With everything going on in the world today, it’s important that the critical issues that plague our community are tackled and resolved. Fortunately, you have your friends at Tucson Foodie to help figure out who has the best Sonoran dog. So, you can check that off your list.

Just in case you’re wondering how we can actually, and objectively, determine without bias the best Sonoran dog in town, let me detail for you the lengths we’ve gone to ensure an accurate winner is selected in round two.

First, we asked you – our readers – for your favorite Sonoran dogs. After filtering through the list, we ended up with 31 contenders.  Those contenders were next placed into round one of our Best Sonoran Dog readers poll, which we posted yesterday. At the time of this article, there have been just under 2,000 votes.

Now to be clear, readers’ polls are prone to error. For starters, there’s no criteria. Second, there’s no way to know how many of the options any given reader has actually visited. And, while our system disallowed multiple votes, it’s highly likely the system could have been gamed, although the percentage of error would be low. This is why the readers’ poll simply served as round one. Because you deserve better. You deserve answers.

For the top 4 contenders, which are listed below, our team, along with a select group of local celebs and foodies are going to visit each stand.

Beginning Monday, August 12, we’ll visit one of the top 4 Sonoran dog stands each day, which will take us through Thursday. Armed with a hefty list of voting criteria, we’ll make an educated vote on each spot. Then, on Friday, we’ll award the winner with the best Sonoran dog crown. Or plaque. Or trophy. It’ll be all official. Bragging rights earned. And you’re welcome to join us for any and all of the tastings. We’ll announce about an hour before we head out to which one it is we’re heading to.

So without further ado…

Here are the round one results of the Tucson Foodie Best Sonoran Dog (Readers Poll):

1. El Guero Canelo, 512 votes
2. BK Tacos, 271 votes
3. Aqui Con El Nene, 201 votes
4. El Sinaloense, 167 votes

In case you’re curious about the voting criteria we’ll use when we hit the street next week, here it is:

• Overall appearance (5 points). Includes distribution of ingredients; sauce application; bun shape; size; portion size (ingredients)
• Flavor ( 5 points). Includes the ratio of ingredients as perceived by flavor; bun quality; quality of ingredients — bacon, dog, onion, beans, jalapeno salsa, mustard, mayo
• Texture (5 points). Freshness of bun; crunchy onions; bacon; how well the entire dog holds together throughout experience without falling all over the place

If you want to join us for any (or all) of the final round, which will take place from Monday, August 12 – Thursday, August 15 at a different Sonoran dog stand each day, keep close tabs on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. We’ll announce on each platform about an hour or two before we hit each spot each day.

Lastly, if you’d like to see the entire list results, head on back to the original Sonoran dog readers poll. Actual votes are now revealed.