Restaurant resources are aplenty online, but it’s nice to have someone in person to guide you.
Taste of Tucson Downtown has offered cultural and culinary tours downtown since October 2014.
Tours begin at the Mercado San Agustin, where guests meet up and hop onto the SunLink with co-owners, cousins, and tour guides Elysa Crum and Sherry Weiss.
Dishes are portioned smaller so you have room to eat at every stop and be comfortably full at the end of the tour, which concludes with dessert and coffee. The culinary stops are about 15 to 20 minutes long, so you’ll have time to order a cocktail if you’d like.
“We like to work with restaurants that emphasize local and sustainable,” Crum said. “Not every restaurant lives up to it when they say they do, but we definitely highlight it when we recognize it.”
Although the tour begins with the SunLink ride, the majority of the tour is on foot. Destinations are only a short walk from each other with additional stops for points of interest regarding history and architecture.
Once all the stops have been reached, you’re welcome to use your SunLink pass to explore on your own or ride back to Mercado San Agustin with Crum and Weiss.
Taste of Tucson recently treated me to the downtown tour. Though the downtown tours rotate between which restaurants are involved, here’s a glimpse at the stops from my tour so you have an idea of how much food is in store:
- Agustin Kitchen – Fiore di Capra Goat Brûlée, Calamari
- Caffé Milano – Fusilli alla Bolognese, Bread
- Elliott’s on Congress – Duck Slider, Jicama Coleslaw
- Charro Steak – Cast Iron Mushroom, Carne Seca Mini Chimichanga, Prickly Pear Glazed Albondiga
- Maynards Market & Kitchen – Crème Brûlée, Coffee
Pacing was brisk enough to keep things interesting, but never felt rushed.
The tour also included historical and architectural stops at Veinte de Agosto Park, Fox Tucson Theatre, Joel D. Valdez Main Library, and Hotel Congress. We also walked past most of the recent downtown murals.
Once all the stops have been reached, you’re welcome to use your SunLink pass to explore on your own or ride back to Mercado San Agustin with Crum and Weiss.
Tours are $60 per person and offered 1 – 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Taste of Tucson also recently added weekly Fourth Avenue tours.
For more information, visit tasteoftucsondowntown.com.
Article written by:
Jackie Tran
More about JackieJackie Tran is a Tucson-based food writer, photographer, culinary educator, and owner-chef of the now-closed food truck Tran’s Fats. Although he is best known locally for his work for Tucson Foodie, his work has also appeared in publications such as Bon Appétit, National Geographic, and the New York Times.
An adventurous foodie, he enjoys culinary experiences ranging from seasonal omakase to sloppily devouring green chili patty melts in his car afterhours. His favorite foods include aguachile, garlic noodles, and leftover fried chicken illuminated by the fridge light. His favorite drinks include morning micheladas, fireside imperial stouts, candle-lit negroni, and grassy mezcales.
Outside of food, he also loves playing musical instruments, karaoke, Tetris, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and petting Addie’s dog Spaghetti.
If you’d like to stalk him, visit his Instagram @jackie_tran_ or jackietran.com.
