Neighbor Roy and I dined at Rosa’s one Friday in November 2021. It’s on Fort Lowell in a shopping center. Upon entering, we were seated right away. Many of those who followed us were not as lucky as the place filled up quickly. We were immediately served chips and salsa then waited for our server to take our order.

And waited. And waited some more. Finally, I flagged down the host, who wore a cowboy hat and had his short sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. I asked him if we could order, please. He in turn flagged down our waiter.

After perusing the very extensive menu, Roy ordered a chimichanga. And his usual hot tea. His Chimi came with a choice of ground or shredded beef, chili con carne, carne seca, chicken or carne asada. I think he ordered shredded beef as the filling.

I ordered three ground beef enchiladas with rice and beans. These are beef in a corn tortilla, baked with cheese topping, Spanish rice and re-fried beans, with garnish on the side. I also ordered a margarita with salt.

I’ll let Roy tell you about his experience.

“We dined at one of Tucson’s oldest Mexican restaurants–in business at the same address for 53 years. Opening the door is like opening the door in Mexico–a blaze of color and textures. We were seated and given a colorful menu complete with pictures of the items. I selected my usual Chimichanga enchilada style–and hot tea. And almost unbelievably for a Tucson Mexican restaurant–they had hot tea ! Our server was slow, taking our order with seeming disinterest–and followed through with ignoring our request. They lost a saguaro with that attitude. When our meal arrived, it exceeded expectations–portions are very generous and about $3.00 less than in comparable Mexican restaurants. My lunch was generous and about the most flavorful in town. I took more than 1/2 home for another full meal.

Were it not for the disinterested server, I would have given Rosa a full 4 saguaros, however so bad was the service–I would give it only 3 saguaros.”

My three enchiladas were excellent, as were the Spanish rice and re-fried beans. But when it came to wanting our check, I had to wave down the host again to get our server to bring us our check. The guy was clearly avoiding us. Very maddening. Like Roy, I would have given Rosa’s a four saguaro rating, but knocked it down to three for inattentive server.

Rosa’s Mexican Food Restaurant
1750 E Fort Lowell Rd #164,
Suite 164,
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 325-0362