Tucson's Daniel Contreras, famed for putting Sonoran hot dogs on the U.S. culinary map and winning a prestigious gastronomy award in the process, is hospitalized, his family says, and they are asking for prayers.
"Daniel is stable under the supervision of the medical team," the Contreras family wrote Friday on the Facebook page of his popular Tucson restaurants, El Guero Canelo. Visits aren't allowed "due to his delicate condition."
"We appreciate everyone for your interest and concern. He's steadily recovering. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you," the post says.
El Güero Canelo owner Daniel Contreras with one of his Sonoran hot dogs, in a 2018 photo.
KGUN Channel 9 News reported Thursday that a spokesperson for El Guero Canelo, LLC, confirmed Contreras was in intensive care at an undisclosed hospital and in stable condition.
The reason for the hospitalization has not been shared publicly.
El Güero Canelo, 5201 S. 12th Ave. in Tucson.
Contreras won a coveted James Beard Award in 2018 in the American Classics category, which honors restaurants with “timeless appeal” that are “cherished for quality food that reflects the character of their community.”
The New York-based James Beard Foundation praised the bacon-wrapped hot dog of the borderlands, calling Tucson “the American epicenter” of the hot dogs which originated in Hermosillo, Sonora.
“Daniel Contreras is the leading hotdoguero,” the foundation said in giving him the award. “The original stand is now a destination restaurant, outfitted with picnic tables and serviced by a walk-up order window. Fans converge for bacon-wrapped franks, stuffed into stubby bolillos, smothered with beans, onion, mustard, jalapeño sauce, and a squiggle of mayonnaise.”
Daniel Contreras, the founder and face of Tucson's El Güero Canelo restaurants, helping to serve his signature Sonora dogs at a pop-up at the Chicago French Market in 2018. Contreras was is in the Windy City to be recognized for his Tucson restaurants' James Beard American Classic Award.
El Guero Canelo began as a South 12th Avenue taco stand in 1993, and expanded to three restaurants across Tucson as well as a meat market here. Contreras also owns a bakery and tortilla factory in Magdalena, Sonora.
Contreras is the “cinnamon-haired blond guy” in the restaurant’s name.
KGUN's report Thursday said Contreras told the station last week that he hoped to retire in the near future.
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