Best of Tucson 1996: Best Tortillas

Best Tortillas

Grande Tortilla Factory
914 N. Grande Ave.

READERS' PICK: A good tortilla has a certain subtlety, unlike its thick and spongy sister, the Taco Bell bean wrapper/emergency potholder/food product. When purchased fresh at a tortilla fabrica like this one, in the Menlo Park area, the unflappable flour flatcakes are warm and fold over your arm like a French waiter's towel...if you want them to, which we can't imagine why you would. At Grande they not only make fresh tortillas hourly, they also offer a fine selection of alimentos Mexicanos.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: You know you're in the Southwest when you can start an argument over tortillas! Most U.S. types wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between the corn and flour varieties, but here in Tucson, we have tortilla connoisseurs. Tania's, also well-known for its wide variety of take-out food (both hot and cold for re-heating), makes some of the best tortillas in the Southwest. Well worth the trip over to 614 N. Grande Ave. or 2856 W. Drexel Road, and certainly worth any little added expense. Now, about those radio commercials....

STAFF PICK: Mario Lopez Soto and his wife, Grace, have owned their tiny neighborhood market for almost 12 years. Monday through Saturday they're up early making unparalleled warm, soft, light tortillas at Anita Street Market, 849 N. Anita Ave. These are hand stretched and made with vegetable oil. Drop in any weekday morning and purchase tortillas fresh off the fire. Saturday, when they make as many as 600 dozen in a day, you can get them warm until late into the afternoon. Mario and Grace also serve up homemade gorditas (small tortillas made with cottage cheese and milk), as well as machaca, green corn tamales, beans, beef chicarrones, tacos, and red chicken burros. Find the time to find this one. You'll be glad you did.