HomeTucsonTucson Features › Top 10 Best Things to do in Tucson - Page 4

Maynards Market and Kitchen

After a long day of sightseeing and exploring the great outdoors in southeastern Arizona, it is now time to head back to the hotel, clean up and get ready for Tucson’s offering of food, wine & FUN. With the University of Arizona so close to downtown Tucson, the 4th Avenue district of college bars and eateries is connected to the hipster downtown locale. In the northern part of the city are upscale areas for those looking for a more refined atmosphere. I have selected one restaurant from both areas as they are both tops in the city. 

Maynard's Market and Kitchen

Situated at the historic train depot of Tucson is Maynard’s Market & Kitchen, an Über-hip eatery that has garnered several accolades including the cover of Arizona Highways Best Restaurants for 2012. You can choose the dark & intimate seclusion of the 30-seat restaurant or enjoy your meal on the back plaza with the rumble of locomotives against the panoramic backdrop of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

The Market is chock full of local foods & groceries such as Café Luce coffee, Tucson Tamales & specialty hot sauces. There is a vast wine selection sure to please any wine lover with local Arizona wineries represented. The craft beer selection is second to none and offers many local brewers such as Four Peaks & San Tan Breweries. Fresh soups, pizza & Cuban sandwiches are made daily as well as several grab & go sandwiches. There is a large community table inside the market to hold meetings or smaller tables on the front patio to enjoy the wonderful Arizona day, perfect for the top ten list of things to do in Tucson. www.maynardsmarket.com

The Grill at Hacienda del Sol

For the oenophile or wine enthusiast, The Grill at the Hacienda del Sol Resort has been listed in Wine Spectator’s “Best of” issue for 15 years running and has twice been conferred the Award of Ultimate Distinction from Wine Enthusiast, so it’s no wonder it would make the top ten list of things to do in Tucson. No other restaurant or wine bar in Arizona has received that distinction, let alone twice, so if wine is what you are looking for, you cannot do any better than the 2,000 labels and 10,000 bottles in The Grill’s wine cellar.

The Sunday Brunch at The Grill has been chosen year in and year out as the best brunch in Tucson with every food imaginable including omelet, waffle & carving stations with prime rib, ham & duck to name a few. No Sunday brunch would be complete without champagne and The Grill knows how to pamper its guests with complimentary glasses of the bubbly beverage to make your day complete.

Now that you have enjoyed some of Southern Arizona’s more delectable dishes, it is time to find a bar, but not just any bar, you want to check out what makes Tucson special. It seems that every city is becoming more homogenized with chain restaurants and sports bars that shill the same food and beer that everybody does because the corporate mentality is to quell any originality in the fear of offending the prospective guests’ delicate senses. This bar is the farthest from a corporate bar and does its best to be as non-PC as possible. www.haciendadelsol.com

The Buffet Bar & Crock

The Buffet Bar & Crock Pot or the “Buff” as it is affectionately known is Tucson’s oldest bar that originally opened as a buffet for the Arizona railroad workers. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the Buffet began serving alcohol and became a hit. This classic dive bar just east of the 4th Avenue college district and north of downtown is the epitome of what a dive bar should be, and is must-see for Tucson goers. The Buffet is the nation’s largest retailer of Coors products with only Coors original & Blue Moon on tap.

The jukebox is packed with classic oldies, the pool table only costs a quarter and the shuffleboard is free! If you are wondering about the Crock Pot in the name, it is because they boil hot dogs in beer all day long in the crock pot and serve ‘em up on steamed bun for only $2. Esquire magazine named the Buffet Bar & Crock Pot the “Best Bar in America” in 2011 and I wholeheartedly agree with them as the colorful clientele & dark, cool atmosphere makes me want to return time and again. www.thebuffetbar.com