El Saguarito, 2 Chile Rellenos and 1 Mexican Crooner
The other night we had a yen for Mexican food so asked the
locals where they like to go. We were
referred to El Saguarito, a smallish restaurant that had a patio extending way out into the
parking lot with sails, I think, stretched on clothesline, and forming a very
large canopy to protect the customers from the sun. There were walls made of wrought iron fencing
and covered in posters, art and advertising.
We had a surprisingly fun
evening. The food was unremarkable so I
won’t bore you a description, (click on the link for an image,) but what was noteworthy was the Mexican guy that was
singing, and playing his music machine and guitar! He was quite listenable, and knew a lot of
songs, and so we made a request just to test his mettle. He obliged with his down home version of
Spanish Eyes, and was a very good sport, in spite of his messing up the words
here and there. One thing to always count on; when there is a singer, there is
always a dancer, and dancing guy showed up just like clockwork. He didn't need a partner; he was immediately
in the groove and put on a show. You can
tell that in his day, he was probably quite a good dancer, but …you can
imagine. This dancing man was a guy in his sixties, very skinny, with a fringe
of oily hair hanging from under his tan colored hat. He definitely had the moves and danced with a
Latin flair that was painful to watch but we couldn't look away. The crooner egged him on and commented at how
good he was. (How I wish I had my phone
to take a video clip and share online.) He was kind of good, kind of bad, kind
of embarrassing, and kind of entertaining, and no fools no fun! We clapped at each performance and he kept
going! We didn't know whether to tip him or the crooner, so we opted for the
crooner, who gave us a CD in return for our 2 bucks! In summary, we ate mediocre food, watched a
mediocre dancing man, had a lot of laughs and wonder how anybody could have had
a more enjoyable evening! Upon returning
to the truck, Lance and I laced on our sneakers and walked 10,000 steps around
the well lighted parking lot! The night
was a beautiful, cool Tucson night, and we were two old crones, doing what old
crones do and were perfectly contented.
When poking around an unfamiliar city it is a common thing
to ask the locals where to eat. We do
this quite a lot and we get interesting suggestions. Sometimes we don’t even ask, and people
volunteer their suggestions in hopes we will check out there “place.” This is exactly how we found Tiger’s Taproom
at the Hotel Congress.
There is quaint old guy, Tom Zigler, nicknamed Tiger, who
has been keeping bar at the Hotel Congress for a whopping 54 years. At his 50th
anniversary the bar officially became Tigers Taproom and is a well known
watering hole in downtown Tucson. He is now a skinny little fellow wearing
crepe soled oxfords, brand X denim pants, a Mexican style button up shirt
covered by a beige golf jacket (despite the heat) and a jaunty chino fedora. He
has a leprechaun voice that is quick to give you practiced yet agreeable
conversation that, I imagine, makes him a good listening ear that is so cliché of
bartenders in the movies.
Everyone in
the Hotel knows and loves him. Folks
pass by and call out his name and he doesn’t even look up but knows who to
respond to. His bar is decorated with
signed and framed cowboy art all over the walls, sketched in pencil and
charcoal, by a western painter of the 1930’s, a guy named Peter Martinez, who
paid off his bill while residing at the Hotel doing art. There were dozens of drawings; think Charlie
Russell only not nearly as good. There
were a few old neon signs from the sixties, and an old juke box in mint
condition, and of course skads of bottles of every description on the back bar.
Tiger was on his way to eat lunch at The Cup, the long standing eatery in the
lobby, when the overzealous host, upon failing
to get us to come in and dine, (it was
only about 11:00 and we were simply scoping out the Hotel) interrupted the
hungry Barkeep and asked him to show us the Taproom. Tiger postponed lunch in favor of showing a
couple of out of towners the whole place.
He is an icon within the Hotel Congress, another Tucson icon.
This photo appeared in the paper on his 80th birthday! |
Just
when you think it can’t get any more colorful, just check out the rogue’s
gallery on in the hallway to the restrooms in the Hotel Congress. John Dillinger’s gang were caught
right there in the lobby back in the day. The story goes that there was a fire
in the hotel, and the gang members had to go out into the street. One of the
gang fellows bribed a fireman with a fifty dollar bill to go back into the
burning building to get his stuff out for him.
He did, and a day or so later the fireman thought that something was
fishy about a guy having a 50 dollar bill in the ‘30’s and so he squealed to
the sheriff that he thought these might be bad guys. The sheriff and posse caught them all at the
Hotel Congress. The lobby hasn’t changed since the 30’s. At the time of writing
this post I don’t have internet access so there will be no fact checking on
Dillinger.
Pionic Pizza
Pionic Pizza was recommended as the best pizza in town! We had to go there, and this is what we
found. The place has a warehouse décor,
with concrete floors, metal tables and chairs and overhead doors that slide up
off the sidewalks exposing the diners to the awning covered patio and the
street beyond that. You walk up the
counter where there is a bevy of smiling t-shirted youths waiting to create for
you a perfect pizza. You choose your
crust, whole wheat, gluten friendly, or classic, all of them are about 12 inches, which is one
size fits all. The crusts are made in
the restaurant and rolled/pressed into the same shape as a giant poker chip and
stacked up, waiting for toppings. Then
you go down an assembly line, just like Subway sandwiches, but with every
imaginable topping you could wish for.
You decide what you want and the kids heap it on. It seems there is no limitations on what or
how much you pile on. I asked for a
little extra sauce and the young guy cautioned me because the toppings will
slide off with too much!
Perhaps the best pizza in town! |
Oh yeah,
there are 6 kinds of sauces to choose from; two marinara (meat and meatless), a
pesto, an alfredo, and I can’t remember the other two. The young people pizza
makers have clever and unique ways of “decorating” your pizza; for instance,
they add the sauce by squeezing it out of a squeeze bottle and go round and
round in diminishing spiral until they make a capital letter “P” at the center
and then “draw” a compass with the four directions on it! Does this have something to do with Pionic,
or Greeks or something? Again, I don’t
have internet service at the moment so no checking why they do this. It is something like when a barista makes a
pretty shape in the top of your coffee fluff, customers like it! Pionic Pizza has pastas and salads too. They cook up the pizzas and bring them to
you, and if you are there before 5:00 o’clock pm the pizzas are only 5
bucks! Man, are they good! We loved discovering this place.
El Guero Canelo
No trip to Tucson is complete without a Sonoran Hotdog,
sometimes called a Mexican hot dog. The
restaurant that is famous for them is El Guero Canelo, which started as a two
taco truck operation and over the years expanded into a huge, very basic, no
frills style eatery, serving up Mexican fare by the tens of dozens of plates,
or Styrofoam container, or wax paper dinnerware! I found them on the internet when I Googled
what to eat in Tucson. This came up as a
don’t miss.
A Sonoran Hotdog begins with a homemade irregular bun,
assumed to be made in the restaurant, fitted with a grilled, bacon wrapped
wienie, or two if you like, and covered with pico de gallo and a grating of
cheddar. Then it is toasted and served
up on half a styrofoam clam container, with whatever you want to put on it from
the salsa bar.
I chose to put on a red salsa, a green salsa, and these terrific green onions that had been grilled whole and were served cold. Yum! What a treat! They also have tacos, burritos and etc, but the Mexican hotdog is a stand out and much imitated all over Tucson.
Pappy's Diner
I chose to put on a red salsa, a green salsa, and these terrific green onions that had been grilled whole and were served cold. Yum! What a treat! They also have tacos, burritos and etc, but the Mexican hotdog is a stand out and much imitated all over Tucson.
Pappy's Diner
Pappy’s is a big diner very near to where we are parked at
the Whispering Palms. We have eaten here
several times and there are many reasons why we keep coming back. The food is good and so is the service, and
the place is very clean; that hits all my big three requirements!
When you order pancakes watch out! You think you ordered a short stack, but they
bring you a giant pancake served on a 16 inch pizza pan! It is such a surprise and I must say it is a
delight! They had to custom make a
flipper to flip those babies! Lance
asked for a blueberry pancake and they loaded up the batter with berries. It was so big and delicious that I recommend sharing
with everybody at your table. Pappy’s
is a kind of place that is okay with sharing, that is to say, it is a casual
kind of place! This pancake cost us
$3.50. Here’s a photo of Pappy’s pancake
found on the web.
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