El Charro Café offers a wide variety of Northern Mexican and Tucson-style Mexican dishes, from enchiladas to tamales to mini chimis, and their insanely delicious food has been hailed by everyone from Bon Appetit to the NY Times to Nation’s Restaurant News, which named it one of America’s 50 most iconic restaurants, according to their website.



"Established in 1922, El Charro Café of Tucson, Arizona is The Nation's Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. Featuring traditional Northern Mexico-Sonoran style and innovative Tucson-style Mexican Food, El Charro Café is truly as Gourmet Magazine wrote: "A Taste Explosion". With a large array of award winning hand-crafted recipes based on Sonoran and Local ingredients, El Charro Café is a passage to Tucson's Culinary History that has been won the dining icon acclaim from all over the world. The word “Charro” is “a name given to the peasants of the province of Salamanca.” This word was adapted in 1857 and applied in Mexico to good, able horsemen, recognized by the costume or uniform they wear, especially the high-crowned, wide brimmed hat."



I went here, though, because it is known as the birthplace of the chimichanga. They have a few locations, and I ended up at the "Oro Valley" one, which was pretty spacious with giant windows that let in all sorts of light.



"Our Legendary Tia Monica Flin, is well-known as “The Inventor of The Chimichanga.” While frying her now famous El Charro ground beef tacos, she accidentally dropped a burro into the frying pan and when the oil splashed up she was about to lash out a common Spanish cuss word starting with “Ch” but because she was amongst her young nieces and nephews, changed it to “Chimichanga”, the equivalent of “thingamajig.” Thankfully for all of us, Monica was a controlled and creative cuss."



The chips and salsa to me were like most others - but not super oily-fried; they seemed fresher. I opted for a Carne Seca chimichanga, which means a dried beef. It comes with chunky pico salsa, arroz sonora and beans. "Chimichanga style" is essentially just deep-frying the burrito. 



It was great! The burrito was flavorful and the texture was on point. It was not soggy or too crunchy - just a perfectly lightly chewy bite. The interior was equally as good - moist, great seasoning and an all-around delicious bite. The pico added some freshness; the rice was great; and I even didn't mind the beans. 



Grade: A