When Delectables Restaurant & Catering’s Donna DiFiore announced in June 2017 that she’d be closing her cozy Fourth Avenue restaurant after 44 years in business, it came as a bit of a surprise.
A cornerstone of the community, the long standing restaurant was a dining favorite for sometimes as many as three generations of family members.
Originally opened in 1973 – back when Nixon was president and stamps were 8 cents – DiFiore started working at the restaurant in 1976. And in 1982 at just 29 years old, she purchased it.
“I spent my whole adult life building the brand Delectables and am still having a great time,” said DiFiore.
Standing strong after all of those years didn’t come without its trials and tribulations. Trolley re-construction in the 1980s, closure of the St. Mary’s I-10 exit and on ramp in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reconstruction of the Fourth Avenue underpass from 2007-2009, and the Modern Street Car construction in 2012 all presented major challenges for DiFiore and Delectables.
But Delectables is actually still around – just not as a full-service restaurant.
Not long after the restaurant’s closure, DiFiore purchased an event space on Limberlost, just west of First Avenue. The current space houses a medium sized indoor room, a small-to-medium sized patio, and a beautiful half-acre garden venue featuring a newly built and powered ramada. It’s dedicated to special events and Delectables, of course, still offers catering.
“We can handle all kinds of events from small anniversary parties to large corporate functions.” says DiFiore. “It’s really fun to have the space to work with and design each event according to the client’s needs.”
“The new challenge that I have daily with Delectables is privately entertaining one party at a time in my new “Italian villa” as opposed to being open and serving a few hundred people a day,” said DiFiore. “It’s nice to be able to focus on one event at a time and give everyone the special attention to detail that I’m known for.”
The outdoor venue is a gem of a central Tucson location. With green grass, old growth mesquite trees, an outdoor fireplace, shaded and powered ramada, and large stage doubling as a dance floor, it’s a fantastic spot for a medium-to-large event.
“The new venue is stunning for sure and mostly unknown compared to Tucson’s familiarity with Delectables restaurant on Fourth Avenue,” said Sandy Van Echo, a regular customer. “With that said, Donna is a consistent first class hostess – just as she has always been.”
Delectables Catering & Venue is located at 427 E. Limberlost Dr. For catering packages and event space availability, visit delectables.com or call (520) 884-9289.
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