This new diner on Fourth Avenue has a hidden bar in the back

When first walking in, you'd think Black Iris Cafe was just a cozy diner.

The new restaurant at 340 N. Fourth Ave. serves American comfort food and classic cocktails — with a low-light speakeasy-style bar in the back for dance parties and cabaret.

It's the only place along the avenue to grab a plate of biscuits and gravy with an espresso martini for dinner.

Owners Thomas Struck and Scott Noble have high hopes for their new restaurant, which opened in April. They plan to make the space not only a relaxing place to eat and drink, but a fun spot for the community to gather.

"We'd like to have community events," Struck said. The owners have already planned a few paint-and-sip events, karaoke nights and community gatherings, but they hope to do more.

"I'm not charging vendors or charging admission," Struck said. The owners plan to make their money from the food and beverages purchased during the events.

Inspired by owner Scott Noble's pomeranian Iris (who the restaurant got its name from), the owners are currently planning to work with local shelters to put on adoption fairs. While they can't host any pets in the restaurant outside of service animals, the owners would like to cover a few adoption fees for customers who come in to participate.

"We just thought we'd do something like that and then closer to Christmas we'll do another food drive," Noble said.

The two owners aren't the typical duo of brothers or lifelong friends that dream of going into business together. On the contrary, Struck was a regular customer at a restaurant that Noble worked at before he was let go.

"I make a terrible employee," Noble said. "[Tom] said, 'I've been wanting to help you, but if I start something with you, I don't want anything to do with it.'"

Struck, who owned a comic book store for nearly four decades before he sold it 11 years ago, says he went from handling the paperwork and financial side of the business to working up front and welcoming customers 5-6 days a week. Some "side effects" from his previous occupation can be seen at the restaurant as original comics and Disney art line one of the walls.

"That's part of my nerdiness that I bring to the place," Struck said.

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The diner's location has been home to many other businesses in the last few years, most recently Blush Restaurant which closed on Jan. 2. The owners say that they aren't afraid of the spot's "curse" they've been warned about.

"We're hoping to make a go of it," Struck said.

Black Iris Cafe serves all-day breakfast and dinner classics, from biscuits and gravy and breakfast sandwiches to chili cheese dogs and burgers. The menu is handcrafted by Noble, who handles most of the back-of-the-house operations.

Through trial and error, the cook has been adding and taking items off of the menu since the restaurant's opening. The restaurant's fall menu should be up sometime in August, Noble says, when the owners are hoping business picks up as the school year rolls in.

"We never had a grand opening, so we were talking about maybe waiting 'til school," Noble said. "The bar staff is pretty excited about doing something like that, I know it'd be fun."

Until then, Tucsonans can come in and try the current items Noble and bar staff have come up with.

"It's a nice, big place and hopefully we can make people come down and enjoy it," Noble said.

The restaurant's summertime hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and closed Sundays. Current bar hours are 8 p.m. to midnight on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Hours are subject to change in the fall.

For more information, head to the restaurant's website or Instagram.