Taco time at AVA; Mama's heads to Anthem

It’s taco-tasting time in Tucson — festival set at Casino del Sol

For taco fans, Saturday is manna from heaven — more than 25 taco vendors showcasing their magic in the one-day international taco-tasting festival at the AVA at Casino del Sol.

“Mero Mero Taquero: International Taco Tasting Festival” at the AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road, Saturday, May 7, will crown Tucson’s El Mero Mero Taquero — head honcho taco maker.

This is a 21-and-older event — hire a sitter, it will be worth it — that runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Audience members get to sample the tacos and vote for their favorites, and the winner gets to leave with the crown. There’s live music and tortilla-making demonstrations. The cost is $34 general admission, $79 for VIP through tickets.solcasinos.com

According to the Star’s digital food writer Andi Berlin, Mero Mero Taquero — not to be confused with the Tucson taco festival of a few years back — is Rob Betancourt’s baby. He’s the man behind Bacon Fest and the Michelada Challenge. (Berlin knows a thing or two about Tucson’s taco community. In a span of a few months last year, she ate tacos from 100 Tucson vendors, street carts and restaurants.)

Tucson restaurants getting in on the act include Reforma, Boca Tacos and Tequila, Street Taco & Beer Co., Taqueria Porfis, the just-opened Charro Steak downtown and Taqueria El Semental will all participate.

Mama’s Hawaiian says ‘aloha’

to Anthem

, north of Phoenix

Tucson’s popular Mama’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue is opening a storefront restaurant in Anthem, a master-planned community north of Phoenix.

The restaurant, taking residence in a former Pizza Hut at 3632 W. Anthem Way off Interstate 17, is expected to open in late May, said owner Sam Alboy. This will be the restaurant’s fifth location; the others are in Tucson and Sahuarita.

Alboy said the move is the company’s baby step to expanding into the Phoenix market.

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“Phoenix is such a big, vast market. We felt we could make a difference in one town and get to know (the market) and maybe expand from there,” he said.

Mama’s four area locations are at 850 E. Speedway, 6310 E. Tanque Verde Road, 8300 N. Thornydale Road in Marana and 15990 S. Rancho Sahuarita Blvd., Sahuarita. Details: mamasbbqtucson.com

Alboy on Monday said his next Tucson restaurant will be on the south side.

Ryan Clark ‘steaks’ his claim

with new

PY Steakhouse menu

Ryan Clark rolled out a new menu this week at PY Steakhouse at Casino del Sol Resort and Casino, three months after becoming chef de cuisine of the casino’s flagship restaurant.

The menu builds on Clark’s already impressive body of culinary work, amassed from his time as executive chef at Lodge on the Desert and as chef of Agustín Kitchen downtown; he left that restaurant in October.

Clark, a multiple Tucson Iron Chef winner, has a reputation for taking the simple and making it sublime. Examples of this are all over his menu: a seafood chowder baked in puffed pasty is perfumed with saffron; the classic wedge salad is topped with a four-minute egg and a tart and savory bleu cheese dressing kicked into overdrive with Dragoon IPA.

Entrees include a shellfish sampler (lobster, oysters, shrimp and crab legs) for two that at $59 is among the restaurant’s most expensive offerings. It shares top-dollar company with several steaks from $32 to $48; a 22-ounce cowboy rib-eye for $55; and a 24-ounce porterhouse that tips the bill scale at $88.

In addition, Clark’s menu includes jumbo diver scallops kissed with bacon made in-house; a half-rack of lamb drizzled with a braised-lamb Madeira reduction; and a Top Knot Farms roasted duck breast served with duck leg sausage. (Top Knot Farms is located west of Benson.)

PY Steakhouse, 5655 W. Valencia Road, is open 4-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 4-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It’s closed Sundays and Mondays.