El Charro Café

El Charro Café in downtown Tucson is the oldest Mexican restaurant in the United States continuously operated by the same family. Monica Flin founded it in 1922 in a Victorian stone house on Court Avenue, and the restaurant is credited with inventing the chimichanga — the deep-fried burro that became a signature of Sonoran-style Mexican cooking across the American Southwest. The dish was allegedly created by accident when a burrito fell into the frying oil and an expletive was shortened mid-sentence to 'chimichanga.' Whether the legend is apocryphal or not, the chimichangas served at El Charro remain a definitive version. The other essential order is carne seca — beef that is marinated, shredded, and dried on the rooftop (the original location still uses this traditional method) before being rehydrated and cooked with chiles and tomatoes. The flavour is intense and unlike any other preparation in Tucson. The historic building, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, houses multiple dining rooms decorated with Mexican folk art, santos, and family photographs that trace the Flin family's century-plus stewardship of the restaurant. Margaritas and house sangria accompany meals well. The original Court Avenue location is the one to visit; multiple additional locations exist across the Tucson area.