Home/Tucson/Open on Monday
Tucson · Open Monday · 2026 Edition

Best Restaurants Open on Monday in Tucson 2026

Tucson makes a Monday easy. As a UNESCO City of Gastronomy built on Sonoran cooking rather than tasting-menu fine dining, the city keeps most of its best tables open at the start of the week, from the century-old Mexican institutions downtown to the resort rooms in the Catalina Foothills. The question here is not what is open but what is worth the drive. The marquee fine-dining room serves Monday, the historic 1930 inn runs all day, and the Sonoran steakhouse and the mesquite-fired New American kitchen both fire their grills. Six rooms confirm Monday hours below, ranked by what each is for, with prices in dollars.

The terrace dining room at The Grill at Hacienda del Sol, Catalina Foothills, Tucson
Photo: Google Places. The terrace dining room at The Grill at Hacienda del Sol, Catalina Foothills, Tucson.

Why a Monday list is easy in Tucson

Most American fine-dining cities take Monday off at the top. Tucson does not. Its dining identity rests on Sonoran Mexican cooking and the mesquite grill, traditions carried by family restaurants that have run a full week for generations, and on resort dining rooms that serve hotel guests every night. The result is that a Monday in Tucson barely narrows the field. A few smaller independents close Monday, but the institutions and the Foothills rooms stay open.

The order below leads with the city's marquee fine-dining room, then the historic inn, the Northern Italian table, the Sonoran steakhouse, the mesquite-fired New American kitchen and the oldest Mexican restaurant in the country. Every hour was checked against each restaurant's published schedule in June 2026. Each name links to its full review with the score. For the wider week, start with the Tucson dining guide, and for the weekend see restaurants open on Sunday in Tucson.

The Monday list

1

The Grill at Hacienda del Sol

Southwest fine dining · Catalina Foothills, Tucson · $60–110 per head

Monday hours: Monday, dinner 17:00–21:00

The Grill sits inside the Hacienda del Sol guest ranch, a 1929 adobe resort in the Catalina Foothills with the Santa Catalina range filling the windows. It is the city's leading fine-dining room, a Southwest-inflected menu of prime steaks, game and desert produce paired from a long, award-laden wine cellar, with a meal about $60 to $110 a head. It opens for dinner every night including Monday. It is the pick for a special Monday in Tucson, the view at sunset over the saguaros the reason to book the terrace, and the cellar the reason to stay. Reserve the patio ahead in the cooler months.

2

Arizona Inn Main Dining Room

American · Sam Hughes, Tucson · $40–75 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 07:30–21:00

The Arizona Inn opened in 1930 and its Main Dining Room remains one of the most gracious in the Southwest, a pink-walled hideaway of patios and lawns near the university in Sam Hughes. The kitchen runs a polished American menu, the prime rib and the desert-trout the steady orders, with a meal about $40 to $75 a head. It opens Monday from breakfast through dinner, the longest service on this list. It is the pick for a Monday that wants old-world calm and a garden table, a piano in the lounge and a room that has changed little in ninety years.

3

Vivace

Northern Italian · Catalina Foothills, Tucson · $35–60 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 11:30–20:00 (closed Sun)

Vivace has been Tucson's leading Italian room since 1995, chef Daniel Scordato's Foothills dining room on Campbell Avenue with the mountains beyond the patio. The kitchen runs Northern Italian, the housemade pasta, the osso buco and the seafood specials the orders, with a meal about $35 to $60 a head and a deep Italian list. It opens Monday and rests Sunday instead, the reverse of much of this list. It is the pick for a Monday that wants pasta and a proper wine list rather than steak or Sonoran cooking, a polished room that the Foothills set has booked for decades.

4

Charro Steak

Sonoran steakhouse · Downtown, Tucson · $40–70 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 15:00–21:00

Charro Steak & Del Rey on Broadway downtown is the Flores family's mesquite-grilled steakhouse, a Sonoran take on the American chophouse from the people behind El Charro. The mesquite-fired cuts, the carne asada and the tableside guacamole are the orders, with a meal about $40 to $70 a head. It opens Monday from three in the afternoon. It is the pick for a Monday that wants steak with a Tucson accent, the smoke of the mesquite grill running through everything, and a livelier downtown room than the quiet Foothills dining rooms up the hill.

5

Tito & Pep

New American · Midtown, Tucson · $35–65 per head

Monday hours: Monday, dinner 17:00–21:00

Tito & Pep on Speedway in midtown is chef John Martinez's mesquite-fired bistro, a James Beard semifinalist kitchen that has drawn national attention to Tucson's modern cooking. The menu runs New American through a Southwest and French lens, the wood-grilled vegetables and the seasonal plates the orders, with a meal about $35 to $65 a head. It opens Monday for dinner from five. It is the pick for a Monday that wants the city's most forward kitchen rather than an institution, a neighbourhood room with serious cooking and a smart, short wine list.

6

El Charro Cafe

Sonoran Mexican · Downtown, Tucson · $18–35 per head

Monday hours: Monday, 11:00–21:00

El Charro Cafe on Court Avenue downtown is the oldest continuously family-operated Mexican restaurant in the United States, founded by the Flores family in 1922 and still in the same hands. The carne seca, beef sun-dried in a cage above the patio then shredded and grilled, is the signature the city is built on, with a meal about $18 to $35 a head. It opens Monday from eleven to nine. It is the value pick of this list and the most essential Tucson bite, a living piece of the city's Sonoran history rather than a special-occasion room.

How to book a Monday table in Tucson

Tucson is an easy Monday town, but a few notes help. The Grill at Hacienda del Sol is the one to reserve ahead for a Monday dinner, especially for a terrace table at sunset in the high season from November. Vivace fills with the Foothills regulars, so book the patio. The Arizona Inn rarely turns anyone away on a Monday, and a garden table is worth requesting. Charro Steak, Tito & Pep and El Charro Cafe all take Monday bookings and walk-ins, though El Charro's downtown patio goes first. Note Tucson dines early, with most kitchens closing around nine. For a solo Monday, the bar at Tito & Pep and the counter at El Charro are the easiest seats and a fine solo-dining move. Entertaining a client? The Grill at Hacienda del Sol is the room to impress a client in Tucson; for a group, Charro Steak seats a crowd for a Tucson team dinner.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best restaurant open on Monday in Tucson?

The Grill at Hacienda del Sol in the Catalina Foothills, the city's leading fine-dining room, opens for dinner every night including Monday from 17:00 to 21:00. It plates a Southwest-inflected menu in a 1929 guest ranch with mountain views, and a meal runs about $60 to $110 a head. For a historic alternative, the Arizona Inn Main Dining Room serves Monday from morning to nine. Both are open at the start of the week. See the wider Tucson dining guide for the rest of the week.

Are most Tucson restaurants open on Monday?

Yes. Unlike many fine-dining cities, Tucson largely keeps Monday as a normal service day, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy whose Sonoran institutions and resort rooms run a full week. The Grill at Hacienda del Sol, the Arizona Inn, Charro Steak, Tito & Pep and El Charro Cafe all open Monday. Vivace, the Northern Italian room, opens Monday and rests Sunday instead. A handful of smaller rooms close Monday, so confirm before a special trip.

Where can I eat Sonoran Mexican food on a Monday in Tucson?

El Charro Cafe on Court Avenue downtown, the oldest continuously family-operated Mexican restaurant in the United States, founded in 1922, opens Monday from 11:00 to 21:00. Its carne seca, sun-dried in a cage above the patio, is the signature, with a meal around $18 to $35 a head. For a Sonoran steakhouse, Charro Steak from the same family grills mesquite-fired cuts downtown and opens Monday from 15:00. Both are Tucson institutions open at the start of the week.

Is there fine dining open on Monday in Tucson?

Yes. The Grill at Hacienda del Sol is the city's marquee Monday table, a Southwest fine-dining room in a 1929 Foothills guest ranch, open nightly for dinner. Vivace, the Northern Italian room on Campbell Avenue from chef Daniel Scordato, opens Monday with pasta and a deep Italian list. Tito & Pep, the mesquite-fired New American room from chef John Martinez, serves Monday dinner. Tucson has no Michelin guide, but these are among its strongest Monday rooms.

What time do Tucson restaurants close on a Monday?

Most close around nine on a Monday. The Grill at Hacienda del Sol and Tito & Pep run dinner to 21:00, Charro Steak to 21:00, and El Charro Cafe to 21:00. The Arizona Inn Main Dining Room serves until nine as well, and Vivace closes a touch earlier at 20:00. Tucson is an early-dinner town, so book or arrive by half past seven on a Monday to be safe, especially in the cooler high season from November.

Keep reading

Plan the rest of the week with the full Tucson dining guide, the weekend with restaurants open on Sunday in Tucson, or by occasion with solo dining at the counter. By cuisine, see the best Mexican restaurants worldwide, the best steakhouses worldwide and the best Italian restaurants worldwide. Travelling on through the Southwest? Compare with the Phoenix dining guide and the Scottsdale dining guide. For the global view on closing nights, read where to eat well on a Sunday or Monday.

Hours verified against each restaurant's published schedule in June 2026; confirm directly before travelling. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.