Where to Eat at the Tucson Folk Festival
If you want to know where to eat at the Tucson Folk Festival read Arizona Travel Guide’s recommended list of the best cafes and restaurants in easy reach of the festival stages.
The Tucson Folk Festival has been a highlight of the Tucson music year since it started in 1986. Held the first weekend in April, past performers have included Pokey LaFarge, Red Molly, Richie Havens, Stefan George, Jesse Colin Young, Al Stewart, Chris Hillman, and Tucson’s very own Calexico, With over 160 acts the festival brings 13,000 fans to the El Presidio district where five stages present non-stop music all weekend.
With food vendors onsite, you might wonder why you need to think about where to dine, but why settle for a slice of pizza or a hot dog when some of Tucson’s finest eating places are a few minutes’ walk away? The first acts don’t start till 11.30am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday, leaving plenty of time to set yourself up for the day with a tasty Tucson breakfast. Fans and performers come in from all over the country, so here’s our list of suggestions if you want to enjoy both the music and the unique cuisine that makes Tucson a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.
LaCo
201 N Court Ave
LaCo provides one of the stages for the Tucson Folk Festival, and if you want to catch an act there you’ll need to get settled early and keep your fingers crossed that there’s a spare seat. It’s always packed as people love the intimate venue and the fact that there’s food and drink readily available. If you want to grab a drink after the festival has finished, it’s open till 11pm on Saturdays so make it a Margarita, a Oaxacan Old Fashioned, or a good old Tucson Sunset with pineapple rum. If you’re staying in Tucson before or after the Folk Festival, there’s also live music there almost every night.
For more information visit lacocinatucson.com.
El Charro Café
311 N Court Ave
If you’re visiting Tucson you won’t necessarily know that one block north of La Cocina is a Tucson eating institution: El Charro. Don’t miss a meal or at least a drink here while you’re in town, as El Charro opened in 1922 and is the USA’s oldest Mexican restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. The food remains fabulous, and if you only have one meal make it their chimichanga, as the deep-fried burrito was invented here (accidentally). Others also make the claim but not in Tucson. They open at 10am so it’s a great spot for breakfast before the music begins, and as you’re in the Sonoran Desert tuck into the Sonoran Eggs Benito.
For more information visit elcharrocafe.com.
Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink
101 East Pennington St
If pizza’s your thing then head right here after the festival closes on Saturday as it’s open till 11pm and is only a 2-minute walk from the main stage in Jacome Plaza. Chef Tyler Fenton grew up in an Italian family and has been making pasta since he was a kid. If you can’t decide what to have, order a Crews’ Whim Pizza and let the cooks decide for you. If it’s a warm evening – and it usually is for the folk festival – there’s also a beer garden with 28 beers on tap, and some wines too. You could also opt for a Sonoran Negroni which uses bacanora, an unusual Mexican agave spirit made only in Sonora.
For more information visit reillypizza.com.
Café a la C’Art
150 N Main Ave
Open from 8am on both Saturday and Sunday, and only a 5-minute walk from all the festival stages, breakfast here will definitely set you up for the day. You might want to grab one of their in-house pastries to go, though, just in case. Their Arizona Omelet uses their home-made chorizo and roasted red peppers, and their Chilaquiles or Grilled Breakfast Burrito are two more tastes of the Southwest.
For more information visit cafealacarttucson.com.
Nook
1 E Congress St
Nook is one block south of Jacome Plaza, on Congress, and also open from 8am on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a popular breakfast spot as it dishes up some very Tucson flavors. Their Holla-peno Burger uses charred jalapeños and burnt cheese, their Barrio Burger uses a chili rub and Oaxacan cheese, while their Tucson Burger goes for broke with chili chicken, green chilis, burnt cheese, and chipotle mayo.
For more information visit nookdowntown.com.
Any of the above places enables you to combine Tucson food with the Tucson Folk Festival, and you can eat without missing a beat.
OUR PICK OF THE GUIDES
From that blues bar you haven’t visited yet to the desert hike you keep meaning to plan, experience something new right here at home with Moon 52 Things to Do in Phoenix & Tucson.
- Cool things to do in and around the cities: Kick back at a Spring Training game or squeeze into the grandstands of El Gran Mercado for some lucha libre. Bike the famed Loop in Tucson, kayak Tempe Town Lake, and lace up your boots for an urban hike in the Phoenix Mountains. Support local BIPOC writers at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore and taste what’s on tap at a women-owned brewery. Savor Sonoran-style food like tamales and carne asada or try authentic Tohono O’odham fry bread.
