This Is The Oldest Taco In America!
And it’s located in Tucson, Arizona – I not only ate it but decided to make my own!
It all began when my son Jeff and I were driving across the lower part of the US from Los Angeles to Atlanta in 2018 – we wanted to taste the food that was unique to each area, and this place certainly fit the bill!
Meet Chef Tia Monica!
The El Charro cafe is a classic, for good reason! Here is how the restaurant’s website describes their history:
“Established in 1922 by our beloved Tia Monica Flin, El Charro Café of Tucson, Arizona is The Nation’s Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. Our Tia Monica, a true entrepreneur and burgeoning chef, came to Tucson via France in the 1800’s when her father Jules, a famous stone-mason, was commissioned to build the city’s pristine St. Augustine Cathedral. Jules, whose signature work can be seen throughout Tucson’s Historic District, also built the families residence in 1896.”
This is their menu:
The original “Charro Style” Beef Taco, created in 1922, used a hamburger patty, NOT the ground beef we see used today…note that it was garnished with peas, radishes and Mexican cheese as well!
You can see the peace and radish in the crispy tortilla…so when I bought a bag of soft tortillas on a whim, I decided to make the dish at home!
It’s a simple recipe to make: you need ground beef formed into a patty, some cooked peas, raw onion, fresh radishes, a bit of lettuce and some Mexican cheese blend!
Put your hamburger patty in your pan and let it cook…I turn the heat up halfway through so it gets a bit of char…I didn’t put any seasoning or use oil in the pan…I filmed the rest of the recipe, beginning with this nice tease of what was to come…
As the burger finished cooking, I had all of the other ingredients on the taco shell – which I used soft, not hard, and here is how it all came together:
Love the dish – here’s a look at what else we ate at El Charro:
The El Charro Cafe was great: delicious food, a great staff, and music too! I’m so glad they are still going strong, and I love the food from this region, especially thanks to the legendary Singer Linda Ronstadt!
This restaurant is located north of the Sonoran area of Mexico – and Linda Ronstadt wrote a book about her childhood nearby…so I made this tradition Sonoran cheese soup!
You can get that recipe here:
This was, by the way, just the beginning of my cross country drive that resulted in a hilarious food mishap involving this:
Yes, I ordered a “filet-o-fish” but what was I served?
Click here to see the hilarious answer!
Thanks for reading my food website “Bite! Eat! Repeat!” – it’s your site for all things food – if you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!
Thanks as well to El Charro restaurant in Tucson Arizona – if you like this story, please share on social media!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Burgers, Chef memoirs, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Food Pictures, Food Travel, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Who knew? A hamburger patty in a taco? Looks delicious!
I could eat that I prefer a taco to a bun sounds delicious ,John 🙂
I prefer soft tacos over hard ones, and would definitely eat the one you made, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
A most interesting idea, John. Food fun 💛
I still make these as I like cooking the tortilla, the only difference is I ground the beef. But it’s a great taco!!!
I don’t make tacos often but after eating this I realized I am missing out! Thanks for the comment!