“You don’t have to have elegance to have good food,” says Christina Figueroa.
Figueroa is one of many people who come from the East Side of Tucson to enjoy the food at Taqueria Pico de Gallo. Now 22 years old, it was started by Nacho Delgado who now co-manages the restaurant, as well as the adjoining Paleteria, with his daughter Diana Delgado.
Using recipes passed down from his mother, including their famous tortillas, he has built a successful business which now includes workers from three generations of the Delgado family tree. The Taqueria, however, is only one of many restaurants in a city that is cooking up a wide-ranging reputation as the place to dine in Southern Arizona.
According to Micha Leyva, a frequent customer at Sue’s Fish & Chips, who hails from Sierra Vista, the restaurants are “the most famous part of South Tucson.”
Not only are they famous but they are also extremely important for the city’s economy. The 21 eating establishments within the city limits are credited with bringing in almost 20 percent of South Tucson’s tax revenues for the fiscal year 2009-10. That means that out of a total tax revenue stream of $1.8 million, $364,580 of those dollars came from restaurant sales.
There are a number of things that make these eateries such an important part of the community. Restaurants provide 9.8 percent of employment within the state of Arizona, according to the Arizona Restaurant Association. The industry employs about 12.5 million nationally.
Not only that but for every dollar spent at a restaurant in a given community, there is an estimated $1.08 more contributed to the community in which the establishment is located.
There are many reasons that people come out here for the food.
“South Tucson’s ethnic character is evident in its widely known Mexican restaurants,” reports the Arizona Commerce Department’s community profile of South Tucson.
The authentic Mexican cuisine of the town is a very large factor.
Vernon and Aileen Baker live on the East side of Tucson and have been customers of the Taqueria Pico de Gallo for more than 20 years. Easy, cheap yet great food is what brings them here, as well as the environment.
“It’s kinda like a taco truck inside a building,” says Vernon.
Natalia Felix, also from the East Side, says “I love Mexican food so I always come here to eat cause you can’t really get that there.”
When asked why there is little emphasis on decorating and keeping the atmosphere low key, Delgado responded that it’s because, “Our top priority is the food.”
The number of people coming out here is so big that it is even masking the economic realities of the area.
“There is no recession, people are eating all the time,” says Gen. (Ret.) Hector Figueroa.
While restaurant customers might still be going out to eat, the numbers tell a different story as far as the recession is concerned. The median non-family income in South Tucson is $14,000 annually. The city earned $471,336 less in revenue for fiscal year 2010-11 when compared to the year before. This forced a cut in city expenditure by $473,336.
In these tough economic times, the restaurant industry is proving to be more important than ever for the city of South Tucson. Even now, going into any one of these establishments one can see that their reputation for good service and especially good food is doing the industry, and in turn the city, a great service.
