When you visit Tucson, be sure to try these three restaurants, which offer some of the best Mexican food in the city. This article guides you on where to go and what to try. The restaurants are listed in alphabetical order.

Chela’s Latin Cuisine

Chela’s Latin Cuisine features fresh ingredients in an upscale atmosphere in downtown Tucson. The pink neon light over the greenery exclaims, “Pasame la chela” – “Pass me the beer,” making it perfect for group photos. A wall-sized black-and-white mural of a woman in a sombrero adorns the dining room’s back wall. Bud vases with single-stemmed red roses decorate the tables. I love the atmosphere here.

The Menu

For my entrée, I ordered beef enchiladas with Salsa Roja. It was some of the best Mexican food in Tucson. The enchiladas are the select-your-own variety, allowing you to choose from proteins like cheese, birria, and carne asada and sauces like Salsa Roja or mole. Sides include beans, rice, or elote corn. The portion was hearty and could have easily been shared. I appreciated the way they served the sides in separate small bowls.

I enjoyed the elote both on and off the cob! What can I say? I love corn. Even though I had already ordered a side dish off the cob, I couldn’t resist when my dining companion offered me one of the four pieces from her generous portion on a stick. The chef serves four small Mexican street corn cobs on a stick, dressed in mayonnaise, cotija, and Tajín. This version is lime-forward.

Other popular dishes include the Chile Relleno and the birria tacos. The Chile Relleno is a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and chicken, then dipped in egg batter and fried. The chef covers it in Salsa Roja and serves it with rice and refried beans. The birria tacos consist of three small quesadillas filled with birria meat and served with a side of birria broth.

Vegetarians and vegans will feel at home with options like tacos de calabaza, consisting of three seasoned, sautéed squash tacos mixed with peppers, corn, and onions. They serve these with a vegan-friendly salsa, cabbage, and avocado. Another great vegan option is the Coliflor en Salsa Roja – fried cauliflower sautéed in our vegan-friendly Salsa Roja, accompanied by chopped radish and cilantro.

What to Order at Chela’s Latin Cuisine

My favorite bite here was the Tres Leches cake, which was moist and topped with a lightly browned meringue.

Piper’s Pro Planning: After 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, Chela’s Latin Cuisine transforms into Chela’s Nightlife. The dining area morphs into a dynamic dance floor, brought to life by Tucson’s DJ Conejo. Go for dinner and stay for dancing.

El Charro Café: Some of the Best Mexican Food in Tucson

Monica Flin established El Charro Café in Tucson in 1922. It is the oldest continuously operating Mexican restaurant in the United States, owned and operated by the same family. 

She came to Tucson from France in the 1800s when her father, Jules, a renowned stone mason, was commissioned to construct the city’s St. Augustine Cathedral. Jules’s signature work is visible throughout Tucson’s historic district, and he also built the family home in 1896. That same building now houses the original downtown location of El Charro Café on Court Avenue.

In those days, a woman-owned business was unusual. Nevertheless, El Charro was distinct in that it genuinely operated as a one-woman endeavor, with Monica acting as the hostess, waitress, and chef all at once. Today, Carlotta Flores, the chef-author and Monica’s great-grandniece, continues this tradition. Although it is no longer a one-woman operation, El Charro Café has become one of the most critically acclaimed restaurants in the United States under her leadership.

The restaurant is well-known for its carne seca, which is still dried under the Sonoran sun. You can see their meat cage hanging on the roof of the restaurant. While other restaurants can’t do this, El Charro Café was grandfathered in as they have been doing it for so long. You can also try carne seca at their sister restaurant, The Monica, where they offer carne seca on pizza.

Monica also invented the chimichanga here through a happy accident, when a burrito fell into a vat of oil. Not wanting to say the Spanish word for the F-bomb, she cleverly morphed it into “chimichanga.” Today, this dish is served throughout the United States.

Tucson Food Tours

On my first visit to El Charro Café, I joined Tucson Food Tours, which was an excellent way to sample six different restaurants in about four hours. The portions were small enough to taste a selection of items without becoming too full—all the samples together made for a satisfying meal. Then, you could choose where to return for a complete meal on another day.

Thank you to Tucson Food Tours for hosting my Tucson Food Tour.

I had the beef tamale served on an open corn husk. For those unfamiliar with tamales, they are typically wrapped in corn husks, which you must remove to enjoy the wonderful tender tamale. However, at El Charro Café, the chef makes it easy by slicing the husk and presenting it open-faced.

When I returned, I tried the quesabirria chimichanga with beans and rice. They filled the burrito with quesabirria and deep-fried it just like any chimichanga. Then, they topped it with roja sauce, queso casero, pickled pink onion, and cilantro. The chef serves it alongside a cup of consommé. Don’t eat too many chips because this dish is filling; I couldn’t finish mine.

My dining companion ordered the Topopo Salad, full of fresh vegetables. This is a good vegetarian option. Try it with the Margarita Lime Vinaigrette. They also offer a vegan burrito with Hola hemp tamal and fajita peppers.

Piper’s Pro Planning: While they offer guacamole made tableside as an experience, you can also order a smaller portion prepared in the kitchen.

What to Order at El Charro Café

Order the chimichangas, as these are the originals.

El Guero Canelo: Offers Some of the Best Mexican Food in Tucson

The atmosphere at El Guero Canelo wasn’t what I expected when I traveled across Tucson to visit a James Beard Award-winning restaurant.  While the award features 11 styles of restaurants, ranging from quick service to cafes and fine dining, I associate the honor with upscale restaurants. El Guero Canelo offers counter service in a pleasant atmosphere, complete with white picnic tables with red and green seats and festive Mexican paper flags—making for a fun and casual experience.

Often referred to as the “Oscars of the food world,” the James Beard Award honors exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary industry.

In 2018, El Guero Canelo won the James Beard Award in the category of America’s Classics. The Foundation presents the award to locally owned restaurants that have operated for at least a decade and are recognized for their exceptional food and lasting impact on their communities. El Guero Canelo is known for its Sonoran hot dogs, a regional specialty.

The award-winning Sonoran hot dog features bacon wrapped around the frank and put in a steamed, top-sliced bun. Then, it is topped with whole pinto beans, grilled onions, freshly diced onions, and tomatoes. Finally, mustard, mayonnaise, and jalapeño sauce are added and served with charred pepper. Even though it had jalapeño sauce, I didn’t find it especially spicy. This dish was a fun mash-up of all-American hot dog flavors and Mexican cuisine.

The restaurant, which started as a hot dog cart in 1993, now offers a wide array of breakfast dishes, carne asada tacos, burritos, and tortas at three brick-and-mortar locations.

Piper’s Pro Planning: If you enjoy cooking or exploring recipes, check out the recipes listed on the James Beard Foundation site. I know; I found some I’d love to try.

What to Order at El Guero Canelo

Have the Sonoran hot dog because they invented it here.

Piper’s Pro Planning: El Guero Canelo features a meat market on 12th Street. They offer fresh cuts of beef, chicken, or pork—top-quality meats perfect for taking home. It’s a great way to add an authentic taste to your home-cooked meals.

Make sure to pin this to your favorite Mexican restaurant board!