Here are the best things the Tucson Foodie team tasted in January 2023

Post-Hanukkah latkes, happily on the menu at the JCC’s Cafe at the J in January. It’s always the right time of year for potato pancakes and these come with a generous salad and sour cream.

Feng-Feng Yeh

El Minuto Cafe

It really had been a minuto since me and two of my friends had eaten at El Minuto (probably at least 10-15 years) It felt nostalgic. Even a woman sitting next to us was recounting her pride in the Tucson cheese crisp. It made us all realize how special this not quite a quesadilla, not quite a pizza crispy crunchy cheesy goodness really is! The green chili at El Minuto Cafe is a rite of passage.

Ruchikala 

Only available by pop up but probably the most interesting and beautiful iteration of Southeast Asian and Mexican fusion I’ve ever had was this tostada by chef Kusuma Rao that complimented an intimate art retrospective of their father’s incredible painting and drawings. Follow @ruchikala.

5 Points Market & Restaurant

New on the 5 Points dinner menu is this hearty Kale Caesar Salad that has a thick cashew-based sauce so vegans and almost all eaters can rejoice for a non-wimpy salad classic Fun fact: did you know the Caesar salad was invented in Mexico by an Italian man? The toasted fatty bread chunks take you to another dimension. Go pro and have it with cheese, anchovies, and/or chicken.

Tumerico 

A James Beard nomination is a great excuse to try chef Wendy Garcia’s Tumerico but I love using the excuse of going there to fulfill my veggie intake. Why drink a smoothie or a salad when you can have the tastiest huitlacoche tostadas, and red chile tamales stuffed with perfectly seared potatoes and jackfruit? These veggies definitely have “all the powers.”

Hannah Hernandez

Ensenada Street Food

Ensenada Street Food’s new breakfast menu is here! Chilaquiles, pancakes, breakfast burritos, and more. The chorizo and potato breakfast burrito is my favorite. Breakfast is available Tuesday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Tran’s Fats

Jackie’s food is so good. Vegan and gluten-free options. On my latest visit, I enjoyed the Shroom Dumplings, Crunchy Potato Mochi, Crunchy Cauliflower, and Potato Tots.

Tumerico 

Kim Johnston

Blue Front

Pies? Downtown? Genius.

Mark Whittaker

Panda One

As a certified curry fanatic and a longtime fan of Panda One, I had to try their #37, the Singapore Noodle. Never had it before but one cold, cold night I decided to give it a go — so glad I did. This dish is now one of my regular customers and the not-so-great photo I took of it recently was probably my third or fourth time eating it this month. It was late and I just wanted to eat. The curry isn’t overpowering, a good amount of heat, and the cuts of vegetables, pork, chicken, and a bunch of shrimp hiding in a vast nest of perfect al dente thin noodles always make me really happy. Definitely give this dish a shot because yum. 

Sleeping Frog Farms

As a food writer, as a guy with a metabolism the speed of slugs racing in syrup, and as a guy officially in the middle of his middle age, I have to eat as healthy as possible when not working. Thankfully, the good kids at Sleeping Frog Farms provide the best-tasting pink grapefruits I have had the pleasure to eat since moving to Arizona almost 20 years ago. These are pink grapefruits — not those ruby reds you get at the supermarket which is way too bitter and probably the reason you’re not all that into grapefruits. Sleeping Frog Farm’s grapefruits are juicy, tart, tasty, and packed with tons of nutrients that my well-abused belly and system definitely need. 

Ador Cuisine

Recently the wife and I were extremely fortunate to be a guest at one of Ador Cuisine’s coursed dinners which were so extraordinary that it easily became an article. Chef Adrian Ortega, along with his partner Raymond Felisicimo, created a dazzling display of ideas, flavors, and textures but a standout that night, for me anyway, was the dish titled “Metamorphosis”. Fourth in the line of scrumptiousness, Metamorphosis featured herbed shrimp, gaia spirit cabbage, a caper cherry tapenade, spiralized butternut squash, locally grown arugula, and white Sonoran wheat beans. It was so delicious as it was but when you poured this gaia water Moscato reduction over it the whole sense and sensation of the dish transformed. Hence the name. It’s really difficult to explain in words that incredible experience so all I can think of how to describe it is you know that meme of some dude having his mind blown while the universe explodes around him? Yeah, that.

Matt Sterner

Time Market

If you’re looking for some of the best pizza by the slice in town, Time Market’s got your back. After enjoying one of their craft beers on tap I was only able to eat one of these jumbo slices.

The Delta

The Seafood Gumbo and all of its dark roux gumbo, Gulf shrimp, and crawfish made me feel like I was in New Orleans again. Grab an order of hushpuppies, too, so you can dunk those suckers in the gumbo.

Rita Connelly

El Charro Café

Uptown, Downtown, you know I’ve had my share. Here’s a tasty chile relleno on the patio at Downtown’s El Charro Cafe.

Feast

The outstanding pan-fried salmon at Feast. A huge portion and cooked to perfection. Also, the lobster bread pudding. Try it.

 Aqui Con El Nene

Finally, my first time at El Nene. Birria this time. Going back soon to try everything else.

Sariya Jarasviroj

Del Cielo Tamales

Del Cielo’s vegan breakfast with new coconut flour pancake recipe. Delish!

Shane Reiser

Cafe Desta

Kung Fu Noodle

Sizzling Eggplant Tofu from Kung Fu Noodle.

Kingfisher

The El Perfecto Manhattan from Kingfisher.

Sidecar

If you order an NA cocktail from Sidecar and tell me it’s not the adult beverage experience you were looking for, I won’t believe you

Xochitl Gracia

Tran’s Fats

Crunchy Potatoe Mochi from Tran’s Fat.

Samurai Sombrero

Del Cielo Tamales