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Since 1932, the tiny town of Rugby, North Dakota, has claimed to be the geographical center of North America. But as with most things, the truth depends on who’s telling it.

From its history of Native American healing traditions to the vibrancy of its signature style of Mexican cuisine, Tucson is the Southwestern food gem that soothes more than your appetite.

Strap on those skis or snowboards—and make the adventure even more meaningful this season by supporting local Latinx communities all throughout the winter wonderland of the North Star State.

Arizona is the place to be for those passionate about farm-to-table cuisine, craft beer, and locally made wine.

The Old Pueblo outdoes its neighbors with Sonoran specialties, locally owned restaurants, a dedication to native ingredients, and some great beer and Chinese food.

Disneyland itself is famously dry, but an abundance of options is only a short walk away.

Across the country, we wait eagerly for summer’s seasonal fruits, fried treats, and nostalgic snacks. These 50 are always worth the wait.

Overview

El Charro sits in a converted set of historic houses & buildings a block off Tucson’s old town district—the same location where it began serving food in 1922. We had lunch here, at a big old wooden table in a warmly decorated dining room. Ask to be seated inside, or else in the garden, if the weather’s amenable. It’s a bit cold and dim in the front of the restaurant. I had an amazing vegetarian burrito, stuffed with roasted veggies, avocado and a green corn tamale. The others went for the excellent chimichangas, reputedly invented here (you can read the story on the menu). The special-brewed beer, an amber, was great, the salsa verde addictive, the decor a great talking point.

No, you don’t have the wrong address—this is indeed a downtown office building and parking garage. But don’t be alarmed. Walk through the door, and Café Poca Cosa’s stylish interior tells you immediately that this is no boring strip mall Tex-Mex joint. Neither, fortunately, is it an overly precious nouvelle-cuisine bore. It’s been voted “Best Mexican” in Tucson by locals, who know that chimichangas were born in this desert town. That said: you’ll find no chimichanga combo-plate here. Chef-owner Suzana Davila changes the chalkboard menu twice a day. Her concentration is on fresh ingredients and innovative dishes that translate regional cuisines rather than betray tradition. National publications have sung her praises, but Ms. Davila still checks on her own customers and eats lunch in the dining room with everyone else. She’s a self-taught native of Guaymas who can concoct over two dozen varieties of mole. Complex sauces, refreshing drinks (such as pineapple-basil agua fresca), and Baroque masks in red niches await you. Come for a late lunch on a weekday if you want to avoid the justifiable crowds. Have an open mind (and mouth), and discover how great contemporary Mexican cooking can be. Tucson can be proud of its plentiful taco trucks and Sonoran hot dog stands, but Poca Cosa celebrates the variety of Mexican cuisine for when you want to sit down in style. Buen provecho!

In Old Town, locals often frequent the inviting, friendly Monica’s El Portal, a 36-year-old institution, housed in an unassuming building. There’s a range of traditional homemade dishes like blue corn chicken and a hearty green-chile stew. The carne adovada (New Mexican pulled pork) chimichanga is immensely satisfying. Arrive hungry and leave full.

Puns don’t get much better than “Sir Veza.” Around since the 1920s, this beer-loving, car-themed Tucson restaurant is run by the same people behind the venerable El Charro, the country’s oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant and birthplace of the chimichanga. There’s plenty of cerveza on tap, of course. On the food side, choose from quesadillas, nachos, tacos, and homemade tortilla soup. A riff on the area’s iconic Sonoran dog—renamed SirNoran—is wrapped with applewood-smoked bacon and placed on a bed charro beans in a fresh roll. There are even vintage driving video games for kids (and kids at heart). In addition to the two Tucson locations, there’s a Sir Veza in Terminal 4 at the Phoenix airport. All three of these taco garages are worth a test drive (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

On the northern edge of Tucson, you can drive through a condensed version of western North America’s ecosystem in about half an hour. On the way up the Mount Lemmon Highway (also known as “Catalina Highway” or “Sky Island Scenic Byway”), you traverse almost all of the different life zones you would encounter if you were to actually drive from Mexico to Canada: starting with the saguaro-studded Sonoran desert, up through grassland, junipers and oaks, pines, and finally a mixed-conifer forest with stands of aspen. You begin at about 2500 ft. and end up at almost 9100 ft. above sea level (about 760 to 2770 meters). In the summer, especially, southern Arizonans love this road: “thirty miles, thirty degrees cooler,” as the saying goes. When it’s 105 degrees down in the city, it’s a perfect 75 up on the mountain. In the winter, you can go skiing in the southernmost ski resort in the U.S.