Maya Quetzal

I passed by the place many times on our treks to 4^th Ave, but we never really visited until we went a random Wednesday evening.
The food was alright. It was a bit bland for my tastes, and we tried a few dishes. The best thing we had was their dessert mole. It was very unique and delicious. That alone would bring me back, but I don’t even remember what I had for dinner as it was that forgettable.

Guess I had higher expectations, so was disappointed. Food was bland, service was so-​so. Tried it once, so now I know. Will keep looking for a good pupusa somewhere else. :(

My family and I decided to come here after searching our mobile Entertainment book. We really didn’t know where to go as we were just visiting for the day and were hungry after visiting the Titan Missile.
We didn’t want Mexican, pizza or the normal fare. I saw this place that said they had Guatemalan food. None of us have ever had this kind of food, which we are a combination of Colombian, Chinese and Black.
This looked to be in part of the downtown of Tucson. The ambiance looked cool, clean and bright. Our server was super nice and recommended some traditional Guatemalan dishes. My husband and I both got chicken (pollo) dishes. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly remember the names of the dishes, and I did not take pictures of the menu. My dish was maybe called Pollo En Crema. My husband’s dish, I think, was Pollo De Pepian. Each of my husband’s and my dishes were in the $ 11 – 12 range, I think.
Both our kids had Pupusa dishes where one Pupusa was filled with chicharon & queso (pork & cheese) and the other with Loroco. I’m really not sure what Loroco is. The Pupusas are sort of like Colombian arepas, but not. The plates (not the appetizers) are around $ 10 each.
My kids got horchatas to drink and my husband and I got fountain drinks. All are refillable.
Our Entertainment coupon gave us 20% off, which made our meal about $ 46 before tip. The food was absolutely fabulous!!! It was perfect and we pretty much gobbled up all the food.
This place is very cute, small and our server was SUPER friendly. My husband is really picky about his Latin food, and he was very pleased. Thank you!!!
If we are in the Tucson area, we’ll come by again.

Maya Quetzal is one of my Tucson favorites. Their specialty is Central American soul food. Nothing pretentious or flashy — just some really tasty, savory, and filling home-​cooked meals. MQ is reliably good — it’s not a complete meal without rice, beans, and some slaw on the side.
Their location on 4^th is convenient. The restaurant remodeled not too long ago. Despite its humble appearance, it’s clean and homey :)
Endless chips and salsa, delicious horchata, and fast and friendly service are some of the perks.

The new owners are very welcoming, and so happy to have their very own restaurant. The menu will remain the same, with new additions:) Our table of 4 tried the fruit and nut stuffed pepper with a white sauce for an appetizer, and we all loved it. You can’t beat the frosted beer mug, especially after a Meet Me At Maynard’s Monday night walk.

One of the best taste Central America food restaurant in Tucson Az. The atmosphere is like in home, fine and courteous service. Food super fresh and incredible taste.

Maya Quetzal was a really cool hole in the wall, I had the ‘pupusas’ there, hoping they were like what I’ve had before, but unfortunately they weren’t. They were fried and they skimped the chicharrón, but the curtido was great!
I haven’t tried anything but that, they were delicious even though it wasn’t what I was expecting.

I used a coupon so that removes some of the sting. The food was okay. Nothing that I would want to go back for. The menu looked exciting.
The food was kind of funky and bland.
Place is very simple and chilly on a cold day.

I really love Maya Quetzal, and I think it’s a very special part of Fourth Avenue. This is very clearly a family owned business, and I really like it that way.
The food is delicious, the décor unassuming, and the wait staff incredibly polite and helpful. I’ve tried a few different platters, but I personally love the mole and the pupusas de loroco.
I know there are lots of other great options on Fourth, but I think Maya Quetzal is worth a shot!

We walked in here on a whim and I have to say I regret being spontaneous. The interior of the establishment was below average so i was expecting this to be one of those whole on the wall great food places. No. The service was good nothing out of the ordinary. The food however was below average at best. I wouldn’t be so upset if the prices of the food matched the service and food quality. So overpriced for food that I wouldn’t think twice about.

I really love this place… Fantastic food!!! Every dish is served with black beans, rice, and a vinegar cole slaw… Seriously amazing :) I will definitely be going back :)

Fantastic pupusas de loroco. And the chili relleno with spinach tasted just like in central America. Friendly and attentive service, good prices and a cute patio.

I went in here a little skeptical and I’m glad I went anyways. The food was great. The staff wasn’t too friendly but there wasn’t a moment all night where I didn’t have my glass of water filled. They were on top of everything! I’d go back again in a heartbeat.

We haven’t been here in 20 years. Not sure why not. We used to come here years ago when we first arrived in Tucson. Been trying so many other places and 4^th Ave. had not been on our radar for a long time. We had just come back from Tucson Meet Yourself and decided to go back and give it another try. We always like to try ethnic restaurants that are local and support them as much as we can. This is Guatemalan food and a bit different from the Mexican restaurants with their sauces and spices. I had a carne dish with a really wonderful Mole sauce with rice and a small cabbage salad. Hubby had the chili relleno which was a bit different stuffed with spinach and spices. Both very tasty. It’s nice to see 4^th Ave. busy with people walking around and taking the street car.

I honestly love this place. The food is basic: same sauces with different meat options which works perfectly for them cause it lets them focus their culinary skills on just a few dishes and techniques. It pays off. I’ve had just about every option on the menu and have had almost not bad experience with the food itself. Its also a nice hole in the wall, sparse but colorful. The service on the other hand could be better and it sucks having to pay for each refill for limonade. I don’t know where there aren’t more customers, considering how good the food is.

Well, it was okay. Not bad, but nothing special. I love supporting local businesses (ok, ok, Starbucks too) and I was excited to try the Guatemalan cuisine. We had the sangria (sweet, but okay), queso pupusas (tasty), chicken tacos (typical rolled taquitos, nothing special), beef pipian (tasty), chili relleno (also tasty) and a tamal negro (a little too dense and too sweet).
Glad we gave it a try but just did not have the wow factor I was hoping for.

I must preface this review by saying Maya Quetzal used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Tucson. I’ve been telling people for years that their rellenos were the best in town, but I hadn’t eaten here in a while, and now I feel like I may owe a lot of people apologies.
We specifically wanted rellenos and came in on a Thursday night when there weren’t many people. One woman was working as hostess, waitress, busboy, cashier. After a few moments waiting, she came out and told us to sit anywhere.
Nachos arrived quickly. They were stale. I know things don’t keep as well during the monsoon, but stale nachos is really a cardinal sin in this town. Throw them in the oven, at least! The salsa, however, is really good. Very spicy.
We got an appetizer, which was a plantain dough filled with cheese. It was disappointing. It looked as if it ought to be crispy, but it was soggy. It was also drizzled with a mayonaise based sauce that was unpleasant to me, but I managed to scrape most of that off. The flavors just didn’t go together, and the texture was off. There was a small cabbage salad on the plate, which was not bad.
The rellenos arrived fairly soon, but they were not the rellenos I have been recommending. They were visibly soggy: greasy to the eye and the touch. The breading was soft and mushy. The filling was spilling out everywhere: half the relleno wasn’t even wrapped in pepper. The tomato sauce tasted like it came from a can. The plate also includes more of the cabbage salad, some plain rice, and some plain black beans.
Maybe the thermostat on their fryer needs to be checked? What happened to the amazing rellenos they used to serve here? If this is their new standard, the whole place could use some revamping.

Late night Saturday, Groupon about to expire in hand. Risking throwing the money down the drain, the decision was easy… use it or lose it.
I’m the type that is open minded, and Guatemalan food was one that I have never had before. If this is a representative of Guatemalan food, then sadly to say, I will have a hard time repeating it.
Don’t get me wrong, the deal was great. The drinks were great. The salsa and chili relleno was great. The chili verde was great. Pass on the side dishes, pass on the mole, and pass on the desserts.
Groupon, you did it again. You sold me on a place that I normally would not go to, and I bit.

First went here after getting a
gift card and decided to try it out. Well worth it!
In a city like to Tucson, it is nice to find cuisine with a latin flare that is different from everything else. The warm flavors of the corn and pumpkin they use are fab!
Very small place on 4^th ave, maybe 10 tables total… but really fun for a casual date since you are right in the middle of all the querky-​ness of 4^th ave.
My Faves: Chiles rellenos, sangria

This is definitely an interesting little place to visit, especially if you’re on the search for something new or international. I’d never tried Guatemalan food before, so I have nothing to compare this experience to, but I enjoyed everything I ate. We started off with a round of pollo quesadillas and cheese pupusas. Well, I never eat tried the quesadilla because I couldn’t stop eating the pupusa! It was delicious. I would describe it as mix between an arepa and a sope but the maize is much softer and but perfectly crispy on the outside. I will be back for more pupusas… yum! By the time my entrée came, I was quite full. I ordered the puerco pepian which was braised pulled pork in a mole sauce served with rice and coleslaw. It was quite tasty; very mild in flavor and spice but good.
The service was somewhat slow but not a deal breaker. It appears to be a family run place with only our server and her aunt working the floor. So if you go in for dinner keep in mind that the service will mostly likely be slow, you can’t have separate checks, and you pay at the counter after dinner.
It’s nice to have a different variation of a tortilla in Tucson.