Sonoran hot dogs

Sonoran hot dogs in Tucson are something like what Frito pie is in Albuquerque – a local comfort food consisting of a least-common-denominator mash-up of North American and Central American fast food.

I don’t like hot dogs – I don’t care what you put on them, I’m not going to like them. But I live here now, so trying Sonoran hot dogs was inevitable.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and we had been on our way to what was advertised as a live music and art show. I love live music and art shows! I imagined us walking around in the sunshine, looking at the different art booths, buying street fair food from food trucks, listening to the band…it sounded like the perfect Saturday afternoon activity.

We plugged the address into our phones and headed out. We arrived in a somewhat sketchy part of town, which doesn’t really mean anything because Tucson is definitely mixed. There are gems to be found in sketchy neighborhoods. And all the neighborhoods are safe enough in the middle of the day.

But at that particular address, there was not a park or green space or plaza of any sort. There was a small, mostly empty, disintegrating parking lot next to a square cinderblock windowless dive bar. John wasn’t even inclined to bother getting out of the car, but I had to see how this was an art show.

We went in and stood near the door long enough to let our eyes adjust to the gloom. Sure enough, there was a band on a small stage in the back. And along another wall there was a folding table with a few items piled on it, like you’d see at a garage sale. A particularly disappointing garage sale.

So we headed back out to the car. Now what? John was hungry and that’s how we ended up getting authentic Sonoran hot dogs a few blocks away.

It wasn’t quite a restaurant. It was almost. It was a food truck – no actually, a food trailer – parked in front of a small storefront in a rundown strip mall. The indoor space was where customers could sit and eat out of the heat. But there was no kitchen in there, or servers, or employees of any sort. The kitchen was in the trailer. It was a one-man show. The dude in the trailer.

The Sonoran sauces were in that refrigerated gray box you can see plugged in along the bright yellow brick wall. They were excellent.

When we first got there, we were hesitating over the menu taped to the trailer. John and I know enough Spanish to generally be able to order food. But the menu seemed to have a lot of varieties of the exact same thing (hot dogs) and the details of the different options were not immediately clear. Luckily another customer came by and ordered in Spanish for us.

Here’s what I ended up with. The item on the top right is the Sonoran hot dog. It’s a hot dog in a bread pocket, with mayonnaise and various salsas. In the front is a couple of grilled chiles, which we had specifically seen and made sure we ordered. We both enjoy grilled chiles, so we ordered all three kinds.

Help yourself to the soda in the refrigerators. A highchair thoughtfully awaits if your little one needs it.

And cool art. Yep, I got my art show after all. Look close and you’ll see that’s the guy cooking in the trailer. The very dude himself, looking a little younger in the picture, but definitely recognizable.

A true local cultural experience that you won’t find on Trip Advisor.

To send me a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

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