Los Jarritos

4832 S. 12th Ave., Tucson, AZ - (520) 746-0364

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Posted By Michael Stern on February 4, 2010 1:02 PM

Los Jarritos, a tiny 12th Avenue cafe, serves up such Sonoran classics as carne asada, nopalitos con chili (prickly pear cactus with chili colorado), and red or white menudo available in sizes from a pint to a gallon. Most meals are ordered to take out and tamales are sold by the dozen, but a couple of tables inside and a few on a small patio out front give regulars the opportunity to linger over long breakfasts of machaca and eggs or house-made chorizo and carry on conversations with each other and with strangers.

"Praise God for corn from Mexico," declared one tamale-eating customer when he saw us glowing with joy over the sunshine-and-butter brightness of Los Jarritos' green corn tamales, which are always on the menu. Once strictly a late-summer, early-fall dish, when local corn was ripe and chile was harvested, green corn tamales now are available year-around thanks to trucked-in corn from the south and chilies that are frozen after being roasted.

Another Los Jarritos denizen piped in to let us know how much work it is to make green corn tamales, pantomiming the effort it takes to carefully remove popping-fresh kernels from the cob, making sure you maximize the amount of juice retrieved, resulting in moist dough with earthy sweetness not found in ordinary masa milled from dried kernels. A member of the Los Jarritos staff told us that a few years ago they used to overnight green corn tamales to a restaurant in Connecticut for their once-a-week Mexican night. She recalled with bemused humor: "They paid the Fedex more than they paid us for the tamales!" Now back home in Connecticut, I am especially sorry the restaurant no longer gets the real thing from Tucson. Once you've known the soft, intertwined flavors of sweet corn, rich cheese and hot pepper steamed into opulent harmony, no other tamale quite measures up.

Overall Rating

Green Corn Tamales (6)

Red Chili

Chorizo & Eggs

Tortilla

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Posted By Tom Lewis on October 16, 2011 12:23 PM

On a recent trip to Tucson, I paid a visit to Los Jarritos. I was fortunate that a cooler than usual morning allowed me to eat at one of the outside tables near the front entrance. When I ordered, the friendly owner gave me some recommendations and I requested two green corn tamales with chilies and cheese and an order of refried beans.

An employee brought the food to my patio table and had just unwrapped the steaming tamales. The wonderful balance of the intense corn flavor and goodness of the rich chilies and cheese was perfect. Accompanying the tamales was a red salsa that added a nice boost in heat and flavor; not overpowering, just good. The refried beans were very good. I drank a cold Arizona Iced Tea that really hit the spot. The tamales were the best I have ever eaten. Definitely worth a side trip.

Overall Rating

Green Corn Tamales (6)

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