13 restaurants and cafes expected to open in Tucson this year

It's only the third week of January and we've already welcomed at least four new restaurants to Tucson's vibrant food scene.

Since 2023 kicked off:

🍕 FireTruck Brewing Company broadened its footprint into the pizza business, opening FireTruck Pizza Company in the former location of Dry River Company on the east side, 800 N. Kolb Road.

🍔 Patricia Schwabe expanded her restaurant empire with Blue Front, 110 E. Congress St., serving American comfort foods downtown.

🍸 A small outdoor bar, appropriately dubbed Minibar, can now be found at the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento.

🍺 After a long wait, the second location of Borderlands Brewing Company opened up in the quaint Sam Hughes neighborhood, 2500 E. Sixth St. — with a menu created by local celebrity chef Maria Mazon. 

As we say hello to our newest eateries, we know they're only a sliver of what's to come. Here are 13 restaurants expected to open in 2023, plus a handful of new-ish spots we're excited to try.

Basqueria

350 E. Congress St.

A tapas restaurant is slated to open downtown this summer, created by Urban Pita's Freddy ElMesselmani. Basqueria will have a focus on tapas, or pinchos, from the Basque country of Northern Spain and Southern France.

"The idea of tapas is you are sharing plates, while hanging out, drinking," ElMesselmani said last year. "You will go in there, have small bites, maybe a couple of drinks and move on to the rest of your night."

Agave House

943 E. University Blvd.

Main Gate Square is home to several sit-down restaurants: pasta, burgers, pizza.  What's missing?

The folks behind Gentle Ben's Brewing Co. will soon open Agave House, a sit-down Mexican restaurant in the space that most recently housed The Dutch (which moved to Tucson's east side last year). 

"There’s been a lot of growth in the area and I see it as a lot of opportunity," co-owner Richard Fifer said last year. "It’s a lot to bite off in one time, but the opportunity won’t come around again."

Comida Park

4100 S. Palo Verde Road

When it was announced last year that a food truck park would be opening at the Tanque Verde Swap Meet, it was incredibly clear that Tucson was excited. Now nearly a year later, the park is officially opening.

The grand opening of Comida Park will take place Feb. 10-12, featuring at least 18 food trucks. The list includes Eggroll Masters, making 48 different kinds of egg rolls; Sushi Bomb, selling Mexican-style sushi; Pupuseria Rositas with Salvadorian food; and Banhdicted, serving up bánh mì and Vietnamese coffee.

Dandelion Café

196 N. Court Ave.

The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum is getting a cafe this year, serving grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, plus charcuterie boards. Dandelion Café is managed by the Schneiders — the family behind favorites like LaCo and Noodies.

"This project has been several years in the making. It has been a joy to work with Rio Nuevo to revitalize this historic building and we are thrilled to work with the Schneider family and have the Dandelion Café in our new space," museum director Amy Hartmann-Gordon said in a press release. 

Doughbird 

2960 N. Campbell Ave.

From the Tucson-born Fox Restaurant Concepts comes Doughbird, said to be an "offbeat combination of house-made pizza and tender, juicy rotisserie chicken." 

The new eatery will open in the space that was once home to Old Chicago Pizza. Doughbird already has one location in Phoenix.

El Jefe Cat Lounge Cafe

3025 N. Campbell Ave.

Come for the coffee, stay for the cats.

El Jefe Cat Lounge is space where you can do nothing but play with the 30-ish adoptable cats. The lounge is now gearing up to open a cafe next door, where you'll be able to order coffee and treats and bring them over to the cat lounge. The cafe is expected to open early this year.

Flower Child

2960 N. Campbell Ave.

Setting up right next to Doughbird is another eatery from restaurateur Sam Fox. This one's dubbed Flower Child, which has several locations across the country. The restaurant's motto is: "healthy food for a healthy world."

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"We’re always looking for great opportunities to grow in Tucson and finally found the perfect location for these two restaurants," Fox, who is a Tucson native, said last year. "It’s been a longtime goal of ours to bring Flower Child to Tucson, and we are excited to be able to do it alongside Doughbird, a concept that we are just beginning to grow."

Luna y Sol Cafe

137 W. 29th St.

A coffee shop is coming to South Tucson, but it's so much more than that. Selina and Abraham Barajas are the founders and owners of Luna y Sol Cafe, named after their young daughters, Sofia Luna and Mia Sol. The couple expects to open the cafe in the fall. 

Betty Villegas, director of housing and community development for South Tucson, said last year that the cafe will fill a void in the city. "I am really excited about this coffee shop. We don't really have a place to have meetings or to gather around here. This is a great opportunity for the residents to have a place to meet with neighbors and organizations," Villegas said. "This coffee shop is more than just a business for Selina. It is a way to build community."

Monsoon Chocolate Cafe + Market

3660 E. Fort Lowell Road

Monsoon Chocolate is known for its beautifully crafted bon bons and other chocolate goodies at its flagship location, 234 E. 22nd St. The treats will soon be available in midtown as the shop prepares to open its second location. 

"We have been working on this for literally years and we finally found the perfect midtown spot," the shop said on Instagram.

Screwbean Brewing 

103 N. Park Ave.

A new brewery is on its way to Tucson, just south of the University of Arizona. Screwbean Brewing, named after the screwbean mesquite tree, will run a seven-barrel brewhouse with six to 10 beers on tap and coffee served in the mornings. 

"We hope to be a real local kind of gathering place during the day, as well as in the evenings," owner Matthew Taylor said last year.

Sonora Moonshine Company

124 E. Broadway

Expected to open this spring, Sonora Moonshine Company will have a speakeasy-style bar, a focus on agave-driven spirits and a food menu created by Boca Tacos' Chef Maria Mazon. The concept comes from Es Teran, the chief executive of Borderlands brewing. 

"I come from Sonora," Teran said last year. "A lot of my family is involved in the agave making process of spirits. We wanted to make a unique style of restaurant that caters to that agave component."

Stacks Book Club

1880 E. Tangerine Road

Stacks Book Club started as a pop-up bookshop, eventually evolving into a brick and mortar expected to open this April. While not exactly an eatery, Stacks will also serve as a cafe, serving up coffee, beer and wine to go. 

"Tucson has lots of great bookstores and lots of great cafes. For us, there is something about combining the two that makes being in that kind of space really liberating," co-owner Crispin Jeffrey-Franco said last year.

Tabu

128 E. Congress St.

Latin-fusion restaurant Tabu is expected to open downtown this year with live music and a mixologist-driven cocktail menu. The food will be inspired by Mexico City and other culinary spots in Sonora. 

"We’re trying to do something different in Tucson," co-owner Zeus Sainz said last year. "We want to bring what Tucson does not have yet."

Food we're excited about in 2023

There are lots of spots that are already open, but still new-ish to Tucson. As a lil bonus, we thought we'd lay out some of what we're excited to try this year.

• We didn't have a chance to try the handmade Polish dumplings from stylish pop-up Good Pierogi in 2022, but they're on our list for 2023.
• Puro Ice, from the masterminds behind Tanna's Botannas, opened off Fourth Avenue last year with candies, snacks and Mexican Italian ice. Early this year, the team will also debut ice cream made with recipes from the now-closed Sullivan's Eatery & Creamery.
• New food trucks have recently opened up that we're dying to try, like paninis from Under Pressure and Italian barbecue from Guido-Q.
• 5 Points announced last year that they would be open for dinner service on select days. Similarly, the Tucson Jewish Community Center is offering a new Kosher dining experience once a month through April, led by Chef Asher Amar. We're excited for both!
• Lastly, while not new, we're excited to finally try some longer-time favorites we haven't yet had the chance to visit. On the list: Mariscos Chihuahua on Grande, It's Greek To Me in Catalina, Sushi On Oracle, Tavolino Ristorante Italiano and Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas.

Resolve to give your family healthy water 

Restaurants, breweries and coffee shops know that clean, pure water is crucial. This new year, you too can get that at home with Kinetico Quality Water, which removes more contaminants than any other system. Save up to 20% off a Kinetico K5 drinking water station (restrictions apply) or call today for your free water analysis. Visit KineticoTucson.com.

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