Lupita’s Cafe

Can’t say you all were not forewarned. Lupitas is closed for good! It is always a shame when the basic tenant of good business is ignored. Good riddance to a horrible restaurant!

Cute neighborhood place. Food is tasty and reasonably priced. Service is fine. House margaritas are not the best-​they taste like they are made from a mix.

Good salsa, friendly service – decent food!
AMBIENCE: 2.5 stars. There are probably about 400 of these types of places in Tucson – strip mall Mexican food joints with colorful walls, etc.
SERVICE: 4 stars. Friendly, prompt lunch-​time service.
FOOD: 3 stars. Decent Mexican, but nothing great. I had the lunch special with a shredded beef taco and a chicken enchilada – both serviceable but nothing I would crave. The salsa is pretty darn good though! Chips are mediocre.
OVERALL: 3 stars. It gets the job done! I would definitely go back!

Lupita’s is our Tucson regular stop. We probably went here once a week when we lived in the area. There are a lot of vegetarian options which is really nice. One of the primary reasons I fell in love is because I can’t eat peppers and this place doesn’t overwhelm all of their food in bell peppers like so many other mexican places do, so I felt comfortable ordering a lot of different items. I have had the calbacitas con queso, the vegetarian burrito & the veggie enchiladas and all are delicious. They use a really good zucchini, tomato, corn & onion mix for all of their veggies options and it’s so good I often recreate it at home. Their red enchilada sauce is addicting as well, makes me want to come back all the time. I would recommend Lupita’s to anyone in Oro Valley or Marana

They used to have a lunch special which was great. As I recall you could get a Sonoran Hot Dog for about a buck fifty. The first time we went there for that special we were really impressed. This was in early 2012.
However… and a big HOWEVER, things have changed. We have been back for two dinners. One in March of 2012 and again in October of 2012. Very disappointed. The portions were skimpy and the food tasteless.
There are way too many other restaurants in town to waste time and money here again.

Although $ 1.99 for a margarita seems like a good deal, its not. There was maybe a splash of tequila in it. I got tortilla soup which should have been called chicken soup with tortilla shards and avocado. It tasted ok but I wanted tortilla soup not boring chicken soup! The chips and salsa and beef taco were all really good. My sister enjoyed her beef tamale and cheese enchilada with rice. Oh and our waitress was cracked out. Service was horrible and I swear she went to the bathroom 4 – 5 times in the 40 minutes we were there. She even sat at a table and put her head down right by our table! I don’t plan on going back and if I do it will be for beef tacos to go.

I went because some coworkers suggested it and its close to work. I got a breakfast burrito. For $ 7 I got a very dry bland egg and potato breakfast burrito that took them half an hour to prepare. The waitress was nice but I wouldn’t return.

This was possibly the worst service & food we’ve had in quite awhile. Our eggs were dry & overcooked considerably. The server never brought out the drink we asked for our little girl. There was only 2 other tables seated & the server seemed very overwhelmed yet I felt like we couldn’t get anything we asked for. They were also out of many of the liquors posted on their menu. We won’t be coming back to this restaurant!

I didn’t think this place was going to make it at first. Not because the food wasn’t good, but it’s a funky location. A Rubios had been there for several years and couldn’t make it.
Anyway, we mainly go there for breakfast. They only serve breakfast on weekends. It’s delicious and they have a decent variety of plates. The staff is friendly and the salsa is very good.

The margaritas are pathetic and the pollo asado is BLAND! My tip is go to Rosa’s instead. The only saving grace is the salsa.

I was to meet some friends at this place. I googled it and saw the picture of plated food. It looked like someone threwup on the plate! I wasn’t expecting much when I arrived. I met the friends and ordered a Carne-​Seca Burro plate. It turns out it was one of the BEST i’ve ever had. And I’ve lived in Tucson for 64 years and i’m a tuff critic of Mexican food. I told the very good service person that I would return again.
The prices and food and service were GREAT.

I’ve been coming here a lot lately. My food is always perfect and the service is fantastic.
I always order the combination which consists of 3 green corn tamales, beans, rice. They give you giant portions, so I always have food left over for the next day. The chips are always fresh, and the salsa is the best!

First off, the service is wonderful here! It’s always nice to have attentive wait staff and Lupita’s pulls it off. Also, as another person stated, the salsa is delicious. I’m not sure if it’s homemade, but it sure tastes like it.
I ordered the carne seca plate, which was enormous. There was enough for dinner with plenty left over for lunch the next day. The carne seca was flavorful and dried without being chewy and, quite simply, YUMMY! It came with rice and beans and some tortillas. Like I said, I stuffed myself and still had food left for lunch. The b/​f ordered some tacos (he’s so safe!), a shredded beef and a chicken, and said they were ok. He liked the shredded beef because it was juicy, but the chicken taco was a bit dry.
The ambiance is just plain fun in there! The decorations and mariachi music playing in the background make it a fun dining experience. Definitely worth going to.

The salsa is the real deal, and is alone a good reason to go to Lupita’s Café. When you add in the exceptional customer service, you’ll leave with a full belly and a huge smile. The fortune tacos are a fave. The only negative I have is that I like a little more heat in my enchilada sauce. It was very good none the less. The prices are very reasonable.

I’m fat because things are so delicious here. Well i’m not fat, but I will be soon. Newsflash — $ 2.50 Sonaran Dogs for a lunch special and it comes with a side of delicioso beans. Their salsa is bomb dot com slash amazing too. So rather than grabbing another McRib for lunch expand your palette with some Mexican goodness here. Lupita, i love you.

Solid pleasant Mexican place. You get a lot of chow for the buck. Salsa looked and tasted like what I make so it was great. Objective I swear. Good value, typical mi casa ambience, and muy bueno service. If you are in the area, I’d stop in. You won’t be disappointed.

We used a GroupOn coupon and enjoyed a very tasty lunch here for our first visit to Lupita’s.
It’s clean, brightly painted, and has friendly and attentive servers. The salsa was outstanding… one of the best I’ve tasted. The chips were warm. I love that.
I had the combo cheese enchilada and bean tostada, and corn tamale with refried beans and salad. All were delicious, especially the tamale that was sweet with corn. Yum.
Yes, this is Marana and we don’t get up real often but when we do Lupita’s will be on our radar screen for a return visit.

I’d been eyeing this place for over a year and finally talked my husband into going. We were impressed!
The salsa is made fresh every day, and you can tell. The portions for our lunch were large. My husband had a burrito and it came with all the fixings. Beans were fresh and tasty, rice was nothing special. I had tacos: The beef was great, and I had to try the potato taco. Wow, am I living under a rock? Where have potato tacos been all my life? This one was very subtle, the texture was delightful, and pouring on the fresh salsa made it sing.
Service was great, very family friendly. It was a weekend lunch, so we didn’t get anything to drink, but I am planning to return to try some of the delicious looking (and well priced) margaritas. This little place has a lot of value. We will be back!

Today I visited Lupita’s for lunch. Their chips and salsa were, how do I put it, somehow better than what you typically get almost everywhere else in Tucson, really fresh. I ordered a beef chimichanga (the lunch special). I was impressed that it came out enchilada style with sour cream and fresh guacamole because most places charge extra for those things. The food quality was very good and the service was outstanding. I only ate half of it, the portions were large. Even more impressive was that dessert (arroz con leche) was included too! Total damage was $ 10 including a drink, very reasonable. I will repeat.

Chile rellenos in the Tucson Area rated according to the Homeland Security Advisory System with three word descriptors.
Lupita’s Café: strange melted cheese. Orange
See photos.