With restaurants operating today that have existed since the 1920s, Tucson’s cuisine can’t help but be inextricably intertwined with its history and culture. 

El Charro, opened in 1922, is the oldest continually family-run Mexican restaurant in the United States, and a must-dine when visiting the Tucson area. This local landmark, in the historic El Presidio District, is now run by Carlotta Flores, grand-niece of founder and trailblazer Monica Flin. Once the family residence, built by Monica’s father in 1896, the colorful, classically Southwestern cafe serves the most authentically Tucsonan cuisine available. Every plate is a piece of Old Pueblo history!

Likewise, John Jacob’s El Parador, established in 1946, boasts a history and a family legacy even spicier than their salsa. Tales of Lebanese ancestors who, following the collapse of Ottoman empire, came to Tucson by way of Mexico are peppered with life-is-stranger-than-fiction accounts of a grandmother who was shot by Pancho Villa and a produce company that, while in the desert, used river barges to transport its wares to Mexico. One of the most visually captivating dining spaces in Tucson, El Parador is about as close as you’ll come to a repast in a rainforest without traveling to Brazil.

In 1965, The Tack Room opened to the public as Arizona’s first fine dining restaurant. Built in 1940 by Robinson Carr Locke, overlooking his Moltacqua Racetrack, The Tack Room became Arizona’s first Mobil Travel Guide Four Star Award-winning restaurant in 1973, earned its fifth star in 1977 and has become the “West’s Most Highly Awarded Restaurant.”

The Scordato family emigrated from New Jersey in 1972 and opened their eponymous Evangelos Scordato’s, followed by Daniel’s, and Vivace. Over the past quarter-of-a-century the family name has become synonymous with fine Italian dining in Tucson.

On Halloween of 1983, Janos Wilder and his wife, Rebecca, opened Janos in a National Historic Landmark-registered home on the grounds of the Tucson Museum of Art. Blending classic French techniques with indigenous Southern Arizona ingredients, Chef Wilder quickly gained local and national attention and has been cited by Travel & Leisure magazine as “one of the finest cooks in America.” Several years ago, the restaurant relocated to a spectacular space at the Westin La Paloma Resort.

When Donna Nordin made a three-day stopover in Tucson while on a cross-country teaching tour in 1983, the foundation was laid for one of the city’s most popular nationally-recognized restaurants, Cafe Terra Cotta, which recently relocated from St. Philip’s Plaza into the Foothills without losing any of its upscale Southwestern ambience. She opened the highly acclaimed cafe in 1986 and has since come to be considered one of the pioneers of modern Southwestern cuisine. In 1993, Chef Nordin was named the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Southwest.”

For more than a decade another female chef, Suzana Davila, has tantalized Tucson tastebuds with her energized interpretations of classic Southern Mexican dishes at Cafe Poca Cosa in the historic Hotel Santa Rita (now the Clarion Santa Rita). Chef Davila’s vibrant flavors and bold presentations expand diner’s culinary horizons beyond the boundaries of Sonoran cuisine.

A restaurant known affectionately as “The Cork” (formerly the Cork & Cleaver) has been a local tradition for more than 30 years. In 1994, Chef Jonathan Landeen took the reins of what is officially called Jonathan’s Tucson Cork, bringing his gold-medal-winning culinary style to the area. Having trained with world-renowned Chef Paul Prudhomme at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, Chef Landeen continues to dazzle diners with his Southwestern specialties.

Other notable Tucson dining destinations, scattered throughout the metro area, include:

Anthony’s in the Catalinas, a Triple-A Four Diamond and DiRoNa award-winning bastion of Continental cuisine, delights diners with breathtaking views of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Kingfisher, a highly acclaimed fresh seafood grill, has been dubbed Tucson’s Best Restaurant by the Arizona Republic and has received Wine Spectator magazine’s Award of Excellence. Wildflower features the culinary stylings of Chef Christopher Cristiano (formerly of Wolfgang Puck’s Spago) in an ultra-attractive atmosphere.

Le Bistro, with its impressionist Paris street scene facade, brings the flavors of France to desert diners, and has been voted one of Tucson’s Top Ten Restaurants by the Tucson Citizen for seven consecutive years. Recently, more award-winning French cuisine has become available at Stone Ashley, an upscale restaurant set in a rugged old stone mansion with a definitely 21st-century interior.

The Metro Restaurant Group has created, in a sense, its own global culinary tour with its eight established restaurants (and more in the works)-Firecracker Asian-American Bistro offers an explosion of tantalizing Pacific Rim tastes and aromas-look for the flames shooting from the roof (no, not from the food, from the torches!). City Grill has been feted as the Best Grill and Best Business Lunch by Tucson Lifestyle magazine. City Grill’s counterparts in Tucson’s other neighborhoods are Metropolitan Grill and Keaton’s Arizona Grill, both also multiple award-winners. Backstage is just plain fun-and plenty of it-with dancing, games, sports and casual, contemporary cuisine. And then there’s McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse, voted Tucson Lifestyle’s Best Steak Restaurant and Best New Restaurant of 1999. In Green Valley, south of Tucson, Metro Restaurants operates San Ignacio Country Club and Coyote Grill, offering contemporary regional cuisine. Their newest addition, Old Pueblo Grill, is also sure to be a popular spot in the neighborhood just south of the University of Arizona.

The city has come a long way from the days when steaks and tacos were all the culinary delights that come to mind when thinking about the Southwest. During the past five to ten years, many great chefs have contributed to elevating Tucson’s cuisine to a more cosmopolitan level than ever before. Dining in Tucson can now be as exciting an adventure as your palate permits. So go out, explore…eat your way through the area, from the Tortolitas to the Santa Catalinas; the Rincons to the Santa Ritas and Tucsons. Drink in the history and the culture as expressed in our regional culinary style, When you’ve tasted Tucson, you’ve savored the essence of the Southwest.