Tucson's Tumerico takes No. 1 spot on Yelp's top 100 restaurants to try in 2024

• "The Sun Belt is hot!" Yelp declared, noting Arizona, Florida and Texas account for 30% of its list.

1 big honor: The top spot goes to Tumerico, a vegetarian and vegan Mexican restaurant that serves "inventive plant-based fare" at two locations in Tucson.

• The menu rotates based on what's in season — seasonal ingredients include chiltepin peppers, pitaya and nopalitos — but dishes like Cuban tacos, made with jackfruit carnitas, are available year-round.
• Chef-owner Wendy Garcia was a James Beard Award semifinalist last year, when Tumerico took the No. 8 spot on Yelp's list. Plus, it earned the No. 1 spot on Yelp's top 100 Southwest restaurants of 2023.
• "Vegetarian Mexican cuisine even a meat-eater could love? Vegans and carnivores alike are raving about Tumerico's inventive plant-based fare," Yelp's review reads.

Zoom in: Three of Yelp's top 100 are in the Valley:

• De Babel, a fast-casual Middle Eastern spot in Scottsdale, is No. 14

• Worth Takeaway, a craft sandwich shop in downtown Mesa, sits at No. 38
• Cocina Madrigal, which is familiar to Axios Phoenix readers and claimed the top spot in Yelp's restaurant rankings for 2022, is No. 52

Zoom out: Tucson had three other entries in Yelp's top 100, including Buendia Breakfast and Lunch Cafe (39), Baja Cafe (50) and La Chaiteria (68), which is another of Garcia's restaurants.

Zoom (further) out: Not every great Arizona restaurant is in the Valley or the Old Pueblo.

• Sirens Cafe and Custom Catering, a sandwich spot in Kingman, was No. 85.