Ooh, la la! 15 gourmet tacos to please your palate
- Updated
The finest gourmet tacos from the 100 Days of Tacos series. See the whole list at tucson.com/tacos
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Let's be honest here: I picked this one because it said "award winning." It was hard to choose between all the options on Blanco Tacos + Tequila's menu, so it was a toss-up between this, the braised short rib machaca and the crispy shrimp with Fresno chili.
Wow. Who knew tacos could be so delicious without salsa?! But you've got everything you need right here in this big guy: a sizable mound of slow-cooked bar-b-q pork that's been braised for four hours in Negra Modelo beer and slathered in a bacon jalapeño barbecue sauce. Oh yeah, and some pickled onions, red Fresno chiles and limey Latin coleslaw on top for some tang. But about that meat, soft and sweet with just a little crackle. So yummy, I give it 10 out of 10 ...
Insider's tip: Just get it on the flour tortilla. You're not fooling anyone here ...
Location: 2905 E. Skyline Drive
Phone: 520-232-1007
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
You sit at the bar under a hanging case of Scotch, listening to lyrical Spanish guitar music. Then they bring out the tacos, beautiful little things all dolled up with their chipotle marinated coleslaw, then propped up onto a throne of bended steel.
Food for kings! But this is Tucson of course, so you're not paying top dollar at Gringo Grill and Cantina ... For $4.25 you can partake in some serious gourmet roasted pork butt, cooked with guajillo chiles and then hit with a rub of coffee powder and desert sage. After four hours in the oven, it becomes carnitas, and yes, it is worth it. Even if you are just eating lunch!
Weird fact: My server Trevor apparently gets these every day for his lunch, but he puts shredded lettuce on top, tisk tisk ...
Location: 5900 N. Oracle Road
Phone: 520-887-3777
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays. Happy hour: 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays with 25 percent off cantina menu items, Mexican beers on tap, sangrias and the Gringo Margarita.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Can tacos be a health food? I'm not sure how Dr. Oz would weigh in, but after eating this vegetarian tofu taco at Goodness, I'm going to say "yes!"
But more importantly, can healthy tacos taste good? I admit I was a little worried about the whole wheat tortilla — which turns out, is specially made preservative-free by Alejandro's Tortilla Factory — but this really was one of the most interesting and wonderful tacos I've had.
First of all, the dish is visually stunning. Each ingredient — the auburn teriyaki tofu topped with verdant avocado, pearly white cilantro cream, festive orange and purple slaw, and those crunchy little green pepitas — is masterfully composed. The result is a little Mexican, a little Japanese and a lot of California. But eating it made me feel really, really good. Even after I was done!
Weird fact: The cilantro cream on the taco is actually made from fat-free Greek yogurt.
Location: 2502 N. Campbell Ave.
Phone: 520-777-4465
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
I didn't expect to find Tucson's priciest taco in a tawny brown building across the street from Safeway. The 93-year-old restaurant is better known for its tamales and carne seca cheese crisps. But Lerua's Mexican Food also has a special menu, and on it you'll find the LBC Taco: lobster, bacon, chorizo.
The creation was invented by Lerua's young chef Michael Hultquist, who took over the family business a couple years ago after cooking in San Diego. He takes half a pound of Maine lobster and cooks it in a stew of housemade chorizo with garlic and white wine. Toward the end, he throws in the cubes of pork belly — cured in-house — that soften up but keep their crunchy skin.
The LBC tacos come two for $18, topped with a tornado of lettuce, avocado and queso fresco. There is no rice and no beans on the plate, yet it's full. If you can manage to pick up one of the tacos in your hand, each bite will be an explosion of spiced chunky meats followed by a gush of white crema and gleaming red oil. Put it down and underneath the flurry, you can fish out whole lobster claws with your fork: An extravagant, hidden meal, now in plain sight.
Weird fact: The Hultquist family also owns El Torero on South Fourth Avenue, and La Roca in Nogales, Sonora.
Location: 2005 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-624-0322
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, closed Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
I had given up on finding Cuitlacoche, a delicacy of the Aztecs that's been virtually untapped this far north. For those who don't know it, Cuitlacoche is corn smut: a mossy gray fungus that grows inside corn husks after the rain.
In Mexico City it's treated like a truffle, stuffed into meats and quesadillas for a springy taste of the earth. Up in Tucson you might see it at a special theme dinner in a gourmet restaurant, but other than that, nuthin'.
But travel down to Tubac and you'll find it any day, hidden inside a gorgeous plate of rolled tacos with red cabbage and smokey chipotle salsa. Elvira's Restaurant works with Mexican distributors to import baggies of the corn smut already peeled off the cobs. The Cuitlacoche is stuffed into the tacos along with shredded chicken, onions and jalapeños, then rolled up and fried in oil.
Rip open one of the tacos with your fingers and you can pick out the little black bits: They taste like mushrooms, with just a hint of raw corn. Life is full of delicious, subtle surprises ...
Interesting fact: Cuitlacoche is actually one of the restaurant's specialties (aside from their incredible mole): Right now they're running a special chile relleno stuffed with Cuitlacoche and Oaxaca cheese, battered in egg and topped with truffle oil and a basil chipotle portofino sauce. They also sell jars of Cuitlacoche in the gift shop, $12.95 for 325 grams from Old Mexico Gourmet.
Location: 2221 E. Frontage Road
Phone: 520-398-9421
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, closed Mondays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
What came first, the turkey or the egg? At Penca's brunch service they tend to come out about the same time. The downtown restaurant serves upscale tacos starting in the a.m., so I went for the guajolote taco: moist shreds of roasted turkey on a hand-pressed corn tortilla.
Gorgeous. Each ingredient brought a fresh color and a clear purpose: the silken pink chipotle crema coating the delicate meat, the shredded red cabbage with its bitter snap, the pop of the bright green onions. So different, yet they're all pulled together by that hearty masa, filling your mouth with the timeless flavor of warmed corn.
Insider's tip: How do they get the turkey so soft? Before they roast it, they brine the whole bird and add a mirepoix of carrots, onions and celery.
Location: 50 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-203-7681
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Cauliflower is serious business over at The Cup Cafe, where the sturdy vegetable gets spiced up with chile and yellow curry powder. These cauliflower tacos are a light little bite: flash fried without batter to springy crisps with meaty centers.
Avocado adds a nice creamy base, but the tacos here are much drier than I originally thought when I saw curry was involved. The shredded cabbage and thin pickled onions, all slipped into a crispy tortilla from Anita Street Market ... made for the perfect sunny lunch out on the patio.
Insider's tip: In addition to the cauliflower tacos, Congress also does drunken fish tacos with beer battered cod, and Mission Street Tacos with crispy pork belly.
Location: 311 E. Congress Street
Phone: 520-622-8848
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Seis Kitchen and Catering makes its corn tortillas from scratch, starting with the nixtamal. The word refers to the ancient Aztec process of making masa by boiling down corn with lime water. It's an essential step in tortilla-making, one that's most often skipped in favor of industrialized store-bought dough.
But down at the Mercado San Agustin, tortillas are serious business. They are fresh and hearty and thick; good enough to eat rolled up by themselves. But they're also a base for some interesting regional styles of meat: the achiote-glazed Cochinita Pibil pork and the Poc Chuc chicken of the Yucatán. And my favorite, a Seis original called the crispy avocado tacos.
Co-owner Jake Muñoz said he wanted to make a beer battered fish taco that vegetarians can eat. So he takes avocado quarters and coats them in a thick batter laced with Modelo Especial. Then they go into the fryer and come out as bulbous masses filled with avocado so soft and warm it's stunning. All with a crunch like a savory donut. Dare I say it, even better than the fish tacos of the coast. 'Cause hey, when life gives you avocados ...
Insider's tip: Seis is also the only restaurant in town that serves Poc Chuc, a grilled slab of chicken or pork that's popular in the Yucatán. The Poc Chuc tacos took first place for chicken tacos in the 2012 Tucson Taco Festival.
Location: 130 S. Avenida del Convento in the Mercado San Agustin
Phone: 520-622-2002
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Janos Wilder seems to be racking up his frequent flyer miles these days: This month's Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails menu explores the Sichuan cuisine of Chengdu, China. But these braised beef cheek tacos hit close to home.
Served on flour tortillas with a zippy chiltepin salsa and radish sticks that merge into the cabbage slaw, the tacos remind me of Tucson's best resort food. They're not meant to be fussy, but they've sure got panache ...
They are bar bites after all, situated on the bar menu somewhere between the warm Oaxacan peanuts and the fancy Sonoran J Dawg. They are little snacks that slip down easy with the whiskey-spiked Tucson Lemonade. (Or in my case, the J Bar Margarita ... another La Paloma classic) Because here, the familiar is both a comfort and an excitement. And as it turns out, margaritas taste great with Oaxacan mole French fries!
Weird fact: Janos really does walk the walk when it comes to pioneering Sonoran flavors. The man practically christened this taco voyage by stepping behind me in line at Aqui con El Nene when I was doing Taco Numero Uno. He has good taste when it comes to takeout.
Location: 135 S. Sixth Ave.
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Phone: 520-623-7700
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Korean kimchi tacos, a most unlikely hybrid, are usually a marvel of sweet chile sauce and funky fermented cabbage. But downtown at 47 Scott, they're are all about the grill.
The first thing that hits you is that wonderful char, caked into ridges of braised pork belly and bubbling out from the flour tortillas. These are meat tacos pure and simple. All of the sauce in here comes from little shreds of tangy Brussels sprout leaves fermented into kimchi from the house sauerkraut: not exactly that fat slab of chile-glazed cabbage you might expect. But drier, more delicate, and dare I say it? German ...
Interesting newsy bit: The tacos are a new addition to 47 Scott's happy hour menu. When Executive Chef Daniel Thomas came on from Scottsdale's J&G Steakhouse in July, he revamped the menu and added the happy hour.
Location: 47 N. Scott Ave.
Phone: 520-624-4747
Hours: Happy hour is 4 to 6 p.m. seven days a week. Full hours are 4 p.m. with last seating at 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. with last seating at 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The window seat is a wonderful place for little sautéed shrimps, arranged in a neat line with a splatter of cabbage and avocado. Presentation is key at Lo Esencial, this gourmet Mexican restaurant at the entrance to The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. The space which previously housed Dove Mountain Grill is chic and airy, with high-backed booths and funky spiral sculptures hanging from the walls.
Chef Shawn Watts is particular about the details, from the sour cream sauce that he freshens with dill to the sprinkle of cayenne pepper he tosses on top. But once the taco gets folded up and popped into your mouth, all bets are off. Crisp cabbage, toasty chile or bright tomatoes, you may get a bite of anything. That's what keeps it fresh.
Interesting newsy bit: The restaurant is currently operating on a limited menu until the season picks up Oct. 1. They're also closed on Sundays until the end of this month.
Location: 12130 N. Dove Mountain Blvd.
Phone: 520-579-8999
Hours: Closed Mondays, 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, closed Sundays until Oct. 1
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
I wanted to include an ahi tuna taco on this list. I was not expecting it to be at Saguaro National Park.
But way out at the base of the Rincon Mountains where Golf Links Road hits a fork, a historic restaurant is turning out plates of gourmet cheese curds and quinoa kale salad. Former downtown restaurateur Kade Mislinksi took over the old Saguaro Corners in December, revamping the menu with hip comfort foods a'la Hub and Playground.
A lot of times when you get tuna around here, it's gummy and flavorless. This was a different story. Supple little plumps of sashimi-grade tuna, glistening and fat with their juices, were marinated in a soy-based ponzu sauce with a hit of sweet ginger. They get tucked into crispy fried wonton wraps, with hunks of avocado and a little white sesame.
I was honestly kinda surprised these tacos were so good, until they brought out the chef Kevin Gorski, a seasoned kinda guy who told me he'd also worked at Anthony's in the Catalinas.
Weird fact: The dining room, which dates back to the '50s, is dominated by large windows that look out onto surrounding desert. Manager David Musso told me that back in the day, the tables by the windows were always full because they fed javelinas right outside.
Location: 3750 S. Old Spanish Trail
Phone: 520-886-2020
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
How I learned to stop worrying and love the flour tortilla ...
The tale goes something like this: Intrepid food writer, anxious to prove her culinary clout, picks corn everywhere she goes because she perceives it to be more authentic. Somewhere along the way she realizes A) the flour tortilla has an extremely rich history in this region, and B) when done right, a warm flour tortilla is a flawless food, and it is a delicacy.
So I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this: As far as tacos go, Reforma Cocina y Cantina has the best tortillas in town. I have not tried their corn tortillas, only the flour. But now that I've had them, I will never go back ...
The St. Philip's Plaza restaurant makes them from scratch, kneading the flour and the lard into a dough and then running it through a big conveyor machine that presses and cooks it, much like a comal. The tortillas come out thick and warm and dusted with flour. They aren't crackly and they don't have layers that peel off when you take a bite. They have a nice chew to them, and taste like real ingredients with a hint of buttery fat. They are in short, amazing.
Lots of people prefer corn tortillas with shrimp tacos, but these people need to try the ones at Reforma. The flour tortilla keeps them light and highlights the freshness of the shrimp, chubby and bursting with a guajillo chile marinade. The squirt of zesty lime crema really sets them off, so that the flesh tastes bright and mineral-rich. At $5.50 apiece they are on the pricier side. But they are so worth it ...
Weird fact: Executive chef Zack Ghidotti cut his teeth up in Sonoma County where he did pop-up dinners and lived and cooked on an organic farm. You can say he brings a Bay Area aesthetic to his cooking, using high quality ingredients etc.
Location: 4310 N. Campbell Ave.
Phone: 520-867-4134
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Look closely underneath that lettuce and you'll see the biggest animal in North America. Yeah that's it, the little strips of beefy-looking meat in the sticky brown marinade.
As far as I know, buffalo meat tacos aren't really found south of the border. Or even south of Tangerine Road, for that matter. (I actually looked up "tacos de bufalo" on Google and all I found were images of pool cues.) But American bison meat is a low-fat choice for gourmet burgers, and here it is on the menu one of Tucson's finest resort destinations, the Ritz-Carlton at Dove Mountain.
Sample some at the resort's patio grill Ignite, while snacking on complimentary olives and staring out onto a sweeping desert scene. The tacos look so dainty tucked into their steel holder, but they're quite substantial really. The highlight is that chewy flour tortilla, fresh like a bite of newly-risen bread dough. With all its sweetness and spice, the marinade reminded me of Korean barbecue, but it was actually a combination of maple syrup, sage, garlic and more.
You can just buy one as I did, or get the plate for $18. Either way, you still get the view.
Weird fact: This was by far the least I've ever spent at the Ritz-Carlton! I was there an hour and only spent $7.44 with tax and tip. Cheapest staycation ever ...
Location: 15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana
Phone: 520-572-3000
Hours: 11:30 to 9:30 p.m. seven days a week (bar hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays)
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Strict locavores, look away for a minute! The campus area restaurant Boca Tacos y Tequila ventures into new taco territory with its off-the-wall salsas and globetrotting Mexican fusion. Every Wednesday, it holds an "exotic taco" night with a different obscure meat/veggie from around the world. This time, it was python.
Chef Maria Mazon worked with Dickman's deli in Tucson to bring in the snake meat from a farm in Vietnam, said butcher Dan Dickman. "They give to you deboned," Maria said. "You end up with a shrunk piece of white stuff. You're like what is this? Until you start chopping and dicing."
Maria boiled down the meat and then simmered it in a stew of sweet chipotle tamarind sauce, which paired beautifully with my black hoisin salsa. Piled atop a corn tortilla with cabbage and cilantro, the springy shards of snake tasted like a muscular pork chop. It reminded me of an extra-dimensional Vietnamese stir fry dish, but my boyfriend was thinking more like Mongolian beef.
This is the third time Maria's done snake in her restaurant. The first time she fried it, and the second time she grilled it. This preparation technique seems to highlight the best of the meat, and soften it up a little. In the words of my server: "Python is usually more muscular. But this one isn't." Let's just say, it was so good it took hold of me, and it never let go ...
Weird fact: Exotic Taco Wednesdays of recent past include jackfruit taco, ostrich meatloaf wonton taco, spiced latte taco and coconut curry rabbit.
Location: 828 E. Speedway
Phone: 520-777-8134
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Let's be honest here: I picked this one because it said "award winning." It was hard to choose between all the options on Blanco Tacos + Tequila's menu, so it was a toss-up between this, the braised short rib machaca and the crispy shrimp with Fresno chili.
Wow. Who knew tacos could be so delicious without salsa?! But you've got everything you need right here in this big guy: a sizable mound of slow-cooked bar-b-q pork that's been braised for four hours in Negra Modelo beer and slathered in a bacon jalapeño barbecue sauce. Oh yeah, and some pickled onions, red Fresno chiles and limey Latin coleslaw on top for some tang. But about that meat, soft and sweet with just a little crackle. So yummy, I give it 10 out of 10 ...
Insider's tip: Just get it on the flour tortilla. You're not fooling anyone here ...
Location: 2905 E. Skyline Drive
Phone: 520-232-1007
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
You sit at the bar under a hanging case of Scotch, listening to lyrical Spanish guitar music. Then they bring out the tacos, beautiful little things all dolled up with their chipotle marinated coleslaw, then propped up onto a throne of bended steel.
Food for kings! But this is Tucson of course, so you're not paying top dollar at Gringo Grill and Cantina ... For $4.25 you can partake in some serious gourmet roasted pork butt, cooked with guajillo chiles and then hit with a rub of coffee powder and desert sage. After four hours in the oven, it becomes carnitas, and yes, it is worth it. Even if you are just eating lunch!
Weird fact: My server Trevor apparently gets these every day for his lunch, but he puts shredded lettuce on top, tisk tisk ...
Location: 5900 N. Oracle Road
Phone: 520-887-3777
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays. Happy hour: 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays with 25 percent off cantina menu items, Mexican beers on tap, sangrias and the Gringo Margarita.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
Can tacos be a health food? I'm not sure how Dr. Oz would weigh in, but after eating this vegetarian tofu taco at Goodness, I'm going to say "yes!"
But more importantly, can healthy tacos taste good? I admit I was a little worried about the whole wheat tortilla — which turns out, is specially made preservative-free by Alejandro's Tortilla Factory — but this really was one of the most interesting and wonderful tacos I've had.
First of all, the dish is visually stunning. Each ingredient — the auburn teriyaki tofu topped with verdant avocado, pearly white cilantro cream, festive orange and purple slaw, and those crunchy little green pepitas — is masterfully composed. The result is a little Mexican, a little Japanese and a lot of California. But eating it made me feel really, really good. Even after I was done!
Weird fact: The cilantro cream on the taco is actually made from fat-free Greek yogurt.
Location: 2502 N. Campbell Ave.
Phone: 520-777-4465
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
I didn't expect to find Tucson's priciest taco in a tawny brown building across the street from Safeway. The 93-year-old restaurant is better known for its tamales and carne seca cheese crisps. But Lerua's Mexican Food also has a special menu, and on it you'll find the LBC Taco: lobster, bacon, chorizo.
The creation was invented by Lerua's young chef Michael Hultquist, who took over the family business a couple years ago after cooking in San Diego. He takes half a pound of Maine lobster and cooks it in a stew of housemade chorizo with garlic and white wine. Toward the end, he throws in the cubes of pork belly — cured in-house — that soften up but keep their crunchy skin.
The LBC tacos come two for $18, topped with a tornado of lettuce, avocado and queso fresco. There is no rice and no beans on the plate, yet it's full. If you can manage to pick up one of the tacos in your hand, each bite will be an explosion of spiced chunky meats followed by a gush of white crema and gleaming red oil. Put it down and underneath the flurry, you can fish out whole lobster claws with your fork: An extravagant, hidden meal, now in plain sight.
Weird fact: The Hultquist family also owns El Torero on South Fourth Avenue, and La Roca in Nogales, Sonora.
Location: 2005 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-624-0322
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, closed Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
I had given up on finding Cuitlacoche, a delicacy of the Aztecs that's been virtually untapped this far north. For those who don't know it, Cuitlacoche is corn smut: a mossy gray fungus that grows inside corn husks after the rain.
In Mexico City it's treated like a truffle, stuffed into meats and quesadillas for a springy taste of the earth. Up in Tucson you might see it at a special theme dinner in a gourmet restaurant, but other than that, nuthin'.
But travel down to Tubac and you'll find it any day, hidden inside a gorgeous plate of rolled tacos with red cabbage and smokey chipotle salsa. Elvira's Restaurant works with Mexican distributors to import baggies of the corn smut already peeled off the cobs. The Cuitlacoche is stuffed into the tacos along with shredded chicken, onions and jalapeños, then rolled up and fried in oil.
Rip open one of the tacos with your fingers and you can pick out the little black bits: They taste like mushrooms, with just a hint of raw corn. Life is full of delicious, subtle surprises ...
Interesting fact: Cuitlacoche is actually one of the restaurant's specialties (aside from their incredible mole): Right now they're running a special chile relleno stuffed with Cuitlacoche and Oaxaca cheese, battered in egg and topped with truffle oil and a basil chipotle portofino sauce. They also sell jars of Cuitlacoche in the gift shop, $12.95 for 325 grams from Old Mexico Gourmet.
Location: 2221 E. Frontage Road
Phone: 520-398-9421
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, closed Mondays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
What came first, the turkey or the egg? At Penca's brunch service they tend to come out about the same time. The downtown restaurant serves upscale tacos starting in the a.m., so I went for the guajolote taco: moist shreds of roasted turkey on a hand-pressed corn tortilla.
Gorgeous. Each ingredient brought a fresh color and a clear purpose: the silken pink chipotle crema coating the delicate meat, the shredded red cabbage with its bitter snap, the pop of the bright green onions. So different, yet they're all pulled together by that hearty masa, filling your mouth with the timeless flavor of warmed corn.
Insider's tip: How do they get the turkey so soft? Before they roast it, they brine the whole bird and add a mirepoix of carrots, onions and celery.
Location: 50 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-203-7681
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Cauliflower is serious business over at The Cup Cafe, where the sturdy vegetable gets spiced up with chile and yellow curry powder. These cauliflower tacos are a light little bite: flash fried without batter to springy crisps with meaty centers.
Avocado adds a nice creamy base, but the tacos here are much drier than I originally thought when I saw curry was involved. The shredded cabbage and thin pickled onions, all slipped into a crispy tortilla from Anita Street Market ... made for the perfect sunny lunch out on the patio.
Insider's tip: In addition to the cauliflower tacos, Congress also does drunken fish tacos with beer battered cod, and Mission Street Tacos with crispy pork belly.
Location: 311 E. Congress Street
Phone: 520-622-8848
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Seis Kitchen and Catering makes its corn tortillas from scratch, starting with the nixtamal. The word refers to the ancient Aztec process of making masa by boiling down corn with lime water. It's an essential step in tortilla-making, one that's most often skipped in favor of industrialized store-bought dough.
But down at the Mercado San Agustin, tortillas are serious business. They are fresh and hearty and thick; good enough to eat rolled up by themselves. But they're also a base for some interesting regional styles of meat: the achiote-glazed Cochinita Pibil pork and the Poc Chuc chicken of the Yucatán. And my favorite, a Seis original called the crispy avocado tacos.
Co-owner Jake Muñoz said he wanted to make a beer battered fish taco that vegetarians can eat. So he takes avocado quarters and coats them in a thick batter laced with Modelo Especial. Then they go into the fryer and come out as bulbous masses filled with avocado so soft and warm it's stunning. All with a crunch like a savory donut. Dare I say it, even better than the fish tacos of the coast. 'Cause hey, when life gives you avocados ...
Insider's tip: Seis is also the only restaurant in town that serves Poc Chuc, a grilled slab of chicken or pork that's popular in the Yucatán. The Poc Chuc tacos took first place for chicken tacos in the 2012 Tucson Taco Festival.
Location: 130 S. Avenida del Convento in the Mercado San Agustin
Phone: 520-622-2002
Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
Janos Wilder seems to be racking up his frequent flyer miles these days: This month's Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails menu explores the Sichuan cuisine of Chengdu, China. But these braised beef cheek tacos hit close to home.
Served on flour tortillas with a zippy chiltepin salsa and radish sticks that merge into the cabbage slaw, the tacos remind me of Tucson's best resort food. They're not meant to be fussy, but they've sure got panache ...
They are bar bites after all, situated on the bar menu somewhere between the warm Oaxacan peanuts and the fancy Sonoran J Dawg. They are little snacks that slip down easy with the whiskey-spiked Tucson Lemonade. (Or in my case, the J Bar Margarita ... another La Paloma classic) Because here, the familiar is both a comfort and an excitement. And as it turns out, margaritas taste great with Oaxacan mole French fries!
Weird fact: Janos really does walk the walk when it comes to pioneering Sonoran flavors. The man practically christened this taco voyage by stepping behind me in line at Aqui con El Nene when I was doing Taco Numero Uno. He has good taste when it comes to takeout.
Location: 135 S. Sixth Ave.
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Phone: 520-623-7700
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Korean kimchi tacos, a most unlikely hybrid, are usually a marvel of sweet chile sauce and funky fermented cabbage. But downtown at 47 Scott, they're are all about the grill.
The first thing that hits you is that wonderful char, caked into ridges of braised pork belly and bubbling out from the flour tortillas. These are meat tacos pure and simple. All of the sauce in here comes from little shreds of tangy Brussels sprout leaves fermented into kimchi from the house sauerkraut: not exactly that fat slab of chile-glazed cabbage you might expect. But drier, more delicate, and dare I say it? German ...
Interesting newsy bit: The tacos are a new addition to 47 Scott's happy hour menu. When Executive Chef Daniel Thomas came on from Scottsdale's J&G Steakhouse in July, he revamped the menu and added the happy hour.
Location: 47 N. Scott Ave.
Phone: 520-624-4747
Hours: Happy hour is 4 to 6 p.m. seven days a week. Full hours are 4 p.m. with last seating at 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. with last seating at 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
The window seat is a wonderful place for little sautéed shrimps, arranged in a neat line with a splatter of cabbage and avocado. Presentation is key at Lo Esencial, this gourmet Mexican restaurant at the entrance to The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. The space which previously housed Dove Mountain Grill is chic and airy, with high-backed booths and funky spiral sculptures hanging from the walls.
Chef Shawn Watts is particular about the details, from the sour cream sauce that he freshens with dill to the sprinkle of cayenne pepper he tosses on top. But once the taco gets folded up and popped into your mouth, all bets are off. Crisp cabbage, toasty chile or bright tomatoes, you may get a bite of anything. That's what keeps it fresh.
Interesting newsy bit: The restaurant is currently operating on a limited menu until the season picks up Oct. 1. They're also closed on Sundays until the end of this month.
Location: 12130 N. Dove Mountain Blvd.
Phone: 520-579-8999
Hours: Closed Mondays, 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, closed Sundays until Oct. 1
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
I wanted to include an ahi tuna taco on this list. I was not expecting it to be at Saguaro National Park.
But way out at the base of the Rincon Mountains where Golf Links Road hits a fork, a historic restaurant is turning out plates of gourmet cheese curds and quinoa kale salad. Former downtown restaurateur Kade Mislinksi took over the old Saguaro Corners in December, revamping the menu with hip comfort foods a'la Hub and Playground.
A lot of times when you get tuna around here, it's gummy and flavorless. This was a different story. Supple little plumps of sashimi-grade tuna, glistening and fat with their juices, were marinated in a soy-based ponzu sauce with a hit of sweet ginger. They get tucked into crispy fried wonton wraps, with hunks of avocado and a little white sesame.
I was honestly kinda surprised these tacos were so good, until they brought out the chef Kevin Gorski, a seasoned kinda guy who told me he'd also worked at Anthony's in the Catalinas.
Weird fact: The dining room, which dates back to the '50s, is dominated by large windows that look out onto surrounding desert. Manager David Musso told me that back in the day, the tables by the windows were always full because they fed javelinas right outside.
Location: 3750 S. Old Spanish Trail
Phone: 520-886-2020
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
How I learned to stop worrying and love the flour tortilla ...
The tale goes something like this: Intrepid food writer, anxious to prove her culinary clout, picks corn everywhere she goes because she perceives it to be more authentic. Somewhere along the way she realizes A) the flour tortilla has an extremely rich history in this region, and B) when done right, a warm flour tortilla is a flawless food, and it is a delicacy.
So I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this: As far as tacos go, Reforma Cocina y Cantina has the best tortillas in town. I have not tried their corn tortillas, only the flour. But now that I've had them, I will never go back ...
The St. Philip's Plaza restaurant makes them from scratch, kneading the flour and the lard into a dough and then running it through a big conveyor machine that presses and cooks it, much like a comal. The tortillas come out thick and warm and dusted with flour. They aren't crackly and they don't have layers that peel off when you take a bite. They have a nice chew to them, and taste like real ingredients with a hint of buttery fat. They are in short, amazing.
Lots of people prefer corn tortillas with shrimp tacos, but these people need to try the ones at Reforma. The flour tortilla keeps them light and highlights the freshness of the shrimp, chubby and bursting with a guajillo chile marinade. The squirt of zesty lime crema really sets them off, so that the flesh tastes bright and mineral-rich. At $5.50 apiece they are on the pricier side. But they are so worth it ...
Weird fact: Executive chef Zack Ghidotti cut his teeth up in Sonoma County where he did pop-up dinners and lived and cooked on an organic farm. You can say he brings a Bay Area aesthetic to his cooking, using high quality ingredients etc.
Location: 4310 N. Campbell Ave.
Phone: 520-867-4134
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Look closely underneath that lettuce and you'll see the biggest animal in North America. Yeah that's it, the little strips of beefy-looking meat in the sticky brown marinade.
As far as I know, buffalo meat tacos aren't really found south of the border. Or even south of Tangerine Road, for that matter. (I actually looked up "tacos de bufalo" on Google and all I found were images of pool cues.) But American bison meat is a low-fat choice for gourmet burgers, and here it is on the menu one of Tucson's finest resort destinations, the Ritz-Carlton at Dove Mountain.
Sample some at the resort's patio grill Ignite, while snacking on complimentary olives and staring out onto a sweeping desert scene. The tacos look so dainty tucked into their steel holder, but they're quite substantial really. The highlight is that chewy flour tortilla, fresh like a bite of newly-risen bread dough. With all its sweetness and spice, the marinade reminded me of Korean barbecue, but it was actually a combination of maple syrup, sage, garlic and more.
You can just buy one as I did, or get the plate for $18. Either way, you still get the view.
Weird fact: This was by far the least I've ever spent at the Ritz-Carlton! I was there an hour and only spent $7.44 with tax and tip. Cheapest staycation ever ...
Location: 15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana
Phone: 520-572-3000
Hours: 11:30 to 9:30 p.m. seven days a week (bar hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays)
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Strict locavores, look away for a minute! The campus area restaurant Boca Tacos y Tequila ventures into new taco territory with its off-the-wall salsas and globetrotting Mexican fusion. Every Wednesday, it holds an "exotic taco" night with a different obscure meat/veggie from around the world. This time, it was python.
Chef Maria Mazon worked with Dickman's deli in Tucson to bring in the snake meat from a farm in Vietnam, said butcher Dan Dickman. "They give to you deboned," Maria said. "You end up with a shrunk piece of white stuff. You're like what is this? Until you start chopping and dicing."
Maria boiled down the meat and then simmered it in a stew of sweet chipotle tamarind sauce, which paired beautifully with my black hoisin salsa. Piled atop a corn tortilla with cabbage and cilantro, the springy shards of snake tasted like a muscular pork chop. It reminded me of an extra-dimensional Vietnamese stir fry dish, but my boyfriend was thinking more like Mongolian beef.
This is the third time Maria's done snake in her restaurant. The first time she fried it, and the second time she grilled it. This preparation technique seems to highlight the best of the meat, and soften it up a little. In the words of my server: "Python is usually more muscular. But this one isn't." Let's just say, it was so good it took hold of me, and it never let go ...
Weird fact: Exotic Taco Wednesdays of recent past include jackfruit taco, ostrich meatloaf wonton taco, spiced latte taco and coconut curry rabbit.
Location: 828 E. Speedway
Phone: 520-777-8134
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
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