Adios Old Pueblo.

As the saying goes,”All good things must come to an end” so my time in Tucson is ending. Before I depart on an eastward trajectory, hopscotching from states that aren’t on New York’s list of “banned” states, I’d like to dispel a couple rumors I’ve heard while in Tucson. One is that The Tucson Tamale Company has gone out of business and the other being that you can’t get a good slice of pizza in town.

For anyone that doesn’t know what a tamale is, here is my explanation. A Tamale is a corn meal dough (masa), that can have spiced meat, vegetables, cheese or even something sweet, rolled inside. This mixture is then rolled inside a corn husks or banana leaf (depends on where you live) and steamed to cook. In many households in Tucson, it is a holiday tradition to get together and make a batch of tamales to share with your friends. This is no simple undertaking and requires a little army. Sometimes you’ll go through 10 or more bushels of corn and pounds of meat, green chilis and cheese. Everyone in the family has a job and the whole thing is usually orchestrated by the matriarch of the family who directs the operation to perfection. The fruits of this labor can be enjoyed for months to come as tamales freeze very well. I remember around Christmas you would see people selling tamales out of their cars at the grocery stores. We all had our favorite vendor and tamale, I loved the green corn tamale with cheese. Now in days it’s possible to have Tucson style tamales shipped right to your door direct from The Tucson Tamale Company. Their tamales are full of flavor and come in many varieties from savory to sweet. I find their tamales to be on the small side but I’ll just have three instead of two! I love that they ship anywhere in America, so like La Mesa Tortillas, I can get my Mexican food fix if I become desperate. I say desperate because shipping of tamales can be expensive as they have to come next day delivery. To clarify things Tucson Tamale did close their original shop on Broadway, but two remain open, one on Tanque Verde Road and one on Oracle Road. If you’re interested you can check them out here.

Next rumor is the Pizza thing. I’m totally aware of the fact that pizza outside of New York City just isn’t the same. There’s people up in New Haven Connecticut that’ll tell you pizza in NY isn’t as good as theirs, and let’s face it a Philly Cheesesteak anywhere but Philly isn’t the same. So that being said one has to make very little adjustments to enjoy a good slice of pizza in Tucson. I had heard about a place called Ny Pizza Department (NYPD) from a kid at a loading dock that saw my NY License plates. He told me that the owner had come to Tucson to play Football for the University Of Arizona and stayed after college and opened up a New York style pizza joint. That of course piqued my interest so I set off on another quest.

NYPD is located in a tiny strip mall on Tucson’s eastside just at the start of restaurant row on Tanque Verde. From the outside it’s nothing special to look at. Once you walk through the doors with a little imagination you could be walking into a pizza joint in Greenwich Village. It’s dark woody interior reminds me a little bit of John’s Pizza on Bleeker Street. You have Ny pictures on the walls and a few transplanted New Yorkers eating their slices. I know these customers grew up in NY because they all are doing the classic “folding” of their slice. Even though I’ve been in Ny over 20 years I still like to eat my pizza in the “Christmas Tree” style, where I bite off both corners of the crust first. I mean is there really any wrong way to eat a slice? Ok you’re right using a knife and a fork, but I’ll even let that slide if it’s a really messy slice.

The pizza at NYPD was great and the slices were huge! I have to apologize because I was so involved in the whole process that I actually ate half of my slice before remembering to take a picture , and trust me a half eaten slice doesn’t make for a good photo! I went with a friend and I ordered the Stromboli and they ordered a Calzone. Both of these items were also enormous, I’m talking football sized Calzones stuffed with cheese. The crust is a hard thing to master outside of NY. I’ve heard it said it’s the water or the elevation. One restaurant in Tucson , Leopaldo’s, actually had dough shipped from NY to make their pizzas yet it still wasn’t exactly perfect. NYPD has been as close as it gets for me. Their sauce was also very tasty with just enough zing to cut through all the cheese. I will be going back and can recommend this place to anyone without hesitation. To be fair there are two more pizza joints that have withstood the test of time. One is New York Pizza on East Broadway. This place opened up when I was back in high school ( so like 5 years ago or so…cough…) and it’s still going strong and was the first place to serve slices instead of the whole pie. The second honorable mention is Mamma’s Famous Pizza. They have grown to four restaurants and have had a faithful following for 40 years! Remember these places also serve other Italian dishes so give them a try.

The Old Pueblo is the name given to Tucson back in 1775 when the Spanish created a walled city and called it,Presidio San Agustin de Tucson the name Pueblo usually referred to American Indian villages. Tucson’s population grew enough that it became a village and people started calling it a “Pueblito” or small village that eventually lead to Tucson being named The Old Pueblo. It is now a term of endearment used by the locals and with that in mind I say Adios Old Pueblo, until we meet again. You will always have a dear place in my heart.

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If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the box below. If you might have any recipes for Tamales please share them with us! Until next time, Boone Appétit!