For Tucson Foodie owner and publisher Shane Reiser, Sonoran Restaurant Week is the perfect time for locals to step outside of their comfort zones.
“A lot of people go to the same five restaurants within a mile of their house,” he said. “Tucson is an incredible city of gastronomy, and we have tons of awesome restaurants.
“You don’t find new exciting stuff if you don’t get out of your routine.”
From Friday, Sept. 5, to Saturday, Sept. 14, various eateries across the city will offer fixed price menus from $15 to $55, showcasing the best of each restaurant’s flavor and style. A handful of the establishments will host a special dinner service for the event as well, including Dante’s Fire and Feast.
Anello, Barrio Brewing Co., Dante’s Fire, Feast and Gourmet Girls are all Tucson City of Gastronomy certified — meaning they have been recognized for using locally sourced produce and honoring long-standing food traditions. The heritage ingredients include chiltepin peppers, Sonoran wheat flour, mesquite flour, chia seeds, prickly pears, quail eggs, and others. The city received the designation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015.
Anello
Anello is an Italian pizza restaurant that has been part of the community for over seven years and has participated in Sonoran Restaurant Week for four of those years.
It has yet to release its Restaurant Week menu.
Its all-natural sourdough pizza variations include marinara, margherita, bianca and verde with added toppings choices such as wood-roasted onions, Ezzo pepperoni and poblano sausage. The eatery also serves salads and desserts — blue corn lemon tart, chocolate tart and almond olive oil cake.
Owner Scott Girod said the team is working hard on curating a menu for the upcoming festival.
“It’s kind of tough to make a menu a whole month in advance,” he said. “I’m excited because we got a lot of mission garden figs coming in, preserved a bunch of those, and have jam ready. I think we’ll be getting some good new squash from the farms of Blue Sky and Avalon Gardens.
“There’s always a seasonality to it, and it keeps us on our toes.”
Girod added that the team has decided on its dessert — a cultured cream with black figs and jam, and a pecan praline crust. Squash, pickles and fermented hot sauce are some of the ingredients that the owner said he has and is feeling inspired by.
Barrio Brewing Co.
Barrio Brewing Co. is a locally owned and operated brewery in Tucson. The eatery offers an array of classic American bar bites, with Mexican and Sonoran selections — from buffalo wings and nachos to Sonoran chicken tacos and the Barrio quesadilla. Each entree served at the establishment is paired with a brew that is made in-house. The brews include Barrio Rojo, Barrio Blonde and Copperhead.
General Manager Brennen Young said he’s looking forward to introducing members of the community to what the brewery has to offer.
“I think it’s a great program to bring new customers in to try something new,” he said. “We’re excited because September is statistically the slowest month for most restaurants here in town and this program helps our economy during this slow season.”
Barrio Brewing Co. has participated in Sonoran Restaurant Week for three years. For the event, the brewery’s menu will feature entrees with a pint of beer that will cost $15. The team has also put together a new special dish, the spicy coconut shrimp curry served with steamed jasmine rice and a pint of beer.
“It’s going to be a spin on a classic,” said Jordan Chantharath, Kitchen Manager for Barrio Brewing Co. “With the Mexican basil, you’ll still get that sweet and that spicy hit.”
Dante’s Fire
Dante’s Fire has been featured on “Late Nite Eats” twice and houses the 2023 Tucson Iron Chef winner, Kenneth Foy. Dante’s culinary inspirations hail from different parts of the globe, ranging from burgers and sliders to chicken marsala and Thai curry shrimp. This is Dante’s second festival.
Included in its planned menu for restaurant week is the cheeseburger steak tartare, which Foy said unfortunately missed the mark during the Iron Chef competition.
“This was, sadly, one of our losing dishes from the third Iron Chef competition, but everybody really liked it,” he said. “It’s kind of like a spin on a steak tartare with pickle relish and other twists to give it a cheeseburger flavor.”
In addition to the special dish, the restaurant will also serve herb and artichoke pasta, truffle eggs and cream and shrimp and purple corn and herb grits. The selection of desserts includes a mini sorbet flight of mango-ginger and Thai-basil sorbets on sesame ice cream cones and a double chocolate terrine of milk chocolate and white chocolate mousse with cardamom, coffee cream and espresso sauce.
For Foy, one of the best parts of Sonoran Restaurant Week is the outpour of support for Tucson’s local eateries.
“I love its support for predominantly local restaurants,” he said. “I’m kicking myself for not doing it till last year, but it takes a zero month and turns it into a hero.”
Feast
Executive chef Doug Levy said Feast keeps its customers interested with its ever-changing menu of seasonal selections.
“Each month, we change about a third of the menu, so by the end of any three months, it’s a completely different menu,” he said. “We keep things seasonally appropriate and we keep the staff and customers engaged.
“It draws a sort of food nerd.”
Though the selections for its menu are not yet finalized, the dishes the team is considering include crab cakes with lemon-pear brandy butter and a crème fraîche with tarragon, as well as fried celery root with blue cheese frico, celery root puree, and blackberry cassis coulis. The restaurant may also serve octopus with summer and winter squashes, rabbit ravioli and braised stuffed peppers.
Levy said that he appreciates Reiser’s efforts to ensure that the event focuses on supporting Tucson’s local restaurants.
“For many years, there’s been a Restaurant Week sponsored by the Arizona Restaurant Association, which we gave up on one year after we discovered that we all had to pay a few hundred dollars in marketing budget, plus donate gift cards,” he said.
The executive chef added that Sonoran Restaurant Week presents an opportunity not only for residents to support the establishments, but for the eateries to support each other as well.
“I love that there’s a kind of a spirit of camaraderie that encourages Tucson restaurants to support other Tucson restaurants, rather than all of us seeing each other as competitors,” he said. “We see each other as members of the same community, and we’re here to help each other out and lift each other up.
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Gourmet Girls
Opened on Nov. 11, 2008, Gourmet Girls is the first gluten-free bakery and bistro in Tucson, according to owner Susan Fulton. With her partner in crime, Mary Steiger, Fulton and the team serve baked goods, sandwiches and burgers to customers with and without gluten allergies.
“Different people come in and there’s so much wonderful publicity,” she said. “You get people that maybe wouldn’t come in your restaurant normally, trying all the special offerings.
“It’s just great to see new faces and make new converts.”
The gluten-free bakery’s restaurant week menu will feature biscuits and sausage gravy with honey-style eggs, chicken and waffles for two, a Greek burger with homemade pita bread, and fish and chips. The team is also offering its bakery box that will contain six gourmet cupcakes and other selections from the Gourmet Girls bakery case.
Fulton and Steiger are City of Gastronomy Ambassadors, representing Tucson globally, and educating others on low-water crops. The bistro’s mesquite shortbread cookie occasionally appears on the menu, featuring mesquite flour as a heritage ingredient.
For Fulton, the enjoyment of the event comes from being able to share food with the community.
“We return every year without question, it’s a great, fun event,” she said. “It’s fun to showcase some of our favorite dishes, treat our regular customers to a discounted meal, and to meet new people.”
According to Reiser, food is the second most common reason why people inside and outside of Arizona visit Tucson. The Tucson Foodie owner and publisher said the city’s distinct Sonoran-style cuisine, the collaborative spirit of its restaurateurs, and dedication to honoring several generations of food traditions keep the food scene alive and well.
“The city is always evolving, changing and growing — and it’s a big part of our economy too,” Reiser said. “I love exploring new restaurants and there’s so much amazing food in Tucson.
“Tucson really is a foodie destination.”
Sonoran Restaurant Week
WHEN: Tuesday Sept. 5 to Thursday Sept. 14
WHERE: Various restaurants in Tucson
INFO: For more information about the participating restaurants, menus and pricing, visit sonoranrestaurantweek.com
This article appears in Aug 21-28, 2025.