Julio and Jael Garcia are morning people.
They enjoy waking up early and heading to the kitchen where family members would trickle in as golden sun rays peek through the windows.
Mugs of warm coffee and plates of chilaquiles and empanadas are scattered around the table as the adults catch up, alternating between taking bites of scrambled eggs and sharing fond memories.
As you get up to serve yourself seconds, you have to dodge the nieces and nephews, who run around the kitchen playing some game they just made up seconds earlier.
It’s these moments that bring the couple alegria, or joy.
That same joyful scene was playing out in the Buendía Breakfast and Lunch Café on Wednesday morning.
Families piled into booths, sipping on café de olla served in colorful Talavera mugs and chowing down on fluffy pancakes with a buttery, golden brown crust on top.
Kids ran from the tables to the play area, grabbing mouthfuls of potatoes before heading back to the play kitchen where they pretended to craft some kind of extravagant dish.
The colorful atmosphere was filled with sounds of lively conversations and melodic tunes of Mexican music that played overhead.
From the décor down to the ingredients, every detail inside Buendía is there to give everyone who steps foot inside that fuzzy, joyful feeling.
That’s exactly why the couple started the business in the first place.
For the past five years, the Garcias have ran Buendía Breakfast and Lunch Café at 2530 N. 1st Ave., making sure every customer gets to feel the joy breakfast brings.
Early afternoon customers dine inside Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe, 2530 North 1st Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 12, 2026.
The Garcia’s story starts in middle school.
Jael and Julio went to middle school together in Nogales, Sonora. Though the two didn’t really speak, a common friend introduced the pair to one another.
Years later, the two were brought back together again thanks to French fries. Julio owned a French fry food truck that set up in front of his family’s restaurant. Jael would stop by frequently, bringing the couple closer to each other.
Before they knew it, the two were married with kids and moving up to Tucson.
In 2021, things were bleak. The pandemic was in full stride and many people in the community were isolated. Julio and Jael felt like some alegria was desperately needed in Tucson.
What better way to do that than with a plate of home-cooked chilaquiles, just like the ones your grandmother would make.
Back in Sonora, breakfast was a huge deal for families. It’s the time of day everyone would come together, put on a pot of coffee and share a meal with one another. That was the kind of experience the Garcias wanted to bring to Tucson.
With that in mind, the two decided to start their very own restaurant. Jael would be the mastermind in the kitchen while Julio dealt with all of the front-of-house details. They made the perfect team.
Soon, the two transformed the building on North First Avenue into a cozy, welcoming café, making you feel like you just stepped foot into a beloved family member’s house.
Vibrant banners of papel picado sway from the ceiling, complementing the colorful striped table runners that drape across the booths. You’ll see customers twisting and turning their heads, admiring their collection of dainty Milagros and sombreros that hang on the walls.
Most importantly, each table has a bottle of alegria on it. The bottle, which is filled with fluffy, neon pom-poms, gets “sprinkled” onto your dishes by your waitress, that way your meal is showered with joyful, happy thoughts.
“You can put salt and pepper for flavor and you can put the alegria for joy and happiness,” Julio said. “When we sprinkle the joy and happiness, the customers can feel it. We all deserve a moment of joy.”
When it comes to Jael’s cooking, many customers rave about the authentic flavors, with many saying her meals remind them of their grandmother’s cooking.
At Buendía, you can order all the classic Mexican brunch dishes like chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, tacos dorados and so much more. The main star of the show is their breakfast poblano, a poblano that’s stuffed with a corn tamale and covered in a velvety green sauce and served with rice and beans.
The buendiabreakfastpoblano and a side of beans is available for $18 at Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe, 2530 North 1st Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 12, 2026.
It’s this meal that makes customers more than happy to wait for hours on the weekend for a table.
“Our breakfast poblano is the main character,” Julio said.
The colorful atmosphere along with the positive vibes and delicious food took Tucson by storm. To keep up with the demand, the couple had to expand their dining area and added more seating as well as a play area for children.
Like with anything people love, customers always ask the Garcias to start a new location or expand the Buendía brand, but for the couple, it’s more than just a restaurant.
Buendía is a place for the community to come together and share a piece of their lives with one another.
It’s a place where a smile instantly forms on your face due to the joyful vibes that radiate around the restaurant.
It’s a place that reminds customers of family and home, giving them a spot to look back fondly on memories as well as the opportunity to make new ones.
It’s a place where connection is the No. 1 priority, transforming each customer into a morning person with every bite of a breakfast poblano.
“It's about people connecting with people,” Jael said. “We're human, so we are here to connect, to talk to each other and to listen to each other. That's why were named Buendía, because we want your morning to be off to a great start.”
