Besties Restaurant, with a menu of steamed burgers and fried fish, closed last Friday.

Besties, the steamed burger and fish joint that took over for Mother Hubbard’s diner in late 2017, closed last Friday.

In a Facebook post, owner Kade Mislinski hinted at plans to find a new location on North Fourth Avenue and reopen sometime in the fall.

In a phone call Monday, he said that for now he likely will open Besties as a pop-up concept on the back patio of Cafe Passe at 415 N. Fourth Ave., where he is lead cook and kitchen manager for owner Jenny Rice.

He and Rice this summer will add a late-night dimension to Passe, which operates as a restaurant from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and a bar — Bar Passe — from noon to 2 a.m. daily. In the next month, they will launch nighttime dining with Bistro Passe, whose menu will be inspired by the cuisines of southern France, northern Italy and the Mediterranean. The menu is still a work in progress but could include coq au vin, fondue, ratatouille, soups, sandwiches and salads.

Mislinski opened Besties after Mother Hubbard’s closed in November 2017, ending a nearly 50-year run at the Grant Stone Shopping Center, 14 W. Grant Road. His menu included steamed burgers and fries and fish and chips with housemade hushpuppies.

“Everyone loved the concept and the food. That was never the issue,” said Mislinski, who said road construction and renovation projects at the Grant Stone center hampered business. “It was hard to be consistent in that location because there was no access. ... The location wasn’t working and I was tired of working so hard.”

Besties was the second restaurant concept that Mislinski closed in the past year. Last July, he pulled the plug on Classic Spaghetti Western Steakhouse at 1535 N. Stone Ave., saying the restaurant had succumbed to the financial hardships of a Tucson summer.

Mislinski has been a fixture in Tucson’s restaurant scene since 2000 and has opened or been involved in 17 Tucson restaurants including downtown’s popular Hub Restaurant & Ice Creamery on East Congress Street and Saguaro Corners Restaurant & Bar on the far east side.

Tucson restaurants that closed in 2019 


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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com or 573-4642. On Twitter @Starburch