Nick Schaffer loves Cuban food. Like many Tucsonans, though, he was struggling to find it here.
“There are places that have Cuban items on their menus, but there’s no Cuban restaurant here,” he said.
He found what he was looking for on social media: a local home cook was selling Cuban food out of her house and taking orders online. The chef, Patricia Espinosa, makes a public appearance only once a year, at our favorite smorgasbord, Tucson Meet Yourself.
Mojo's venue was completely redesigned from the spot's previous iteration as a Caribbean-themed nightclub, at 1929 E. Grant Road.
Patricia is Cuban, and would make classic dishes like ropa vieja and Cubano sandwiches for other Tucsonans from the Caribbean diaspora. Now, she’s helping lead the menu at Mojo Cuban Kitchen and Rum Bar. (The restaurant is named after mojo chicken, pronounced mo-ho, a signature Cuban dish made with salsa verde.) The restaurant at 1929 E. Grant Road officially opens today, Oct. 30.
“I tried her food a few times, and I knew she was the real deal,” Nick said.
The cubano sandwich ($12) is made with two different kinds of pork.
When he started assembling a team to bring Cuban food to Tucson, she was one of the first people he got on payroll. She’s now the sous chef at Mojo, working with executive chef Janet Valderas, who until recently helmed the upscale dining program at Tanque Verde Ranch.
“She left a mark on our menu by guiding us to what’s authentic,” Nick said. “One thing we might not have known otherwise is, Cuban food is not spicy. You might come across recipes with chiles, but that’s not how it’s eaten on the island.”
The guava mojito from Mojo Cuban ($12) is garnished with a sliver of fresh sugar cane.
The menu was also inspired by a staff trip to Little Havana in Miami.
“We tried a Cuban sandwich empanada that will be on the menu,” he said. “Cuban empanadas are fried, but we’re not frying them in lard (the old school way) but instead vegetable oil.”
They’ll also make empanadas with seasoned, vegan ground beef, [called picadillo] and separate the fryers to make a plant-based option.
The ropa vieja ($17) is a classic Cuban beef stew.
A rum bar was always part of the plan. They’ll be offering a mojito made with pure sugar freshly muddled into the base (rather than simple syrup) and garnished with a wedge of sugar cane — another detail picked up in Little Havana. But beyond the typical rum cocktails: mojitos, piña coladas, daiquiris — “made the way Ernest Hemingway liked them,” Nick said — they’ll also be offering the spirit straight-up.
“We’re going to do rum flights to reintroduce Tucson to rum,” he said. “Different tiers where the uniqueness or scarcity, or different regions will be highlighted.”
The restaurant shines most when it’s offering experiences you can’t find anywhere else: the croquetas, remarkably full of rich flavors; the sliver of sugar cane in the mojito, enjoyed on a sunny patio bar.
Mojo Cuban Kitchen and Rum Bar
Location: 1929 E. Grant Road
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday | 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday | 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday | 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
For more information, check out their website.
Note: Their pick-up window, La Ventanita, will be open at 8 a.m. for breakfast, coffee, and Cuban milkshakes until the full restaurant opens.
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