The family that brought Brother John’s Beer, Bourbon & BBQ to the former Wildcat House late last year is turning its focus on another well-known Tucson building for its second restaurant venture.
The Aldecoas — John and David — are teaming up with childhood friend Jorge Alvarez on Abuela’s Cocina Mexicana in the former Old Pueblo Grille, 60 N. Alvernon Way.
The 8,147-square-foot building has been vacant since a federal bankruptcy court judge seized it in spring 2015 from owner Bob McMahon at the end of a drawn-out legal tug-of-war over McMahon’s 2014 Chapter 11 filing.
David Aldecoa said they hope to open Abuela’s by January after they do minor renovations that include expanding the bar. Realty Executives, which negotiated the lease on behalf of owner HSL Properties, said in a news release that renovations will include creating a kitchen counter concept.
HSL had been looking for someone to open a restaurant there to complement its neighboring La Quinta Inn and Suites, at 102 N. Alvernon Way.
The menu is a work in progress, Aldecoa said, but it will include family recipes of Alvarez’s mother “Doña Koki,” who will hand-make tortillas and create other regional comfort food dishes at the restaurant. There also will be an extensive tequila menu.
“It’s going to be another Tucson original,” John Aldecoa said. “It’s going to be a really cool thing.”
The plan is to create an atmosphere similar to what you would experience eating at your friend’s Mexican grandmother’s kitchen table, David Aldecoa said.
“It won’t be super high brow,” he said, adding that the menu will have regionalized tacos alongside dishes that you rarely see on a menu in Tucson.
The Old Pueblo Grille building, known for its large outdoor garden and patios, dates to at least the 1960s, when it was a private residence. McMahon operated a restaurant there for 15 years.
The Aldecoas spent nearly $1 million and seven months doing a major renovation at Wildcat House, 1801 N. Stone Ave., repurposing materials from the building that had been a popular University of Arizona hangout for 35 years before closing in 2012.
