Among the almost-only-in-Tucson culinary delights, Sonoran hot dogs get the most attention.
It’s fair; there are some 200 restaurants and food trucks serving the bacon-wrapped hot dogs, dressed with pinto beans, pico, mustard and mayo in a soft, semi-sweet steamed bolillo-style roll. The market leader, El Güero Canelo, even snagged a prestigious James Beard Award — think Academy Award in the foodiverse.
The evening sun sets on a hot day over Yami's Taqueria food truck, set up at 1435 W. St. Mary's Road on Aug. 2.
But some of the most popular Sonoran hot dogs aren’t made in high-profile restaurants or busy-intersection food trucks.
They’re coming from food trucks set up in non-descript parking lots illuminated at night with a string of lights draped over picnic table canopies or buried on the menus of small hole-in-the-wall taco stands that neighbors want to keep a secret for fear that once word gets out the lines will get too long.
These hot dog gems often go unnoticed until a friend of a friend or random coworker recommends you give them a try.
We found five Tucson restaurants whose Sonoran hot dogs are worth checking out.
Ramiro’s Mexican Food
The two Sonoran hot dogs combo with fries are a big seller at Ramiro's Mexican Food on South Valencia Road.
45 W. Valencia Road, 520-741-6393; ramirosfoodtucson.com
Alfonso Bizarraga and Luis Camaraga opened Ramiro’s four years ago in a small building that had housed a few Mexican restaurants before them. In no time, they became popular with their south side community for their menu of tacos, breakfast burritos, bowls, Hot Cheetos fries and quesabirrias.
Before long, their take on Sonoran hot dogs started to catch on, as well.
Bizarraga, who clocked in a dozen years with the fast-casual Arizona Mexican food chain Filibertos before opening Ramiro’s, lightly toasts the soft bolillo-style roll on the flat-top while the bacon-wrapped dogs get their final sizzle. The buns are still steamy-soft, but the grill adds a nice mouth-feel tug when you bite into the juicy dog dressed with mustard and mayo, tender pinto beans, chopped tomatoes and sautéed onions.
Bizarraga said the two hotdog combo meal served with fries and a drink is one of the restaurant’s best sellers.
Ramiro’s is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Aqui con el Nene
A Sonoran dog from Aqui con el Nene, 4415 N. Flowing Wells Road, with the traditional bacon, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard and salsa on Aug. 2.
4415 N. Flowing Wells Road
(520-312-1666) and 65 W.
Valencia Road (520-889-5338); aquiconelnene.com
They do it old-school at the open-air restaurant on the corner of West Wetmore and North Flowing Wells roads where Salvador Gastelum started selling hot dogs from a cart 18 years ago.
Remnants of his lone-cart past linger in the layout of his much-larger trailer-and-tent space a few yards away. In the outdoor covered patio dining room — there also is an enclosed air-conditioned dining room connected to the trailer — you can dress your steamy bacon-wrapped dog with a handful of salsas and condiments, including mushrooms, fresh cucumber and radish slices, and crispy pickled carrots flecked with diced onions.
Aqui con el Nene crisps the bacon on its dogs before tucking them in a steamy roll and judiciously topping them with tender pinto beans, diced onions and tomatoes, mustard and mayo. You also can order them “chipilon”-style, with a toasted bun and melted cheese, or sub out the hot dog for carne asada, chicken or marinated pork.
Server Isabela Figueroa said the Sonoran dogs run a close second behind the carne asada as far as customer favorites. The salsa bar also is a big draw.
Aqui con el Nene is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; it’s closed on Sundays.
Yami’s Taqueria
Luis Luna adds mayonnaise, the last ingredient on the Sonora dog at Yami's Taqueria, 1435 W. St. Mary's Road.
1435 W. St. Mary’s Road, 520-979-1832; yelp.com/biz/yamis-hotdogs-tucson/
Talk about your irresistible twists on the classic: The folks at this unassuming food truck parked next to a self-serve car wash on the west side includes a cheese-filled, bacon-wrapped-and-grilled yellow chile with their Sonoran hot dogs.
“You will love them,” promises owner Diana Payan, who launched Yami’s Taqueria as a Sonoran hot dog cart six years ago.
Payan established the cart at its Menlo Park location five years ago and graduated to a food truck with an expanded Mexican food menu two years in.
But Sonoran dogs are still a big draw. She tucks her grilled bacon-wrapped hot dogs into a toasty bolillo-style bun, then tops it will the usual pinto beans, grilled and fresh onions and tomatoes, mayo, mustard and a jalapeño sauce.
Yami’s is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Percheron Mexican Grill
The Sonora hot dog at the Percheron Mexican Grill has a bacon wrapped frank, grilled onions, pinto beans, fresh tomatoes, fresh onions and is topped with avocado.
4860 S. 12th Ave.,
520-272-5490; facebook.com/percheronmexicangrill
Diego Valencia’s food truck went viral in 2017 when he introduced a behemoth bacon-wrapped burrito.
The restaurant was called WhataBurro back then; Valencia changed the name after getting a call from the Texas-based burger chain Whataburger.
Even when Valencia changed the name — inspired by the giant French Percheron horse breed (think Clydesdales) — fans of the bacon-wrapped burritos flocked to the food truck that he opened almost 10 years ago behind the small strip plaza on the corner of South 12th Avenue and West Irvington Road.
That burrito showcases Valencia’s culinary daring, which takes his Sonora dog (he drops the “n” for good measure) to a place we had not seen before.
His bacon-wrapped dogs are cooked on a flattop until the bacon crisps. The bun is drizzled with butter and toasted on the grill, where Valencia flips it every few seconds to make sure it doesn’t get too toasty. He grills the onions then assembles the dog with just the right balance of pinto beans, diced tomatoes and a drizzle of mayo.
The pièce de résistance: freshly sliced avocado.
On a hot dog.
Sounds crazy, but the avocado adds a layer of creaminess to the smoky bacon and freshness of the tomatoes.
Valencia said he hopes to open his brick-and-mortar restaurant with a drive-thru at 444 W. Ajo Way, near South 12th Avenue, by late September to mark his restaurant’s 10th anniversary on Sept. 25. He said he plans to continue with the food truck location, as well.
Percheron is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; closed on Sundays.
Angela’s Mexican Food
A Mexican hot dog at Angela's Mexican Food includes a bacon wrapped hot dog served in a buttery toasted bun with beans, onions, tomatoes, mustard, mayonnaise, jalapeño sauce and white cheese.
9190 N. Coachline Blvd.,
520-809-095; facebook.com/angelasmexicanfood
Tradition has it that you steam the slightly sweet bolillo-style bun, but Yareli Delgado and her mother and aunt before her have always toasted the buns with a little butter to add texture.
“I love our Sonoran hot dogs,” said Delgado, who with her husband, Francisco Leyva, recently took over the restaurant from her Aunt Maria Negrete. “I know I’m biased, but we probably have one of the best Sonoran hot dogs in Tucson.”
The juicy bacon-wrapped hot dog is topped with diced tomatoes and onions and tender beans and dressed in mayo and mustard before “we load it up with cheese on top and put on our (house-special) jalapeño sauce,” Delgado said.
Delgado’s Aunt Maria and her uncle, Alejandro, started Angela’s about 20 years ago as a food truck parked on East Prince Road and North Stone Avenue. They opened the brick-and-mortar location in a small strip plaza in Marana’s Continental Ranch community 11 years ago and still have the food truck on Prince and Stone.
Angela’s is best known for its red chile — “Everyone raves about our red chile; they love it,” Delgado said — but Delgado said the Sonoran hot dogs are a close second.
“We get so much support from the community,” she said. “People come from the neighborhood and from Red Rock and all over Marana.”
Angela’s is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, except Sundays when it closes at 4 p.m.
This Sonoran gut buster is the calling card from Percheron Mexican Grill on the south side, but their Sonoran hot dogs topped with avocado are also big draws.
