Salsa and Tequila Challenge

I am always so impressed by the food festivals in Tucson, and the Salsa and Tequila Challenge did not disappoint. I was so impressed by number of restaurants participating. The entire bottom floor of La Encantada, and the second floor around the courtyard was filled with booths! All of the food and drinks were excellent. My personal favorite drink was Taste of Thailand from Ritz-​Carlton Dove Mountain, a sweet curry tequila cocktail which won two awards. It won, Best Sweet Cocktail, and 2^nd Place for People’s Choice. My favorite salsa was a Garlic Habanero. Yum!

As one of the volunteers of this event as well as many other events around Tucson, I can say that the Salsa & Tequila Challenge is one of the most underrated events in all of Tucson. As a former volunteer for the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA), this is one of many events they put on each year, and it is definitely one of my favorite!
Imagine yourself at a shopping center with hundreds of parking spaces surrounding many different stores from Frost Gelato to Crate and Barrel. You can imagine how crowded the shopping center can get. Now imagine that shopping center where the center courtyard is a dance floor with a stage in front, and all the surrounding walkways both on the lower and upper levels have tables where each restaurant displays their amazing salsa and/​or tequila. If you haven’t been to the Salsa & Tequila Challenge before, the scene would be unimaginable for you to picture. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t do it! SPLASH as well as the Four Corners Festival also takes part in La Encantada, but neither of those events is anywhere close to exciting and popular as the Salsa and Tequila Challenge.
Tickets went from $ 40 to $ 45 depending on when you purchased them. I do NOT suggest waiting until the day of the event to purchase for two reasons: 1) Prices go up by a certain amount (in 2014, it went up to $ 55), and 2) the event may be sold out before you can purchase tickets. Yes, you can argue that ticket prices are high, but all the money raised from such ticketed events go towards supporting arts education in Southern Arizona among other great deeds that SAACA does; without art, then the world becomes black and gray, and who wants to live in a colorless world??? Certainly not me!
I can’t speak for all the other volunteers because we all had different duties that day. For the most part, they were standing at different parts of the venue to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Since tequila was being served, you had to be wary of the fact that some people could get drunk and cause a ruckus. I had the very unique (and exhausting I might add) job of running around to different tables and delivering needed supplies. I probably ran about three miles that night to enable the restaurants to make all of our patrons happy; I do not recall seeing a single person causing trouble in any way, shape, or form. If anything, the only people I really did not like were the chefs from Mouth of the South. Holy geez they should probably change their name to Big Mouth from the South instead. Every time I passed by their table, they would always be yelling at all the patrons to come try their salsa. One of their employees (who wore a Phoenix Suns hat, but is a fan of some other NBA team) went out to the elevator and directed patrons to their table since the bags of tortilla chips were on the opposite side of the shopping center. He even complained to me about that, but sorry dude I’m just a volunteer. I don’t make the decisions; I follow through on them. They were also the least thankful when I served them that night. I know these are strong words especially from a volunteer who is not in Tucson anymore, but I hope they don’t come back to future SAACA events. They do NOT exhibit the professionalism that is typically seen at SAACA events, which are normally family-​friendly. I felt bad for Penca for having their table next to Big Mouth from the South; one table hardly ever spoke, and the other table hardly ever shut up.
This was seriously one of the most tiring events I ever volunteered at, and it’s not just because I suffered a freak injury just 11 days prior to the event. With about 1,500 patrons eating an endless amount of salsa, it was difficult to navigate myself around the crowded shopping center; carrying water bottles and other supplies with a fragile arm didn’t make things any easier for me. Yeah I don’t know how I did it, but I did it. Not only that, but we were also running short on water bottles and ice. I found myself playing a real-​life video game that night where I was collecting water bottles in a dark room with minimal light sources, running deep within the confines of La Encantada, and exploring the dark caverns behind Crate and Barrel to supply both ice and water to the thirsty patrons.
Awards were given out for People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice; you can find the results at
(spoiler: Big Mouth from the South won People’s Choice).
It was one of the best events I ever volunteered at, and I’m glad I got to experience it before I moved out. Since I’m not in Tucson anymore, please feel free to enjoy this event as well as other SAACA events for me! You WON’T be disappointed at all! I also encourage you to volunteer for them as well as they are one of the best organizations I’ve ever done volunteer work for. The staff is friendly and always appreciative whether you volunteer for them year-​round or just attend an event without spending a penny.

This is a must try for everyone in Tucson! It was so much fun and worth the ticket price! I went with a couple of friends and their 6 year old. I’m very glad we brought water with us. They had bottles, but you had to look for booth that still had them.
My friends’ son had fun even though the event isn’t as kid friendly as it could be. There was plenty of food for him to try and the booth with the tequila snow cones thankfully had virgin options for the under age attendees! He liked the dancers and the music!
The quantity and quality of the food and beverages was amazing! I ate way too much and the drinks were great! The music and performers were excellent and beautiful! I was beyond full by the end of the night and we didn’t even get to the upstairs booths.
It was nice to see some familiar Unilocal faces at their booth! And I was very appreciative of the fans they were handing out!
The event was very crowded but everyone was moving pretty well. The booths were professionally and exceptionally efficient at telling about their samples and keeping the tables stocked!
My tip: bring water and keep a plate! Your hands will get full of yummy-​ness fast!

This was an amazing event! All of the restaurants represented were great. The food was delicious, the mixed drinks were spot on, and there were several tequila companies represented there for true aficionados. We brought a friend and I would recommend it to many more friends. It wasn’t really kid-​friendly, but our 6 year-​old still had a great time with the food and performers. Bring a bottle of water or you won’t make it through the night. They had some bottles, but it was a hot commodity and ran out fast!

Food and drink was amazing !! I don’t really know what charity this was for but it was a fun event too bad it was muggy outside. band was amazing.
I can’t lie all the top shelf was great but I wanted to have a complete full beer lol
Overall is a very fun night!
I would definitely do this again but I wish the tickets were not so expensive next time.
The only bad thing was that people were walking in every direction and it made it hard to walk through and sample every table.
But trust me we made it a point to sample everything there especially the margaritas

So it looks like everyone who commented on here got free tickets, I’m sure that had nothing to do with their reviews. I paid for tickets and the only good thing I can say about the even is that there is amazing food and drinks to sample. Good quality products and unique combinations were the one and only good thing about this event. The location is horrible as the mall is open and you are trying to dodge shoppers and maneuver through the crowded walkways. There is no «flow» people are walking in every direction and gathering in front of booths leading you to bypass different restaurants in order to stay out of the way. The worst part was the children. A salsa and tequila festival is no place for kids. Imagine carrying a bag of chips, a cup of salsa, a shot glass of tequila. Now while your standing there dodging children and a crowd of lost people try to dip a chip and get it in your mouth without spilling. I wore more salsa home than I sampled! They seriously need to get a venue where children are not allow. That would also help with the flow problems by not dodging shoppers. I wish I was going this year to try all the new creations, but for that price we can have an amazing night out without having to wear our food.

Thank you so much to Unilocal for my tickets to the Salsa & Tequila Challenge!!!
The tequila beat me and won!
My friend & I both had a wonderful time. It’s amazing all the different recipes that were created. I especially liked the tequila & Horchata drink and the salsas made with mango.
The music by Tesoro was VERY entertaining. BF and I had so much fun dancing!
I also spent a little time hanging out by the Unilocal table. Isabella worked hard and did a great job signing up new Unilocalers.
Thank you again, Unilocal,for giving me the opportunity to enjoy such a fun event!

Thanks to Unilocal I won two tickets to the Salsa & Tequila Challenge and I couldn’t be more grateful! (Although I never actually made it to the Unilocal booth last night :((((FAIL, sorry Bella!). And despite it being a pain in the behind to find parking, this event was an absolute blast! There were tons of people, but remarkably there wasn’t much of a wait at each booth to get a sample and everyone working was super friendly.
I will definitely be checking out Dante’s Fire sometime soon (can’t believe I haven’t already!) and that balsamic truffle shot from Tavolino won me over as well! Overall, a great event. Now I want to make some yummy salsa concoctions of my own!

First off, I have to thank Bella and Unilocal Tucson for tickets to this awesome event. I only attended the salsa portion, but the salsa was plentiful.
Basically your ticket earned you a bag of chips, so that you could walk around eat salsa samples and then vote for the winner. It was hard for me to tell which salsa was best because my favorite part of salsa is the bottomless bowl. It was much easier to tell which ones I didn’t like. The restaurants were much preferred over the culinary school contestants, I found those salsas bland and filled with lots of fruit and not enough spice. Unfortunately, that was the case with most of the fruit salsas. Honestly, I love fruit but as an accompaniment to a spicy salsa, if there’s too much it tasted like fruit salad. The same can be said for some of the spicier salsas, I love spice (I eat jalapeños for sport) but I don’t like spiciness just for the sake of being hot. My favorite of the night was from Hacienda del Sol. Tomato-​based with the right amounts of fruit and herbs.
On top of everything, the atmosphere was awesome, the beer was cheap, and the company was great. I’ll be on the lookout for this event next year.

This event was a lot of fun, more fun then I thought it would. I would change a couple things, the bottle-​necking of the lines was annoying and caring around that bag of chips was super unfriendly to my super cute outfit. Just have the chips at the location? or have some tables set up where people could gather for to eat? I don’t know but its hard to dip salsa, hold a bag and the little sample while walking through 100 people. The tequila was awesome, music was awesome. Food was also amazing. well, done. its Live Outside approved. Check out our post at
for more :)

Big ups Unilocal for gifting me a pair of tickets to the Salsa and Tequila Challenge. I am so glad you liked my Aztec Chocolate recipe! Let me tell you, that you picked the right chica for the challenge… I was ready to tackle all 25 plus salsas and tequilas more seriously than if I was in Pamplona running with the bulls.
This was a fan flipping tastic event that was well worth the 70 dollar ticket price, esp. seeing that there was a bogo living social, early bird and Unilocal offer. Without a doubt in my mind, I will be back next year… and trust me, you should too!
The first hour of the event was located on the first floor. You got a bag of tortilla chips and went around sampling spicy, roasted, fruity, even tequila topped (Hacienda del Sol) salsas. Then you cast your vote. I was shocked how easy it was to get to the tables, everything flowed nicely without a major traffic. They even had a free water ticket and Mexican beers available to quench your thirst.
I had three favorite salsas and they were all done by the Culinary Institute. Esp. the cucumber watermelon one… ahhhh, it was divinely refreshing… The institute got robbed though, they were not on the ballot.
I was also thrilled to pick up menus, half off meal coupons and free appetizer coupons on the tables.
Now, let’s get to the good part!!! The tequila challenge on the second floor. So many stand out potions, libations and concoctions!!! The Ritz’ Sage drink had house smoked lime and house smoked paprika salt rim paired with a smoky mescal and it had me lining up for seconds immediately. They also served a buffalo taco… which was good, but a little gamey for my comfort zone. Next up was a cantaloupe Tasmanian cocktail shooter served with a cupcake… you bite the lime of the cupcake, shoot the delicious beverage and then devour the cupcake… it was cray cray good. Jax and Abbey had stellar drinks and the recipe is printed on a fan, which helped keep us cool. *I am so dehydrating thinly slicked pineapple at 200 degrees for the tastiest drink garnish ever! *
Renee’s Organic Oven was there and her cherry, tea infused Cruz tequila, honey, new Belgium beer topped cocktail was even better then she served us at her tasting on Thursday. I love that spicy sweet rim esp. since the pipian seeds came from Native Seed Search!. It was so hard to chose a favorite, but brushfire’s Godiva, cinnamon, tequila drink was pretty much the bomb dot com.
They did not care if you took more than one sample or how many times you went around the loop… and yes, there were tables lined up next to each other around the entire second floor. We made it around twice… there were four places offering straight shots, but our Mexican Moonshine shot, was enough for us…
Did you know Elliott’s on Congress, yes, the place with the chocolate covered bacon, has over 15 infusions, that is the most in Tucson!
After they announced the winners, Tesoro rocked the house while children and tipsy ladies shook their bon bons… both the band and the hotsteppers were equally entertaining.
This is the second annual event and there best be a third! Seriously, clear your scheduled for some GREAT food, drinks and music… PLUS, you will not only feel GREAT from all the tequila you will feel GREAT because up are supporting the food bank.

The Southern Arizona Salsa and Tequila Challenge was a hit !! It looked like everyone there was having an amazing time ;) The event was well managed. We arrived and they took our tickets and got our wrist bands very quickly not much waiting for as many people that were there. We made our way around the Salsa challenge. All the Restraunt’s did a amazing job. My favorite was Brushfire BBQ. The Rub they sprinkle on the chip is what sealed the deal !! Second favorite was Lodge on the Desert. The chef had a experimental Hot Sauce and it was out of this world. We added it to there salsa they entered in the contest which made it outstanding. Then we headed upstairs to the Tequila Challenge. WOW at least 25 to try. We did not get our vote in but my favorite was again Brushfire BBQ with Godiva Liqueur, and Tequila. YUMMMY !!! They also had Pork Belly with BBQ Sauce, Very Good !!! Tequila Factory at Casino Del Sol’s Chicken Tacos were outstanding !!! The parish had a Tasty Tequila Drink. All in all it was all Very Good !!! Great Job Tucson Night Out !!