Highlights

Wendy Garcia, chef and founder of Tumerico in Tucson, is a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest, the Arizona Daily Star reported April 24. Garcia built Tumerico from a farmers market table in 2013 into a brick-and-mortar vegan and vegetarian Mexican restaurant, opening the original location at 2526 E. Sixth St. in the Sam Hughes neighborhood in late 2014. She expanded the portfolio in December 2019 with La Chaiteria, a non-vegan Mexican concept at 1002 W. Congress St. in Barrio Hollywood. The recognition follows a run of national attention for the concept. Tumerico ranked No. 8 on Yelp's 2023 Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S., and Guy Fieri featured the restaurant on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" in 2018. Garcia's semifinalist nod puts her in competition with chefs across the Southwest region for one of the foundation's most competitive chef category awards. Arizona's James Beard semifinalist field also includes Scottsdale representation: Andreoli Italian Grocer was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality in the 2024 cycle, with the foundation announcing that year's nominees on April 3 and the ceremony on June 10 in Chicago. The James Beard Award ceremony for the current cycle is scheduled for June in Chicago.

Sources

Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.

  1. Google News retrieved 2026-05-08T19:03:37.546881+00:00
  2. tucson.com retrieved 2026-05-08T19:03:37.546881+00:00
  3. scottsdale.com retrieved 2026-05-08T19:03:37.546881+00:00
  4. ABC15 Arizona retrieved 2026-05-08T19:03:37.546881+00:00

Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 2026-05-08T19:03:37.546881+00:00. Every claim traces to a source.