Food Truck Friday showcases unique dishes while sharing each owner’s story and dedication to running a local business.
I’ve had a passion for food trucks for years. Growing up, I ate from many of them because it was a convenient way to get homemade meals away from home on the weekends, and as a former University of Arizona student, it was fun to get food with my friends after class.
Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Ana Luque, the owner and chef of Los Plebes Taqueria. From the day she first started serving (March 2024), her family has been a strong source of support, keeping her motivated while operating her own food truck.
“I’ve always loved cooking and enjoyed preparing meals for my family,” said Luque, who also has at least 15 years of experience, working at restaurants like Café El Callejón de los Pasteles — a café in her hometown of Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico.
When she’s not dishing out the goods at the food truck, Luque and her husband are raising four children. While he has a full-time construction gig during the week, he still makes time to help out on the food truck during weekends. It’s a true family business!
In the beginning, Luque made it a point to put a special homemade touch on everything on the menu. As mentioned earlier, it’s something I’ve grown to love about food trucks here in Tucson. One example of this is the variety of spices she adds to her birria — cloves, red chile, black pepper, and other ingredients that make her flavors special.
“It’s quite a mix,” said Luque, who offers several birria dishes on the truck.
Her birria comes in all shapes and sizes, too, like birria ramen, quesabirria, nachos with birria, and Pizza Birria. Without hesitation, I had to go with the Pizza Birria! This is something I order often from other restaurants, so I wanted to size it up and see how it compares with the rest.
In short, I wasn’t disappointed at all. Dipping each slice into the birria broth is what made Los Plebes’ Pizza Birria shine. It was also incredibly cheesy — seeing it stretch as I pulled away a slice is one of my favorite experiences.
Additionally, the Pizza Birria came with slices of lime, a spicy habanero cream sauce, an even hotter red salsa, and sliced onions with habanero. So, there’s plenty of spice! Adding these created an explosion of flavor.
Keep in mind, I love spicy food so I thoroughly enjoyed it, but consider having a drink nearby just in case. It was a “tickle-the-ears” kind of hot.
If you’re not as hungry as I was, or in the mood for something much smaller, check out Luque’s diverse taco menu. They have a few options to choose from like birria (of course), cabeza (beef head), beans, asada, and al vapor, which are steamed tacos.
Al vapor is made by steaming the tortilla first and then filling it with various ingredients such as meat, beans, or potatoes — whichever protein you’re craving. Additionally, the steaming process makes the tortillas softer, adding a fun texture to the taco.
Lastly, Luque has specials on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Birria and cabeza tacos are only $1.99! Who said Taco Tuesday is the only day of the week for massive amounts of tacos?
Los Plebes Taqueria is located at 4762 S. 12th Ave. For more information, Follow them on Instagram.
