El Charro Cafe

About the Business

Specialties

The Home of the Chimichanga Our Legendary Tia Monica Flin, is well-known as "The Inventor of The Chimichanga." While frying her now famous El Charro ground beef tacos, she accidentally dropped a burro into the frying pan and when the oil splashed up she was about to lash out a common Spanish cuss word starting with "Ch" but because she was amongst her young nieces and nephews, changed it to "Chimichanga", the equivalent of "thingamajig." Thankfully for all of us, Monica was a controlled and creative cuss.

History

Established in 1922.

Established in 1922 by our beloved Tia Monica Flin, El Charro Café of Tucson, Arizona is The Nation's Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. Our Tia Monica, a true entrepreneur and burgeoning chef, came to Tucson via France in the 1800's when her father Jules, a famous stone-mason, was commissioned to build the city's pristine St. Augustine Cathedral. Jules, whose signature work can be seen throughout Tucson's Historic District, also built the families residence in 1896. This same building is now home to the Original Downtown El Charro Café location on Court Avenue. Today, Carlotta Flores, our chef and great grandniece of Monica, carries on the tradition of Tia Monica! Under her guidance, El Charro has become one of the most critically acclaimed restaurant brands in the USA!

Meet the Business Owner

Business owner information

Carlotta F.

Business Owner

El Charro's current chef is Carlotta Flores, the great-grandniece of original owner Monica Flin.She has helped El Charro become what it is today: a critically acclaimed restaurant with all kinds of feature articles in publications such as Bon Appétit, Gourmet Magazine and recently the New York Post, among other publications and television stations like the Food Network and the Travel Channel.