The 19 Best Kept Secret Restaurants in Tucson (2024)

Want to know all the best hidden gem restaurants in Tucson? We’ve got you covered with everything we know from our visits to the area.

Did you know Tucson, Arizona is a UNESCO Certified City of Gastronomy?

You may have heard of UNESCO World Heritage Sites which are various types of historical and cultural sites around the world with significance.

But UNESCO also designates “Creative Cities”.

These are “urban areas around the world recognized for how they use cultural heritage and creativity as strategic factors for sustainable development”.

This designation how Tucson became an official City of Gastronomy – meaning it’s a foodie paradise!

If you’re short on time, check out this video on our YouTube Channel highlighting all the best kept secret restaurants in Tucson!

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Best Kept Secret Restaurants in Tucson

There are quite a few restaurants and vendors that meet various aspects of those UNESCO requirements and we decided to try as many as we could on our recent visit!

Not every place we visited is part of Tucson’s City of Gastronomy, but we’ll let you know which ones are and why.

1. Ensenada Street Food

Location: 1602 S Park Ave, Tucson, AZ 85713

Instagram: @ensenadastreetfood

First up, we have Ensenada Street Food.

If you follow us, you may remember we’ve featured this place before on our Ultimate US Road Trip as we were passing through Tucson.

This place is SO good, we couldn’t wait to go back on our most recent visit to Tucson.

They are known for their Birria Tacos, which are tacos that you dip in a broth.

We recommend trying the Rojitos w/ Cheese and dipping it in the broth.

This time we always tried their Birria Ramen, which I’ve noticed is becoming quite a trend!

We still stop by here every time we drive through Tucson.

2. Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse

Location: 6541 E Tanque Verde Road, Tucson, AZ 85715

Instagram: @pinnaclepeaktucson

Pinnacle Peak is a steakhouse that has been in Tucson for over 50 years.

There are at least a couple locations that have expanded out to California as well.

It’s a Western/Cowboy themed steakhouse – no ties allowed!

If you come into the restaurant wearing a tie, they WILL cut it off!

They are known for their Cowboy Steaks, which is exactly what we tried for dinner.

The Cowboy Steak Dinner comes with a garden salad, thick-cut white bread, ranch beans, a baked potato, and fruit cobbler for dessert!

We just ordered one and shared it all – the cobbler we took home for later!

What’s really cool about this place is that it is located in Trail Dust Town, which looks like an old Western town with various shops and restaurants and activities.

It’s best to make a whole afternoon of it!

3. Renee’s

Location: 7065 E Tanque Verde Road, Tucson, AZ 85715

Instagram: @reneestucson

Renee’s was actually featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!

Whenever we can we try to hit up places we’ve seen on the show.

Renee’s was featured on the show because of their pizza, farm to table process, and drinks!

We started dinner with garlic knots.

I would’ve loved the hummus platter too, but JP does not like hummus for some reason.

For dinner, I had fettuccine alfredo and JP had pizza.

I think he did half Margherita style pizza and loaded up the other half with some meats.

For dessert, there were so many of our favorites that we weren’t sure what to get.

After talking with the owner for awhile we decided on the flourless chocolate cake because I LOVE dense chocolate-y desserts.

4. El Charro Cafe – Downtown Tucson Location

Location: 311 N Court Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701

Instagram: @elcharro.cafe

Now for some of those UNESCO certified restaurants I mentioned at the beginning.

El Charro Cafe is certified in ALL categories – Supporting the Local Food Economy; Sustainable, Ethical, and Fair Business Practices; Keeping Our Food Heritage Alive; and Community-Minded Business Practices.

El Charro Cafe is a family run, Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant that has been in Tucson since 1922!

When we visited, they were celebrating 100 years and they went all out!

We dined at the original Downtown location – they have 3 in the area now.

Of course we started dinner with chips and salsa.

For our meal, I had the Quesabirria Mini Chimichangas, which is actually an appetizer.

The broth dip really brings the whole dish together.

JP had some sort of Burro, but I can’t recall which one.

There were so many things on this menu we wanted to try and it was so hard to narrow it down!

For dessert we had a Sopapilla and Churro combo.

We had tried Sopapillas in New Mexico for the first time and it became our go-to whenever we saw it on a menu.

5. Blue Willow

Location: 2616 N Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719

Instagram: @bluewillow.tucson

Blue Willow is another certified restaurant in ALL categories: Supporting the Local Food Economy; Sustainable, Ethical, and Fair Business Practices; Keeping Our Food Heritage Alive; and Community-Minded Business Practices.

This is one of the restaurants I was most excited about!

It was so cute and had such an interesting menu.

We started with their Sonoran Sunrise “UNESCO World Heritage Cocktail”.

It is made up of Corazon 100% Agave Tequila, Grapefruit, Orange, and Hibiscus.

I can’t find our appetizer anywhere – it might have been a special.

But it’s essentially loaded potatoes.

For dinner, I had the Gruyere Mac & Cheese and JP had the Double Check Ranch Meatloaf.

For dessert, we had another hard choice.

We opted for the Chocolate Caramel Crunch since it sounded the most unique.

We loved this whole meal and would love to go back again next time to try more!

6. Jun Dynasty Chinese Restaurant

Location: 2933 E Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85716

Instagram: @jundynasty

Tucson’s best Chinese restaurant!

We found a new favorite when having dinner here one night – Fried Chinese Buns.

They have a sweet dipping sauce that is sort of like the topping you’d put on cinnamon rolls.

These were made perfectly and we even took a few home!

Outside of this, we stuck to our usual menu items.

As another appetizer we had Pork Dumplings, also known as pot stickers.

As our main course, we shared Pork Fried Rice, Beef Noodles, and some Crispy Walnut Shrimp.

7. Mama Louisa’s Italian Restaurant

Location: 2041 S Craycroft Road, Tucson, AZ 85711

Instagram: @mama_louisas

This Italian Restaurant has been around since 1956!

Italian food is my favorite, so I was very excited to try this place.

We started our dinner with mozzarella sticks and garlic breadsticks, which were both very good.

For dinner, JP tried the Joe’s Special which is house-made linguini, hot pepper seeds, garlic oil, melted cheese, and house sauce.

To be honest, we may have had a one-off experience, but the cheese wasn’t exactly melted.

It almost seemed like they had melted some kind of square cheese and it sat out and hardened before it was served.

The texture and combo was not great.

For dinner I had the Manicotti and had the same issue JP had with his.

It looked like it would be an alfredo sauce with marinara sauce layered on top, but that’s not what it was.

This place has been around forever and has great reviews, so that’s why we think those two entrees were just a one off experience.

Everything else was perfect!

For dessert, we had a cup of Tiramisu that was SO good!

We would like to try this place again and either try different entrees or ask about how they’re made since this place seemed so promising.

8. The Parish

Location: 6453 N Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ 85704

Instagram: @theparishtucson

The Parish is consistently ranked as one of the top restaurants in all of Tucson, AND is UNESCO certified in ALL categories: Supporting the Local Food Economy; Sustainable, Ethical, and Fair Business Practices; Keeping Our Food Heritage Alive, Community-Minded Business Practices.

If you couldn’t tell by the name, The Parish offers Southern Style Cuisine and is Tucson’s only southern fusion gastropub!

We saved this one for my official birthday dinner!

For our appetizer, we started with the Cast Iron Cornbread.

It was so perfectly cooked and maintained its warmness as we ate it.

The highlight is that it is blue cornbread AND it’s served with honey, cinnamon, and sweet bourbon butter!

For dinner, I had the Smokin’ Angel pasta which is – Burgundy angel hair, mesquite smoked tomato sauce, sauteed baby spinach, goat cheese, roasted garlic, and fresh parmesan!

I believe JP had the Guedry’s Gumbo for his dinner and he added shrimp to it.

It also comes with hushpuppies!

For dessert they have Bread Pudding!

9. Blake’s Lotaburger – 3 Tucson, AZ locations

Locations: 2810 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85716, 1600 W Valencia Road, Tucson, AZ 85746, and 3560 N Craycroft Road, Tucson, AZ 85750

Instagram: @blakeslotaburger

Blake’s Lotaburger is a chain, but we love it!

We like to get their breakfast burritos when we’re passing through town.

So on one of our sightseeing days we decided to stop in!

Honorable Mentions Outside of Tucson

All of the above restaurants are located within the city limits of Tucson.

I would now like to highlight some other restaurants in the surrounding areas including the Elgin and Sonoita Wine Tasting Region and Tubac (a historical region).

10. Copper Brothel Brewery – Sonoita, AZ

Location: 3112 SR-83, Sonoita, AZ, 85637

Instagram: @copperbrothelbrewery

We came across this restaurant when we were doing one of our sightseeing days.

It’s located right in the middle of wine country, so it’s the perfect stop if you’re wine tasting!

We pretty much stuck to our favorite – I had Mac n Cheese and JP had the Chimichanga Plate!

They had Sopapillas for dessert, but we were too full!

11. Tubac Deli & Coffee Co. – Tubac, AZ

Location: 6 Plaza Road, Tubac, AZ 85646

While visiting Tubac, we decided to roam around the shops and restaurants one afternoon.

It was summer, so it was hot and we got thirsty.

So we stopped inside the Tubac Deli where they hand-make juices to order.

I believe we had the Sweet Greens juice which is kale, cucumber, pineapple, and apple.

There’s another one called Doctor’s Delight that sounded really good too and it has spinach, celery, ginger, lemon, cucumber, and apple.

12. The Cafe – Sonoita, AZ

Location: 3280 AZ-82, Sonoita, AZ 85637

Instagram: @cafesonoita

Another wine country option – The Cafe!

JP and I stopped here on our day of wine tasting about half way through.

It’s centrally located, so it’s easily accessible coming and going from just about any winery.

We shared a burger and side salad and it was the perfect sized lunch.

Tombstone Saloons, Restaurants, Wine Tasting, and More

We did an entire blog post about everything Tombstone, Arizona, so to learn more about any of the below places, check out that post.

13. Big Nose Kate’s Saloon

Instagram: @bignosekatessaloon

Big Nose Kate’s is a historic Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona.

It’s a great place to stop in for a meal, for drinks, or just a cold sarsaparilla.

14. Cabal Cellars Wine Tasting Room

Instagram: @cabal_cellars

I was mind blown when I came across a wine tasting room right in the middle of Tombstone, Arizona.

They serve wines from Cabal Cellars and Passion Cellars.

The Cabal Cellar wines are all named for conspiracies or historical events that have a lot of conspiracies surrounding them, which makes for great conversation when wine tasting.

15. Crystal Palace Saloon

Instagram: @crystalpalacetombstone

Crystal Palace is another historic saloon in Tombstone, Arizona.

It’s a great place for some steak and potatoes or a chili cheese dog with some french fries.

They also have a nice bar, so it’s a great place to just stop in for drinks too.

16. Sarsaparilla Stand

It gets hot in Tombstone in the Summer and the most refreshing drink you can get is a Tombstone Sarsaparilla.

The decorative bottles make for a great souvenir.

Elgin and Sonoita Wineries & Tasting Rooms

Part of enjoying the best restaurants in Tucson is enjoying the best wineries and tasting rooms in Tucson.

We recently featured a wine guide to the Elgin and Sonoita Wine Region just south of Tucson.

It’s a great day trip from Tucson and some of these wineries even have local tasting rooms in Tucson.

You can learn about all these wineries in the above post.

17. Arizona Hops & Vine

Location: 3450 AZ-82, Sonoita, AZ 85637

Instagram: @azhopsandvines

This wine tasting is unique in that each wine is paired with a snack like Cheetos or Funyuns.

They also serve Sangria.

18. Rune Wines

Location: 3969 AZ-82, Sonoita, AZ 85637

Instagram: @runewines

Rune Wines had more wines we’ve enjoyed than just about any other winery we’ve ever been to.

We tend to buy one bottle of wine at each tasting that stands out above the rest, but at this place we walked away with 3 bottles.

19. Flying Leap Vineyards and Tasting Room

Location: 342 Elgin Road, Elgin, AZ 85611

Instagram: @flyingleapwines

Flying Leap Vineyards has a unique to Southern Arizona wine that I recommend everyone try at least once.

They have a Habanero Chili infused red wine that is so good!

I don’t do anything spicy ever, so I was hesitant to try this wine, but it’s actually the flavor of the Habanero Chili without the burn from the spiciness.

That is the bottle we took home from that tasting and we’ve even seen it in other shops around Arizona since and have bought more.

They sell out quick every year because it’s their most popular wine.

Fun Things To Do Near Tucson, Arizona

Outside of going out to eat and going wine tasting, there are so many more fun things to do in and around Tucson.

We’ve compiled a list of the best affordable attractions near Tucson that are great for solo travelers, couples, families, and more.

Best Place To Stay In Tucson, Arizona

Varsity Clubs of America Tucson is an amazing timeshare property.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a timeshare owner to stay at this property.

The reason I recommend Varsity Clubs of America Tucson is because for the price of regular hotel room you get a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen.

There’s more space for either more people or to enjoy a work-cation.

The pool and hot tub are great to enjoy in the evenings since in the Summer it stays warm well into the night.

You can watch this video on our YouTube Channel of a complete walk-through of the one bedrooms here.

👉 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Varsity Clubs of America Tucson Today!

Conclusion: Best Restaurants in Tucson

As a designated City of Gastronomy, some of the best restaurants in Tucson are the best restaurants you can find in the whole world.

Tucson is definitely a foodies destination with so many more restaurants to explore.

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