11 dishes that define Tucson
- Updated
Deciding on which dishes define the tastes of the Old Pueblo is no easy task. We have a food scene as eclectic and vibrant as a city twice its size.
Some you’ll agree with, some you won’t.
But, remember that deciding on which dishes define the tastes of the Old Pueblo is no easy task. We have a food scene as eclectic and vibrant as a city twice its size.
This list isn’t about high-end, fancy-dancy grub, although we have that. Rather, it’s about those dishes and eateries we crave and pine for when we go away, those things we can’t get anywhere but home.
We narrowed the Tastes of Tucson down to 11 dishes.
It wasn’t easy, and punches may have been thrown. (Sorry about the nose, Kathy.) But hey, we’re still friends and fear not, readers, we’ll give y’all a chance to weigh in on your favorites, too.
Until then and without further ado, the dishes that define:
- Updated
$1.29 up to $20.00 for a "party pak" to serve 50. Several locations, eegees.com
Icy, sweet and in fruity flavors to suit all palates. Eegee's may be "the" defining dish. Can you think of any college students who head out of state who don't ask for an Eegee's the second they are back? Lemon, strawberry and piña colada are staples while monthly rotating flavors tempt, too. We'd like to take this opportunity to lobby for retired spring flavor peach 'n berry to come back.
- Updated
Various prices, 110 E. Pennington, 622-6400, cafepocacosatucson.com
There's much to love at Poca Cosa — tamale pie, anyone? — but the mole is our favorite. Yes, we know: mole is not a dish on its own. But most anything owner/chef Suzana Davila makes with a version of the sauce knocks us out. Sometimes it's cut with chocolate, sometimes not. But this is a constant: The mole is nuanced exquisiteness, and while the menu changes daily, there is always a dish or two with mole.
- Updated
$3.75 for a dozen large, 1030 W. St. Mary's Road, 884-1629
This is a universal truth, as far as we're concerned: Leave Tucson and you leave the best flour tortillas in existence behind. You'll find them at St. Mary's, a modest little restaurant on the west side. They are made daily, hand-stretched, thin and light. Some might roll beans and cheese up in them. Some beef and eggs. Us, we can't wait: the minute we leave the restaurant with our dozen, we sit in the car, tear open the package, and slowly, happily, eat the delicate tortillas with nothing but their wondrous taste.
- Updated
$2.64, three locations including the original, 5201 S. 12th Ave., 295-9005, elguerocanelo.com
This is no ordinary weenie. Squiggles and stripes of mustard, mayo and jalapeno sauce decorate the bacon-wrapped frank while pintos, tomatoes and onions are also snuggled inside the incredibly pillowlike bun. You can get a Sammy dog, which features two franks, but we prefer the dog-to-bun ratio of the original. Just order two. You know you want to do it.
- Updated
$7, 3719 E. Speedway, 326-9363, eatatfeast.com
Ice cream is a year-round treat when you live in the desert. In winter, you just opt for comforting, hearty spices, says Feast owner Doug Levy. Here, everyone in the kitchen fights to create the creamy confections. The restaurant’s small batch — just two quarts at a time from the Italian-made Musso Pola — ice cream starts with a cooked base of egg yolks and cream and comes in ever-changing, inventive flavors: chocolate-cabernet-fig, tomato-pear, coffee-cardamom, even beet. A must on the side: the truffle chocolate cookie (65 cents).
- Updated
$8.99 a dozen. Le Cave’s Bakery, 1219 S. Sixth Ave., 624-2561, on Facebook.
These fluffy, cooked-in-vegetable-oil doughnuts raised hole-y hell in 2011 when they became whole, a controversial move for customers. Fine by us — no hole means a bonus bite of these sweet, doughy puffs covered in a maple-ish glaze that crackles when you sink your teeth into it. So light, they melt in your mouth.
- Updated
$5.95 a slice, 2616 N. Campbell Ave., 327-7577, bluewillowtucson.com
Blue Willow serves up some luscious treats, but none as luscious as the sour cream chocolate cake. It is moist, rich, and topped with a generous amount of fudgy icing. A dollop of whipped cream is on the side. If you are truly decadent, you can get it with a scoop of ice cream. It’s a cake that conjures up memories of grandma, home and everything that brings comfort and shouts “goodness.”
- Updated
Various prices, 311 N. Court Ave., 622-1922, elcharrocafe.com
El Charro is thick with atmosphere. It has margaritas in most every flavor. Its salsa is hot and good. But those are not the reasons we go there: It’s the carne seca, whether in a salad, stuffed in a burrito, or filling up a chimichanga, that draws us to the downtown restaurant (there are plenty of branches now, but the original is a favorite.) The carne seca — strips of beef steak sun-dried, shredded and then reconstituted with chilies, tomatoes and onions — bursts with flavors that meld together in perfect harmony.
- Updated
$9.95, 2501 E. Sixth St., 325-3767, bobdobbs.net
Bob Dobb's understands this: Hamburgers are so much more than a grilled meat patty. The best ones — liked Bob Dobb's — season up the meat just so, plop ‘em on a fresh bun, and serve them with homemade potato chips. It’s the shake of Worcestershire and soy sauces in the meat that gives the Bob Burger the edge — and keeps us coming back for more.
- Updated
$16.95-$38.95, 8501 N. Silverbell Road, 744-2800.
Lil' Abner's has been around forever, and its menu sticks to what it knows: steak, beans, salad. But that steak is cooked over a mesquite fire and served up covering the whole plate and sizzling as the juices settle. The 2-pound Cowboy — a thick, beautifully-marbled Porterhouse — has lured us many a time (at $38.95, we share it). The funky, western ambiance is a pull, but it’s that steak that cements our loyalty to Li’l Abner’s.
- Updated
$16, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive, 299-2020, loewshotels.com
For nearly 20 years, the Flying V has been preparing its chunky guacamole tableside. If you adore guac, there’s no greater treat than having it made to your specs by a guacamoliere, the person whose job is dedicated to prepping and preparing those massive, pebbly-skinned avocados and all the fresh accoutrements that range from traditional, like garlic and onion, to seasonal, like pomegranate. Loews Ventana Canyon Executive Chef Ken Harvey says the magic lies in the rustic preparation — forks along with a knife and molcajete are the tools — and that it’s made before your eyes. Chips seem superfluous: You’ll want to just spoon this straight into your mouth.
- Updated
While we lust after the dishes on our list, we mourn the restaurants that have come and gone.
Of course there are the high-end restaurants that were special treats: Janos, Ventana Room, Anthony's in the Catalinas, Charles and the Tack Room, among them. But there were so many others that stick in our culinary memories, as well.
J Bar, the low-cost neighbor to the upscale Janos, offered a bistro filet —slices of tender beef with chimichurri sauce — we'll never stop longing for.
Austin’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream — in its original Broadway Village location — had the thickest, creamiest milkshakes in existence.
Fuego Restaurant on East Tanque Verde had a Fuego combo appetizer that included fresh shrimp, chorizo and sea scallops drenched in tequila and ignited table side. The fare by chef/owner Alan Zeman, who launched the Southwestern cuisine trend, is missed daily.
The Big A on East Speedway served grilled burgers that were juicy, packed with flavor, and dressed up in different styles — we were partial to the No. 6, a burger topped with Caesar salad.
The French Quarter was really more of a bar, and you could hear some fine blues there. But what we really loved: warm, sugary beignets.
Katherine's was a sunny cafe on North Campbell Avenue that had, just inside its entrance, a revolving carousel of the most luscious desserts. When it closed and Le Bistro moved into the space, that carousel remained, slowly twirling and tempting. Alas, Le Bistro, too, is now gone.
Cafe Magritte was one of the first to move back into downtown. It was hip and tasty — we still remember the Bleu Hearts appetizer, a platter of chopped artichoke hearts and prosciutto in blue cheese sauce, topped with seasoned bread crumbs and baked until bubbly.
El Rapido was a tiny restaurant in downtown which offered only take-out and was open weekdays just until 3 p.m. Lines would form about 11 a.m. — hungry souls desperate to get a taste of the tamales or a bite of the burros.
Ye Olde Lantern on North Oracle Road and the Iron Mask on East Grant Road were old-school restaurants that served rich, heavy dishes that were indulged in on birthdays and anniversaries. They both had a gentility — and the Iron Mask had baked Alaska that was wondrous to a child celebrating 10 years.
Cafe Terra Cotta, at St. Philip's Plaza and then East Sunrise Road, was filled with art and cool people. And scrumptious food.
Two short-lived restaurants, Linen in Casa Adobes Plaza and Stone Ashley in the old Pond mansion, were sublime. The memory of the poached-in-butter lobster we dined on at Stone Ashley more than a decade ago is still fresh.
Presidio Grill on East Speedway near Country Club had a cool vibe and food that rarely disappointed.
Boccata Bistro Cafe at East River and North Craycroft roads offered French-accented fare that never disappointed — except when it finally closed.
Penelope's — first on East Speedway and then on North Swan Road — was the first we remembered to have a prix fixe menu in Tucson. And never once did the French fare let us down.
Eric’s Ice Cream — now 1702 serving pizza and beer — owner Eric Lepie once gave us the recipe for his creamy, cold cucumber dill soup, spouting off ingredients that were jotted down on a napkin. No amounts, just haphazard ingredients and directions like "take yesterday's salsa." A fun, one-of-a-kind place run by a fun, one-of-a-kind guy.
Some you’ll agree with, some you won’t.
But, remember that deciding on which dishes define the tastes of the Old Pueblo is no easy task. We have a food scene as eclectic and vibrant as a city twice its size.
This list isn’t about high-end, fancy-dancy grub, although we have that. Rather, it’s about those dishes and eateries we crave and pine for when we go away, those things we can’t get anywhere but home.
We narrowed the Tastes of Tucson down to 11 dishes.
It wasn’t easy, and punches may have been thrown. (Sorry about the nose, Kathy.) But hey, we’re still friends and fear not, readers, we’ll give y’all a chance to weigh in on your favorites, too.
Until then and without further ado, the dishes that define:
$1.29 up to $20.00 for a "party pak" to serve 50. Several locations, eegees.com
Icy, sweet and in fruity flavors to suit all palates. Eegee's may be "the" defining dish. Can you think of any college students who head out of state who don't ask for an Eegee's the second they are back? Lemon, strawberry and piña colada are staples while monthly rotating flavors tempt, too. We'd like to take this opportunity to lobby for retired spring flavor peach 'n berry to come back.
Various prices, 110 E. Pennington, 622-6400, cafepocacosatucson.com
There's much to love at Poca Cosa — tamale pie, anyone? — but the mole is our favorite. Yes, we know: mole is not a dish on its own. But most anything owner/chef Suzana Davila makes with a version of the sauce knocks us out. Sometimes it's cut with chocolate, sometimes not. But this is a constant: The mole is nuanced exquisiteness, and while the menu changes daily, there is always a dish or two with mole.
$3.75 for a dozen large, 1030 W. St. Mary's Road, 884-1629
This is a universal truth, as far as we're concerned: Leave Tucson and you leave the best flour tortillas in existence behind. You'll find them at St. Mary's, a modest little restaurant on the west side. They are made daily, hand-stretched, thin and light. Some might roll beans and cheese up in them. Some beef and eggs. Us, we can't wait: the minute we leave the restaurant with our dozen, we sit in the car, tear open the package, and slowly, happily, eat the delicate tortillas with nothing but their wondrous taste.
$2.64, three locations including the original, 5201 S. 12th Ave., 295-9005, elguerocanelo.com
This is no ordinary weenie. Squiggles and stripes of mustard, mayo and jalapeno sauce decorate the bacon-wrapped frank while pintos, tomatoes and onions are also snuggled inside the incredibly pillowlike bun. You can get a Sammy dog, which features two franks, but we prefer the dog-to-bun ratio of the original. Just order two. You know you want to do it.
$7, 3719 E. Speedway, 326-9363, eatatfeast.com
Ice cream is a year-round treat when you live in the desert. In winter, you just opt for comforting, hearty spices, says Feast owner Doug Levy. Here, everyone in the kitchen fights to create the creamy confections. The restaurant’s small batch — just two quarts at a time from the Italian-made Musso Pola — ice cream starts with a cooked base of egg yolks and cream and comes in ever-changing, inventive flavors: chocolate-cabernet-fig, tomato-pear, coffee-cardamom, even beet. A must on the side: the truffle chocolate cookie (65 cents).
$8.99 a dozen. Le Cave’s Bakery, 1219 S. Sixth Ave., 624-2561, on Facebook.
These fluffy, cooked-in-vegetable-oil doughnuts raised hole-y hell in 2011 when they became whole, a controversial move for customers. Fine by us — no hole means a bonus bite of these sweet, doughy puffs covered in a maple-ish glaze that crackles when you sink your teeth into it. So light, they melt in your mouth.
$5.95 a slice, 2616 N. Campbell Ave., 327-7577, bluewillowtucson.com
Blue Willow serves up some luscious treats, but none as luscious as the sour cream chocolate cake. It is moist, rich, and topped with a generous amount of fudgy icing. A dollop of whipped cream is on the side. If you are truly decadent, you can get it with a scoop of ice cream. It’s a cake that conjures up memories of grandma, home and everything that brings comfort and shouts “goodness.”
Various prices, 311 N. Court Ave., 622-1922, elcharrocafe.com
El Charro is thick with atmosphere. It has margaritas in most every flavor. Its salsa is hot and good. But those are not the reasons we go there: It’s the carne seca, whether in a salad, stuffed in a burrito, or filling up a chimichanga, that draws us to the downtown restaurant (there are plenty of branches now, but the original is a favorite.) The carne seca — strips of beef steak sun-dried, shredded and then reconstituted with chilies, tomatoes and onions — bursts with flavors that meld together in perfect harmony.
$9.95, 2501 E. Sixth St., 325-3767, bobdobbs.net
Bob Dobb's understands this: Hamburgers are so much more than a grilled meat patty. The best ones — liked Bob Dobb's — season up the meat just so, plop ‘em on a fresh bun, and serve them with homemade potato chips. It’s the shake of Worcestershire and soy sauces in the meat that gives the Bob Burger the edge — and keeps us coming back for more.
$16.95-$38.95, 8501 N. Silverbell Road, 744-2800.
Lil' Abner's has been around forever, and its menu sticks to what it knows: steak, beans, salad. But that steak is cooked over a mesquite fire and served up covering the whole plate and sizzling as the juices settle. The 2-pound Cowboy — a thick, beautifully-marbled Porterhouse — has lured us many a time (at $38.95, we share it). The funky, western ambiance is a pull, but it’s that steak that cements our loyalty to Li’l Abner’s.
$16, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive, 299-2020, loewshotels.com
For nearly 20 years, the Flying V has been preparing its chunky guacamole tableside. If you adore guac, there’s no greater treat than having it made to your specs by a guacamoliere, the person whose job is dedicated to prepping and preparing those massive, pebbly-skinned avocados and all the fresh accoutrements that range from traditional, like garlic and onion, to seasonal, like pomegranate. Loews Ventana Canyon Executive Chef Ken Harvey says the magic lies in the rustic preparation — forks along with a knife and molcajete are the tools — and that it’s made before your eyes. Chips seem superfluous: You’ll want to just spoon this straight into your mouth.
While we lust after the dishes on our list, we mourn the restaurants that have come and gone.
Of course there are the high-end restaurants that were special treats: Janos, Ventana Room, Anthony's in the Catalinas, Charles and the Tack Room, among them. But there were so many others that stick in our culinary memories, as well.
J Bar, the low-cost neighbor to the upscale Janos, offered a bistro filet —slices of tender beef with chimichurri sauce — we'll never stop longing for.
Austin’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream — in its original Broadway Village location — had the thickest, creamiest milkshakes in existence.
Fuego Restaurant on East Tanque Verde had a Fuego combo appetizer that included fresh shrimp, chorizo and sea scallops drenched in tequila and ignited table side. The fare by chef/owner Alan Zeman, who launched the Southwestern cuisine trend, is missed daily.
The Big A on East Speedway served grilled burgers that were juicy, packed with flavor, and dressed up in different styles — we were partial to the No. 6, a burger topped with Caesar salad.
The French Quarter was really more of a bar, and you could hear some fine blues there. But what we really loved: warm, sugary beignets.
Katherine's was a sunny cafe on North Campbell Avenue that had, just inside its entrance, a revolving carousel of the most luscious desserts. When it closed and Le Bistro moved into the space, that carousel remained, slowly twirling and tempting. Alas, Le Bistro, too, is now gone.
Cafe Magritte was one of the first to move back into downtown. It was hip and tasty — we still remember the Bleu Hearts appetizer, a platter of chopped artichoke hearts and prosciutto in blue cheese sauce, topped with seasoned bread crumbs and baked until bubbly.
El Rapido was a tiny restaurant in downtown which offered only take-out and was open weekdays just until 3 p.m. Lines would form about 11 a.m. — hungry souls desperate to get a taste of the tamales or a bite of the burros.
Ye Olde Lantern on North Oracle Road and the Iron Mask on East Grant Road were old-school restaurants that served rich, heavy dishes that were indulged in on birthdays and anniversaries. They both had a gentility — and the Iron Mask had baked Alaska that was wondrous to a child celebrating 10 years.
Cafe Terra Cotta, at St. Philip's Plaza and then East Sunrise Road, was filled with art and cool people. And scrumptious food.
Two short-lived restaurants, Linen in Casa Adobes Plaza and Stone Ashley in the old Pond mansion, were sublime. The memory of the poached-in-butter lobster we dined on at Stone Ashley more than a decade ago is still fresh.
Presidio Grill on East Speedway near Country Club had a cool vibe and food that rarely disappointed.
Boccata Bistro Cafe at East River and North Craycroft roads offered French-accented fare that never disappointed — except when it finally closed.
Penelope's — first on East Speedway and then on North Swan Road — was the first we remembered to have a prix fixe menu in Tucson. And never once did the French fare let us down.
Eric’s Ice Cream — now 1702 serving pizza and beer — owner Eric Lepie once gave us the recipe for his creamy, cold cucumber dill soup, spouting off ingredients that were jotted down on a napkin. No amounts, just haphazard ingredients and directions like "take yesterday's salsa." A fun, one-of-a-kind place run by a fun, one-of-a-kind guy.
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