Among the almost-only-in-Tucson culinary delights, Sonoran hot dogs get the most attention.
Itβs 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 GΓΌero Canelo, even snagged a prestigious James Beard Award β think Academy Award in the foodiverse.
But some of the most popular Sonoran hot dogs arenβt made in high-profile restaurants or busy-intersection food trucks.
Theyβre 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.
Ramiroβs Mexican Food
45 W. Valencia Road, 520-741-6393; ramirosfoodtucson.com
Alfonso Bizarraga and Luis Camaraga opened Ramiroβs 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 Ramiroβs, 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 sautΓ©ed onions.
Bizarraga said the two hotdog combo meal served with fries and a drink is one of the restaurantβs best sellers.
Ramiroβs is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Aqui con el Nene
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 β there also is an enclosed air-conditioned dining room connected to the trailer β 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 βchipilonβ-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; itβs closed on Sundays.
Yamiβs Taqueria
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.
βYou will love them,β promises owner Diana Payan, who launched Yamiβs 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 jalapeΓ±o sauce.
Yamiβs is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Percheron Mexican Grill
4860 S. 12th Ave.,
520-272-5490; facebook.com/percheronmexicangrill
Diego Valenciaβs 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 β inspired by the giant French Percheron horse breed (think Clydesdales) β 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 Valenciaβs culinary daring, which takes his Sonora dog (he drops the βnβ 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 doesnβt 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 restaurantβs 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.
Angelaβs Mexican Food
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.
βI love our Sonoran hot dogs,β said Delgado, who with her husband, Francisco Leyva, recently took over the restaurant from her Aunt Maria Negrete. βI know Iβm biased, but we probably have one of the best Sonoran hot dogs in Tucson.β
The juicy bacon-wrapped hot dog is topped with diced tomatoes and onions and tender beans and dressed in mayo and mustard before βwe load it up with cheese on top and put on our (house-special) jalapeΓ±o sauce,β Delgado said.
Delgadoβs Aunt Maria and her uncle, Alejandro, started Angelaβs 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 Maranaβs Continental Ranch community 11 years ago and still have the food truck on Prince and Stone.
Angelaβs is best known for its red chile β βEveryone raves about our red chile; they love it,β Delgado said β but Delgado said the Sonoran hot dogs are a close second.
βWe get so much support from the community,β she said. βPeople come from the neighborhood and from Red Rock and all over Marana.β
Angelaβs is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, except Sundays when it closes at 4 p.m.