In Rita Connelly’s latest book, “Historic Restaurants of Tucson,” readers are offered in-depth insight into some of the city’s most iconic and historic dining spots that are still around today.
Flip through its 128 pages and you’ll discover…
- El Charro founder Monica Flin spoke French, Spanish and English, loved to hunt and opened the first location in 1922 on North Fourth Avenue, where Caruso’s sits today.
- Li’l Abner’s proximity to Old Tucson during its Hollywood heyday made it a hot spot for visiting actors, including Lee Marvin, Marlon Brando and “The Duke” himself, John Wayne.
- Henry “Pat” Patterson was just passing through town on an “all-American road trip” with his wife, Lynn, and fell in love with the city. He opened his first Pat’s Drive In location downtown in 1955. The only Pat's location that's still open, on North Grande Avenue, launched in 1961.
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Other restaurants featured in the book include Lucky Wishbone, Gus Balon’s, Blue Willow, Mi Nidito and Saguaro Corners.
Connelly received much of the information for the project through in-person interviews with the restaurant owners themselves, past and present.
“Most of the people were so wonderfully cooperative and had such wonderful stories to tell,” Connelly said in a recent interview. “I learned a lot.”
“Historic Restaurants” is a companion piece to Connelly’s 2015 project, “Lost Restaurants of Tucson,” which looked at popular eateries in town that no longer exist; places like Gordo's and the Tack Room.
Connelly, a self-proclaimed foodie who served as a restaurant reviewer for the Tucson Weekly for a decade, said loyal customers were often the primary reason why so many of the eateries in her new book survived over the years.
"A lot of these restaurants are second or third generation in terms of ownership, but also in terms of customers," Connelly said. "Adults who came as children are now coming in with their children and even their grandchildren. People have been eating at places like Lucky Wishbone forever."
After promoting "Historic Restaurants," Connelly will be moving on to her next book topic, documenting the oft-debated origins of the chimichanga. Several restaurants, including El Charro in Tucson, have claimed the deep-fried burrito as their own.
"Tucson is just a really great place to be writing about food," Connelly said.
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