City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 232-6380

Address: 2805 E. Skyline Drive

Description: Upscale, expensive, and full of great food and drink, AJ’s is gourmet to the max. Owned by grocery entrepreneur Eddie Basha, AJ’s offers top-of-the-line meats, seafood, a wine cellar, sushi bar, and cafe—all under one roof. Don’t feel like cooking? There’s a huge selection of prepared entrees. Need some fancy table linens? Fresh flowers for the centerpiece? You’ll find all that here and more, along with knowledgeable and helpful staff. Open daily.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 545-0577

Address: 400 N. Toole Ave.

Description: You’ll find lots of foods to go along with dozens of local items, including olive oil, honey, and tamales, at this bright, airy market in the historic railway station downtown. The grab-and-go menu includes hot items like lasagna, quiche, and pot pies along with sandwiches, salads, and soups. You can even pick up a bottle of wine, all from boutique and local wineries, to sip as you sup. Open daily.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 327-6653

Address: 2513 E. 6th St.

Description: The Rincon Market has been a neighborhood grocery store since 1928. In addition to groceries, Rincon Market has a salad bar, deli sandwiches, baked goods, and a wonderful prepared-meal take-out section. The offerings change on a daily basis, but at any given time you will have a choice of lasagna, tamale pie, dolmas, stuffed cabbage, and an assortment of salads and side dishes. The market’s roasted chicken is a favorite of harried mothers all over town: The well-seasoned chickens are cooked daily on a rotisserie. The result is homemade taste without the homemade mess.Wine and beer are available, and there is a butcher in the grocery store offering quality meats and seafood. The market is open daily.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 747-0070

Address: 6219 E. 22nd St.

Description: This Eastside deli is small but filled to the rafters with Italian goodies. The refrigerator counter holds fresh mozzarella, strings of Italian and German sausages, cold cuts, pepperoncini, and marinated artichokes. There are plenty of deli sandwiches on the menu. Try the Rocky, which is stuffed with mortadella, prosciutto, and provolone and drizzled with oil and vinegar. Or indulge in the house specialties of veal saltimbocca or spaghetti carbonara. For a quick family-style dinner, pick up a Bucket of Spaghetti and Meatballs, which can feed from 2 to 28 people. There are also pans of lasagna. Both come with garlic rolls. They also do catering.Tony’s is open Mon through Sat from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 795-9860

Address: 3360 E. Speedway Blvd.

Description: Whole Foods is a gourmet market and so much more—butcher shop, fishmonger, health food store, sandwich shop, bakery, and deli. The list of items you can get here seems endless.But if you’re in a hurry and still want something with homemade flavor, stop in at any one of the markets and pick up a salad to go, veggie lasagna, baked chicken, and a killer brownie from the bakery. Your choice of beverages is wide: everything from juices and bottled water to beers from around the world. You’re bound to find something to please your palate. Whole Foods is open daily. An additional Tucson location is at 7133 N. Oracle Rd. (520-297-5394).

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 325-3771

Address: 3699 N. Campbell Ave.

Description: Craving Middle Eastern cuisine? Take your magic carpet to Luxor, where you can feast on traditional and delicious dishes from a creamy homemade hummus and deep-fried lamb kibbe to slow-cooked lamb shanks and chicken kebabs. A basket of warm pita bread is on every table. A hookah lounge and belly dancers make for an exotic experience. Open for lunch and dinner daily.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 624-6886

Address: 500 N. 4th Ave.

Description: Owned by real Greeks, this longtime 4th Avenue restaurant serves up traditional Greek cuisine. Start with the creamy taramosalata dip with pita bread or the Pikilia combination plate with stuffed grape leaves and kefaloritiri cheese. Avgolemono soup, lemony broth with rice, is a terrific and refreshing starter. Entrees include the standard spanakopita, moussaka, and pastitsio; but go out on a limb and try some of the house specialties: sautéed sweetbreads or seafood stew. Enjoy a glass of Greek dessert wine and a baklava on the enclosed patio for dessert. Open Mon through Sat, dinner only.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 327-2841

Address: 2990 N. Campbell Ave. #130

Description: Tucson Greeks looking for a taste of home head to Opa! Flaming cheese, spanikopita, gyros, kebabs, Greek salad (of course!), and baklava are all prepared by Athens-born chef Andreas Andoniadis in a sleek, contemporary eatery tucked into a strip mall on Campbell Avenue. Murals and photos along with Greek music will make you feel like you’re in the sunny Aegean instead of the Sonoran Desert. Lift a glass of Greek beer or wine and shout opa! Open daily for lunch and dinner.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Address: 2616 N. Campbell Ave.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 884-9289

Address: 533 N. 4th Ave.

Description: Dining at Delectables is, well, delectable! Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week, this 4th Avenue staple is still wowing diners of all followings (food followings, that is). You’ll find all sorts of choices here: enchiladas, quiche, pasta, an assortment of salads and sandwiches, and lots of yummy desserts, along with vegan and vegetarian options like vegan puttanesca pasta and vegetarian spinach manicotti.The atmosphere here is casual, and you have your choice of eating in the cool, open dining room or on the patio, where you’ll be able to watch 4th Avenue at its best. Parking can be a problem on the “Avenue.” Patience usually pays off when you’re looking for a spot along the street.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 792-0630

Address: 711 E. Blacklidge Dr.

Description: Located just off N. 1st Avenue—between Glenn Avenue and Fort Lowell Road—in the Chaitanya Cultural Center, Govinda’s serves meals buffet style, and all are consistently good. Dine indoors or on the outdoor patio and enjoy waterfalls, fountains, gardens, and exotic birds that add serenity to your dining experience. Lunch and dinner are served Tues through Sat; brunch is offered on Sun. Thurs is vegan only.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 250-9600

Address: 722 N. Stone Ave.

Insider Pick:

Description: If you can find it, this tiny, unpretentious, and low-key spot offers some of the tastiest raw, vegan, and vegetarian dishes in town. Sister owners Keanne and Sigret Thompson make everything here from scratch. The best way to get a real sense of the food is to choose the multi-course prix fixe menu. It changes seasonally and includes refreshing just-squeezed juices in between each course and fabulous desserts—do not pass up the gluten-free orange almond cake, moist and delicious. Located in a somewhat barren part of Stone Avenue near Economy Restaurant Supply, there is no sign, so it’s best to call for directions and make a reservation while you’re at it. Open Wedn through Sun, dinner only.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 320-1574

Address: 2660 N. Campbell Ave.

Description: A restaurant with the guts to put the word healthy in its name has a lot to live up to, and Yoshimatsu succeeds. The funky interior features unusual Japanese pop art and a separate sushi bar. You’ll find a reasonably priced menu with a wide variety of noodle soups, curries, bento combos, tempura, rice, and sushi. Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 296-8585

Address: 6751 E. Broadway Blvd.

Description: New Delhi Palace, a top pick of Tucson Weekly readers, specializes in vegetarian and nonvegetarian Indian food. The bread is baked to order in tandoori ovens, and the owner takes pride in the authentic masalas and curries. For the vegetarian, a good bet is the Bengan Bharta, gently seasoned roasted eggplant. Nonvegetarians will delight in any one of the curries, especially satisfying when washed down with one of many varieties of cold beer served from the full bar. New Delhi is open daily for lunch and dinner.

City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (520) 624-5765

Address: 434 N. 4th Ave.

Description: Caruso’s may well be one of the city’s oldest restaurants. In fact, the Zagona family has been serving great southern Italian-American food to Tucsonans at the same location for more than 50 years!The food is hearty, the ambience charming and very Italian, and the prices reasonable. The Lasagna al Forno, made with homemade noodles and baked to perfection, is a house specialty, and all your Italian favorites are served. Your waitperson can help you choose from the wines offered, which are available by the glass or the bottle. You may dine indoors or on the patio.Caruso’s is a great place to dine after a long day of shopping on 4th Avenue. The restaurant is open Tues through Sun for lunch and dinner. No reservations are accepted. You’ll find limited parking on the street.