Weekend Guides for the Curious Traveler
Taste of Tucson

Those who hit snooze will likely miss out on this non-traditional breakfast, because most restaurants at the Tohono O’odham Swap Meet sell out by 9 in the morning. While you won’t find a website for this weekend-only event, the actual swap meet, which boasts dozens of stands, is only about 20 minutes southwest of downtown Tucson. Family restaurants are peppered throughout the permanent flea market where used appliances and bikes are for sale next to barber shops and local honey. Work your way through the maze to Polo’s Taqueria for some of the only al pastor cooked on a trompo in all of Tucson. Be sure to bring cash and don’t rely on finding an ATM, but do be prepared to eat tacos and sopes al pastor for breakfast.  

Mission Garden could be called a living museum. This community garden sits on the same plot of land that has been continuously farmed for more than 4,000 years on the San Agustin Mission. Visitors are greeted by volunteers who guide them through 10 gardens, each re-creating the foods grown by settlers over the centuries in the heirloom Sonoran Desert-adapted gardens and orchards. The tour is like a timeline, beginning with the earliest agricultural gardens and moving through a Spanish Colonial garden to Mexican and Chinese gardens, and on to the children’s garden of today. Not only does the Mission Garden Project serve as a historical experience, but it also provides the opportunity to touch and taste native plants and fruits like agave, Chinese gourds, and Mexican sweet limes. 

In most restaurants, main courses take the spotlight while bread falls into a supporting role. But at St. Mary’s on Tucson's west side, the vehicle for meats and beans and rice is the star. Order a burrito, or tacos, or a plate of rice and beans, but whatever you do, go for the prized tortillas. These giant 15-inch paper-thin disks are thin enough to shine a light through and served fresh with each order. Unlike most Mexican restaurants, the staff at St. Mary's still makes their tortillas the traditional way, stretching and pulling the dough by hand. Take home a dozen of the handmade tortillas and work your way through the stack as you take in Tucson.

It’s not a quesadilla, not a pizza, and not grilled cheese. But an Arizona cheese crisp holds its own among all great carbohydrate and cheese combos. This regional specialty, prepared by local restaurants for more than 50 years, is simply an open-faced tortilla covered in cheese and fried in a pan. Unlike a quesadilla, it is served light and crispy on the bottom. 

The dish was originally made with only butter—no cheese—but today restaurants across Tucson have sections of their menus dedicated to cheese crisps. El Minuto Cafe is an area favorite, known for giant crisps served pizza style on a large stand for sharing. Get one with the works — carne seca, guacamole, tomatoes, green onions, and chiles, or opt for a classic. Fresh, fried-crisp tortillas are combined with blends of melty cheese to create this Southwestern specialty.

The Tucson area’s unique topography yields a number of singular culinary treasures—including prickly pear cactus (hello margaritas!), mesquite honey, and more. One regional favorite is the chiltepín pepper, a tiny red chile that packs a punch of heat. A local coffee shop, Exo Roast Co., has combined the indigenous pepper with its signature cold brew coffee and bottled it for sale. The bottle contains simple ingredients: coffee, cream, dark chocolate, and chiltepín chiles for a well-balanced flavor. In the mood for something less spicy? The coffeehouse also serves a cold brew made with smoky mesquite syrup.

Carne seca first came about as a convenient meal for cowboys to eat on the go. Today, the jerky-like meat is a staple of Tucson’s food culture. Local restaurants each have their own recipe, but the most legendary is El Charro Cafe which opened in 1922 and is currently the oldest operating Mexican restaurant continuously owned by the same family. The savory dish relies on the unique climate of the Sonoran Desert, perfect for drying the beef to a crispy bite. Aside from its seasoning blend, El Charro is particularly known for employing traditional techniques when making their carne seca by drying the meat in metal cages while suspended from the trees outside the restaurant. 

Artisanal baker Don Guerra, owner of Barrio Bread, has been on a mission to create a grain-based business in Tucson. His journey started when he read about a Spanish priest who helped start more than 20 bakeries in the late 1600s. Guerra set out to follow in his footsteps, using heritage grains indigenous to Tucson’s arid landscape. What started as a garage bakery officially opened as a full-fledged small business in 2009 and has since earned a James Beard Award nomination. Local growers provide the grain milled specifically for the bakery’s breads. Get in line early on Saturday mornings to get one of the highly sought-after Barrio Mesquite loaves, made from locally harvested and milled mesquite flour.

Native Seeds preserves and offers more than 2,000 native seed varieties to the region, making this nonprofit a key resource for locals, co-ops, and community gardens. However, one thing that’s gotten much less attention is the free Seed Library of Pima County Public Library, a collection of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds that people can have to plant and grow in their own gardens. In addition to saving seeds as a community, the organization also runs a store near the Catalina Foothills that sells seeds and grains native to the local desert climate. Visitors can explore the farm just south of town, or purchase dried goods in town including a vast array of the region’s Tepary beans, one of the most drought and heat-tolerant crops in the world. 

One of Tucson's most known culinary inventions is the Sonoran Hot Dog, aptly named for the region where the city sits. While there’s some debate about how the delicacy was created (some say it was first sold at a baseball game in Mexico in the 1940s and others think a traveling circus brought it to the area), one of the establishments that’s helped shape the modern interpretation is El Guero Canelo. The dog is a classic example of Mexican-American street food fusion and blends the best of both cultures into one beloved bite. While you'll find them being sold from vendors across the city, the most iconic take can be found at El Guero Canelo. When you go, get the Sonoran Style, a bacon-wrapped dog topped with pinto beans, grilled and fresh onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard, and jalapeño sauce, all stuffed into a slightly sweet and fluffy bun. 

Tucson’s desert temperatures can be hot even for locals, so it’s no surprise that icy treats are easy to come by. Street vendors, raspados stands, and full-service restaurants alike all serve up their take on this local treat. Raspados, derived from the Spanish word meaning scraped, are Mexican snow cones—but better. Walk up to any raspado counter and find white pails brimming with sugary juice and freshly chopped fruit, ready to become one of the dozens of fruity concoctions a person might dream up. And the rainbow doesn’t end with juicy flavors. Tucson locals know that the best raspados add in the creaminess of sweetened condensed milk, and sometimes ice cream. Stop by any of the local favorites like Oasis Fruit Cones or Sonoran Delights, or pay a visit to Raspados Rio Sonora after having a Sonoran hot dog just a few blocks away at El Guero Canelo. 

You might feel studious having a drink at The Buffet, since the dive bar - built in 1934 - can double as a historical stop. Located in Tucson’s resurgent Ironhorse neighborhood, the city’s oldest bar has been in the same spot since it opened in 1934, right after the repeal of prohibition. Today, it proudly holds the record for serving more draft Coors beer than any other establishment in the country — a title confirmed by the custom neon sign that hangs on the wall: "Coors thanks, Ted." Ted Bair's granddaughter now owns and runs the bar that was once her grandfather's and maintains many of the traditions he instituted including the Happy Minute in which patrons with a drink in hand at 6 pm receive a token for a second one on the house. Be sure to order the house specialty, the Trash Can, a pitcher of Blue Curacao and Red Bull — crushed can included. Or, keep traditions alive and ask for a Coors.