First time trying them and I must admit I was very pleased with the food, I was glad to see that they're open late I had been at a concert at the University of Arizona. Great to see that they also had a full bar available. I ordered one chicken taco and one steak taco I was very happy with my chicken taco full of flavor tender meat, Hadley wishing I had only gotten chicken tacos instead. The big talker wasn't bad just that the meet was a little bit joy and a little tougher than I'd like, I must admit street tacos steak is a lot juicier and full flavor, but don't get me wrong I do really like illegal Pete's steak tacos. My friend order the shredded beef and she said they were delicious and they actually did look really good I can't wait to come back and try those now onto the nachos they are amazing, The portion can easily feed two people possibly even three. Can't wait to go back and try those shredded beef tacos next time! read more

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I wish I could give this restaurant 10 stars. I admit, I last tried it 8 years ago and hated it, but WOW they have changed for the better! Being from Colorado where this chain is based, when one opened in Tucson, I had to try it! Full service bar, Chipotle style burrito/taco/quesadilla assembly line, and the BURRITOS ARE CHEAPER THAN CHIPOTLE! I do have to step aside and compliment their service, it was amazing! The employees struck up a conversation with me and went out of their way to be helpful. I used to be a HUGE Chipotle fan, and I am definitely switching my allegiance to Illegal Petes. Ive already been 8 times! A lot more toppings and variety than Chipotle, not to mention live music, two full service bars, around 10 beers on tap. Simply incredible! Expect a line and about a 20 minute wait, word is spreading like crazy about how great the food is! read more

Illegal Pete's - Beer and a Burrito! - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

100x better than chipotle. SO FRESH. SO QUICK. just go already! from the music, to the food, to the ambience. So impressed. So fun!

Lunch is hard to find when brunch seems to be the Sunday mid-day theme on University. Located in the heart of University, this place was exactly what we were looking for and we were ready for lunch. Appealing Mexican fare with a bar vibe. Two levels with seating indoors and outdoors. A terrific spot for cold beer, sports TV and a to fill up on a killer burrito. A steak burrito made to order for eight dollars - that's the bomb. Service was fast and food was fresh. An opportunity to steer away from the national chain restaurants. Experience this place for yourself. I'll be back! Salute! read more

This was my favorite bar in college and my friends and I made sure we came in for food and drinks at some point over homecoming weekend. It's a bar so it's pretty loud inside but there's also some outdoor seating out front/ back to go somewhere to talk. The food here is always good. My personal favorite are the fish tacos or chicken quesadillas. The bar tenders are friendly and always take care of you. read more

OK so I ordered from doordash so I haven't technically gone in the restaurant but from what I tried with their nachos I am absolutely in love with their queso. I saw the ad on Facebook with the queso flowing like Niagara Falls and I thought I would have to try the nachos to compare to my other favorite nacho place I would have to say I need to go head to head again and try them again and again. The price was reasonable I got everything I could get for my nachos and it went up to $12-$14 depending if you get meat or not. I would definitely go back in person and try more food here read more

I had dinner here with a group of friends a few weeks ago. We sat outside and about three minutes into our meal we noticed a few grains of rice fall from the balcony above. We were a bit bummed that race had landed in our drinks, but just thought it was an accident. About two minutes later, more rice came flying down, along with racial slurs (because apparently racists hate Mexicans but still eat at Mexican restaurants). Two bouncers saw this happening, and just laughed and did nothing. I will never eat here again, actually, I will do more than not eat here again, I will publicly call this place out for being a business that turns a blind eye to racism. I know that had I been at any respectable business, one of the bouncers who witnessed this would have dealt with the situation instead of just laughing at racist behavior. I was actually giving this place a try for the first time that night, as I didn't support it from the get go, but I figured maybe I had been too harsh in my judgments. It looks like I should have just followed my gut instinct, and gone to an actual Mexican restaurant. On the topic of the food.. nachos were slightly better than the kind you might get at a movie theatre or sports game. Nothing special. The fraternities and sororities are keeping this place alive and it will probably survive, unfortunately. But there's hope they will shut down or take a more active role in making sure guests are not being subjected to racist comments and food being thrown at them for being brown. I don't want a free meal, I wouldn't enjoy it. I'm not looking for a refund either. But some signs that denounce racist behavior, or some training for your staff are long overdue. Sadly, I'm guessing the owner won't even reply to this, and if they do I doubt any real action will come out of it. read more

i totally understand the shorten hours on University during the summer, due to the lack of traffic, but the entire bar was full when i went to order a couple drinks and they refused service. it's hard to understand how the most popular place at the time this summer night chooses to close early. i just wish the online close time was relevant to what the bartender was saying. good drinks tho read more

This was our 2nd time ordering Togo from here. I ordered a fish salad with a side of the green Chile pork and my husband ordered a chicken burrito. This was the same order we got last time as well. Last time they forgot the green Chile pork but my salad was fantastic and so was my husbands burrito. This time, they once again forgot my green Chile pork but my salad was terrible. There was hardly any fish or veggies as requested. The container was filled with a bunch of soggy lettuce and way too much cabbage. I will not be back again. read more

Petes did their homework and knows their customer palate. Clean interior and decent vibe. The fish tacos and quesadillas are better than anything from chipotle across the street, wish i could say the same for the bowls and burritos. The restaurant tastes and feels like urban tex mex. Gets a score 2/5 stars, worthy of post study sesh munchies. real "illegals" still cook better read more

I'll start by saying, I'm an Phoenix native, lover of Chipotle but Illegal Pete's took that love to a whole new level for the 2 years I lived in Colorado. When I heard the news they were opening a location in Tucson, I was ecstatic that it was so close ( in relativity to the Colorado locations). Though the building itself is not true to the traditional Illegal Pete's 'feel', it's perfect for the location and crowd that The University of Arizona attracts. Very open and clean with and abundance of seating both inside and out. There's and extensive bar, which is traditional to Illegal Petes but this location has more draft beers than I have seen at other locations, mostly Colorado brewed, which is always a great choice. The staff was friendly, and prompt and completed our party of 4's orders without a flaw. The staff is much more cookie cutter in appearance than the locations in Denver, where they promote tattoos, piercings and such. Nothing the matter with either, the latter just adds to the ambiance of the restaurant, I suppose. The food was as tasty as anything I had had at the plethora of locations in Colorado, the portions were a little smaller than I remember though, but still more than filling. I'll have to go back again to see the portions again to confirm that they are actually smaller. The pork green chile (or vegetarian if you prefer) is always a must and though I didn't have it this time, the queso is also amazing. Unlike chipotle, if you order a burrito bowl, you get your choice of a tortilla OR a bag of chips, which is beyond convenient if you ask me. Overall, greatly impressed with the new out of state venture. I definitely will be back and hopefully, more AZ locations will be soon to come. read more

Illegal Pete's - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

This place is the drunk college kid's dream. It's almost like a classy Taco Bell after a night of drinking. It's also like Chipotle, but with green chile and queso options. I agree with others that the portion sizes were not that great. I had the chicken nachos with queso that were fantastic. The worst thing about the place is the house margaritas. They were very tart and sorely lacked triple seq. read more

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Good spot for a late night meal, especially if you have had a few drinks. Resembles chipotle. The burrito was huge and fell to pieces after one bite, but was good nonetheless. Nothing special, but it does the job. read more

Illegal Pete's - Photo post 1 bite. But that's what chips are for. - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Great tacos, great staff and great drinks. The view is wonderful, three different patios balconies to choose from. Misters do you don't dry up in the heat! read more

Always delicious; ingredients are fresh. The steak is tender, rarely a "chewy" piece. On this particular instance, I ordered online. When I received my order, I found the queso and chiles missing, which I paid extra for. When I called the restaurant, a manager named Kayla helped me. She verified my order, apologized profusely, and made it right by offering to remake it or a gift card for next time. Great customer service and always friendly service in general. Definitely recommend. read more

The food here is very good. The fish tacos are highly recommended to order. Everything is nicely seasoned and the food is very fresh. If you want good chipotle like foods, this place is the best for it on University. read more

I have been coming to this place since last year and each time I go for the bartender Sean. He always has such an upbeat personality and always makes my drinks perfect. He is such a doll.... I particularly love the prickly pear margaritas. This place also has the best food on campus and has such great ambiance. 10/10 will be coming here more often! read more

I go here for my breakfast burros early in the AM. They usually run anywhere between $6 (with meat) or $5 (with egg/potatoes/cheese/sour cream/green chiles with pork or vegan green chile sauce). I like their bacon or chorizo. They're a lil small but pretty thick. I like them a lot. It's a nice local and I like to just get my burro and people watch. The afternoon lunch burros are pretty good too. I like the brew selections here as well. The upstairs is awesome, but sometimes the music is a tad too loud (maybe that's just the old man in me). read more

Came here this morning with friends. They all got burritos which were big and they really liked. I got steak quesadilla it too was delicious as was the guacamole, the steak was a little bland. The service not so great. The cashier didn't ask if I wanted drinks so I had to purchase them separately and didn't get any receipts. read more

Illegal Pete's - Steak quesadilla - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Delicious, much better than similar competitors! Highly recommend the nachos and the house margaritas!

I will try most restaurants at least once. I was super excited for vegan promoted items and not having to guess or construct my own meatless meal. I was super disappointe. It was hard to enjoy and of the flavors with the texture of the beans. The beans were not cooked or very old so hard I just couldn't push through it. The only show stopper was the freaking cookie. I can't be mad this cookie was like the cookie sent from above. I would toss everything else aside and just specialize in these bad boys I would pay top dollar for these by the case. read more

Tried this place again and still gross, prices change every time. Ordered a single drink and it was 9.50!?!?! And it wasn't even full.... read more

Illegal Pete's - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Illegal Petes on University is absolutely horrible. The only redeeming quality is the cheap drinks they offer. I got food and drinks for my family for family weekend, but was told to leave with absolutely no explanation. I called maybe 20-30 times with no answer and after calling from another phone number, we finally reached a manager, April Ramirez, the general manager, and was told to "stop harassing them and don't call them anymore". I consider myself a reasonable and caring person, but I hope that this stops people from choosing this restaurant as apposed to the other more popular and understanding restaurants and bars around campus. #rushcovies #choviesat3 read more

Wow!!! I've never eaten here and it was wonderful! Make your own (almost everything). I ordered double meat on my burrito bc I worried it might be like chipotle. It was NOT. The burrito was huge. Everything is priced pretty well when compared to other places like this. Fortunately, they put all the sauce on the side when we ordered from door dash. Door dash didn't ring the bell or let us know they had come. An hour and a half later we checked outside the door and there it was!! It was cold but still fantastically delicious!!! read more

they took good care of us and they inspired us to design mystery burrito. the burrito consisted of a lot of things that I didn't think I would like but I loved every bit of the combination and they have cool fun trivia to win free food or drinks. read more

Extremely disappointed by this location today. My friend feels as though she was discriminated against by the general manager, and she was looking to speak to someone higher up about the issue. We have tried to call the location multiple times, and every time we have asked to speak to a manager, they have told us, "Hang up and don't call us again, we don't want to hear from you." It is insanely disrespectful to hang up on your own customers when they simply want to discuss an issue they experienced in the restaurant. As a student, I have ALWAYS been an advocate for Pete's, but I draw the line here. How can a restaurant seriously treat their customers like this? Yes we are college students, but that doesn't mean that we don't deserve respect. It is insane to me that an establishment could treat people this way. This is not the last time Pete's will be hearing from me. read more

Wanna be chipotle with worse food and sub par service, pick anywhere else on university if you want to have a good time. Thank me later

2 stars. Would've been 3 but the FLIES in this place are atrocious!!!!! Grabbed a mediocre (at best) "bowl" and proceeded to have a seat at a table.... that was covered in at least 20-30 flies. No, I'm not exaggerating. It was disgusting. Ended up finding the only table outside that wasn't puddled up from the misters, and ate outside. Best part of the food is that the steak was remarkably tender -- but that's about all I've got. Nothing struck me as anything worth a repeat trip back. Not with SOOOO many other great local options nearby!!! It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't good enough to revisit. read more

Illegal Pete's in Tucson is a disgrace. They discriminated against me and my family when they kicked us out during parents weekend, and wouldn't answer my calls when I called back to talk to someone. Eventually I got someone to answer when I used another persons phone and they hung up on me when I asked to talk to a manager. This was completely unprofessional conduct by illegal Pete's and their workers and it will not go unnoticed. read more

Loved this place!! Queso was delicious. Chips were perfectly crunchy. We got prickly pear margs and they were sooo good. Atmosphere was very cool and servers were helpful and patient. Great place!! read more

Illegal Pete's - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Foods great, atmosphere great, staff is rude and inconsiderate. Wanted to work here but glad I didn't Personally I'd be looking for new employees because the staff is some of the worst I've ever experienced read more

All I have to say is burritos with potatoes instead of rice. Really? OMG, these are so good. I don't know if I can say this on yelp, but I think these may be better than sex! Located in the Main Gate Square section of Tucson, the atmosphere of this place is fun, open and loud. Go to this place. Do the burrito with potatoes. Trust me! read more

This place feels like an even more laid-back Chipotle. Being across the street from a Chipotle, it'd be interesting to see how they fare. The food options are wide in variety, with the added bonus of there being a full bar to purchase an adult beverage from. This place is peppered with televisions to watch the games, but will need some more strategic locations to make the patio a contender with its neighbors (No Anchovies and Frog and Firkin have recently upped their game in game-watching patios). Price is fair, food is good, good times are likely. Illegal Pete's is due to thrive based on its location alone and will likely secure a lot of business, mine included. read more

I would say the best of this was that we got to sit down at the bar. The food was mediocre at best and for some reason, I always scratch my head when a tap has gone dry. But, our bartender took extra good care of us which was nice. I would probably have given this place two stars, but again, the bartender took extra good care of us. The chips were another highlight, because they never seemed to empty out, no mater how hard we tried. The guacamole was also pretty good, which I was a little surprised about (both that I ordered it and that it was pretty good). We split up some food, which was probably another good thing, the burrito was okay, seemed a little dry on the inside, but it was still edible. This is a pretty good option if you are on University Blvd because the service is pretty quick. But I would probably only go here if I was pressed for time or just did not feel like heading downtown. read more

Came here and got a chicken burrito. Chicken didn't have much flavor but they had other salsas/hot sauces to spice it up a bit. Their chips are real good. I would suggest getting a bowl with a side of chips. Kinda frustrating that they want to charge 1.50 for anything extra you'd like to put on your burrito/bowl/nachos. Best thing about this place is the cheap drinks and the large outdoor patio. read more

Nothing special. Everything was just OK and the tables outside were not clean, trash was full and hard to clean up after we ate as was expected. read more

So many people told me to come here when I came to Tucson. I got a chicken burrito with chips and guac and it was good, but people hyped up about it too much. Honestly tasted similar to chipotle. I do love the atmosphere though and the bar! Workers were very nice and they accept catcash so i'll definitely be back read more

Illegal Pete's - Chicken burrito - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Illegal Petes is basically chipotle, gentle bens, and frog combined into one place. The food is amazing and very decently priced. There's also a ton of variety. They have burritos, tacos, quesadillas, taquitos, nachos, and salad, and for meats they have fish, beef, chicken, and pork. They also have breakfast! The bar scene here is also really great. They have a full bar upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs area also has an area where live bands play/dj at night. Happy hour is from 3pm-8pm and you can get $4 (very decent size) margaritas! You also get free chips and salsa with any purchase from the bar. Illegal Pete's opened last week and I've already been here 3 times! It's that good. Everyone that works here is super friendly and high energy. The first night we came here we missed the cut off for free burritos, but the manager/supervisor outside let us come in anyways and gave us a tour of the entire place instead. Such great customer service. Bottom line is, I love Illegal Petes. read more

If chipotle is your go to place, prepare to change your habits. Illegal Petes is a fresh take on the fast casual Mexican food restaurant with more selections including bowls, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, QUESO, and chili. The meat is your standard selection of carne asada, chicken, carnitas, and two different vegetarian options. The salsa selection is superb: verde was delicious, corn was sweet and full of cilantro, and the pico was well balanced. The guac is simple and delicious. Definitely make sure to try the queso, you won't regret it! Once the protestors get over themselves, the atmosphere will be awesome. Bar selection looked extensive, especially the beer section. Happy hour looks promising and the upper deck sure will be cool. Can't wait to try breakfast!! read more

Illegal Pete's - Bowl was delicious - Bars Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Ok. Allow me to begin by Saying that I DO love that something has finally occupied the space in the old Franklins building. That having been said....Illegal Petes was probably the worst Mexican food I've ever eaten. I'm no fan of Chipotle either and the two restaurants are basically the same. Super bland, cafeteria style setting with friendly young people serving the masses truly bad food. The place is cute and once again the service was fine, but nothing could make up for the food. It was incredibly generic and there was little hint of any authentic Mexican ANYTHING anywhere in the restaurant. I understand that this is Colorado Mexican....but for goodness sake....to try and pass off this low level of Latin fare in Tucson is criminal! I do wish them well and I hope it adds to the allure of Main Gate Square, but when parents weekend rolls around, I hope the kids take their folks out to south 4th for Mexican! We in Tucson have a reputation to uphold! read more