Yesterday, USA Today released a Zagat-created list of the 20 best Mexican food restaurants in the country.
Astoundingly, there were zero restaurants from Arizona on their list.
Sure, there were mentions of restaurants from price ranges all over the scale, $9 to $70 for a meal with a drink and a tip, from states around the country — but none from the Old Pueblo…or Phoenix, for that matter.
Apparently, New Orleans has better Mexican food. As does Honolulu, Baltimore, Atlanta, Washington and Orlando.
You know — hotbeds of Mexican culture and cuisine.
Now, if you’re so inclined, you can check out the list over at azcentral.com — but personally, I’d recommend that you check out our Best of Tucson winner for the past 7 years, Cafe Poca Cosa; the long-time favorite, El Charro Cafe; Mi Nidito, which played host to President Bill Clinton; nationally-renowned purveyors of Sonoran Hot Dogs, BK and/or El Guero Canelo; the beloved Taqueria Pico de Gallo; one of the numerous delicious taco carts around town; or one of my favorites, Guadalajara Grill.
We’ve all got our preferences in this town, sure. But one thing’s for certain: Zagat ain’t got nothin’ on us, Tucson.
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2013.
Fine with me. More for us locals.
I wonder if that’s because AZ’s Mexican restaurants are more authentic and traditional, and Zagat tends to prefer cutting-edge “fusion” restaurants?
Zagat is dead wrong!!! There are more excellent Mexican restaurants here than he can count!!!
Not truly a fan of Zagat (nor AZ Central, actually); however, I think this was done by CITY and then the restaurant. I do not believe that they are stating that these are the 20 most exceptional Mexican restaurants in the country. Also, I believe the article was targeted at the business traveler, as some of these are not even open for dinner. The REAL shame here is that they did not consider Phoenix or Tucson business-worthy enough to be included on the list.
Absolute travesty!!!!
If this was the case than South Dakota has the best gumbo restaurants and N.O. has none.
I mean not even a New Mexico place on the list.
someone over at Zagat is loco en la cabeza or smoking the primos, holmes
I wouldn’t trust Mexican food in Philly or Boston. Just sayin’.
Damned Eastern Carpetbaggers!
MissK (and others raising similar complaints), I see what you’re saying, but it seems unusual (even a bit dense, really) that they would look for the best Mexican food restaurants in 20 major cities across the country while completely ignoring Phoenix, which is one of the largest media markets and metropolitan areas in the country — and besides, it’s a simple matter of civic pride that they completely overlooked Tucson, dammit.
El Merendero on south 12th for the win!
According to Zagat, There Are No Great Mexican Food Restaurants in Arizona . Its called personal opinion just like Tucson weekly exercises alot of.
I’ve lived in Tucson for decades and I agree that so-called Mexican food here pretty much sucks. Mediocre at best and same old tired offerings at every restaurant in town, as if they were all part of a single franchise company. (And by the way, chimichangas with mushy orange rice and shredded iceberg is NOT ‘authentic’ food.) Before you sneer at Zagat, perhaps take a look at the menus of the restaurants in those non-Arizona states and check out the dishes they feature. You might understand then…
For what it is worth, I just spent 3 weeks traveling through AZ and New Mexico and ate at a lot of Mexican restaurants. I also lived previously in AZ for 15 years and no longer live in that part of the country. IMHO AZ has some good Mexican restaurants, but NM by far has the best Mexican food that I have ever eaten. There is something about the chiles and red and green sauces in the NM recipes that are superb. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tucson and I love the restaurants in Tucson, but NM has the best Mexican food.
It is really hard to accept that Mexican food in Boston or NY would be better than Mexican food in the southwest, but some gringos probably like the milder and more Americanized version–more like Tex Mex stuff than the real stuff we find around here.
As an aside, I have also spent some time in Oaxaca, Mexico and while the Mexican food there is very different, it is also very excellent. It has a more vegetarian bent to it (much lighter on the meat and cheese) and the ingredients are often more local and more fresh than this side of the border.
Doggirl,
I agree with a lot of your post.
Tucson has a great assortment of Sonoran and Baja style food; we are lacking in other departments, with Poca Cosa and Poco and Moms being a couple of exceptions. The problem, from a culinary perspective, is that Sonoran and Baja style Mexican food tends to be heavy on the lard, low on the veggies and usually ends up being fairly standard, unimpressive food; good after working all day or drinking all night, it is very blue collar.
New Mexico has excellent New Mexican style food, unique and delicious; we don’t have anything all that unique here. New Mexico has a lot of garbage as well, so there is that too.
Mexico, for those of us who are lucky enough to have lived or traveled there, has an amazingly diverse culinary scene; it’s not just Mexican food! Region to region there are differences in the local food and even within a state or region you will find extreme variation; with Oaxaca being the epitome of this. (Michoaccan was my favorite!)
The other thing is that Mexicans are everywhere now, as are people with other ethnicities that have spent time in Mexico and have extensive culinary backgrounds, look no further than Rick Bayless as a perfect example. Hybrid or “fusion” restaurants are awesome, what do you think “Mexican” food started out as? Why do you think there is so much variation and ingenuity within Mexico? In fact aren’t almost all culinary dishes “fusion” by default? Maybe we would be better off if we had more creative approaches to Mexican food here in the old pueblo….
Poca Cosa is the closest thing we’ve got for now……
I think this is being interpreted incorrectly. The actual list at the bottom’s description begins with “The top restaurants for Mexican food in or near 20 U.S. cities.” To me, that says they picked 20 US cities and then used Zagat to try and decipher the top Mexican restaurant as they were already rated. So this is not a well-researched, expertive, comprehensive list of the country’s best Mexican food but, rather, a poorly executed article (on the part of USA Today, but shame on the Star for picking it up) that is really more like a high school research project done at the last minute. The interviews sound like they stood around in a major airport and tried to talk to people, probably while they were waiting to pick someone else up.
Mexican is getting better in Baltimore and R&R (which is in Jessup, not Baltimore) is probably the best taco shop around. But it doesn’t measure up to average in Tucson. Trust me on this: Eat blue crabs in Baltimore. Get your Mexican in The Old Pueblo.
Been here for only a year, but have tried in vain to find a reliably good Mexican restaurant in Tucson. El Charro, Guadalajara Grill and Crossroads, taste like the Mexican food I got growing up in Minnesota – bland and boring. Any strip mall in America can do what they do. Had a good experience and a poor experience at Mi Nidito.
Love Poca Cosa, Poco and Mom’s.
This whole thing is hilarious. Give me one reason, just one, why I would go to NOLA and eat Mexican (over Creole), or Ballmoore (and not have crabs), or Philly and not go to Pat’s (yeah, I’m a Pat’s guy), et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. To be honest, though, there is a Mexican place in Corona, Queens, NYC that will bring you to your knees – Tortellieria Nixtamal – their enchiladas verde and tacos al pastor are the bomb. But I digress. I have a very worn sheet of paper in my car covered with names and addresses of Mexican restaurants I love in Tucson. Did I tell you about the time that I pulled it out at a red stoplight to try to figure out where to have lunch, and the next thing I knew there was a motorcycle police officer tapping on my window, telling me to move it? [I ended up at El Charro] Tucson – so many killer choices, so little time.
Sorry Vista, I know what you mean, and that’s why I didn’t mock New York’s Mexican scene.
I was wandering Brooklyn neighborhoods with a friend of mine a few years ago when we stumbled into a restaurant to escape a rainstorm, and I had one of the best damn burritos of my life.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been back since, and he’s been unable to find the place again in the two years he’s lived there. Going back there would be like finding the grail, but with carne asada instead of holy chalices.
HumanBean- Try Penca (on Broadway just west of Scott), it has Mexico City Mexican.
That is what my friend said. I just said delicious.
I hate to say it, but I’ve had better Mexican food in Atlanta.
It’s not an article stating the “best 20 Mexican restaurants”. It’s an article for the best Mexican good in 20 cities. Calm down.
I live in Phoenix, AZ, Mexican food here does suck. Its straight up trash next to the pizza they serve in this state. Even some of the latins folks I know rather eat at home because the food sucks.
California, New York, and what ever Zagat listed are actually better. They use fresh produce and for some location they think outside the box. Its just not shredded meat and cabbage and some crap salsa. Street vendors in Mexico use better quality ingratiates then what we have here.