Daniel Cordova is focused on making each of his six restaurants stand out in Tucson. His most recent venture is the grand opening of the street food scratch kitchen concept Antojitos, 63 E. Congress Street, Tucson.
“My restaurant business journey began in 2015 with the opening of The Neighborhood, which turns 10 this year,” Cordova said. “With Antojitos, we wanted to do something different and serve traditional street vendor-style Mexican food. We prepare and sell homemade ice cream, Mexican candies and treats. We also sell Sonoran hot dogs.”
Other Antojitos delectables include raspados, churros, artisan paletas, coctel de elote, chilaquiles, agua frescas and Tostito nachos. Alongside this variety of street food dishes, the establishment also features a play area to help younger children stay entertained.
To date, Cordova oversees The Neighborhood (with two locations), La Chingada, Cruda Mariscos, RealGood Brunch Co. and Antojitos. For Cordova, each concept fills voids in the market.
“The initial idea for Antojitos was that we saw a gap in this type of food content that seemed to be missing in the Downtown area,” Cordova said. “There are some similar concepts, but there’s not much. There are more places for adults than kids in the downtown area, so that was another focus we addressed.”
Cordova explained that the root of Antojitos’ style is its blend of family traditions and a homemade feeling that customers can taste. To him, Antojitos takes inspiration from family, loved ones and past ventures.
“My wife, Jessica, is our company’s executive chef, so she plays a significant role in crafting plates and recipes,” Cordova said.
“There is a little bit of everyone’s involvement. My aunt has this special sauce that we loved and added to the menu. There are even recipes from my mom, and Jessica has created dishes throughout the years that appear here. La Chingada has a decent-sized kitchen and serves as a commissary for some of the items you’ll see at Antojitos. We use the same green and red salsa for the chilaquiles.”
A critical focus for Cordova and his employees is making all menu items across these concepts include only fresh and natural ingredients. He hopes to convey this point to customers through the quality of the food.
“We’ve had a good response, and it’s working out well,” Cordova said. “We’ve seen many families come out to try Antojitos. Our company vision is focused on improving and expanding the concepts we currently have.
“We are making changes to recipes and creating new ones with cleaner ingredients that are conducive to a scratch kitchen approach. It’s definitely challenging and adds to the pricing, but looking into the future, it’s a better option for the restaurants and also our customers.”
Regarding the potential of future food concepts, Cordova sees the restaurant landscape as a hurdle to overcome, and each year presents a new challenge. He hopes that polishing his available restaurants can create a solid foundation for the comingyears.
“It doesn’t become any easier with each new location because the industry changes every year,” Cordova said. “One of the biggest challenges is creating the right team to help us expand and grow, because we can’t do it on our own. As a company, we’re learning, growing and working toward that goal.”
Antojitos
63 E. Congress Street, Tucson
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
tucsonantojitos.com
