The Sonoran hot dog is one of the top-selling items on El Guero Canelo's menu at its new, second location, 2480 N. Oracle Road. It's one of several Mexican restaurants expanding north from South Side locations.

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Cody Thompson, 26 , is a loyal follower of the Sonoran hot dog. Thompson, who says he has not a drop of Hispanic blood in his veins, became addicted to the South Side culinary staple after some "Spanish" coworkers took him to a roadside stand several years ago.

"I mean Mexican," he added.

Thompson recently visited the new North Oracle Road location of popular South Side eatery El Guero Canelo to get his fix of the messy, bacon-wrapped Sonoran specialty.

"We try all the stands," he said, sitting with his girlfriend, Kara Werner, 22, outside the restaurant. "Guero Canelo's the best."

Local Mexican restaurants have tried in the past to expand beyond Tucson's densely Hispanic South Side with mixed results. But as the spread of the Sonoran dog shows, the most recent wave of restaurants moving north and east is finding success.

The reason may be an increasing number of Hispanics or growing interest in Mexican cuisine. But whatever the cause, "they're sticking," said Jonathan Landeen, owner of Jonathan's Cork at 6320 E. Tanque Verde Road and president of local restaurant group Tucson Originals.

"We're rooting for them," he said.

El Guero Canelo and close competitor BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs are two newcomers to the North Side.

BK's owner, Benjamin Galaz, opened the new BK restaurant in November in a building where he previously operated El Sí Señor Steakhouse, at 2680 N. First Avenue. El Guero Canelo's owner, Daniel Contreras, opened the restaurant at 2480 N. Oracle Road last month.

Galaz and Contreras say they are tapping into a new market that is hungry for their quick-service Sonoran fare — hot dogs, tacos, burritos and caramelos, as well as a variety of breakfast foods.

"We have a lot of new customers," said Galaz through his sister Olga Galaz, who was translating. They "try the hot dogs and they love them, and every time they come back they bring new people."

The original El Guero Canelo and BK's, which bear more resemblance to open-air stands than their newer counterparts, are both located along South 12th Avenue, where Galaz and Contreras have been selling hot dogs, tacos and the like since 1993.

Neither restaurant owner said he did any market research before picking the newer location. But a quick glance at demographic information reveals there is at least one big difference between their new locations and their old ones: The new areas are markedly less Hispanic.

In the ZIP code where the South 12th Avenue restaurants are located, 85706, Hispanics made up more than three-quarters of the population in 2006, according to estimates by the demographic research firm Claritas.

El Guero Canelo's move to North Oracle Road put the restaurant in a ZIP code where about 38 percent of the population is Hispanic, according to Claritas' 2006 numbers.

And in BK's new ZIP code, 85719, Hispanics account for about 22 percent of the population, according to the research firm.

Overall, Hispanics made up about a third of all residents in Pima County in 2006, according to Claritas.

Galaz said he thought the First Avenue spot would be good "because there wasn't enough Mexican (food) or this type of business around here."

Contreras said his customers told him where to open his new restaurant.

"They're my best judges," he said.

Other longtime Tucson Mexican restaurants, such as El Charro Cafe and El Minuto Cafe, have also branched out to areas throughout town in recent years.

El Charro, which opened in 1922 and bills itself as the nation's oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant, opened a location at 100 W. Orange Grove Road in 2004 and one at 4699 E. Speedway in 2005, bringing its total number of restaurants to four, according to Ray Flores Jr., one of the family owners.

El Minuto, which has had a Downtown restaurant since 1944, now also has a location at East River and North Craycroft roads. Teresa Shaar previously owned a second El Minuto at 8 N. Kolb Road, at East Broadway, but moved to 5605 E. River Road in November because her rent became too high, she said.

Landeen, of Tucson Originals, said he suspects high rents may have been the reason locally owned Mexican restaurants have had trouble hanging around the North Side in the past.

"Beans and Spanish rice are only so expensive," he said. "You have to serve a lot of food to afford the rent in some of the high-end spaces."

Demand for El Minuto's Sonoran-style dishes remained strong at the East Broadway location, Shaar said. She expects the same will be true in the Foothills.

"People are really happy we're here," she said.

The owner of Pancho Villa's Bar & Grill, in the North Fourth Avenue district at 401 E. Fifth St., said he thinks demand for South Side specialties, like the hot dog, is picking up among non-Hispanics, particularly around the University of Arizona.

"Over the last couple of years … the Anglo community has embraced it so much," said Rafael Lepe, with manager John Ruiz translating.

Pancho Villa's oversized Sonoran hot dog is particularly popular with the college crowd on weekends, Ruiz added.

Tucson's population growth may also be driving the success of local Mexican restaurants, Landeen said.

"I think you have a lot of new people moving into town who don't know Mexican food, and they want to explore it," he said.

But Taunya Villicaña, who chairs the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Hispanics themselves are partly responsible for the recent expansion of restaurants such as Guero Canelo and BK's.

"There are Hispanics at all different economic levels across the city," she said. "We like to patronize places that have good ethnic food, and we tell everybody about it."

Regardless of the reason for their popularity, Galaz and Contreras said they already have their eyes on the possibility of more locations.

Galaz has sites in mind along East Speedway and on the Northwest Side. Contreras is considering opening a restaurant on the East Side of town.

"My philosophy is to grow, grow, grow," Contreras said.

El Guero Canelo owner Daniel Contreras demonstrates the art of making the perfect Sonoran hotdog at azstarnet.com/business