Tortas!

Have you ever noticed those street vendors selling food around Tucson? You’ve always wanted to stop but you’re either too busy on your way somewhere, or by the time you realized, you’re too far away to turn around. “Next time,” you think, but the “next time” turns into 6 months down the road when you’ve finally forgotten about it!

This time I was determined to stop. I was driving down Broadway when I saw Let’s Go! Tortas. I’ve always noticed this stand, but like many of us, have never stopped. It usually looks busy and this day I seemed to have beaten the lunch crowd.


Let’s Go! Tortas is located on East Broadway Blvd. between Cherry and Vine next to Axis Food Mart. It is a large orange cart on wheels with an overhang and benches for people to sit on while they enjoy their food. Their specialty food item is none other than a torta: a Mexican twist on an American sandwich.

A little background: a Torta is served on a 6 to 8 in firm and crusty white sandwich roll, called a bolillo or telera. They can be served hot or cold.

Like manager Abel Jaime said, “A Torta is a Mexican style sandwich”.


Jaime also said that Let’s Go! Tortas was established about a year ago. Their busiest time of day is lunch and their most popular Torta is the “Torta Cubana”, a Cuban-style sandwich.

Beside the Torta Cubana, you can also order the Torta Pierna (pork leg), Jamόn (ham), Pollo (chicken), Milanesa (breaded steak), Carne Asada (marinated steak), Fish, Hawaiian, Cubana, Loca and Mixta.

One of the newest items is the Torta Let’s Go. This is a sandwich filled with puerco (pig), carne de res asada al carbón (steak), carne de puerco adobado (marinated pig), jamόn (ham), tocino (bacon), cebolla fresco y asada (fresh and roasted onion), lechuga (lettuce), rajas de chile poblano (poblano chile), tomate (tomato) y aguacate (avocado).


I ordered the Torta Mixta which includes puerco, carne de res al carbón, cebolla fresco y asada, lechuga, rajas de chile poblano, tomate y aguacate. It also came with a side of french fries…DELICIOSO! I was expecting the sandwich to be greasy like fast food, but instead it was extremely fresh and had an extra kick of spice.


In case you’re not in the mood for tortas, there are tacos and the hot dog estilo sonora - the Mexican style hot dog (more on this to come…)

There is a Spanish menu and English menu so if your Spanish is rusty…don’t fret!


Each torta is sold for a reasonable price at $4.50 and $4.75 and the signature Torta Let’s Go is priced at $5.50.

Want to make your own torta? Try this recipe!