Must see/do/eat things in Tucson?

candyliquor35m

I'm headed to Tucson at the end of the month with my sister to visit my 2 nieces there for the 1st time.

My sister has put together a pretty full schedule including a visit to Sedona and a nights stay at the Grand Canyon.

Any great mexican, indian or thai restaurants there?

Any other suggestions that maybe aren't the usual tourist trap kind of things to do or see?

Places to avoid? Places to find a wife?

My sister has a messed up knee from snow skiing so that rules out anything too physical or athletic.

shadowofnight

If you really want a good time and an awesome meal....take a nice evening drive over to Yuma...go out in the desert and round up maybe 6 or 7 Western Diamondback rattlesnakes....then up north of town to the irrigation canals and Gig yourself a bucket of those huge Bullfrogs.

You will not only have an awesome adventure catching your food, I'll give you my aunts address and you'll have the best meal in a long long time.

Believe me...the Grand Canyon is boring compared to that

steveinaz

any great Mexican restaurants in Tucson....you're kidding right? OF COURSE. Enjoy your stay, then go home.

Little heads-up on Yuma, it was 115 degrees there yesterday.

irishaz

Not sure about Indian or Thai food, but there are a plethora of good mexican restaurants in Tucson. Many of the good ones are in a suspect area of town (South), but they are worth the trip. They are on 4th Avenue and I would suggest Mi Nidito, Guillermo's and Micha's.

You can also check out the Mosaic Cafe on Grant or Rosa's (I can't remember where that is located).

candyliquor35m

I forgot the most important part. What are the best casinos to go to? They do have casinos there right?

steveinaz

Desert Diamond and Casino del Sol (Casino of the Sun). Both are American Indian owned, Pasqua Yaqui tribe and Tohono O'Odham tribe. I think (it's been awhile) Casino del sol has a newly built hotel as well.

ahorvitz

I'll be in Tucson this weekend.

There are several great golf courses. The Desert Museum is worth visiting.

steveinaz

- Desert Museum
- Old Tucson
- The Mission
- Mount Lemon

the list goes on and on...I'd recommend you spend at least 1 night at the Hilton El Conquistador hotel--get a "Casita" room, they have their own private pool.

http://www.hiltonelconquistador.com/

petrym

When I lived in Phoenix I loved Filiberto's, a fast food place. There's a new location at 7115 E. 22nd St in Tucson. Get the Carne Asada Burrito and douse it with their outstanding hot sauce. Excellent!!!

avelanchefan

Candy,

If you guys hit the casino on 1-19 and Pima Mine Road let me know because I'll meet you there and buy you a beer. I only live five minutes away, and can actually see the casino from my house.

As for places to eat Irish hit the good ones. I also really enjoy Las Margaritas a lot. Great beans!!

the desert museum will be out for you because it requires a ton of walking. All though I think it is a great place to visit.

candyliquor35m

Thanks. Keep em coming. My sister can get around fine but she wouldn't be able to rock climb

I'll have to check her schedule of activities she put together in a word doc to see how much free time I'll have for beers or listening to your systems. Feel free to pm me your phone #'s and I'll see what I can do. I fly into phoenix wed. am 5-28 and leave wed. am 6-4.

Rivrrat

Mexican fast food...Go to any of the Nico's you see, they're all over. Better yet try El Guerreo Canello, and have a Sonoran dog (or anything else there). Or for something different, Try Pollo Feliz. It's pollo asado (marinated grilled chicken),and it's sort of a fast food place in Mexico. The only ones North of the border are here in Tucson...Good stuff. Wednesday's they have a killer family special.

Oh, and there's always Chuy's, a Cal-mex chain that migrated here from Cali. It's pretty popular and tasty, but they're all noisy. Drink enough cervesa, and you won't notice.

There's been several good sit down Mexican resturaunts listed so far, I'd add the El Charro in downtown Tucson. Don't bother with the others spread out through town.

I wouldn't be looking for any good Indian or especially Thai food here. Asian cusine is a bit lacking here.

The two best casino's are Casino Del Sol on Valencia, and Desert Diamond Casino on I-19 at Pima Mine Rd.

What ever you do, stay hydrated. It's getting warm now.

I-SIG

I can't argue with anything written. A great steak and ribs place with some character is Lil' Abner's up here on the NW side. It's located in an old express stop from the 1800's. The ribs are definitely different from most places with a SW flavor, no doubt.

The Asian food sucks in Tucson.

Wes

dragon1952

The fried desert iguana is to die for

shadowofnight

I-SIG wrote: »

The Asian food sucks in Tucson.
Wes

I would imagine so

shadowofnight

dragon1952 wrote: »

The fried desert iguana is to die for

This coming from a dragon ?

I-SIG

shadowofnight wrote: »

I would imagine so

You'd think that with a "Chinaman under every (railroad) tie" out here there would be some good Asian food, but not so much. I can get better Chinese in suburban Atlanta! Maybe every Chinaman ended up under a tie.

Wes

avelanchefan

Yeah there is absolutely ZERO asian food to speak of. Every Chinese restaurant I have tried has been average at best.

BIZILL

you can try BA-DAR restaurant for chinese. 7321 E Broadway Blvd. my mom's friend owns it. or at least used to. pretty good. myself, i gets asian food all the time from mee mum.

anyway, i'll second a vote for any nico's mexican joint. (i said "mexican joint":D) get yourself hooked up with a carne asada burrito on the cheap. as for places to go? though we're in a cold snap of today, by month's end when you get here it'll be easily into the low to high 100's and you'll wanna escape the heat. if you're on the eastside, hit up mt. lemmon like steve mentioned. nice escape from the heat for sure.

steveinaz

I would avoid "Chuy's" like the plaque. There's a reason they call it Chew-ee, it taste like warmed-over school cafeteria food.

We had a new one in Sierra Vista some time ago, it lasted 3 months--then CLOSED. There's too many authentic Mexican restuarants here, it couldn't even think about competeing. Hell, Jack in the Box has better Mexican (if you can call it Mexican) than Chuy's.

BIZILL

steveinaz wrote: »

I would avoid "Chuey's" like the plaque. There's a reason they call it Chuey, it taste like warmed-over school cafeteria food.

you ain't lyin'. i never saw what people liked about chuy's. been there a couple times and always sucked ****.

Rivrrat

Then I suppose he can skip Chuys. Personally, I agree with you guys, but a lot of people like it.

BIZILL

yeah, and wherever you can grab hold of a sonoran dog, do it. bacon-wrapped hotdog with beans and all sorts of toppings. served usually with a cream-cheese stuffed jalapeno pepper on the side. don't let fear grip you when you come across a sonoran hotdog stand. they're clean enough. cleaner than roach coaches. imho.

dragon1952

shadowofnight wrote: »

This coming from a dragon ?

:eek: I forgot!

candyliquor35m

Thanks for all the suggestions. I couldn't partake in any/many of them since my niece and her family had already made plans due to location and such.

We ate at Lupe's at Oracle Junction and El Torero in the hood and Aribbas in Phoenix. All were good but lacked the spicy flavors I was hoping for.

Went to Grand Canyon, Sedona, Seligman, Tombstone, Brisbee, San Manuel, and Sun Lakes.

The Grand Canyon is the most majestic, breath taking natural phenomenon I've ever seen.

Won $50 at Maricopa, won $15 at Casino Arizona day 1, lost $200 at Casino Arizona day 2. Full exposure black jack at casino arizona was interesting but hardly anyone was playing it.

Highs were around 100 in Phoenix but felt like 90 compared to houston. Tucson didn't seem very hot yet. Sedona was beautiful and not hot. It still felt like spring at the grand canyon and even got a little cold at night.

schwarcw

Deleted

avelanchefan

Glad you had a good time, too bad we were not able to play some cards while you were here. Maybe next time.