Food wrapped: 12 of my favorite meals I ate in 2024 ✨

When Spotify Wrapped drops, it's always one of the best days of the year. You get to scroll through all the music you listened to that year, sharing with your friends which artist, album and songs made your top five.

It’s nostalgic to look back on the tracks you obsessed over for a month, before moving onto whatever next big thing dropped or that new artist who blew up on TikTok.

But this year, I didn’t need Spotify Wrapped. I needed a Food Wrapped.

From Danish pastries with chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed inside to a mountain of mofongo smothered in a savory red sauce and shrimp, I’ve had some amazing food in 2024.

As I look back on this year, I decided to make my own Food Wrapped list to highlight some of my favorite meals I ate in 2024. I cannot even begin to describe how hard it was to narrow down this list as Tucson truly has some of the best and most talented chefs in the world.

So after days and days of going back and forth, I have finally solidified my list — and I can’t wait to eat even more delicious food in the New Year!

Cabeza tacos from Taqueria Juanitos

Cabeza is my favorite kind of taco. The juicy and tender meat wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with lots of lime and pico de gallo blows everything else out of the water. Don’t get me wrong, I love carne asada and al pastor, but when you have that first bite of an amazing cabeza taco, you instantly forget about everything else.

For years and years, my favorite cabeza tacos came from a local restaurant in my hometown of Nogales, but everything changed in October.

After seeing people rave about the cabeza tacos at Taqueria Juanitos, located at 708 W. Grant Road, I decided to give it a try to see how they stood up to my tried-and-true hometown favorite. After one bite, I knew I had found my new favorite. The meat is juicy and flavorful. In fact, it is so tender it basically melts in your mouth. From the tortillas to the salsa on top, everything about these cabeza tacos are perfection.

Birria pozole verde from Rollies West

Once December rolls around and it finally gets cold here in the desert, I need to have a bowl of pozole.

When I saw that Rollies West in the MSA Annex, located at 267 S. Avenida del Convento, was having a pozole special, I jumped in my car and drove down there.

This wasn’t your average pozole. Instead of chunks of pork, Rollies added their award-winning birria to the mix. The birria pozole verde came with a tomatillo-based broth filled to the brim with birria, hominy, cabbage, onion, cilantro and, to top it all off, a squeeze of a lime.

This special was Christmas in a bowl. The tanginess of the tomatillos mixed perfectly with the spice of the birria, giving your mouth a nice buzz without having to run to water for relief. Then you get a crunch of cabbage and onion that add a subtle sweetness to the soup.

Usually, I find that a lot of pozoles include too much hominy and not enough protein. This wasn’t a problem here. You got a spoonful of birria and hominy with every bite! And when you get to the end of the bowl, you have no choice but to slurp the rest of the broth.

WTW (Walker Texas Wiener) from Odd Dogs

Even though it’s embarrassing to admit, I’ll say it: I order my hot dogs plain. No ketchup, no relish, no mustard. I am just a fan of the bun and the hot dog.

I was content with my boring hot dogs until I tried the WTW from Odd Dogs. At this punk rock-esque hot dog stand, owner Nate Vincent puts a fresh twist on America’s favorite food. The WTW features classic Western flavors all combined on one dog.

The hot dog is topped with pulled pork, sweet relish and crispy fried onions, finished off with barbecue sauce. Mind-blowing is the only way I can describe this hot dog. The pulled pork added a subtle sweetness to the hot dog without being too overwhelming. Then you get the crunch of the crispy onions and the smokiness from the barbecue sauce. It all melds together perfectly. Trust me, you’ve never had a hot dog like this before.

Ube crinkle cookies from Ube Bae Desserts

If I could go back in time and try these life-changing cookies sooner, I would do it in a heartbeat.

About a month before Brittany Gudino, the owner of Ube Bae Desserts, announced she would be moving, my editor Gloria brought me one of Gudino's ube crinkle cookies to try. I promise I am not lying when I say that it was the best cookie I have ever had in my life.

The cookie itself is the perfect texture: fluffy and chewy without being under-baked. The ube adds a nice vanilla and slightly nutty flavor to the cookie and it was unlike anything I had ever tried before. It’s also covered in powdered sugar, which adds an extra layer of sweetness without being overpowering. I became addicted to these, going to Tucson Coffee Cricket weekly to get my fix.

Sadly, Gudino has moved out of Arizona, but you can buy her cookie recipe online. Yes, I immediately bought it and have made a few batches to satisfy my ube cookie cravings.

Chile relleno sausage pizza from Lumbre Pizza A La Leña

Before Lumbre Pizza A La Leña, my favorite pizza ever came from a local spot in Rico Rico. It was wood-fired, thin with a fluffy crust and had the best tomato sauce I had ever tried. Unfortunately, the spot closed down and I'd been trying to find another pizzeria to fill the empty hole in my heart.

When I took a bite of the chile relleno sausage pizza from Lumbre Pizza A La Leña, located inside of Cartel Roasting Co. at 210 E. Broadway, I wanted to cry: I had finally found my new favorite pizza.

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The crust is fluffy and just the right amount of chewy with a tomato sauce that is light and flavorful. But the best part is the toppings: the savory sausage and ricotta cheese bring everything to the next level. I am making it my mission in the New Year to try every pizza on their menu. Plus, their horchata is 10/10!!

Buffalo ranch fries from Coop

Chicken tenders are a very important part of my diet. When in doubt, I always know I can order chicken tenders and I’ll be content with my meal. They never let me down — more specifically, Coop, located at 429 N. 4th Ave., never lets me down.

There’s something about the chicken at Coop that has me under a spell; it is one of my favorite places in town. Mix their delicious chicken with fries and Buffalo sauce and you’ve got yourself one of the most amazing meals ever.

Their shoestring fries are topped with bits of crispy chicken tenders and shredded cheese, then smothered in Buffalo sauce, ranch and their coveted Cowpig sauce. It’s like an explosion of flavor in your mouth: juicy chicken, spicy Buffalo sauce and the tanginess from their Cowpig sauce. It has become my go-to order and it hits EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Arabic beef shawarma from Aspasia

After scrolling through Aspasia’s Instagram page and looking at all their amazing pictures of kebabs and gyros, it moved to the top of my to-try list.

I still remember walking into the place at 2310 N. Country Club Road for the first time in February and ordering the Arabic beef shawarma. When the waiter placed the plate in front of me, I instantly knew I was about to have one of the best meals of my life.

Slices of juicy, marinated beef and pickles are bundled inside a perfectly toasted wrap, cut into bite-size pieces. The meat is cooked perfectly and the wrap holds all the juices together, so you're hit with bright flavors every time you take a bite. If things couldn’t get better, you get to dunk your wraps into their house-made garlic sauce.

Snickerdoodle pancakes from Baja Café

I am VERY picky about my pancakes. I don’t want thin, flimsy and barely-browned pancakes. I need my stacks to be crispy yet fluffy with a golden-brown hue. It’s hard to incorporate all those demands into a pancake, but somehow Baja Café, located at 2970 N. Campbell Ave. and 7002 E. Broadway, has perfected it.

There is a reason why the snickerdoodle pancake is the most popular at Baja. This particular pancake has a crispy top layer sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. While the top has a nice crunch, the rest of the pancake is so fluffy and buttery, it melts in your mouth. To top it all off, the pancake substitutes the usual maple syrup for a cream cheese vanilla bean glaze that brings a tangy flavor to the sweet dish. I had one last week and I’m already craving another one.

Basic Cow from Cowpig

At this point, I think I am Cowpig’s No. 1 fan. I would drive through the Grant Road construction during peak traffic hours if it meant I’d get a Basic Cow burger at the end of it.

The Basic Cow is a smash burger topped with lettuce, pickles, onions, American cheese and CowPig sauce. You get a taste of gooey cheese and their special CowPig sauce with every bite you take. Mix that with the crisp of the patty and the soft bread and you have a 10/10 burger. It’s a big statement but 100% true: CowPig makes the best burgers I have ever had!

Empanada de carne molida from Empanadas El Dominicano

I like empanadas, but they were never something I reached for or craved. All that changed when I went to Empanadas El Dominicano, located at 5030 E. Broadway, for the first time.

Their empanada de carne molida (ground beef) is delicious. The empanadas are flaky and tender while the filling is full of flavor. I could eat 100 of them. To go with the empanadas, you must get their tostones. The fried plantains are crispy without being overly greasy. Their morir soñando drink is another must-try — think of it like a creamy coconut lemonade.

Peanuts latte from Espressoul

Though not a meal, this list wouldn’t be complete without Espressoul. From iced matcha to lattes, Espressoul is my favorite place in town to grab a coffee. Owner Eris Movahedi knows exactly what she’s doing when it comes to delicious flavor combinations.

This year, one of her weekly specials was a Peanuts latte: a peanut butter latte topped with banana cold foam and an edible sticker of Charlie Brown. This latte combined three of my favorite things in the world: peanut butter, bananas and Snoopy.

Like always, I was blown away by this drink. Bananas and peanut butter are an elite combination and Movahedi was able to turn it into the most delicious latte I have had.

Banana bread ice cream from Ducky’s Pineapple Banana Bread

While I was at Ducky’s Pineapple Banana Bread's bonanza in September, I headed straight to their booth to buy a loaf of their strawberry banana bread ... but then I saw they were selling pints of banana bread ice cream.

I was so taken aback that I just handed them my card and didn’t ask any questions. That was one of the best decisions I could have made.

The ice cream had a coconut-pineapple-banana base with chunks of pineapple and banana bread mixed throughout. You got pieces of banana bread with every bite and all the flavors blended so perfectly; it was like a tropical paradise. I hope Ducky’s brings this back because I miss it every day.