The Oldest Family-Owned Mexican Restaurant In The States Is Still Serving Food

Arizona is a state awash in good eats. It's the home of Mamma Toledo's The Pie Hole, based in Phoenix, which received the title Best Pie Shop in 2020. It's also where Novel Ice Cream, Yelp's best ice cream shop in the state, is located (also in Phoenix). And finally, it is home to the oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant still in operation, in the city of Tucson — El Charro Café. This eatery, which specializes in Northern Mexican cuisine, as well as unique dishes local to the city, first opened its doors over 100 years ago, in 1922.

The restaurant actually made history from the moment it began serving hungry customers; its original owner, Monica Flin, was an outlier as a businesswoman in that time, but she had bills to pay. Though Flin struggled financially at first, even working all the typical positions herself to save from hiring anyone, her restaurant gradually gained traction, and she was eventually able to move the enterprise from a single room to its current address in downtown Tucson, on Court Street (with a few other moves along the way).

Flin worked hard at El Charro until the early 1970s, when her health started to deteriorate. She turned over the reins of the restaurant to a sibling, but they opted instead to give it over to their daughter, the current owner and executive chef, Carlotta Flores. Flores, in turn, has created an El Charro empire, which spans four locations, as well as nationwide food delivery via Goldbelly.

Now, some restaurants claim their signature dishes based on popularity with customers; El Charro Café calls chimichangas one of its keystone meals because the OG matriarch, Monica Flin, actually has a claim to inventing them! The story goes that she accidentally dropped a large burrito, called a burro, into a pan that contained screaming-hot oil. Since there were youngsters around, she quickly bit back an actual swear word and instead exclaimed "chimichanga." Thus, the popular Tex-Mex dish (which technically isn't Tex-Mex, since it doesn't come from Texas) was born, and diners love it. One reviewer on Google declared their vegan version was "undeniably impressive," saying it was perfectly crispy, with no greasy sogginess. Another reviewer on Google called their chimichanga "a standout dish," remarking on how flavorful and filling it was.

Aside from being the home of the chimichanga, El Charro is also known for its carne seca, which has nearly 300 mentions on Google Reviews. The restaurant actually dries the beef for this dish right off its own downtown location's rooftop, using a triangular cage, lined with metal rods from which strips of beef hang in the hot Arizona sun. When the meat is ready, it's served up as part of a platter, accompanied by vegetables, rice, beans, and tortillas. A reviewer on Facebook who gave this dish a try for the first time said the flavor was amazing and commented on how unique the texture is.