Eight years after he left his namesake Tucson burger joint, Lindon “Lindy” Reilly is heading back to the kitchen at Lindy’s on Fourth.
Reilly will run the kitchen for the months-old Burgertime Management Corp., which last month bought the iconic North Fourth Avenue restaurant that Reilly launched in December 2005.
Burgertime, which formed in August as a Tucson restaurant management company, acquired Lindy’s in November from owner Shannon Cronin, Reilly’s mother and former business partner.
Cronin put the restaurant up for sale last summer after running it since 2017, when Lindy’s moved across the street from its original location at 431 N. Fourth Ave. to 500 N. Fourth. Reilly left the business shortly after the move.
Burgertime founder and managing partner Conrad Rodriguez said the goal of him and his partners, Ryan Glass and Kristina MacLean, is “to bring the brand back to prominence and to give it the love and attention we felt it deserves.”
They brought Reilly in several weeks ago to consult on the menu. Eventually, Rodriguez said, Reilly and his wife, Shelly, will become partners in the venture.
Reilly said his goal is to revamp the menu and “bring back my attitude in my food.”
Lindon “Lindy” Reilly, owner of Thunder Bacon Burger, is heading back to the kitchen at Lindy’s on Fourth, eight years after he left his namesake Tucson burger joint.
“It will definitely be more bar and grill than burgers,” he said. “We’re going to expand the menu and bring the burger menu down considerably. We’re going to return to the original idea of having a full bar and sandwich and burger menu.”
Plans include bringing back some Lindy’s favorites including the hot-and-spicy Donkey Punch and rebuilding the mac ‘n cheese burger. He also wants to add sandwiches and salads, which he is calling “burger bowls.”
“I’m just kind of bringing back some of my flavor profiles and what I do with food there,” Reilly said Thursday, including reinventing the house Lindy’s Sauce and adding new appetizers.
Alfredo Aguilar Jr., an award-winning mixologist who worked with Reilly early on at Lindy’s, also is back in the fold as general manager, Reilly said. Aguilar followed Reilly out the door back in 2017.
Lindon “Lindy” Reilly, owner of Thunder Bacon Burger, 33 N. Sixth Ave., has plans to expand his footprint into Arizona Hotel Apartments and the former Miss Saigon restaurant in downtown Tucson.
Reilly is adding the new Lindy’s role to his already full plate that includes expanding his 3½-year-old Thunder Bacon Burger restaurant at 33 N. Sixth Ave., that he opened with his daughter, Nicole Chisler. In addition to the father and daughter, Reilly’s wife, son and younger daughter all work at the restaurant.
Reilly plans to open a full-service bar and a deli with grab-and-go items in two neighboring spaces including the former home of Miss Saigon, which has been vacant since the restaurant moved in November 2023 from 47 N. Sixth to the ground floor of the Tucson Electric Power building at 88 E. Broadway Blvd.
Reilly said he hopes to have the bar and deli open by fall 2025.
Lindon “Lindy” Reilly, owner of Thunder Bacon Burger, left, talks Friday to Jimmy Hixson, its kitchen manager. Eight years after he left his namesake Tucson burger joint, Reilly is heading back to the kitchen at Lindy’s on Fourth.
Reilly admitted he is about to have his hands full, but “Lindy’s coming into the fold was an opportunity I was excited about,” he said.
“I love Conrad and I love what he wants to do with it,” he said. “And the opportunity to come back fully felt right.”
