Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2021 and updated on March 8, 2023.
It’s a Sunday morning in Tucson, and the family is in the car. You’re driving to your local carniceria to pick up fresh menudo and carne asada that will be grilled over a coal or mesquite fire in an otherwise anonymous parking lot. Maybe you’re lucky, and when you go inside you’re greeted by a dimly lit menu of burros and tacos. You don’t want to spoil the weekend’s cookout, but you make a mental note to come back and try the firetruck-red al pastor tomorrow at your lunch break.
Carnicerias are tucked away in every neighborhood in Tucson. The first time I walked into a meat market that cooked its products, I was blown away by the elegant simplicity of the concept: cut out the middleman. Many, though not all, carnicerias have lunch counters and prepared foods, or grills outside to cook your carne on weekends.
Each market has its own specialties and marinade recipes. Regulars have their favorite places for carne asada, chorizo or tamales. Super Carniceria El Ranchito even has ice cream (although it’s next to their prepared food case, and you might be more tempted by their whole-tilapia pescado frito).
While I have loved Tortillas Don Juan doubly, for both its fresh meat and tortillas de harina, La Vakita in Green Valley was the carniceria that inspired this roundup. It’s tucked into a former gas station right off the highway at Esperanza Boulevard, next to a golf cart store more typical for the iconic retirement community.
Their al pastor gets charred on the flattop grill in the back of the store, cooked by a gracious man who will ask you questions with patience: “Do you want pico de gallo and cheese on this?” If you want, but it doesn’t elevate the dish more than the marinade already has. If you order tacos, he’ll recommend corn tortillas. I’ve had both and prefer the flour.
La Vakita takes advantage of its proximity to Old Nogales Highway, offering empanadas and other pan dulce and tortillas from El Triunfo, a reader favorite from our tortilla roundup.
In my research for this article, though, I scoured reviews online and targeted a few carnicerias to check out in person. Here’s what I found:
Pick up red chile beef and green corn tamales at Beef Master Meat Market.
Beef Master Meat Market
Location: 527 W. 29th St.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
I finally had the chance to check out Beef Master when I was researching where to find fresh tamales in Tucson. I elected to try their red chile beef tamal, because the smell from their in-house taqueria had cast a spell on me. When an attendant saw that I was taking pictures of the tamal in the parking lot, he ran out to urge me to try the green corn tamales as well. I'm glad he intervened: their green corn are some of the best in town.
Carniceria Aguajito sources their coveted tamales from a local artisan.
Carniceria El Aguajito
Location: 2800 E. Fort Lowell Road
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
If you live in midtown, you should start coming to Carniceria El Aguajito instead of your local chain grocer. The produce selection is fresh and impeccably organized. The interior is warmly-lit and feels homey. The woman at the cash register will let you know that their specialty — green corn tamales — are usually found at the register.
When they’re running low on stock, ask the attendants behind the meat counter and they’ll share what they have left, if any.
Pro tip: I picked up the last 6-pack of green corn tamales at 10:50 a.m. on a Wednesday. If you want to secure one of these perfectly sweet-savory treasures, get there close to opening.
Carniceria Los Toritos
Location: 4805 E. Speedway
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
A reader sent me an email asking what was going on with the carniceria at the Pinecrest Center on Speedway. So I went out to investigate, and was overjoyed to find a carniceria, panaderia and dulceria all in one. In addition to a full-service butcher counter, they offer tortillas so large they fold into a big rectangle, from Tortilleria Sahuarita; fresh-ground masa and homemade refried beans; a variety of pan dulce and house-made rolls; and a signature taco, made with green chile and cheese. It's one of the more comprehensive carnicerias out there.
Linda’s Meat Market
Location: 1777 W. 36th St.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
There’s some witchcraft amiss at Linda’s Meat Market. The smell of the prepared foods in the back of the store is magical. I tried to ascertain what dish was at the source by ordering the red chile combo plate and a chile relleno. They’re both delicious, but perhaps the smell is more than the sum of its parts.
Super Pescaderia y Carniceria El Ranchito, on South Sixth Avenue, fries whole tilapia in addition to their raw meat and fish, chicharrones and ice cream.
Super Carniceria y Pescaderia El Ranchito
Location: 6070 S. Sixth Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
El Ranchito is almost purposefully concealed by Tucson’s idiosyncratic layout: it’s on the part of Sixth Avenue passed where the street turns into Old Nogales Highway. It makes more sense, if you’re coming from the north, to take Irvington to Drexel, and go west until you hit a road that looks like the tributary to Sixth Avenue’s river. At the intersection of Sixth and Bilby, you’ll find a treasure trove at Super Carniceria y Pescaderia El Ranchito.
Chicharrones at Super Carniceria El Ranchito
While the ice cream counter feels like a novel throwback to a soda fountain, the real treats are the prepared fried foods immediately adjacent. While the hearty chicharrones de puerco might seem more accessible, I found the chicharrones de res to be melt-in-your-mouth decadent. The pescado frito is the most tender tilapia you’ll find in Tucson, practically leaping onto your fork with the slightest disturbance.
The people working here are so kind. “Where are you from?” the counter attendant asked, noticing my camera. “We used to get people from out of town, Phoenix and stuff, taking pictures.” I’m not sure why they stopped, but it’s our gain.
Carniceria El Guero Canelo
Location: 4519 S. 12th Ave.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
Visit their website for more information.
Carniceria El Novillo
Location: 7885 E. Golf Links Road
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Carniceria El Rodeo
Location: 3901 E. Benson Hwy.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily
Pro tip: They will grill your meat outside on Saturday, Sunday and holidays from noon to 7 p.m.
Visit their Yelp page for more information.
Carniceria y Comisaria Camacho
Location: 4420 S. Sixth Ave.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
El Herradero Carniceria y Panaderia
Locations: 4211 E. 22nd St. | 1285 W. Ajo Way | 1305 W. St. Mary's Road | 1310 W. Prince Road
Hours: 22nd Street, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily | Ajo Way, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday-Monday, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday | St. Mary's, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily | Prince Road, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Pro tip: They'll cook your meats (such as carne asada) at their grill only on the weekends.
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Super Carniceria y Pescaderia El Ranchito is located at 6070 S. Sixth Ave.
Islas Meat Market
Location: 702 W. Irvington Road
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Pro tip: Google reviews unanimously declare this the best chorizo in town, in Arizona, in the world, in the universe. I haven’t gotten the chance to check it out yet, but I’m dying to try!
Visit their Yelp page for more information.
La Vakita Meat Market
Locations: Green Valley, 61 W. Esperanza Blvd. | West Tucson, 5975 W. Western Way Cir.
Hours: GV, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday | West Tucson, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Visit their Yelp site for more information.
Los Amigos Meat Market
Location: 3929 S. 12th Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Mercado y Carniceria Los Primos
Location: 9895 S. Old Nogales Hwy.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Visit their Yelp page for more information.
Mercado y Carniceria Mexicana
Locations: 4550 S. Sixth Ave. | 6211 E. 22nd St.
Hours: Sixth Avenue, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily | 22nd Street, 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Visit their Yelp page for more information.
México Lindo Food Market, Frutería
Location: 50 W. Valencia Road
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
For more information, check out their website.
Super Carniceria El Ranchito has beautiful murals on its storefront.
Mr. Toro Carniceria
Location: 7545 S. Houghton Road
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Rancheros Carniceria
Locations: 7627 E. Speedway | 16150 N. Oracle Road, Catalina
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Check out their Facebook page for more information.
Super Carniceria del Valle
Location: 2611 W. Drexel Road
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Super Carniceria "Mi Ranchito"
Location: 5301 S. Park Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Tortillas Don Juan
Location: 1924 S. Fourth Ave.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Wild West Meat Market
Location: 2023 S. Craycroft Road
Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
Visit their Facebook page for more information.
