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Are you heading to Tucson, the University of Arizona, Tombstone or other places in Southern Arizona and want to know what to eat in that part of the country and state? Well we have the list for you! Here are the best things to eat from Tucson and Southern Arizona, from Sonoran Hot Dogs to Chimichangas to Frybread and more!
Filmed in Southern Arizona
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Mmm
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So this is the... This is the Sonoran hot dog. Everyone should eat one of these. Maybe not this big
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This is my dog. Yeah. Hey, I'm Jocelyn and I am in Tumacocci, Arizona
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And this is the east of Arizona. that. This is very special to me because I grew up in southwestern Arizona in Tucson
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So this is one of my favorite places. Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Company is awesome for
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southwestern flavors, Mexican flavors, Sonoran desert stuff, things you're not going to find
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anywhere else. They have these great spice mixes. Literally walk up to the door and you can smell
0:49
the spices wafting out like 15 20 feet away it's such a great experience but lucky for the rest of
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us you don't live here or chant visit often enough to refill our spices they also ship and you can
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get all sorts of good stuff online so while we're talking about sonoran food let's talk about the
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sonoran hot dog in my opinion the sonoran hot dog lows new york and chicago dogs out of the water
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This thing is amazing. It's like a perfect marriage of American pork and bright, flavorful Mexican flavors
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It's just so good. Anyway, it is quite simply or not so simply a hot dog wrapped in bacon because bacon makes everything better
1:32
And then there's onions, pinto beans. There's jalapeno salsa. There's green onions. Did I say that already
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I don't know. There's just, there's this whole mess of flavors on top, stuffed into that lovely
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little hot dog bun. And it is something you are not going to get anywhere else. And if you
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are a meat eater, this is something you have to try. There are a couple of places that are well
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known for it. One actually got a James Beard Award. Can you imagine James Beard for hot dogs
2:00
right? I really like BK because that's where I went when I was younger, I guess. You'll be able
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to find it and you will be so glad you did. Also, since I'm here and Mark and the boys are not here
2:11
there is mad amounts of green jealousy coming from my husband from far away. I can feel it while
2:17
I'm here because Sonoran hot dogs are absolutely one of his favorites. Something else that's quite
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indicative of Southwestern foods is fry bread. Fry bread is really indicative of Southwestern
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culture. The Native peoples, you'll find fry bread. The Hopis make it. The Navajo, you'll find great
2:37
fry bread at the cultural centers for Native people Also sometimes at the San Javier Mission between Tucson and Green Valley That where I used to get it as a kid all the time It this kind of fluffy bread It fried It like a flat bread that puffs up when it fried I think I don know quite how to describe it best Often you get it just plain or with
2:57
honey sometimes in the mornings. I feel like that's what I ate as a child. But it also sort
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of be like its own little plate for taco stuff on top. You'll get lettuce and meats and cheeses
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and things like that. So if you want something that's very authentic to the Native people
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you should absolutely get some fry bread. Another wonderful contribution by the Native people to the
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food of this area are Navajo tacos. Navajo tacos can sort of seem like the fry bread things with
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the taco stuff on top, but they're a lighter, crispier version of that bread. It's not really
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the same sort of texture and things. I guess the best way I can describe it is it's sort of similar
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to those puffy tacos you get in San Antonio. I mean, maybe that's the worst way to describe it
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but they're really great tacos. And one of my all-time favorite foods
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from the Sonoran Southwest region, and I mean, it's Mexican food, but it's kind of, it changes a little bit
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as you go around this area, you'll find different versions of pozole
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Pozole typically is either red or green. The red has tomato and usually pork and hominy
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And that hominy is like this light floral. Yeah, I don't know
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It's just a light flavor that mixes with this really rich sauce
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And it's really great. The green is what I usually make at home. And it's got like lots of onions, tomatillos, cilantro, and it's bright green in color
4:23
And you know what? I honestly, I use like leftover pork or leftover chicken, whatever, to make it at home
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just so I can, you know, get rid of some of those leftovers and make them new and flavorful in a
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whole different way. But when you're here, get some really good authentic pozole, not the stuff
4:39
that I'm making with leftovers. So most people have tried a chimichanga, but did you know that
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the origins of the chimichanga come from Tucson, Arizona? Literally, El Charo Restaurant is where
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they think it was actually started. So when you get those chimis, you can thank the good people
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of El Charo for making them up. Basically, they're a giant burrito that is fried and it's stuffed with
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meat and stuff. And then it'll have like scoops of sour cream on top. It's really rich. It's
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incredibly filling. It's one of those meals, if you're having it for dinner, you should probably
5:13
skip lunch because it's that big and that it's just so rich and filling. There is no other way
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to describe it. If you're here, I would really suggest getting one with carne steca. Carne
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is really great meat that has been dried in the sun and has this incredible flavor that is unlike any other meat I ever had in my life So that would be my recommendation for a chimichanga in Tucson As a kid one of my favorite things ever was an EG just an EG
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EG's is actually a sandwich shop, but they make these great slushies. Like I don't even know if
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I've ever had a sandwich for EG's. I just always went and got these slushies. EG's is kind of like
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like an Italian ice, but, um, slushy and where you can, you know, suck it through a straw
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They have little bits of real fruit. Lemon is my favorite, but every month they have a new flavor
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This month is raspberry lemonade while we're here. So my friend Liz at Means to Travel grabbed
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one of these and I got my favorite little lemon. The other thing that I love so much are Sonoran
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hot dogs. God, look at that beautiful thing. Oh my God, what could
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be better than a hot dog wrapped in bacon filled with all sorts of good
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stuff? Here, let's look in there. Can you see all that? Can you see
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everything in there? There's beans and tomatoes and onions, mustard, mayonnaise. And that green is not
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relish. It's actually like a jalapeno sauce salsa. But like all hot dogs, you have to pull off the end of the bun, right
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So good. It's just so good. Mark is jealous right now. EG started out of a food truck in like the early 70s, and my parents moved here about then
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So it's always kind of been just part of my Arizona life
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And they're not really outside the city of Tucson. I think you can occasionally get them if you're at an event sort of place in like Green Valley or maybe Sarita or something like that
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But man, me geez. So I would not be a very kind person if I didn't warn you that when you're in this area, you absolutely need to stay hydrated
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And I'm not just talking about great cocktails that you can get down here. You really need to drink tons of water
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And there is just absolutely no humidity in this area unless it's monsoon season
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So those of you from like, you know, New Orleans, Charleston, Savannah, those like really wet places, you're going to die here
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You absolutely have to stay hydrated. You will feel it in the air
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You'll feel the dust in your throat. Make sure you're drinking a lot of water while you're here
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So in this beautiful desert, prickly pear grows all over the place
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And of course, the native people, people of this region have always used prickly pear in foods
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My favorite way to use Prickly Pear is in Margarita because why not
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Tequila Prickly Pear it just awesome And it this great beautiful color And I actually just bought this Prickly Pear Margarita Mix at Santa Cruz Chili Company because it not something I can get in Illinois where I
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live. So absolutely pick some of this up. It's really tasty. Prickly Pear is sweet. It's got a
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little bit of a tang to it and it's got this beautiful color. And I feel like my sisters
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when they were little, my mom would like make lemonade and put a little Prickly Pear juice in
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there just to make it this fun, fruity color, and they loved it. So you can also find like
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teas and all sorts of stuff, but prickly pear will come in lots of different forms. So when
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you see it, try it because you're not going to get it really in very many places outside
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of Arizona. I guess I should mention that when I talk about prickly pear, prickly pear
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is a cactus. So the cactus grows and they have these cool little purpley pink buds on
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them and that's the fruit. So prickly pear is a fruit from the prickly pear cactus. Of course
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when you're in the Southwest, you're going to get lots of wonderful Mexican cuisine and you're going
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to find playwolf rancheros, which is Mark's favorite breakfast. And actually, I kind of love
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it too. You kind of can't pass that up. Of course, when you're in this region, you're going to get
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amazing Mexican cuisine that sometimes has like this little Southwestern kick. It's kind of changed
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like the traditional sometimes, sometimes not. Sometimes it's really, really authentic. But usually there's a little bit of a funk thrown in there
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And I really love getting like huevos rancheros, you know, like eggs for breakfast
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Oh my gosh, so good. That's one of Mark's absolute favorite breakfast, hands down anywhere
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You know, there's like tacos and there's jalapenos. Oh my gosh, all the different kinds of chilies and peppers in this area
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If you like anything spicy, and actually even if you don't, there are peppers that are like totally not spicy
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And they kind of run the gamut from very mild and sweet to like knock your socks off hot
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So you can try all different kinds of things like that. Enchiladas, chimichangas, burritos
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Oh my gosh, there's like a plethora of burritos. So many great Mexican, Southwestern style stuff that's all in this area
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Oh my gosh, y'all, you eat and eat and eat when you come to Arizona
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I know this whole video sort of has this bend toward this southern area of Arizona
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That's because I grew up in Tucson and my heart sort of still lives here
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My grandparents lived here. My great aunts and uncles all lived here. So my view of Arizona and foods really like leans this way
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So if you have other great Arizona eats that people really need to try, please put it in the comment section because I really only just scratch the surface
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See y'all later
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