Visit America's First City Of Gastronomy—And Golf Travel

Forbes

10-04-2025

The freshness and quality of Mexican cuisine in Tucson in unrivalled in the United States.
A lot of people go to Tucson for its desert golf courses, luxury golf resorts and gorgeous climate. I did. But a lot of travelers return for the food. I know I will. There's a reason why Tucson is America's first city of gastronomy and golf travel. Literally.
Tucson was the first place in the United States named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy by the United Nations and remains one of just two in this country and less than five dozen worldwide (San Antonio was the second in the U.S.). Evidence suggests that crops have been raised here on a regular basis, with systemic irrigation, for more than 4,000-years, giving credence to Tucson's claim that it is home to the longest continuous agricultural history in the nation. There are still a lot of ancient crops and indigenous local ingredients used in the cuisine, which is heavily influenced by the bordering region of Sonoran Mexico. In fact, until the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, Tucson was in Sonoran Mexico.
But history and the impressive UNESCO designation notwithstanding, what really wows about Tucson is flavor and its vibrant Mexican food scene, tops in this country. Tucson claims to have the densest concentration of Mexican restaurants on the planet (outside of Mexico), and for tourists these are found everywhere you turn, but especially in the one square mile of South Tucson—a mile of deliciousness and amazing taco stands.
Mexican food across this country is heavily driven by what region of Mexico is closest and influenced immigration, which is why fish tacos from Baja California are so popular in Southern California and why cuisine of the Yucatan permeate the Southeast. Sonoran Mexico was long the heart of the country's vibrant cattle industry, so beef is king here. Many of the better taco stands have a smattering of other offerings, so you can get shrimp, fish or chicken tacos, while pork is less common, but they will often have more than a dozen beef options, from cheeks to tongue to intestines, plus many different cuts and cooking methods. Birria, a very slowly cooked braised beef that is then shredded and quite juicy is a gold standard at just about every Tucson eatery. The tacos seem simple, but they are delicious because they are driven by the main ingredient. On the East Coast it is normal to load tacos up with so much lettuce and fillers the meat disappears, and a 'beef' taco may be nothing more than bland ground meat in red sauce to begin with. But in Tucson if you order a sirloin taco or beef rib meat taco you will taste the delicious, meaty beef. In many places you will get nothing but fresh grilled meat piled on a lovingly homemade tortilla, with a salsa and condiment bar so you can dress your own.
Tacos featuring homemade fresh tortillas, quality beef and focused on the main ingredient are one of ... More the secrets to Tucson's culinary success.
One of the most interesting ingredients in the food here is the Chiltepin pepper, often called the Mother pepper because it is the oldest known form of capsicum and believed to have given birth to all other hot peppers. It's small, round, and peppercorn shaped and it grows wild in Mexico and is widely cultivated in this area. Prickly pear and its edible pads, nopales, are also common, as are a lot of kinds of squash, sunflowers and heirloom corn and wheat. Olives are widely cultivated around Tucson and are a surprise ingredient in many dishes, even when you wouldn't expect them.
You could just visit one local mom and pop taco stand after another and be very satisfied, as there is great pride in the food here. Meats are freshly cooked, and every place worth its salt makes fresh tortillas, usually flour, in house.
Chilaquiles are Mexico's great breakfast food, and the birria topped version at Tucson's Seis ... More Kitchen is the best way to start your day!
In Mexico, whether you get corn or flour tortilla is generally driven by where you are and which is the main local crop, just as you traditionally get rice dishes in Northen Italy and pasta further south rather than choosing one or the other. In many 'Mexican' restaurants in the U.S., 'corn or flour' is a frequent choice, but the very question means a lack of specialty and suggests both were delivered to the kitchen in bags. In Sonoran cuisine, wheat, including some heirloom varieties, is most common.
If you want to explore the UNESCO World Heritage side of Tucson gastronomy and the city's unique agricultural history—or pick up some rare foodstuffs—the place to do that is Mission Gardens, a not-for-profit open air museum on the site of the oldest continuous cultivation, with exhibits on all of the plants that have historically impacted the region throughout various cultures and generations. Mission Gardens can be self-guided, but they also offer docent tours and even cooking and tasting demos.
The Tucson Sonoran Hot Dog, the city's signature comfort food dish, at famed James Beard Award ... More winner El Guero Canelo.
There are also a few signature dishes Tucson is known for which are less traditional, most notably the the offbeat Sonoran hot dog, a modern invention and road food neo-classic hat is now popular through the Southwest and as far flung as Scottsdale. But the most famous place to try this is El Guero Canelo, which won a James Beard Classics Award in 2018 for this dish. The restaurant has been featured on food shows including Man vs. Food. The Sonoran hot dog is a hot dog wrapped in bacon and buried inside an oversized, very soft potato-style steamed bun that is then filed/topped with mustard, mayo, jalapeno sauce, tomatoes, raw onion, grilled onion and pinto beans. It's a messy mouthful and a must-try for Tucson visitors. If you don't get to one of the three Guero Canelo locations around town, the Sonoran Hot Dog is widely available at food trucks and other taco stands. The distinctive bread roll is the key differentiator, and Guero Canelo imports theirs from Mexico.
Another local specialty that was my favorite of the trip is the quesabirria, basically a flour tortilla filed with birria (slow braised shredded beef) folded closed, then deep fried or fried on a flattop until crispy, so you pick the whole thing up without holding it together, almost like an empanada. This is served with a dipping bowl of consommé from the birria braise, creating a delicious Mexican spin on the French Dip sandwich. The combination is amazing. It's a dish locals eat as comfort food a home, but also a signature at the hottest spot in town, Amelia's Mexican Kitchen, which has won Best Quesabirria in Tucson the past two years running.
But while it is a must try at chef-owned Amelia's, you may have to get it elsewhere because that is the toughest reservation in town, and ever since it was written up in the New York Times, it has been very difficult to get into for dinner. To make matters worse for those trying to eat there, Chef Jose Contreras is a finalist for the 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest, upping the demand for dining. Amelia's deserves the popularity, the acclaim, and it's worth trying to get in, as the menu is very varied and creative, the food exceptional, and the staff and service fantastic. It wasn't just the best meal I had in Tucson; it was one of the best meals I've had in the past year around the globe. They also have a lengthy list of signature cocktails and wines from Mexico, and everything from the scratch made salsa to the horchata (a sweet drink made from rice, milk and cinnamon) to the Tres Leches cake for desert was stunning.
A delicious spread at Amelia's Mexican Kitchen, the top reservation in Tucson. Their famous ... More award-winning quesabirrias are in the center.
Besides the must-try quesabirrias, the signature entrée here is the Molcajetes, sort of a mixed-grill stew cooked in a traditional black basalt stone three-legged pot for which the dish is named. There are several options for one or two people, and the Amelias's special is stuffed with lobster, shrimp, beef, chicken, nopales cacti and veggies, and is a big, delicious, festive experience.
I absolutely loved Amelia's and it is very special, but another easier to get into option that also wowed me was Seis Kitchen, named for the six culinary regions of Mexico. Seis is another family-owned passion project radiating pride in is food and cooking, and while the setup is fast casual, where you order at the counter and the food is brought to the table, it is definitely more of a 'slow food' place, with exceptional attention to ingredients and details. It's also one of the best restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I'd recommend stopping in the morning for chilaquiles, my favorite Mexican breakfast dish—topped here with Sonoran birria of course—then come back in the evening, when the dinner menu features a variety of more elaborate classics representing each of the regions.
While Tucson is exceptional at Sonoran food, it's everywhere, so Seis is a nice alternative allowing you to try things you won't see around town. They also make a mean quesabirria, but here they call it 'crispy birria tacos with consommé.' Everything from sauces to chips to of course tortillas are handmade from scratch, with mostly organic ingredients. There are multiple locations, it is easy to get into, and it is also very popular for takeout, so if you want to take something back to your hotel or Airbnb, this is the spot. They also have an impressive list of Mexican wines and local cocktails, and like Amelia's and many other top spots in town, make their own house horchata.
'Here in Tucson, we have a long history of Sonoran cuisine, and that has evolved for hundreds of years. But we wanted to do something different, and there are six regions of Mexican cuisine, or seis in Spanish. My husband's family is from Northern Mexico, my dad's family lived in Baja and Mexico City, we have friends from the Yucatan, Oaxaca and those foods were not represented here in Tucson,' said co-owner Erika Muñoz. They are now, and they are delicious!
All the best spots in town make their own house horchata, and this is the version at Seis Kitchen.
Amelia's represents the fancy end of the local cuisine, though the atmosphere is laid back and it is far from stuffy, Seis is an elevated accessible version, and the myriad taco stand and food trucks, especially in South Tucson, represent the street food, and at these it is hard to go wrong. They are all over and everyone I tried was very good, and while locals have favorites, they seem to take the overall array for granted, whereas any of these would be exceptional in most cities. The ones I visited and really enjoyed included Taqueria Pico de Gallo and Tacos Apson, which are both ultra-casual, order at the window stands with no liquor licenses, and both are extremely affordable. They have wide menus of all the various beef tacos, delicious fresh tortillas and slow cooked in-house birria.
Rollies Mexican Patio is the most established neighborhood spot, gets written up more in travel media, and is popular with both locals and tourists. It is still an order at the window place, but they bring you the food, it has a little more of a sit-down restaurant ambiance, and they sell beer and margaritas. It also has a bigger menu besides basic soft tacos, and is best known for its 'flat enchilada,' a thicker masa corn tortilla base topped with birria. The also serve 'rolled tacos' similar to what elsewhere are called flautas.
With two courses by famed designer Tom Fazio, Ventana Canyon is a marquee Tucson golf resort. This ... More is #13 on the Canyon course.
That is just scratching the surface, it would take a long time to become an expert on local Tucson haunts, but my point is that the Mexican scene in the city is off the hook good and often overlooked by people elsewhere. If I lived in Tucson, I'd pick up a lot of tacos, I'd eat at Seis Kitchen regularly, and Amelia's for any special event. These are meals I am still salivating over weeks later.
Then there's the golf.
Tucson may rack up culinary accolades left and right, but it plays second fiddle to Arizona desert golf powerhouse Scottsdale in the world of golf travel. This is understandable, because Scottsdale has a lot of exceptional courses, a lot of resorts with multiple courses, and a lot of very high-end luxury resorts (You can read my recent Forbes story on Scottsdale golf travel here). Tucson's scene is on a smaller scale, more laid back and more affordable, with less courses overall, smaller resorts, and less focus on the 5-Star experience. But the overall quality of the golf courses is still high and there is enough so that you can spend a week here playing great golf—and eating very well.
The third hole at Ventana Canyon's Mountain Course is the most famous par-3 in Tucson.
The biggest highlight, especially at the higher end, is Ventana Canyon, a resort community that has two standout 18-hole courses and two deluxe lodging options, the full-service Loews Ventana Canyon resort with nearly 400 rooms and suites, and the Ventana Canyon Club & Lodge, more residential style with lodging in 50 suites, from 800-1500 square feet. Both have pools, tennis, fitness and spa amenities. The two eighteens were both designed by legendary architect Tom Fazio, and this is very solid desert golf with lots of elevation changes, exposed rocks, and a few dramatic signature holes, most famously the third on the Mountain course, a short par-three with a tee on a cliff and the green atop a rocky butte. Both are very good, but Mountain is generally considered slightly better than its sibling, Canyon, and is typically rated the top public course in Tucson. According to Golf Digest there are 26 public courses within a 15-mile radius, but Ventana Canyon is the top resort for lodging and multiple courses.
The other 36-hole resort of note is Omni Tucson National, which for years was the host of the PGA Tour's Chrysler Classic. Interestingly the resort positions its Catalina course, which hosted the event, as a more traditional resort-style layout and its Sonoran Course by Tom Lehman as the desert option, a little something for every taste. The Omni also has a full spa, pools and multiple dining venues.
The Westin La Paloma golf resort is home to the PGA Champions Tour Cologuard Open.
The Westin La Paloma is the current venue for the PGA Champions (formerly Senior) Tour Cologuard Open, a big event. The Westin is yet another full-service resort with a lot of amenities, including a large spa, incredible fitness center, large tennis and pickleball complex, pools and more. It has 27-holes by Jack Nicklaus, and the Ridge/Canyon nines are considered the premier combo, both with pronounced desert feel.
In terms of sheer quantity, El Conquistador is the biggest resort here, with two eighteens and a 9-hole layout. The namesake Conquistador is the more desert design, the Canada Course offers more of a Floridian feel, complete with water hazards, and Pusch Ridge is a full-sized 9-hole layout that allows walking and is open seasonally from fall through late spring. The hotel is a Hilton Resort with large pool complex, spa and multiple dining outlets.
The Casino del Sol is an upscale full-service gaming resort, with two different hotels, one upscale and one more moderate, Tucson's biggest slate of food and beverage options, spa and several live entertainment venues that draw big name performers. It has just a single eighteen, but it is one of the best in town, and the Sewailo Golf Course has made Golfweek's Top 200 U.S. Resort Courses, Top 50 Casino Courses, and has been ranked as high as eighth in all of golf-mad Arizona. It Is not as much a desert course as many of the others, but is lush and very well maintained, with wide fairways and lots of water, designed by former PGA Tour star Notah Begay III.
Starr Pass is a 27-hole golf course anchoring a private community with no resort component, but it does allow public non-member play.
There are a handful of other public access courses in the area, but the marquee resorts are all fairly close to one another, and Tucson is easy to navigate. The city offers enough golf for a strong weeklong trip, some very attractive resort lodging options, and then there is the Tucson food scene, which is reason enough to plan a golf trip here. There are a lot of great golf destinations around the world where you go for the golf and the food is secondary, even an afterthought. This is a much different situation—the food scene in Tucson is stunning, and will have you wanting to come back almost as soon as you leave.