Best of Tucson 1996: Best Sonoran-Style Restaurant

Best Sonoran-Style Restaurant

El Charro
311 N. Court Ave.

READERS' PICK: Since 1922, El Charro has been rolling out the tacos, enchiladas and chalupas for hungry Tucsonans craving a taste from the south. Located downtown in a charming, converted house, El Charro is a great place to study Mexican calendar art, quaff margaritas and fill your food hole with some of the más sabrosa Mexican food in existence. El Charro is rightly famous for its carne seca, a salty, garlicky, lime-soaked concoction of dried beef and chiles--for a fun surprise, try it on a quesadilla before your next cholesterol count!

RUNNER-UP ANDSTAFFPICK: Has the earth somehow shifted on its axis, slipping us into a new space/time continuum? Are we talking runner-up here? Hmmm. Look up "Sonoran food" in the Oxford New American dictionary and you'll see a picture of Mi Nidito at 1813 S. Fourth Ave., a venerable Tucson landmark.

For more than 20 years now we've sampled all the usual Sonoran suspects on the menu, and have even been served by some of the same waitresses in that span, and have never had a bad meal. These include the heavenly birria burro with green enchilada sauce (make sure to ask for extra lemon) and the unique green chile enchiladas. Take the chile rellenos for instance, a dish that is often the benchmark for good Sonoran food. A lot can and often does go dreadfully awry with this one. But the rellenos at Mi Nidito are sublime; perfectly and lightly breaded, and not too cheesy or greasy. The chiles themselves require something like guessing what's behind Door No. 3: One may be quite mild while its twin on the plate may be akin to an organic incendiary device. Good sportsmanship is required.

The Lopez clan runs this busy place with cheerful efficiency. Collectively, they're the culinary equivalent of James Brown--the hardest working family in the food business. To their credit and as an example of the confidence they have in their business, they close up shop every Monday and Tuesday, as well as two weeks every August. But who's counting? The rest of the year, we know where to go for the good stuff.

A PERFECT 10: The Crossroads, 2602 S. Fourth Ave., lies along a strip of perfectly wonderful Mexican restaurants, each worthy of repeated visits. What keeps us coming back, though, is the combination of friendly staff and a roster of well-prepared dishes, from the normal run of chicken enchiladas and chile rellenos to more eclectic fare like tripas de leche and lengua, all served late into the night.