TV Restaurants

Is El Charro Café Still Open? Food Paradise Update (Tucson, AZ)

Food Paradise, Season 4 Tucson, Arizona

Current status

Open

As of October 2026, El Charro Café is open — confirmed via Yelp, September 2026.

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for the downtown Court Avenue location was updated in September 2026 with over 2,500 reviews, and TripAdvisor shows visitor reviews from July-August 2026. How we decide a status →

What happened after Food Paradise?

Food Paradise's 2013 'Mexican Food Paradise' episode (Season 4, Episode 20) featured El Charro Café, a Tucson restaurant built around Sonoran-style Mexican dishes, according to Wikipedia's entry on the business (revised January 1, 2026). The restaurant has been owned by the Flores family since 1922 and is described as the oldest Mexican restaurant owned by the same family in the U.S., according to the same entry; the business is currently run by Carlotta Flores, a grandniece of the founder, according to The Takeout. Yelp's listing for the downtown Court Avenue location was updated in September 2026 with more than 2,500 reviews, and the location's own website, checked the same month, listed hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily alongside a takeout-ordering option, according to elcharrocafe.com.

The episode Food Paradise, Season 4

Episode 20
Aired
Title: Mexican Food Paradise · What was featured: Sonoran Mexican dishes at the nation's oldest family-run Mexican restaurant
How Food Paradise restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 4 Food Paradise

Season 4: 134 of 199 still open · 12 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 26 Season 4 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 311 N Court Ave

All 121 TV restaurants in Arizona →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-charro-cafe-tucson-9
  2. thetakeout.com https://www.thetakeout.com/2088361/oldest-family-owned-mexican-restaurant-el-charro-cafe/
  3. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Charro_Caf%C3%A9
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Record fp-0343 · checked by Cal Marchetti.