31/531be03c-2a9f-11ef-84c9-63b2e0a20fdc/666cc73d68d4a.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C940 1700w)
A customer walks into Carnitas El Michoacano, 5256 S. Nogales Highway. The restaurant got its start as a food truck.
It all started as a hobby
Barbara Robles had spent her life working in restaurants so it wasnโt entirely surprising when she suggested to her family in 2014 that they should launch a food truck.
She and her longtime partner, Baldomero, were enamored by the carnitas they had during family summer trips to Michoacรกn, Mexico, known as the โcarnitas capital of the world.โ And while there were a handful of Mexican restaurants in Tucson serving carnitas โ a pork dish made by braising, simmering and frying pork in its own fat, lard or cooking oil โ they didnโt know of any whose mission was Michoacรกn-style.
With little fanfare and after jumping through governmental hoops and red tape, they set a trailer up in a dirt lot on East Bilby Road that was home to an occasional hot dog cart. Baldomero created the recipe and prepared the meat in a commissary kitchen before bringing it back to the truck to sell.
Roblesโs daughter Natalie Sky says Baldomeroโs Michoacรกn-style carnitas start with superior cuts of pork thatโs braised in its own fat in a traditional copper pot called a cazo. Itโs then simmered for hours with fresh-squeezed orange, garlic and other spices.
![Carnitas el Michoacano](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=200%2C131 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=300%2C197 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=400%2C263 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=540%2C355 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=750%2C493 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C789 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c8/4c8655ae-2a9f-11ef-af22-f36be913c339/666cc7325d6ae.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1117 1700w)
A chef cuts a fresh batch of carnitas during lunchtime at Carnitas El Michoacano. Between 150 and 200 pounds of carnitas are prepared daily.
When itโs done, the meat, tender and juicy from the slow-cook, is shredded and sold by the pound โ enough to make six to eight tacos โ with tortillas, toppings, salsa and the house-special chile oil, made from immersing oil with house-smoked chiles.
In the Bilby Road lot, which the family eventually bought, they set up picnic tables beneath a large tent covered with heavy tarp and, at times, corrugated metal. Once summer hit, the dining area heated up like an oven, but that didnโt stop people from coming, Sky recalls.
โPeople would be sweating,โ she says. โIt didnโt matter. It didnโt matter if the wind blew their food away or a little river was running through their feet during monsoon season.โ
In those early days, they would start selling at 8 a.m., but lines started forming at 7 or 7:30.
โI was always surprised people were waiting for meat for breakfast,โ Sky says. โWe used to make a tray of 15 pounds of birria and 15 pounds of carnitas and most days we would sell out before we closed (at 3 p.m.).โ
Sky chalks up some of that early success to novelty; back in 2014, carnitas were not as widely available in Tucson, and Michoacรกn style was even more rare.
โA lot of people were looking for a place like that,โ says Sky, who went from tending to the restaurantโs books and making sure its licenses were up to date to run the day-to-day as general manager.
![Carnitas el Michoacano](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=200%2C103 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=300%2C155 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=400%2C207 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=540%2C279 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=750%2C388 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C621 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/19/5196afb2-2a9f-11ef-874d-378a3a3b8ef6/666cc73ad67ca.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C880 1700w)
Prep cook Cristian Sky, left, prepares tortillas while Natalie Sky bags to-go orders at Carnitas El Michoacano. The brick-and-mortar opened in August 2023.
As the truckโs popularity grew, so did its staff, with as many as nine family members and friends working from the tiny trailer. Lines were common; people didnโt even complain when they were told it would be a 40-minute wait to get their food.
โPeople waited,โ Sky says, but the lines also told another side of the story. โWe just didnโt fit anymore. We couldnโt fit either the clients in the parking lot or us in the food truck. We couldnโt have enough food in the truck and manage the parking.โ
The family decided that their little hobby had morphed into a thriving business in need of more space.
Meanwhile, the owners of the decades-old Food Spot Market at 5256 S. Nogales Highway, which had a popular Chinese deli, had decided to close. It was just blocks away from the Roblesโs East Bilby Road food truck lot so the family bought the building in late 2022.
Sky says they spent months renovating and cleaning the space before opening the brick-and-mortar version of Carnitas El Michoacano in August 2023.
![Carnitas el Michoacano](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=200%2C101 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=300%2C151 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=400%2C201 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=540%2C272 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=750%2C377 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C604 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e5/4e57a644-2a9f-11ef-adb3-5346e64316c8/666cc73569c52.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C855 1700w)
Angie Robles, left, takes a customers order while Cristian Sky works on to-go orders at Carnitas El Michoacano.
It didnโt take much prodding to get fans of the food truck to follow them. Robles and Baldomero work the kitchen, preparing 150 to 200 pounds of carnitas a day.ย
Itโs not uncommon to see long lines on the weekend, especially Sundays.
Sky says the restaurant was never really about making money.
โIt was about working together and having fun,โ she says. โWe didnโt think it was going to explode like that.โ
Las Originales Carnitas El Michoacano, 5256 S. Nogales Highway, is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. For more info, head to their Facebook page.
![Carnitas el Michoacano](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/01/5015ad32-2a9f-11ef-a1c2-73a6aa098f3a/666cc73856ce0.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1133 1700w)
The new combination special at Carnitas El Michoacano includes meat, rice and beans for $12.99.