Special settings
Cuvée World Bistro — 3352 E. Speedway. An eclectic menu with a hip ambience and some of the tastiest food around. 881-7577. $$$ C
The Dish — 3131 E. First St. This small, intimate restaurant is a dressy, date-night kind of place, so the kids might want to stay home. 326-1714. $$$-$$$$ C
Red Sky Café — 2910 N. Swan Road. Steve Schultz dishes up oversize servings that expertly combine French, California and Southwestern cuisines. 326-5454. $$$ C
Pastiche Modern Eatery — 3025 N. Campbell Ave. Chic bistro serves a variety of good stuff, from elegant dishes to comfort food. 325-3333. $$$ C
58 Degrees and Holding Co. — 4280 N. Campbell Ave. This restaurant and wine bar in St. Philip's Plaza serves salads, paninis and large plates. 299-5804. $$ FH
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The Bistro at Las Candelas — 427 E. Limberlost Drive. The restaurant is wildly eclectic. Italian-influenced dishes. A touch of French, Indian and Mediterranean. But the menu is small and well-chosen. 696-9100. $ NW
Luxor Café — 3699 N. Campbell Ave. A Mediterranean-style restaurant. Try the appetizer sampler. But there is so much more to try — cucumber salad, vegetable sambosa, Za'atar Mana'ish (personal pita pizza) and shawerma beef wrap. 325-3771. $$ C
American and grills
Café Ramey — 1661 N. Swan Road. The servings are hefty here, and the ingredients are bursting with freshness. 319-2600. $$$ C
Claim Jumper — 3761 E. Broadway. Huge portions of American-style favorites. And amazing desserts. 795-2900. $$ C
Dakota Café — 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road, in Trail Dust Town. The fish is swimmingly fresh and perfectly prepared, but it's the sour-cream chocolate cake that has captured our hearts. 298-7188. $$$ FH
Tucson Racquet & Fitness Club — 4001 N. Country Club Road. Eat in or take out — even if you're not a member. Salads, build-your-own-entree plates and healthful side orders. 795-6960. $ C
Risky Business — 10515 N. Oracle Road, 531-0202; 6866 E. Sunrise Drive, 577-0021; 250 S. Craycroft Road, 584-1610. Family-friendly restaurants with burgers, salads and sandwiches. $ NW, FH, C
Ziggi's — 3225 N. Swan Road, 322-7042; 2500 N. Silverbell Road, 624-0020. A fast casual restaurant with homemade food and daily specials. A glance at the menu will make you wonder how this place will be able to sustain such an extensive selection. $$ C
Border crossings
Chago's Mexican Food — 9190 N. Coachline Blvd., off Silverbell Road. A menu of Sonoran-style Mexican food. The restaurant also serves breakfast burritos and a few vegetarian options. 572-8031. $$ NW
El Charro Café — 311 N. Court Ave., 622-1922; 6310 E. Broadway, at El Mercado, 745-1922; 100 W. Orange Grove Road, 615-1922; 4699 E. Speedway, 325-1922. Carne seca is the thing here at Tucson's oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant. $$ D, C, NW
Teresa's Mosaic Café — 2455 N. Silverbell Road. Specializes in Oaxacan specialties such as lomo adobado (a succulent, spicy marinated pork loin) and pollo en molé, along with the standard Mexican fare. 624-4512. $$ SW
Zivaz Mexican Bistro — 4590 E. Broadway. The bistro puts a twist on the usual staples, such as enchiladas with pumpkin-seed sauce. Fresh seafood, too. 325-1234. $$ C
The Original Hideout — 3000 S. Mission Road. Sunday brunch includes Mexican dishes, omelets and menudo. Except for drinks, brunch is serve-yourself, all-you-can-eat. 791-0515. $ SW
Blanco Tacos + Tequila — 2905 E. Skyline Drive, in La Encantada. The menu, which covers everything from guacamole to cheese crisps to tacos and enchiladas, is basically Mexican, but with a contemporary twist. The dessert menu is short and sweet. 232-1007. $ FH
El Taco — 2825 N. Country Club Road. This Mexican eatery serves enduring comfort food. 326-0580. $ C
Casa Don Carlos — 1103 W. Prince Road. The heat in many Mexican restaurants comes from the chilies. Here it comes from the flaming desserts — as in cherries jubilee and bananas flambé. 207-0008. $ NW
Breakfast, coffeehouses
Cafe Jasper — 6370 N. Campbell Ave. It serves only breakfast and lunch, but those meals are so filling that you'll skip dinner anyway. 577-0326. $$ FH
Jethro's Little Café — 917 W. Prince Road. If ever a restaurant looked and felt like its name, it's Jethro's Little Café. 888-1091. $ NW
The Cereal Boxx, a Cereal Cafe — 943 E. University Blvd. This University of Arizona-area cafe is a kick with more than 30 cereals, 40 toppings and eight kinds of milk. Free Wi-Fi. 622-2699 ¢ C
Sunny Daze Cafe — 4980 S. Campbell Ave. The breakfast and lunch cafe doesn't stray far from the norm when it comes to its breakfast selections of hotcakes, country ham and eggs, French toast and various omelets. The restaurant gets a little more adventurous at lunch. 295-0300. $$ S
Le Buzz — 9121 E. Tanque Verde Road, at Catalina Highway. A coffeehouse that's quite popular with the cycling set. At night, it morphs into a bistro with a smallish but thoughtful menu. Only five entrees grace it, but there's an equal number of creative salads that would make for a lovely light dinner. For dessert, it has plenty to satisfy a sweet tooth. 749-3903. $$$ E
Son's Bakery Café — 5683 E. Speedway. The small bakery and cafe, which serves up breakfast and lunch, is very homespun with everything made fresh — even the fat, sky-high bread used for sandwiches. 885-0806. $ C
A Great Location — 20 N. Sarnoff Drive. Busy, small East Side eatery serves a good breakfast. 733-1388. $ E
Brawley's Restaurant — 6367 E. Broadway. This neighborhood place dishes up a delicious, affordable breakfast (lunch, too) and some of the best coffee in town. 722-5571. ¢ E
Crying Onion — 3684 W. Orange Grove Road. Whether you want an order of toast or a breakfast of champions, this eatery gets you going. Breakfast and lunch only. 531-1330. $ NW
The Egg Connection — 3114 E. Fort Lowell Road. Lots of choices, including home fries and grits, that are good, cheap and fast. Breakfast and lunch only. 881-1009. $ C
Biscuits Country Café — 7002 E. Broadway. Tucked into a strip mall behind the Gaslight Theatre, this charming café serves delicious omelets and killer burgers. 290-2556. ¢ C
Caffé Torino — 10325 N. La Cañada Drive, Oro Valley. Northern Italian fare served with style. 219-2994. $$ NW
The Daybreak Cafe — 8270 S. Houghton Road. A breakfast joint above all, this greasy spoon also carries lunch and dinner items. 574-4424. $ E
International
Lani's Luau — 2532 S. Harrison Road. The next time the trade winds blow you through the Southeast Side, relive the tastes and flavors of that Hawaiian vacation you took with a trip to Lani's. 886-5828. $ SE
Rio Cafe — 2526 E. Grant Road. Flavorful, but its food is more fusion than Brazilian. The name conjured up dreams of those smoky skewers of beef, churrasco or a crispy risole stuffed with sweet corn. 323-5003. $$ C
Zemam's — 2731 E. Broadway. Exotic spot serves Ethiopian cuisine to eat the Ethiopian way (no forks). No alcohol; BYOB. More than half of the menu is vegetarian makes us love it more. Try the spinach dish. Or the yemsir wet, a stunning, spicy, red lentil dish.323-9928. $$ C
Vegetarian-friendly
Feast Tasteful Takeout — 4122 E. Speedway. Feast has an ever-changing menu, but there always seems to be something for the veggie lover. 326-9363. $$ C
Gandhi Cuisine of India — 150 W. Fort Lowell Road. Check out the navarattan, a mixture of vegetables and paneer in a sublime curry sauce. Heck, try most any veggie meal and be happy. 292-1738. $$ C
The Garland Bistro — 119 E. Speedway. This has long been a veggie hangout — we mean the food, not the people. From vegetarian curry to a wide variety of salads. Vegan options are available. 882-3999. $$ C
Gentle Ben's Brewing Co. — 865 E. University Blvd. A variety of options. The Peggy-O is pretty amazing vegetarian fare — a grilled veggie burger topped with guacamole, Jack cheese and a creamy horseradish. 624-4177. $$ C
Guilin Chinese Restaurant — 3250 E. Speedway. An abundance of vegetarian dishes to choose from, and many will please. A favorite is the full-flavored vegetarian sizzling rice soup. 320-7768. $ C
India Oven — 2727 N. Campbell Ave. Indian restaurants are a vegetarian's friend, and that's especially true here. Of course, you want the naan — and we love the saag paneer, a creamy dish made with the fresh cheese, paneer, spinach, garlic (lots of it) and a touch of red chile. 326-8635. $$ C
Mina's Thai Restaurant — 5575 E. River Road. So many wondrous choices. A few we love: the tom yum vegetable soup, with tofu, mushrooms and lemon grass. Or the hot and spicy combo, with tofu, green beans, bamboo shoots and hot hot, spicy sauce. 299-0453. $$ FH
Red Sky Café —2900 N. Swan Road. Steve Schultz dishes up oversize servings that expertly combine French, California and Southwest cuisines. The Sunday brunch offers a range of vegetarian salads and pastas. 326-5454. $$$ C
Tohono Chul Tea Room — 366 N. Paseo del Norte. There are a few veggie choices here. Breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. 797-1222. $ NW
Asian and Pacific Rim
The Bamboo Club — 5870 E. Broadway, in Park Place mall. It's big, it's hip, and it features delectable dishes from most of the Pacific Rim nations. 514-9665. $$$ C
Asian Bistro — 3122 N. Campbell Ave. This exceptionally clean restaurant features Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes. 881-7800 $ C
Seri Melaka — 6133 E. Broadway. The Malaysian food here should be eaten slowly so you can savor every moment. The lemak is not to be missed. Chinese is served, too. 747-7811. $$$ C
