Restaurant of the Week: The Cup Café at Hotel Congress

Each week, we want to highlight one of our favorite restaurants in Tucson!

With Friday the 13th right around the corner, it seems fitting to chat about Hotel Congress — a historic downtown building that’s earned a few ghost stories since its opening in 1919.

If available, you can stay in rooms that are said to be haunted by “The Woman in the White Dress” and “The Victorian Gentleman,” just to name a couple of options.

The hotel has had a great run for 100+ years and you can count on the food to be top-notch each time you stop by.

The Cup Café is often considered a “Tucson institution” that welcomes locals and folks from all over the globe. It’s not uncommon to see musicians eating dinner before a show at Hotel Congress or The Century Room, or on-screen celebrities taking in a warm cup of coffee in the morning.

With a relatively unchanging menu, many of us have appreciated the minor tweaks and additions over the years. A personal favorite is the Cast Iron Eggs for breakfast — best enjoyed when sitting at the bar, mingling with the bartenders on the clock.

The café serves lunch and dinner, too, with seating indoors and outside on the patio with a view of Hotel Congress’ Plaza.

Since opening in 1990, The Cup Café has received several accolades, winning more than a handful of Tucson Weekly’s “Best of Tucson” awards. Just a few years ago, they were recognized nationally as a “Neighborhood Gem” by OpenTable.

Be sure to poke your head into Tiger’s Tap Room — a hotel bar named after Tom Ziegler, much more commonly known as Tiger, who started serving drinks at the bar in 1959. Hotel Congress changed the bar’s name to Tiger’s Tap Room to commemorate his 80th birthday a few years back.

Sonoran Restaurant Week 2024

The 10-day celebration of flavors is happening now until Sunday, September 15. The menus at each of the 80+ restaurants are discounted by 25%, offering limited-time meals at $15, $25, $35, $45, or $55.

The Cup Café is serving a three-course prix fixe menu for $35, featuring vegan tamales, smoked ribs, and cups of chili. Pay a visit to the historic hotel during Sonoran Restaurant Week to try the following menu!

Sonoran Restaurant Week Menu ($35)

(Available September 6 – 15)

First Course (choice of)

• Cup of chili
• Cup of Soup du Jour
• Hotel Salad – Baby Spinach, candied pecans, red onions, grapes, herb goat cheese crouton, and pomegranate vinaigrette

Second Course (choice of)

• Vegan Tamales – Local tamales, charred carrot corn salsa, beans, calabacitas, cashew poblano crema
• Mesquite-Smoked Ribs – half-rack mesquite house – smoked pork ribs, housemade barbecue sauce, green chile Mac and cheese, coleslaw
• Santa Cruz Flank Steak (eight ounces) – Santa Cruz chili- marinated flank steak, chimichurri vinaigrette, calabacitas, sweet potato chips

Third Course

• A special Sonoran Restaurant Week dessert (ask your server)

For more information, visit sonoranrestaurantweek.com.

The Cup Café is located inside the historic Hotel Congress at 311 E. Congress St. For more information, including menu and contact information, visit hotelcongress.com.

RECENT RESTAURANTS OF THE WEEK:

• Ghini’s French Caffe
• Rocco’s Little Chicago
• The Parish
• La Olla Mexican Restaurant
• Nook
• Redbird Scratch Kitchen + Bar
• The Coronet
• Guadalajara Original Grill
• Tavolino Ristorante Italiano
• Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe