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As many have once said, “the west side is the best side.”
In Tucson, the west side is anchored by Sentinel Peak and Tumamoc Hill, dotted with restaurant favorites and shops that pay homage to our beautiful desert city.
Unsurprisingly, the west side is also home to detailed artwork plastered on the walls. While some depict international icons like Frida Kahlo, all were painted by local icons like Jessica Gonzales and Danny Martin.
Here’s the best way to take a mural tour along a four-mile stretch west of the freeway — featuring stops at restaurants, shops and attractions along the route.
When all is said and done, it’s your chance to decide for yourself: is the west side the best side?
Scroll to the bottom of this story for a printable version of this mural hunt!
📍Stop 1: El Rio Neighborhood Center
Start your mural tour at El Rio Center, a City of Tucson rec center home to amenities like a basketball court, a weight room and a playground. To the north is the El Rio Library.
Several murals — created by David Tineo and restored in vibrancy decades later — are sprinkled throughout the grounds.
Location: 1390 W. Speedway Blvd.
📍Stop 2: Unique Trends
Head over to Grande Avenue, which is dotted with restaurant icons like Barista del Barrio, Tanias 33 and Mariscos Chihuahua (all of which are worthy food spots). You’ll also come across Unique Trends, a beauty salon clad in a mural by Pato Aguilar.
Aguilar says the pink-and-purple mural shows Mexican actor Katy Jurado and was inspired by feminine energy and sensuality, in addition to hummingbirds that represent intelligence, beauty, devotion and love.
Location: 905 N. Grande Ave.
📍Stop 3: Barrio Anita
The Barrio Anita neighborhood isn’t technically west of I-10, but it’s too special to not include. The neighborhood is packed with a storied history that was once honored in an experience held by Borderlands Theater.
You’ll find several murals in this neighborhood: One at Oury Center, 655 N. Hughes St., followed by a giant tiled piece just steps away at David G. Herrera and Ramon Quiroz Park, 600 W. Saint Marys Rd. You’ll find another mural if you head north to a small park, perfect for a picnic, at 1011 N. Contzen Ave.
End your Barrio Anita mural tour at Anita Street Market, 849 N. Anita Ave., the beloved eatery with delicious red chile burritos to eat there and delicious flour tortillas to take home. The restaurant has a couple murals of its own.
📍Stop 4: Tucson Computer & Cell Phone Repair
If you’re in the mood for shopping, make a pit stop along Saint Marys Road before waltzing off to the next mural location. Head to 657 W. Saint Marys Rd. where you’ll find items — skincare, jewelry, spiritual tools and more — from a dozen-plus local makers at metaphysical shop Monsoon Mystics. Next door is Purple Sky Incense, which carries incense sticks in all kinds of scents.
After filling your shopping bag, stop at Tucson Computer & Cell Phone Repair, located at 1016 W. Saint Marys Rd. The gate may be closed, but you can take a small peek at the mural by Sal Sawaki and Wagon Burner Arts.
Food options next door: St. Mary’s Mexican Food, with its combo plates and red chile burritos, and El Antojo Poblano, with its cuisine from Puebla, including the cemita sandwich. You can park at either spot, order a tasty meal and walk a couple hundred feet to see the mural at Tucson Computer & Cell Phone Repair.
📍Stop 5: Dirty T Tamarindo
If you’re not already a fan, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Dirty T Tamarindo somewhere around Tucson — maybe a farmers market, maybe a gas station. Owner Alana Solis coats all our favorite sweets in her tia’s chamoy recipe that dates back to the ‘80s — then she packages it up and sends it to locations across the city.
Her brick-and-mortar, 1211 W. Saint Marys Rd., is clad in murals including two by Alejandra Trujillo.
After you’re done with your candy run, make a pit stop at Yolia Botanica, which is just one shopping center away at 1307 W. Saint Marys Rd. The Mexican-inspired bruja shop is home to books, limpia sprays, smoke-cleansing floral bundles and more.
📍Stop 6: Nosotros Academy
If you picked up takeout from one of the restaurants mentioned above or if the kiddos need to take a break at a playground, Menlo Park is coming up and it’s perfect for a picnic.
Across the street is Nosotros Academy, which has a mural — created by Alejandra Trujillo — that includes a portrait of the school’s founder Frank Romero, pictured with his wife Lupita. Keep in mind that this is a school — be respectful if you’re peeking at the art. 🙂
Location: 440 N. Grande Ave.
📍Stop 7: La Chaiteria
This vegetarian-friendly restaurant is home to rotating menu items like chilaquiles, tacos and tostadas. Even better: the owner of La Chaiteria and sister restaurant Tumerico, Wendy Garcia, is a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist.
Murals coat the outside of La Chaiteria, including pieces by Alejandra Trujillo and Katherine Joyce. There’s also a very special mural inside the restaurant — one of Kristen Stewart for all you “Twilight” fans.
Location: 1002 W. Congress St.
📍Stop 8: A side quest for nature and a surprise mural
It’s not Tucson without a little cacti.
Tucson’s west side boasts incredible landmarks, including Sentinel Peak (what we often call “A” Mountain) and Tumamoc Hill. The latter is admittedly a steep and uphill hike, though it ends with stunning views of the city. Sentinel Peak is a much shorter and more relaxed hike — or a journey that can be taken in the car. Whichever you choose, you’ll fall in love with the view beneath you. (Note: Sentinel Peak is open to cars from 2 p.m. to sunset Tuesday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to sunset Friday-Sunday. The mountain is closed to cars all day Mondays.)
After your hike or car ride up one of the hills, make sure to visit the free-to-enter Mission Garden to see heritage fruit trees, traditional crops and native plants. And since this is a mural tour, after all, you’ll be happy to know that Mission Garden has a mural of their own, created by Maxie Adler and Paul “Nox” Pablo with the help of six youth apprentices.
Locations: Sentinel Peak, 1001 S. Sentinel Peak Rd. Parking is available at the top. Tumamoc Hill is located here. Parking is available along Anklam Road, but do not park at the hospital or medical offices. Mission Garden, 946 W. Mission Ln. Parking is available near the garden entrance.
📍Stop 9: Connecting Threads
Located at a seamstress shop Connecting Threads is a mural by Signs by Kurt dubbed “The Triumph of the Human Spirit.” According to the Arizona Daily Star, the mural is part of local nonprofit Resilience Project and is based on artwork submitted by a sexual assault survivor.
Founded by Renee Kargleder, Resilience Project “uses art to invigorate a sense of triumph in individuals who identify as survivors or sexual assault.”
Just a couple doors from Connecting Threads is Sonoran Delights, a taqueria serving up tacos, Sonoran hot dogs and raspados. You’ll also find Los Olivos Pizzeria just steps away. Across the street, you’ll find two shops: Menlo Home Goods and Menlo Home & Garden.
Location: 941 W. Congress St.
📍Stop 10: Mercado District
Hop off the car to the Annex (Miley fans, please read as: “hopped off the plane at LAX”).
Now it’s time to explore the Mercado District, which includes the Mercado San Agustin to the north and the MSA Annex to the south with shops just steps in between.
Make your way toward the MSA Annex first, where you’ll find a north-side mural by Yu Yu Shiratori who said this about the 2020 artwork: “A hand that plants seeds can nurture generations of growth — the same hand can neglect and destroy. As society oscillates between growth and regression, we have the choice to see the discomfort, prejudice and contradictions we hold within ourselves. When we choose to be still for this, we are better suited to understand how it shows up in the world.”
Into the surrounding neighborhood, you’ll find a massive painting of Frida Kahlo dancing with Diego Rivera, painted by Rock “CYFI” Martinez. It was commissioned by a resident just south of the Mercado San Agustin near Cushing Street and Avenida del Palo Fierro.
If you’re hungry, the Mercado District is a good place to stop. You’ll find treats from La Estrella Bakery and ice cream from Decibel Coffee Works. You can order tacos from Seis Kitchen and Rollies, burgers from Bos Burger, pizza from Whole Slvce, curry from Kukai and bistro cuisine from Agustin Kitchen. There are also options for coffee and alcoholic bevs!
You should definitely take some time to walk around, too — you’ll find gift shop Why I Love Where I Live, funky art shop Warm Shape, bookstore Desierto Books amid many other shops dedicated to art, apparel and more.
If you play your cards right, the Mercado District might be hosting an event during your tour — in the past, the district has been the home base for the Zoppe Italian Circus, All Souls Procession, a gem show, artisan markets and vintage fleas.
Location: 100 S. Avenida del Convento. Parking is available in multiple lots as well as meters.
📍Stop 11: The frontage road
From the Mercado District, it’s time to head to the I-10 Frontage Road. On your right (west), you’ll see a mural by Alley Cat Murals commissioned by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
It’s clad with our favorite pollinators — bats and bees and butterflies, oh my!
Location: 420 S. Freeway.
📍Stop 12: The Tuxon
What was once a Motel 6 is now The Tuxon, a boutique hotel with a poolside bar and murals by two of Tucson’s most well-known muralists: Jessica Gonzales and Joe Pagac.
On the east side of the hotel near the lobby entrance, you’ll find Pagac’s “howdy” mural. In one of the courtyards near the rooms, you’ll find two of Gonzales’ colorful masterpieces. Gonzales says her murals were inspired by “a lifestyle that embraces elements of both the city and the desert.”
Location: 960 S. Freeway.
📍Stop 13: Hotel McCoy
Hotel McCoy is lovingly called Tucson’s art hotel, an appropriate name for the hotel that has more than 50 murals in and out of its rooms.
If you’re up for a staycation, ask for a mural room and you might get to stash your overnight bag next to colorful cacti painted by Cactus Clouds Art or Barbie-themed decor painted by Once Upon a Frosting.
If you simply want to walk the grounds, you’ll find dozens of murals all over the property — a black-and-white scene to greet you, painted by Danny Martin; a scene of Aretha Franklin near the pool, painted by Alley Cat Murals’ Matt Wood and Allison Miller; portraits near the east-side rooms, inspired by Tucsonans and painted by Jessica Gonzales; and the cactus-clad driveway painted by Alex! Jimenez.
Location: 720 W. Silverlake Rd.
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