The Best Restaurants in Tucson, by the Record
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Rank 98. Churrasco de Brasil
Brazilian
Gaucho chefs orbit the dining room with long skewers of rotisserie-roasted meat, slicing tableside until you flip your token to red. Tucson's lone Brazilian steakhouse, it runs the full rodízio spread, heavy on beef but with pork, chicken, and lamb in rotation. The room leans formal, all dark wood and white tablecloths, so this is date-night or celebration territory. The picanha, a beef cap with a fat ribbon that keeps every slice moist, is the cut to watch for.
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Rank 98. Crossroads Restaurant
Mexican
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Rank 98. El Minuto Cafe
Sonoran
The pink adobe exterior south of the Convention Center has been pulling people off Main Avenue for generations, and the murals inside haven't changed much either. El Minuto is an old-school Sonoran Mexican restaurant, the kind where the red-sauced enchiladas and carne seca chimichangas do the talking and the room already knows it. Bring cash, arrive hungry, and don't skip the sopapillas.
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Earthy green walls and eclectic artwork set the mood at this seasonally driven neighborhood restaurant on Speedway. The menu rotates monthly, so the kitchen chases whatever's good right now rather than coasting on a signature. The wine list is serious enough that the room fills with people who came as much to drink as to eat. Dress is relaxed, but the cooking skews ambitious, the kind of place where the specials board is genuinely worth reading.
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Rank 98. Figs Oven + Enoteca
Mediterranean
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Rank 98. Hub Restaurant & Ice Creamery
New American
Exposed brick, visible ductwork, and a full ice creamery counter signal that this casual American comfort-food restaurant is playing a longer game than the average burger spot. The menu runs from pretzel knots and cheese curds through short rib ravioli and grilled filet, with brunch holding its own on weekends. The Tucson Urban Burger, stacked with bacon, chipotle barbecue, and tobacco onions, tends to settle the question of what to order.
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Rank 98. Jewel’s Noodle Kitchen
Northern Chinese
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Rank 98. Just Kabab
Middle Eastern
The open grill station at the front tells you exactly how things work here: you order at the counter, watch the kebabs cook, and find a wooden booth. This counter-service Middle Eastern spot in Oro Valley keeps a refrigerated case stocked with fresh kebabs and a dessert case loaded with sweets. The kanafeh, a cheese pastry soaked in syrup and finished with crushed pistachios, is the move after.
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Rank 98. Le Rendez-Vous
French
White tablecloths and full tableside service in one room, a looser bistro with small plates in the other: Le Rendez-Vous has been doing classic French fine dining in Tucson long enough that the regulars probably have a usual table. The menu runs Beef Wellington and Grand Marnier soufflé without apology, which in the current dining climate takes a certain confidence.
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Rank 98. Piazza Gavi
Italian
Exposed brick, wooden beams, white tablecloths, and soft lighting put this Foothills Italian restaurant somewhere between a neighborhood trattoria and a special-occasion dinner, which seems to suit everyone just fine. The enclosed patio runs quieter than the main room if you want to actually hear each other. The menu leans toward the kind of stuffed-and-sauced Italian-American comfort food that makes you immediately loosen your belt.
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Telescopes on the patio, solar panels on the roof, and a ginger bitters program that takes itself seriously: Sky Bar is an astronomy-themed bar on Fourth Avenue that lets the night sky do the decorating. The kitchen is Brooklyn Pizza Company next door, so you're eating well. Day drinkers can pull breakfast calzones and pastries into the rotation, which is a fine way to study the cosmos before dark.
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Picnic tables under string lights, bocce ball on the lawn, and the Santa Catalinas sitting out there like they're part of the decor. This is a casual, all-outdoor spot inside a native botanical garden, the kind of place where kids vanish into a gemstone dig pit and adults happily let them. The menu leans comfort food, with scoop fries and Irish nachos doing the heavy lifting.
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Rank 98. The Monica
Mexican
String lights turn a downtown alley into a courtyard, and that outdoor patio is reason enough to seek this place out on a warm Tucson evening. The Monica is a casual Mexican restaurant where the kitchen plays with familiar forms, running tamale dough through a eggs Benedict riff that shouldn't work as well as it does. The room reads urban but unfussy, the kind of spot that pulls in a mixed downtown crowd without trying too hard.
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Rank 98. Union Public House
Gastropub American
Thirty beers on tap and a whiskey wall that takes a minute to read: this is a gastropub in St. Philip's Plaza with exposed brick, wood beams, and a patio worth claiming on a good Tucson evening. The kitchen grinds its own burger meat, finishes it with bacon jam, and handles brunch on weekends. The bar runs late, closing at 2 a.m., which explains the crowd still there long after dinner has become a memory.
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Rank 98. Wild Garlic Grill
French
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