Ahoy! Tucson's 15 weirdest, wildest, best seafood tacos
- Updated
Manta ray? Wonton tuna sashimi? Andi has eaten it all during her 100 Days of Tacos series.
- 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
I was expecting the manta ray. I wasn't expecting what came on top: Black shards of blubbery flesh that shined like wet clam shells.
The sea is full of wonderful and frightening surprises, and this is definitely one of them. Aleta de atun ("tuna fin") is a specialty of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, where food truck owner Braulio Lopez found it. He says the meat comes from a specific fin on the bottom of the fish.
At his truck Baja Mar - Mariscos y Cahuamanta, they slow boil the fin along with a slab of sting ray meat for several hours. The two go onto shop's Taco Super Baja Mar along with whole shrimp and squishy little octopus disks and tentacles.
The creation is kind of a Tour de Gulf of California: a mountain of sea life on double-stacked corn tortillas with cabbage, onions and tomatoes. The manta ray on the bottom was soft and shredded in red sauce, almost like a heavier tuna fish without any gaminess. It was the base for the spunkier ingredients like the octopus. (Sadly, I think they forgot to put on the shrimp that day.)
The tuna fin? Well I guess I'll be honest. It was really sticky and gummy and smelled like something you'd find in a tidepool. Even the the guy working the line said it wasn't his favorite. But apparently, "A lot of people like it!"
Weird fact: The Sonoran specialty cahuamanta — which usually contains a mixture of manta ray, shrimp and sometimes tuna fin — used to be prepared with turtle meat until our favorite reptilian friend was put on the endangered species list.
Locations: I caught up with Baja Mar on the northeast corner of Oracle Road and Miracle Mile. But there's a second truck on northeast corner of East Drexel Road and South Nogales Highway. NEWS! Lopez says that in a couple of weeks they plan to open a third Baja Mar on 22nd Street and Wilmot outside the La Mexicana Mercado y Carniceria.
Phone: 520-940-7784
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: cash only
- 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
Get off the I-19 and drive down the frontage road past the Via Lechuza, Calle Azulejo and Menudo Court. You'll eventually get to a series of hidden shopping centers tucked between the freeway and a residential neighborhood.
There you'll see a yellow building marked by a stately shrimp floating in an oyster shell over a pair of lobster claws. This is La Bocanita, home of the Taco Gobernador.
A gobernador, Spanish for governor, is a popular Baja style that's just as powerful as it sounds: shrimp, with soft peppers and onions, smothered with a white gob of melted cheese. At La Bocanita they tear up the shrimp until it's machaca style, then cover it with gooey Monterrey Jack. The crispy tortilla is folded up halfway, so the pink little shrimps poke out from the edge.
But my favorite part: pale red salsa, exactly like the stuff in the malecon of Puerto Peñasco. Twelve miles from the border, all I wanted to do was keep on going ...
Insider's tip: This place has one of the largest selections of seafood I've seen in Arizona. In addition to oysters, squid, octopus and the usual, they also serve sea snails, a food I've never encountered outside of the beach in Rocky Point.
Location: 1185 Circulo Mercado, Rio Rico
Phone: 520-281-0249
Hours: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week
Payment: $20 minimum for debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Tacos in Green Valley, the land of thrift stores and golf carts ... Where to go? The parking lot's full over at Manuel's Mexican Restaurant, a big brown adobe befitted with Roman columns and a blue observatory-style dome.
The family spot has a suburban vibe to it, with advertisements for nursing homes, window cleaners and dentists laminated onto the bright yellow tables. There's a lot of steaming and sizzling in the air as servers carry around platters of fajitas supreme.
I got a catfish taco, because, hell why not? The little pieces of fish are fried up real nice almost like popcorn shrimp, with a crusty batter that smacks of pepper. I took the sprawled-out avocado garnish and slipped it inside, along with some coleslaw and the pico they'd shaped into a little hill. I left the broccoli alone.
Weird fact: The place serves red and white menudo on the weekends. Cool!
Location: 121 W. Duval Road
Phone: 520-648-6068
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Beauty on the borderlands: At the corner of South Sixth and 22nd Street near the gateway to South Tucson is a white taco truck called Cocteleria La Palma. The owners, Esther and Mario Romero are from the coastal state of Sinaloa and run what one might consider your typical shrimp cocktail joint.
But they also make a thing so scandalous it should only be spoken of in hushed tones, a fantasy food they call the taco quesadilla. It is like it sounds: half battered shrimp taco, half quesadilla with mozzarella cheese. It is a monster of a thing with a loosely folded flour tortilla that crackles away with each bite, revealing fluffy balls of crispy shrimp and gooey cheese that spews out the side. There is also avocado and a lot of lettuce, and some light chipotle cream sauce somewhere in there. In short, it is a show.
You eat the thing under a tarp with a silver fan that spews out a thick, hazy mist into the air. Through it, you can see a tire shop, a hot dog cart and the historic Santa Cruz Catholic Church. It was truly a moving experience.
Weird fact: Their Seven Mares seafood soup is apparently "the cure" for hangovers. That's why they're open on Sundays.
Location: 1137 S. Sixth Ave.
Phone: 520-270-4067
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, closed Tuesdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- 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 know where everyone's at on South 12th Avenue: They're holed up in a room lined with brown bricks, eating fat bulbs of crispy fried shrimp with chipotle sauce.
People around here all seem to know about this Ensenada-style seafood place Taco Fish, despite its tucked-away building and the fact that the inside kinda looks like a redecorated public swimming pool.
That's half the fun. But the real draw is the restaurant's equivalent of the combo plate, the Taco Gordo, stacked with three specialties: fried fish, a scoop of shredded red marlin studded with soft onions, and a single curled shrimp on top, cherry style.
This is one of the finest things I've consumed in my journeys. (And possibly the largest taco I've eaten in my life.) It's all about the crisp bubbly batter, so rich without being too heavy, giving way to a perfectly-cooked piece of fish. A masterpiece of the fryer fit for the finest gourmet restaurant; best consumed at the table in the back, while tapping your foot on the pavement.
Weird fact: This place started out as a food truck, and was so popular the owners built up a brick-and-mortar on the same spot.
Location: 4841 S. 12th Ave., but they also have a taco truck at 250 E. Grant Road.
Phone: 520-777-6235
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
I drove east toward the lightning and wound up here: Inside the Rita Ranch Market along the I-10 freeway is a little red shop with an explosive selection of homemade salsas.
Papa Locos Tacos and Burgers is run by Guaymas native Leticia Ramirez, who grew up selling tacos at a shop built inside her family's living room. (Her mother's place, Lucy's Tacos, has been going strong for 40 years, she says.)
The restaurant upbringing is well-evident in her menu, which displays incredible care for something inside a gas station. You'll see immediately that the salsa bar is immaculate and filled with tons of goodies, like a fiery toasted chile de arbol salsa and fresh cut jalapeños drenched in soy sauce.
Perhaps it was the hunger from the long drive, but the fish taco really blew me away. Rather than giving you a single slab of fish, they cut up the tilapia into little chunks with crispy edges and soft meaty centers. The tangy pico lights it up, and the buttery avocado cools it down. Unexpected, but truly, a perfect storm ...
Insider's tip: You can buy beer and wine at the gas station and bring it into the restaurant, free of charge.
Location: 8201 S. Rita Road
Phone: 520-663-3333
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
It was really dark in there. But the margaritas were dirt cheap. And once my eyes adjusted, I realized we were engulfed in an epic seafaring masterwork featuring a naked man spearing a shark with the Mexican flag.
Then the fish tacos came out. On Tuesdays Taco Giro does them for 99 cents apiece, so we ordered enough for two servers to carry. The tacos were crunchy little things on two corn tortillas rubbed with a lush creamy red sauce. There were no cups at the salsa bar, so we poured everything directly onto the tacos. A lot of getting up and sitting down happened ... But in the end I spent about five bucks, and was completely satiated.
Weird fact: The restaurant is actually part of a local chain, but the mural is a hand-me-down from the last tenants, El Sabroso Oakwood Grill.
Location: 610 N. Grande Ave.
Phone: 520-792-2282
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The B Line. Serving cheap, gourmet meals since 2002, a decade before all those food truck guys came on the scene. A gift to Tucson, and a huge part of any discerning UA student's meal plan. I can't believe I'm saying this, but even though I've consumed the steak salad and the Pasta Alla Vodka and just about everything on this menu, I had never eaten the tacos until this week.
What was I thinking? The hunk of blackened Mahi Mahi on here is just about the best fish I've ever eaten on a tortilla. Heavily spiced but oh-so delicate, it's just beautiful with the shredded cabbage and buttery avocado. It's simple food, done really really well. But what am I saying, you knew that already ...
Weird irrelevant fact: My partner Housten and I actually ate here on our first date, and we've been together nine years this month. The food was that good!
Location: 621 N. Fourth Ave.
Phone: 520-882-7575
Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Down on South Sixth Avenue across the street from the rodeo grounds, there's a little white building that you probably don't remember. It's the kind of place you usually just drive by ... But I'm saying right now, take a chance on this one.
Asadero y Taqueria Sonora does a little bit of everything, but its specialty is the mariscos. On the back of the menu, you'll spot a range of seafood dishes like the bacon-wrapped Camarones Fantasias, pescados done Veracruz style or steamed in foil, and of course the beloved ceviches and shrimp cocktails.
I was hungry and alone, so I ordered three tacos: Two of them were steamy seafood specials filled with all manner of shrimps, octopus disks and a true Sonoran specialty, manta ray. (More on this one later in the series, but let me just say, this shredded version tasted like a darker, gamier tuna fish.)
But the ready-for-showbiz taco of the bunch was the camaron empanizado, shrimp sliced lengthwise and then breaded and fried until crisp. With that bright stack of lettuce, tomato and avocado, it was a sight to behold. But you know what? This whole place is cute, once you're in the building ...
Weird fact: The restaurant is owned by Ramon Bohon of El Merendero. And just so you know, the sign outside actually says Restaurante y Mariscos Sonora.
Location: 24 W. Irvington Road
Phone: 520-807-6200
Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
taco, noun ta·co \ˈtä-(ˌ)kō\: a Mexican food that consists of a folded and usually fried piece of thin bread (called a tortilla) that is filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, etc.
I've eaten lots of funky tacos for this project: carne asada with chimichurri sauce, Carolina pulled pork and braised short rib, a Sonoran hot dog split in half and wrapped in a tortilla ... But this one is really vexing me.
If a tortilla with random toppings is still a taco, does the same work in reverse? What if you have a traditional taco ingredient like white fish, and you take away the tortilla? Is this any less a taco than the teriyaki tofu with cilantro Greek yogurt? A question for greater minds than I ...
But you know what, I think El Saguarito's lettuce-wrapped fish taco works! Mostly because it tastes good. The fresh Basa, flaky and cold to the touch, is broiled in lemon to take away any fishiness it might have. It tastes light and lovely with the crunchy cabbage and tomato, wrapped inside a massive leaf of Romaine lettuce. Pour on a little bit of that creamy cilantro salsa and you've got yourself a guilt-free lunch.
Weird fact: The funky little restaurant, which used to be a Burger King and then a pizza place, still has the old Italian murals on the walls. When the place changed hands, the original artist was brought in to repaint them, adding Mexican flourishes like agave and bottles of Jose Cuervo.
Location: 1763 E. Prince Road
Phone: 520-297-1264
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
You order at the counter: "One street taco with grilled Mahi, please." And then hit up the salsa bar for the sweet mango jalapeño and roasted garlic habanero XXX. So bright and fresh they taste over the tender fish, thicker and more substantial than your regular cod, but supple and flakey to the touch.
The food here at Calle Tepa is done Guadalajara-style, so it's a bit different than some of the Sonoran faire you see around. My taco was finished with a colorful spattering of chopped red cabbage, which added that perfect crunch to the creamy chipotle sauce. And if you didn't know already, these guys make quesadillas with Manchego cheese!
Insider's tip: This place looks like a fast-casual lunch spot, but there's an entire bar in the back ...
Location: 6151 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-777-5962
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
- Andi Berlin Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
You hear more Spanish than English in this little sushi bar on Speedway. But Sushi Saga isn't your typical Japanese joint. The place specializes in Mexican sushi rolls, a supremely underrated cuisine that kicks up its salmon with jalapeños and chile toreado. (Co-owner Letty Kimoto is of Japanese heritage but hails from Hermosillo, Sonora.)
So it's no surprise that they have tacos on the menu, and lots of them: marlin, chicken, carne asada and a taco ahogado, $4, that tastes almost like a bowl of soup. Tender little patties of shrimp are wrapped in a corn tortilla, fried and then bathed in a sunny tomato sauce. I poured on some vibrant green salsa from the tube they gave me, but I wouldn't blame you for trying it with soy!
Insider's tip: They also do a "taco supreme" plate with a fish, shrimp and marlin taco, plus the ahogado for $7.95.
Location: 2955 E. Speedway
Phone: 520-320-0535
Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
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
I was expecting the manta ray. I wasn't expecting what came on top: Black shards of blubbery flesh that shined like wet clam shells.
The sea is full of wonderful and frightening surprises, and this is definitely one of them. Aleta de atun ("tuna fin") is a specialty of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, where food truck owner Braulio Lopez found it. He says the meat comes from a specific fin on the bottom of the fish.
At his truck Baja Mar - Mariscos y Cahuamanta, they slow boil the fin along with a slab of sting ray meat for several hours. The two go onto shop's Taco Super Baja Mar along with whole shrimp and squishy little octopus disks and tentacles.
The creation is kind of a Tour de Gulf of California: a mountain of sea life on double-stacked corn tortillas with cabbage, onions and tomatoes. The manta ray on the bottom was soft and shredded in red sauce, almost like a heavier tuna fish without any gaminess. It was the base for the spunkier ingredients like the octopus. (Sadly, I think they forgot to put on the shrimp that day.)
The tuna fin? Well I guess I'll be honest. It was really sticky and gummy and smelled like something you'd find in a tidepool. Even the the guy working the line said it wasn't his favorite. But apparently, "A lot of people like it!"
Weird fact: The Sonoran specialty cahuamanta — which usually contains a mixture of manta ray, shrimp and sometimes tuna fin — used to be prepared with turtle meat until our favorite reptilian friend was put on the endangered species list.
Locations: I caught up with Baja Mar on the northeast corner of Oracle Road and Miracle Mile. But there's a second truck on northeast corner of East Drexel Road and South Nogales Highway. NEWS! Lopez says that in a couple of weeks they plan to open a third Baja Mar on 22nd Street and Wilmot outside the La Mexicana Mercado y Carniceria.
Phone: 520-940-7784
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: cash only
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
Get off the I-19 and drive down the frontage road past the Via Lechuza, Calle Azulejo and Menudo Court. You'll eventually get to a series of hidden shopping centers tucked between the freeway and a residential neighborhood.
There you'll see a yellow building marked by a stately shrimp floating in an oyster shell over a pair of lobster claws. This is La Bocanita, home of the Taco Gobernador.
A gobernador, Spanish for governor, is a popular Baja style that's just as powerful as it sounds: shrimp, with soft peppers and onions, smothered with a white gob of melted cheese. At La Bocanita they tear up the shrimp until it's machaca style, then cover it with gooey Monterrey Jack. The crispy tortilla is folded up halfway, so the pink little shrimps poke out from the edge.
But my favorite part: pale red salsa, exactly like the stuff in the malecon of Puerto Peñasco. Twelve miles from the border, all I wanted to do was keep on going ...
Insider's tip: This place has one of the largest selections of seafood I've seen in Arizona. In addition to oysters, squid, octopus and the usual, they also serve sea snails, a food I've never encountered outside of the beach in Rocky Point.
Location: 1185 Circulo Mercado, Rio Rico
Phone: 520-281-0249
Hours: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week
Payment: $20 minimum for debit and credit cards
Tacos in Green Valley, the land of thrift stores and golf carts ... Where to go? The parking lot's full over at Manuel's Mexican Restaurant, a big brown adobe befitted with Roman columns and a blue observatory-style dome.
The family spot has a suburban vibe to it, with advertisements for nursing homes, window cleaners and dentists laminated onto the bright yellow tables. There's a lot of steaming and sizzling in the air as servers carry around platters of fajitas supreme.
I got a catfish taco, because, hell why not? The little pieces of fish are fried up real nice almost like popcorn shrimp, with a crusty batter that smacks of pepper. I took the sprawled-out avocado garnish and slipped it inside, along with some coleslaw and the pico they'd shaped into a little hill. I left the broccoli alone.
Weird fact: The place serves red and white menudo on the weekends. Cool!
Location: 121 W. Duval Road
Phone: 520-648-6068
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
Beauty on the borderlands: At the corner of South Sixth and 22nd Street near the gateway to South Tucson is a white taco truck called Cocteleria La Palma. The owners, Esther and Mario Romero are from the coastal state of Sinaloa and run what one might consider your typical shrimp cocktail joint.
But they also make a thing so scandalous it should only be spoken of in hushed tones, a fantasy food they call the taco quesadilla. It is like it sounds: half battered shrimp taco, half quesadilla with mozzarella cheese. It is a monster of a thing with a loosely folded flour tortilla that crackles away with each bite, revealing fluffy balls of crispy shrimp and gooey cheese that spews out the side. There is also avocado and a lot of lettuce, and some light chipotle cream sauce somewhere in there. In short, it is a show.
You eat the thing under a tarp with a silver fan that spews out a thick, hazy mist into the air. Through it, you can see a tire shop, a hot dog cart and the historic Santa Cruz Catholic Church. It was truly a moving experience.
Weird fact: Their Seven Mares seafood soup is apparently "the cure" for hangovers. That's why they're open on Sundays.
Location: 1137 S. Sixth Ave.
Phone: 520-270-4067
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, closed Tuesdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
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 know where everyone's at on South 12th Avenue: They're holed up in a room lined with brown bricks, eating fat bulbs of crispy fried shrimp with chipotle sauce.
People around here all seem to know about this Ensenada-style seafood place Taco Fish, despite its tucked-away building and the fact that the inside kinda looks like a redecorated public swimming pool.
That's half the fun. But the real draw is the restaurant's equivalent of the combo plate, the Taco Gordo, stacked with three specialties: fried fish, a scoop of shredded red marlin studded with soft onions, and a single curled shrimp on top, cherry style.
This is one of the finest things I've consumed in my journeys. (And possibly the largest taco I've eaten in my life.) It's all about the crisp bubbly batter, so rich without being too heavy, giving way to a perfectly-cooked piece of fish. A masterpiece of the fryer fit for the finest gourmet restaurant; best consumed at the table in the back, while tapping your foot on the pavement.
Weird fact: This place started out as a food truck, and was so popular the owners built up a brick-and-mortar on the same spot.
Location: 4841 S. 12th Ave., but they also have a taco truck at 250 E. Grant Road.
Phone: 520-777-6235
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
I drove east toward the lightning and wound up here: Inside the Rita Ranch Market along the I-10 freeway is a little red shop with an explosive selection of homemade salsas.
Papa Locos Tacos and Burgers is run by Guaymas native Leticia Ramirez, who grew up selling tacos at a shop built inside her family's living room. (Her mother's place, Lucy's Tacos, has been going strong for 40 years, she says.)
The restaurant upbringing is well-evident in her menu, which displays incredible care for something inside a gas station. You'll see immediately that the salsa bar is immaculate and filled with tons of goodies, like a fiery toasted chile de arbol salsa and fresh cut jalapeños drenched in soy sauce.
Perhaps it was the hunger from the long drive, but the fish taco really blew me away. Rather than giving you a single slab of fish, they cut up the tilapia into little chunks with crispy edges and soft meaty centers. The tangy pico lights it up, and the buttery avocado cools it down. Unexpected, but truly, a perfect storm ...
Insider's tip: You can buy beer and wine at the gas station and bring it into the restaurant, free of charge.
Location: 8201 S. Rita Road
Phone: 520-663-3333
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit cards
It was really dark in there. But the margaritas were dirt cheap. And once my eyes adjusted, I realized we were engulfed in an epic seafaring masterwork featuring a naked man spearing a shark with the Mexican flag.
Then the fish tacos came out. On Tuesdays Taco Giro does them for 99 cents apiece, so we ordered enough for two servers to carry. The tacos were crunchy little things on two corn tortillas rubbed with a lush creamy red sauce. There were no cups at the salsa bar, so we poured everything directly onto the tacos. A lot of getting up and sitting down happened ... But in the end I spent about five bucks, and was completely satiated.
Weird fact: The restaurant is actually part of a local chain, but the mural is a hand-me-down from the last tenants, El Sabroso Oakwood Grill.
Location: 610 N. Grande Ave.
Phone: 520-792-2282
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day
Payment: accepts debit and credit
The B Line. Serving cheap, gourmet meals since 2002, a decade before all those food truck guys came on the scene. A gift to Tucson, and a huge part of any discerning UA student's meal plan. I can't believe I'm saying this, but even though I've consumed the steak salad and the Pasta Alla Vodka and just about everything on this menu, I had never eaten the tacos until this week.
What was I thinking? The hunk of blackened Mahi Mahi on here is just about the best fish I've ever eaten on a tortilla. Heavily spiced but oh-so delicate, it's just beautiful with the shredded cabbage and buttery avocado. It's simple food, done really really well. But what am I saying, you knew that already ...
Weird irrelevant fact: My partner Housten and I actually ate here on our first date, and we've been together nine years this month. The food was that good!
Location: 621 N. Fourth Ave.
Phone: 520-882-7575
Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Payment: accepts debit and credit
Down on South Sixth Avenue across the street from the rodeo grounds, there's a little white building that you probably don't remember. It's the kind of place you usually just drive by ... But I'm saying right now, take a chance on this one.
Asadero y Taqueria Sonora does a little bit of everything, but its specialty is the mariscos. On the back of the menu, you'll spot a range of seafood dishes like the bacon-wrapped Camarones Fantasias, pescados done Veracruz style or steamed in foil, and of course the beloved ceviches and shrimp cocktails.
I was hungry and alone, so I ordered three tacos: Two of them were steamy seafood specials filled with all manner of shrimps, octopus disks and a true Sonoran specialty, manta ray. (More on this one later in the series, but let me just say, this shredded version tasted like a darker, gamier tuna fish.)
But the ready-for-showbiz taco of the bunch was the camaron empanizado, shrimp sliced lengthwise and then breaded and fried until crisp. With that bright stack of lettuce, tomato and avocado, it was a sight to behold. But you know what? This whole place is cute, once you're in the building ...
Weird fact: The restaurant is owned by Ramon Bohon of El Merendero. And just so you know, the sign outside actually says Restaurante y Mariscos Sonora.
Location: 24 W. Irvington Road
Phone: 520-807-6200
Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day
Payment: accepts debit and credit
taco, noun ta·co \ˈtä-(ˌ)kō\: a Mexican food that consists of a folded and usually fried piece of thin bread (called a tortilla) that is filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, etc.
I've eaten lots of funky tacos for this project: carne asada with chimichurri sauce, Carolina pulled pork and braised short rib, a Sonoran hot dog split in half and wrapped in a tortilla ... But this one is really vexing me.
If a tortilla with random toppings is still a taco, does the same work in reverse? What if you have a traditional taco ingredient like white fish, and you take away the tortilla? Is this any less a taco than the teriyaki tofu with cilantro Greek yogurt? A question for greater minds than I ...
But you know what, I think El Saguarito's lettuce-wrapped fish taco works! Mostly because it tastes good. The fresh Basa, flaky and cold to the touch, is broiled in lemon to take away any fishiness it might have. It tastes light and lovely with the crunchy cabbage and tomato, wrapped inside a massive leaf of Romaine lettuce. Pour on a little bit of that creamy cilantro salsa and you've got yourself a guilt-free lunch.
Weird fact: The funky little restaurant, which used to be a Burger King and then a pizza place, still has the old Italian murals on the walls. When the place changed hands, the original artist was brought in to repaint them, adding Mexican flourishes like agave and bottles of Jose Cuervo.
Location: 1763 E. Prince Road
Phone: 520-297-1264
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
You order at the counter: "One street taco with grilled Mahi, please." And then hit up the salsa bar for the sweet mango jalapeño and roasted garlic habanero XXX. So bright and fresh they taste over the tender fish, thicker and more substantial than your regular cod, but supple and flakey to the touch.
The food here at Calle Tepa is done Guadalajara-style, so it's a bit different than some of the Sonoran faire you see around. My taco was finished with a colorful spattering of chopped red cabbage, which added that perfect crunch to the creamy chipotle sauce. And if you didn't know already, these guys make quesadillas with Manchego cheese!
Insider's tip: This place looks like a fast-casual lunch spot, but there's an entire bar in the back ...
Location: 6151 E. Broadway
Phone: 520-777-5962
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
You hear more Spanish than English in this little sushi bar on Speedway. But Sushi Saga isn't your typical Japanese joint. The place specializes in Mexican sushi rolls, a supremely underrated cuisine that kicks up its salmon with jalapeños and chile toreado. (Co-owner Letty Kimoto is of Japanese heritage but hails from Hermosillo, Sonora.)
So it's no surprise that they have tacos on the menu, and lots of them: marlin, chicken, carne asada and a taco ahogado, $4, that tastes almost like a bowl of soup. Tender little patties of shrimp are wrapped in a corn tortilla, fried and then bathed in a sunny tomato sauce. I poured on some vibrant green salsa from the tube they gave me, but I wouldn't blame you for trying it with soy!
Insider's tip: They also do a "taco supreme" plate with a fish, shrimp and marlin taco, plus the ahogado for $7.95.
Location: 2955 E. Speedway
Phone: 520-320-0535
Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays
Payment: accepts debit and credit
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