El Gorrion

«Everything on the menu is good. Try the bean burritos.»
That was the chirp I received from another patron who had arrived with a pal for an afternoon lunch. Wow, I thought, glowing endorsement and I haven’t even placed my order yet.
In fact, I had been taking a look at the skinny menu offerings to try and decide what I wanted.
It’s mainly a surf and turf taqueria. It seems the carne asada tacos are the go to items here, along with the shrimp tacos and enchiladas.
They also have chimichangas, a number of different soups (caldos) and fish and shrimp dishes on the menu. They also have Mexican-​style steaks. And they serve alcohol. Most items or less than $ 10, though the oceanic eats cost around $ 12-​$ 15.
I do want to daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m., and they rotate out daily specials like machaca and rolled tacos. I hear they are still running their $ 1 taco Tuesdays.
I was full of anticipation.
El Gorrion had sat in my bookmarks for more than a year. I did not want to accidentally order a dud menu item.
Plus, it was my first meal of the day, so I didn’t want to ruin that either.
I went sampler style — shrimp tacos, carne asada tacos and a bean and cheese burrito (thank you for the recommendation stranger).
The carne was soft and well seasoned. The shrimp tacos were not too heavy on the batter, though they did put mustard on the tacos. Along with a little bit of refried beans. Both of which were strange additions. The beans were nice though, but the mustard tasted like an accident. It left the shrimp tacos tasty more like corndogs.
The damage: about 15 bucks, with leftovers.
So yeah, fairly cheap. And speedy. I had my meal less than 10 minutes after ordering.
Need to feed a family of four? You can do it with $ 25.
Need a meal on the run? For a hearty dish, you can be in and out in less than 30 minutes and $ 10 short.
It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s no-​nonsense rustic Mexican.
My meal was fresh and mostly delicious. Accompanied by the bar offerings (pickled onions, guacamole sauce, hot salsas, limes, cucumbers, fresh onions and cilantro) it was a hefty serving and full of flavor.
The meal comes with chips, which was a nice treat. You don’t have to pay extra for those. The tortillas were thin and full of flavor — not like those bulky, chunky tortillas. Despite being then, they held together very well. Nice stretch and pull.
Honestly, I’m surprised and I have more reviews. And more recent reviews. Granted, there’s a lot of competition along the road. And this restaurant is in somewhat of an obscure location that doesn’t get a lot of general traffic. Still, it was steady stream of traffic to the schedule little restaurant. Families and people who look to be on their lunch breaks mostly.
So, yeah — if you’re in the area, I would highly recommend you give it a try.

These guys run a food truck around southern Tucson that is pretty good for a quick bite to eat. Not the best by any means but it’s cheap and pretty good.

Reminds me of a little neighborhood eatery. Not fancy, but the food that came out was FABULOUS and the presentation made my mouth water. You give your order at a inside window. Waitress was delightful and very helpful. YES I highly recommend El Gorrion.

Mexican food was Great! service was not the best.

Disappointed. Have to go to window to order. Noisy. Dirty. Chile rellanos mediocre at best.

Forget what you know about the best Mexican restaurants in T-​town. This little sleeper is good enough to show off to out-​of-​town visitors. I work on the South side and eat here about twice a week, mostly form their food trucks. Although I have never been to the restaurant on 12^th Ave, there is no reason to think that food there would be less tasty than what they sell from the truck. My favorite thing to get here is the Mexican steak, which is a special on Wednesday. It is pretty much a slow-​cooked beef stew with all the Mexican spices in it. Can’t even begin to describe the wonderful flavor and tenderness of the meat. Most of my co-​workers love their refried beans.
I’ll finish this review by saying that if I’m going to drive to the South side for Mexican food, this would be my destination. Everything else is just hype !!! (writing this review makes me look forward to having their food for lunch tomorrow).

Great food. Every time I take the drive to Tucson, Az I always make a point of hitting this place for lunch…

This place is so good! Absolutely authentic Mexican food.

Easy to get to, cheap and great food. What more do you want?
Surprised that this place isn’t busier. My husband works at the casino and occasionally they bring a food truck over. He is a great fan of their burritos and insisted we go try the actual restaurant. Glad we did. We’ve been going ever since.

I have selected this place as my weekend breakfast place. Specially when I had been up all night. The service is friendly and the flavors are great. A big plus is their salsa bar, wonderful flavors to compliment you food.

I should be here at least once a week! After not visiting this taco/​seafood shop for 9 years (I have no idea why), I stopped here last week and it was AWESOME! The Cabeza Tacos are absolutely the best in town.
For under $ 6 you can have 3 delicious tacos and 2 beers! I am craving these tacos right now! Sun-​Thurs: $ 1.25 Bud Lights. Everyday: 3/​$ 3 Cabeza Tacos.
Please give these guys a visit!

This is authentic Sonora Mexican food… my favorite. The food has been consistent here for the 10 years I’ve been visiting and

The calabacitas plate was undeniably tasty; I hope this entrée sticks around after Lent. The beans, rice, tortillas, chips were all pretty bland, but the salsa bar was well-​equipped to make them tastier. The enchilada-​style asada burrito scores points for good flavor and a $ 5 pricetag. The shrimp cocktail and tacos were good, but not worthy of more descriptive adjectives. It was a satisfactory, if unmemorable, meal.
Service was fast and friendly. Their menu is limited and leans towards seafood, but they seem to have a few interesting specials.

I’ve been going to El Gorrion for more than 10 years. I went to school at Pueblo High School across the street and presently work there so I’ve been to this place many, many times.
I always enjoy the carne asada tacos, that’s probably my favorite dish. Nothing special, but I really enjoy eating them with the fresh salad bar which includes their two house salsas with limes, onions, cucumbers & jalapeños. This makes for great toppings on any dish. Chips are served with every meal.
Their tortas with fries is also one of my favorites. Their daily lunch specials are a nice bargain. Their freshly squeezed lemonade or horchata a very good. (No Refills) There is free refills on the soft-​drinks.
I’m not a seafood type of guy but from what I’ve heard it’s delicious.
The atmosphere is your typical mexican setting with your favorite latin hits on the background. Not good for groups larger than 10. The staff is courteous and fast. Hardly any wait from when you place order to when you get your food.

Chile rellenos in the Tucson Area rated according to the Homeland Security Advisory System with three word descriptors.
El Gorrion: includes two balls. Blue
See photos.

Good prices and great food. This is some real Mexican food and you will not find a healthy meal on the menu. The only down side is the location. Try it out and i am sure you will love it. The shredded beef is mouth watering!