Hello everybody and welcome to another post on Boone Appétit. La Indita in Tucson, AZ has been a Tucson tradition since 1983. They are a Native Tohono O’Odham & Tarascan of Michoacan restaurant serving a mixture of traditional Mexican dishes, popular Indian Fry Breads and home style family recipes. So technically speaking they’re not strictly a Mexican restaurant, or maybe I’m just getting ready to ease you back into Sonoran style Mexican food! I love that Tucson has so many family owned restaurants that have been around for over thirty years. Ten years is an accomplishment for most restaurants. The recipes at La Indita are traditional and homemade , which I truly love. The Tarascan people were also the foes of the Aztec’s and had a huge empire themselves. Cuisine with history is also fun. You might be eating a dish a warrior ate before going into battle, who knows?
The new location of La Indita is on 722 North Stone Ave. in Tucson, Az 85705. This location boast a huge backyard for outdoor dining and as the sun sets, it can be a very charming spot. Because of the Native Tohono O’Odaham style I’d recommend anything with their fry bread. As you know I’m a huge fan of fry bread and love fry bread tacos, but many people choose to save the fry bread for dessert with honey or cinnamon and sugar. If you can’t decide, get both! If you’d like to try making your own fry bread check out my recipe here. I know I’m talking about dessert before the main course but I don’t want you to miss out on some Native American cuisine because you filled up on the main course!
On this trip I wanted to try their green chili, Tohono O’Odaham style, which is tender cubes of beef simmered in sauce. It’s not usually as spicy or soupy as the Mexican version. However, as I was browsing the menu I saw they had both Tarascan style tacos, which are tacos made from handmade corn tortillas filled with your choice of meat or beans then fried, and fry bread tacos. Yep, I had to go with the fry bread tacos! In my defense I was on a fry bread kick that week and wanted to try as many different ones as possible. My eating companion had the bean burrito, enchilada style, and we were served their homemade salsa in a carafe with chips. The salsa was old school Tucson, with a subtle spicy kick in the end and a lingering hint of Mexican oregano. The salsa was so good and reminded me of my childhood that I could have actually drank it!
The fry bread taco was a little messy and had to be eaten with a fork and knife, which in my opinion takes the fun out of it, but the flavors were all in the right spot and ready to be enhanced by the salsa. There’s something about a fry bread taco that I find interesting. At first it may seem that it’s not very much food, being only one taco, but ten minutes later you’re satiated and happy. I think next time though I’ll try the Tarascan tacos. The bean burrito was a huge hit as well. I’d say you can’t go wrong with just about anything on the menu. After 39 years of cooking I think they got it down!
If you’re looking for something that’s a little different from the usual Mexican fare, then I highly recommend La Indita restaurant. They also have a large selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes on their menu. Try the Calabacitas , they’re so good. It’s squash cooked with chilies, tomatoes, onions, corn and topped with cheese, ( unless you want it Vegan). I hope in my next post to give you recipes for Calabacitas and a salsa so keep your eyes open. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the box below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. If you’ve been to La Indita please let us know what you think. Until next time, Boone Appétit!
