The owners of a popular south-side sports bar who opened a restaurant in downtown Tucson last year are bringing three additional venues to downtown — including an indoor playground.
The Neighborhood Cocina and Cantina, 3940 E. 29th St., will be moving into 61 E. Congress St. with street tacos and micheladas.
Its owners, Daniel Cordova and German Fuentes, have also taken over the former Cafe Poca Cosa at 110 E. Pennington St., to remodel for their La Chingada restaurant, which will move in and offer expanded patio seating.
The current La Chingada location at 31 N. Scott Ave. will become a mariscos and oyster bar dubbed La Cruda.
At 125 E. Congress St., they will open Antojitos, a raspados shop with an indoor playground to give families with young children a downtown destination.
The duo appeared before the Rio Nuevo Board on Tuesday to ask for $450,000 in financial assistance to remodel the buildings, which are within the Rio Nuevo boundaries and benefit the district with sales taxes. They have already invested about $3 million in the downtown venture.
The board unanimously approved the request.
“This is a huge investment in our downtown,” said Fletcher McCusker, the board’s chairman. “I think you’re going to change downtown forever.”
The projects are expected to be completed later this year or early next year.
Despite the pandemic, the owners opened their La Chingada restaurant downtown in December 2020 and have had wait times of over an hour to get a table.
“It’s a great atmosphere they’ve created,” McCusker said of the eatery with Sonora-style offerings.
The new La Chingada will also have a small convenience store with “Mexican munchies,” Cordova said.