Earlier this month, the James Beard Foundation (JBF) — presenters of the most prestigious food awards in the United States — announced it was anointing El Güero Canelo in Tucson as one of its America’s Classics. This distinction is its version of the Hall of Fame, and goes to restaurants older than 10 years that, as the Foundation notes on its website, are “distinguished by their timeless appeal [and] serve quality food that reflects the character of their communities.”
El Güero is most famous for its Sonoran dogs — what the rest of the country calls bacon-wrapped hot dogs, and which are now a staple at any sporting event or Latino festival across the American Southwest. “The Sonoran hot dog evinces the flow of culinary and cultural influences from the U.S. to Mexico and back,” the Foundation wrote, describing El Güero Canelo's star dish as such: “bacon-wrapped franks, stuffed into stubby bollilos, smothered with beans, onion, mustard, jalapeno [sic] sauce, and a squiggle of mayonnaise.”
The victory was significant for a couple of reasons. El Güero becomes just the third-ever Arizona restaurant deemed an America's Classic, and is one of the few Mexican spots ever bestowed with the title (the pioneering Oaxacan eatery Guelaguetza in Los Angeles is another). But as the JBF’s blurb hinted, it’s also a win for cuisine without borders — and Los Angeles has played a big role in the bacon-wrapped hot dog’s rise.
The meal is not a Mexican invention—Oscar Mayer advertised pre-made wieners as early as the 1950s. Around that time, though, restaurateurs in Hermosillo, Sonora, began selling them. Migrants took the hot dogs with them to Tucson, the main port of entry in the United States for sonorenses.