Best Burgers in Tucson: Sonoran Flavors Guide

The best burgers in Tucson cluster along the Sun Link streetcar line: the University of Arizona area and Main Gate Square, the bars of Fourth Avenue, downtown around Congress Street and the Mercado District on the west side. For Sonoran flavors, head to the south side, where South 12th Avenue holds the city’s deepest run of Mexican kitchens.

In 2015, Tucson became the first city in the United States named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, on the strength of heritage crops and a food culture that straddles the border with Sonora. Its signature street food is not a burger but the Sonoran hot dog: wrapped in bacon, tucked into a soft bolillo and topped with pinto beans, tomatoes, onions, mayonnaise, mustard and jalapeño salsa. Mesquite-grilled meat and local chiles, including the tiny wild chiltepin, are the flavors a burger kitchen here gets measured against.

Burgers in Tucson: key facts

• Areas to explore: Main Gate Square, Fourth Avenue, Congress Street downtown, the Mercado District and South 12th Avenue.
• Local specialty: the Sonoran hot dog, the city’s defining street food.
• Flavors to look for: mesquite grilling, roasted green chiles and chiltepin heat.
• Getting around: the Sun Link streetcar connects the university, Fourth Avenue, downtown and the Mercado District.
• Money: prices are posted in US dollars (USD) before tax.
• What our guides check: a named signature burger, a dated menu price and proof the venue still operates.

Every guide we publish on Tucson is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. For other cities, browse all our burger restaurant guides.