Tucson is getting its foodie props.
Last month, three national publications touted Tucson’s restaurant scene, calling it destination dining on the rise.
And the Food Network’s Alton Brown picked Tucson Tamale Company as one of 10 perfect spots for a July Fourth holiday weekend trip in a story published in USA Today.
Of course, that’s not news to us. We’ve been big fans of the area’s dynamic and inventive restaurant community. But hearing it being broadcast to a much bigger audience via folks like the New York Times and New York Magazine gives it unbiased legitimacy.
So what are they saying about us? A look at what brought the national spotlight to Tucson’s restaurants:
- From USA Today: Alton Brown traveled the country earlier this year trying out fans’ restaurant recommendations including Tucson Tamale Company. Brown recounted in the USA Today article that he stood 20 minutes in line to get two tamales “and I would have spent 20 minutes to get another two.”
- New York Times culture reporter Guy Trebay in mid-June singled out the “hipster brunch spot” 5 Points Market and Restaurant, Chaffin’s Diner and the “venerable greasy spoon” Bobo’s Restaurant as worthy destinations in a story that had nothing really to do with food. Trebay was touting the city’s unsung architectural gems.
- New York Magazine last week devoted its travel centerpiece to “Taste the Flavors of Tucson,” calling Tucson “the Southwest’s next foodie destination.” Among the restaurants mentioned in print: Agustin Kitchen with its “rising star” chef Ryan Clark, Pizzeria Bianco and its “perfectly blistered slice,” and Reforma, which has the “... cosmopolitan vibe of a Mexico City café.”
- Last week, our famous Sonoran dog was fodder for online ‘zine Vice Munchies’ story “How LA Destroyed Mexico’s Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs.” The author, who is from Hermosillo, talks hot dog history and criticizes the copycat “Danger Dogs” popular in Los Angeles. The only true Sonoran dogs can be found in Sonora, Mexico, and Tucson, where they migrated in the early 1990s and became part of the city’s culinary landscape.
- And closer to home, the Phoenix New Times gave readers “5 reasons the Tucson restaurant scene is better than ever.” What are they? 5 Points Market, The Coronet, Hub, Scordato’s Pizzeria, and the midtown newcomer Za’atar Restaurant and Bakery:
- “ ... I
- worshiped the mound of dough rolled out and topped with three Syrian cheeses that Badan called ‘sweet cheese,’” the author says.
