The people behind 3 foodie Instagrams and their favorite Tucson restaurants

Instagram is where many Tucsonans track the latest local food trends and discover new restaurants. From the crisp photos of vegan favorites to the eye-popping close-ups of micheladas, we talked to a few accounts on the cutting edge of Tucson foodie content!

@deathfreefoodie

Hannah Hernandez didn’t start her Instagram account, @deathfreefoodie, trying to become an influencer. She was newly vegan and exploring restaurants she had never visited before. Every time she’d take a photo, in amazement, she’d post the picture on her personal Instagram account.

“My friends were getting annoyed, they just weren’t interested in food,” she said with a laugh.

“But I was so excited — I couldn’t believe this was vegan! So I decided to start a separate page. People just started following me and hoping to see more. I didn’t think it would ever get as big as it is now.”

If you scroll back to 2019, you’ll see some good iPhone photos of the chickpea scramble at Prep & Pastry and the jackfruit tamales at Tumerico. “I can get annoyed with myself, because I take so long taking so many pictures,” she said. “Sometimes I’ll take a ton of angles and think I did a great job and come home and say, these are not winners.” Since, she has amassed a following of over 6,000 people and upgraded her camera.

“Before I went vegan, I only went to three restaurants,” she said. Once she (and her husband, who she convinced to join her) went vegan, they started eating at new places. Now, her Instagram is an encyclopedia of restaurants with vegan options across town, from spotlighting vegan pop-ups like Nopalinda to ongoing coverage of the surprisingly vast array of vegan options at El Torero.

“Before I started the page, I was afraid to go into a business by myself,” she said. “My anxiety was too high. Talking to a manager of a chef would be terrifying. My confidence has gone up so much. When I drive past a place, I just stop by and see what it’s all about.

“You make it happen,” she said. “Afterwards, you think, I’m amazing.”

Here are some questions we asked Hernandez about her favorite restaurants and why she went vegan:

Where would you recommend out-of-towners visit?

Yoshimatsu, El Torero, Urban Fresh, Renee’s and Cafe Maggie (“I’m obsessed with their pancakes,” she said.)

Off the top of your head, what’s the first iconic, Tucson vegan dish that comes to mind?

El Torero’s vegan green corn tamales.

Why did you go vegan?

For a long time I felt weird eating beef. I just love cows so much. I look in their eyes and think, I can’t eat them. As I got older, I started researching more and found out about how they’re treated, and the antibiotics and hormones.

How did you make the switch?

I started slow, just removing certain ingredients, then dairy, until eventually everyone in my household became vegan. There’s no right way to do it.

Which IG accounts inspire you?

@cheaplazyvegan, @onegreatvegan, @avantgardevegan and @thetucsonlocalista.

Any fun facts your followers might not know about you?

I am really into taking boudoir photos. I love just seeing people after they see their pictures. It builds their confidence. And I’m super sarcastic. Sometimes people don’t know I’m being sarcastic, and I get misread. I want to be myself on my IG more, with my stories or writing, and I’m afraid people will think I’m a little jerk! So I reign it in.

@tucson.munchies

If you spend a lot of time scrolling through the #tucsonfood hashtag, or any variation of the concept, you are likely familiar with Francisco Sanchez’s work posted to his account, @tucson.munchies. His close-up, sun-drenched shots of decadent foods have created a trend across Tucson and built his following to the tens of thousands.

Before he made a career of social media, he developed a signature look while researching food itineraries for family trips to LA. He’d go through a lot of foodie accounts and take stock of their pictures. “A lot of people stick to the professional, magazine-style look to their page,” he said. “I like making it look like it’s up close and personal, with the sunlight hitting it, an organic, natural picture.”

The Neighborhood was the first joint I wrote about for This Is Tucson, before I even started the job. I was captivated by Sanchez’s photos of their kitchen sink micheladas. Danny Cordova, the mastermind behind The Neighborhood and La Chingada, must know that photos of his over-the-top menu items — from a sea of oven-melted queso to a burger decked out in tots and onion rings — are downright intoxicating.

Cordova is now expanding an empire on Congress Street, including an oyster bar and a raspados playground. I believe part of his success is indelibly linked to Sanchez’s eye-catching pictures on social media.

While Sanchez runs social media accounts for a few restaurants across Tucson, his style has been followed — consciously or not — by some of the most fun restaurants of 2021.

What came first, the food-porn photo shoot or the obscenely decadent menu?

Here are some questions we asked Sanchez about his passion for food and what restaurants he recommends:

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Where does your passion for food come from?

I’ve always had that passion. Since I was young, I would always be watching the Travel Channel — who’s the guy with spiky hair? The drive-ins show? But I was always watching food shows. The bald guy, Bizarre Foods, he was just going around the world and trying different stuff. I was always trying different restaurants.

I thought that Tucson was really underrated, because there’s so much out here, really amazing food. I wanted to showcase that. I would hear a lot of people saying there aren’t many options, but I knew they only went to a few places.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve eaten (or photographed)?

The most surprising thing I’ve tried here in Tucson is a taco spot called Tacos Apson. There’s one on 12th, across the street from Pueblo H.S., and there I tried a taco that’s made with calf testicles. It sounds nasty but it wasn’t bad. I liked it. If someone wants to try something different, I’d recommend that.

If someone was coming from out of town, where should they eat?

One of my favorite spots is La Chingada — I, myself, I’m Mexican, I love Mexican food. It’s easily my favorite, and [La Chingada] is one of the best. It’s very homemade. I’d definitely recommend the chilaquiles. I love chilaquiles, and theirs are amazing.

Oh, and I was left speechless by the lamb chops at Contigo Latin Kitchen.

Sanchez also recommended Sullivan’s tomahawk steak, the ribs at Brother John’s, and anything at Smokey Mo. (“Their spotlight moment is coming soon,” he said, of Mo. “It deserves some shine.”)

Is there anything your followers might not know about you?

I started Tucson Munchies in 2017, when I was 22. And I invest in NFTs. (His biggest flip was from a derivative of the buzzy Bored Ape Yacht Club.)

@yelptucson

@yelptucson is a little different than the other foodie influencers I’m showcasing here. While many influencers work with business owners to trade free food for exposure, or get paid for their promotions, Isabella Joffroy is the local community manager for the review platform Yelp. On Instagram, that means she mainly reposts (with permission, of course) standout photos taken by Yelp users, especially the local Yelp Elite.

On one hand, her status means she's unbiased in her recommendations. She is not negotiating a direct business interest when she raves about the sushi at Yamato. That’s her preference as a civilian, or, at most, a Yelp user. On the other, she has a discrete corporate goal of promoting her company’s services.

I have used Yelp before, but nothing on the platform has ever left me with as strong impressions as the work Joffroy does within our community. I admire the way she puts the spotlight on local small-business owners and curates Tucsonans’ reviews of our favorite restaurants. When I see local influencers posting about their Yelp Elite status, they seem genuinely proud of the accomplishment, to be a super user, to be a part of Joffroy’s community.

While Instagram users tend to connect in the comment sections of posts and through direct messages, Joffroy’s community is ultimately an in-person experience. She organizes events, from huge (pre-pandemic) tasting parties for charity to a Sonoran dog roundup with this Yelp Elite named Brad. (“He’s a hot dog hunter,” she said.) Each month they’d pick a spot, gather a small group, and try the dogos. Brad would rate each one on various qualities, from the toastiness of the bun to the quality of their salsa bar.

I had so much fun talking about food with Joffroy. When I brought up restaurants on my to-do list, she would give me a succinct review, always ending with a number out of five, in the parlance of her platform. “I went to Just Kabab a lot while staying with my in-laws in Oro Valley,” she said. She prefers her old neighborhood, Menlo Park, which reminds her of home in Nogales. But she liked the takeout. “I’d say four stars,” she said.

For Joffroy’s Q&A, I’d like to share a few of her thoughts on favorite restaurants, review style:

Yamato Japanese Restaurant

He’s super traditional, old school — he only has a handful of rolls on the menu. He has a full Japanese grill menu too, which I’ve been ordering from more now that I’m pregnant and need to explore his more cooked foods. But the nigiri is really fresh, and his rice is perfectly seasoned.

He can be a bit standoffish at first, but I’ve been going there for 10 years, so he knows my family and is such a sweet man.

He keeps the bar closed and dine-in is reservation only. If you’re going to do dine-in, he does it right. He doesn’t fill up the dining room. He does a ton of takeout, so it can be slow. He’s the only person there. Once he retires, Yamato is over, so definitely try it.

El Antojo Poblano

Unlike a lot of Tucson Mexican food, she’s not from Sonora, she’s from Puebla. Her mom makes the mole the traditional, homemade way. The lady who runs the place is such a lovely person. I can’t wait for them to reopen. (Breaking news: they just did!)

Ceres Pasta

I'm a stickler for good service and just being authentic and doing something good. Ceres is this little pasta place that I think is another good example of honoring Italian pasta. And the sauce is good.

Italy is my adopted nationality — my husband is Italian, my mother-in-law is from Italy, so we spend a lot of time there.

Taqueria Pico de Gallo

Nobody does a corn tortilla like them.

Their corn tortilla is a thing to try. Because it's fluffy. It's almost like they made it out of tamale masa or something. Nobody does it like that. So definitely try there. Wow.

And go back and try their tortilla soup. It’s a little too full of ingredients, but the broth is amazing, and that’s what I look for. In general, you can tell how good a taqueria is based on the quality of their ingredients.