Lost but not forgotten: Author recalls closed Tucson restaurants

Tucson is built upon many things — culture, style, history — but local author Rita Connelly is reminding Tucsonans of another important aspect, and this one is rich in flavor.

Connelly released her book, “Lost Restaurants of Tucson” in December, paying tribute to several local restaurants that have closed. Many of the restaurants in her book were places she often visited with friends and family and loved.

The Arizona Daily Star sat down with Connelly, who has lived in Tucson on and off since the 1970s, to talk about the loss she feels Tucson now suffers without these historic eateries.

Which restaurant was the greatest loss and why?

“The Tack Room, because that was such an iconic restaurant. It was the first four star, five star, restaurant. It took Tucson from a ‘one horse’ town, to top-shelf dinning. They had high class dining and great food. Famous people ate there like movie stars and politicians. Lives were changed there. When they closed, the owner, Drew Vactor, sold the place because he was tired and he had been in the business for years. He took that place from a little dude ranch and turned it into a restaurant. It changed the way that people thought about eating in Tucson, and so I’d say that was the greatest loss.”

What is the best meal you’ve ever had at a restaurant from your book?

“It’s impossible to choose! One of the restaurants I actually worked at was called the Mexico Inn, and it is really, truly, still the best Mexican food I’ve ever had; we ate there every day. I worked for lunch and dinner so I had Mexican food for lunch and Mexican food for dinner, and they were open five days a week … I really think, in a lot of ways, that it’s some of the best food in the book. The enchilada sauce there was out of this world and the green corn tamales there were just fantastic. It was a little hole in the wall restaurant, but I would have to say my favorite meal was the cheese enchiladas at the Mexico Inn.

“There really were so many good meals at these restaurants. That’s what people would tell me when I was doing my research or they found out I was doing the book, they would say, ‘Oh yeah, I remember eating so-and-so at such-and-such.’ It was always a memorable meal at these places.”

What did Tucson lose when those restaurants closed?

“The restaurants took the ‘family things’ with them when they closed. A lot of the restaurants were run by families and I discovered that a lot of the restaurants like Da Vinci’s and a couple other places, sold the whole package when they closed. They sold the name, they sold the recipes and menu, they sold everything. Basically whoever owned these places afterwards ran them into the ground because they didn’t have the heart. That’s what was missing; the heart was gone. It is the loss of family traditions and culture that goes with them.”

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What was the reason that many of these restaurants closed?

“A lot of it was families selling the restaurants. There were other issues with landlords and then issues where they were doing really well for a while, but then ended up not having enough money or energy to continue. Just because a restaurant is busy doesn’t mean that the people who own it are making enough money.

“Other times it was just people who decided they didn’t want to do it anymore and if there’s a second or third generation to keep it going, then that’s really cool. But that doesn’t happen very often. That is the neat part about writing the book, it keeps the memories going.”

Which type of lost restaurants will Tucson miss the most?

“The little mom-andpop shops were a large loss because it’s the families and their history that go. These are places that they’ve put their life and blood into. It’s sad when the bigger places go, but somehow there’s always something that comes along to sort of take their place. The smaller places you can eat at more than once, but a lot of people will only go to the bigger places for special occasions or once ever. The little mom- and-pop places people go to all the time — those are the places I really miss.”

What do you hope to see for the future of restaurants in Tucson?

“I hope that they last. I think it’s great what is going on downtown, but I want them to stay there. I don’t want them to stay only two or three years and then say they’re not making it or the landlord raises their rent. I want them to last and to keep continuing, so that 20 years from now, people can say they remembered when they opened. I want growth, I want to see expansion outside of downtown, which I think is happening a little bit. I just really hope people can hang around for a while.”

Do you think that any of the restaurants will ever come back and reopen?

“No, not at all. Most of them are gone. The only one might be Bluefin. I think they may open a second restaurant” — the owners also have Kingfisher on East Grant Road. “I know they are talking about it, but they may not call it Bluefin. They may do something totally different. Its just one of those things, unfortunately that might be the only one that I could see reopening.”