One Sam Hughes Corner, Three Kitchens, Four Years
BRAVA at Borderlands opened September 19 at 2500 E. Sixth St. in Sam Hughes — handmade nixtamal masa, $5 tacos, and the room's third kitchen since 2023.
Chef Maria Mazon wrote the first menu in 2023 and left inside a year. New operators took the room over in August 2025. BRAVA opened in it on September 19 with a handmade masa program.
One storefront at 2500 E. Sixth St. in Sam Hughes has carried three kitchens in under four years, and the newest one opened Saturday, September 19. BRAVA at Borderlands is built around a handmade nixtamal masa program, run by two partner-chefs — one from Tepic, Nayarit, one from Asunción, Paraguay — with a cocktail list written by the general manager. Tacos start at $5.
- Sept. 19, 2026
- Opening day at 2500 E. Sixth St. in the Sam Hughes neighborhood
- 3
- Kitchen concepts the room has carried since it opened as a taproom in 2023
- $5–$6
- Taco prices; the handmade masa antojitos run $7 to $15.50
- Aug. 2025
- When a former minority investor and two partners took over the business
What Opened, and What It Costs
The menu is organized around masa. The Antojitos de Masa section runs from a fried quesadilla at $7 to sopes at $11.50, quesadillas al comal at $13.50 and huaraches at $15.50. Tacos are $5 to $6. Shareables — nachos, papas bravas, queso fundido — top out at $14, and larger plates include enfrijoladas at $17 and alambre at $20. Desserts are $11 to $12. Cocktails run $10 to $14, draft beer $5 to $9, and wine from $6 a glass to $30 a bottle. The room is closed Mondays, opens at noon on Tuesday, at 9 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday and at 10 a.m. the rest of the week, and runs to 1 a.m. on Friday.
Two Kitchens' Worth of Background in One Room
Fernando Luévanos, from Tepic in Nayarit, brings more than twenty years of cooking to the central-Mexican side of the menu. Ceci Velázquez, from Asunción, brings the Paraguayan influence that sits alongside it — an unusual pairing to find on a Tucson menu, and the reason the kitchen is not simply another Sonoran room. Arnoldo Celaya, a Tucson native, is the general manager and wrote the cocktail list, which leans on mezcal and tequila and is priced against the beer rather than above it.
The First Menu Lasted Ten Months
Borderlands Brewing opened the Sixth Street taproom with a grand opening on January 21, 2023 — twenty of its own taps plus rotating local guest beers, no brewing on site, and a food menu built by chef Maria Mazon of BOCA. That partnership ended roughly ten months later. Mazon said publicly that she needed to focus on her own restaurant and her family, and the menu she had written stayed on the board for a while after she left. A neighborhood bar running someone else's departed menu is a hard thing to keep full, which is the problem the room has been solving for ever since.
The Room Went Independent in 2025
The change that set this up happened quietly. In late August 2025, Jose Delgado — a minority investor in the business for several years — took over as operating manager alongside partners Rogelio Quintero and Adrian Perez. Borderlands Brewing's own beers came off the taps, replaced by a rotating regional and national craft selection with local brands planned. A long-time kitchen employee pitched a menu of tacos, burgers and hot dogs, and the space got fresh paint, new artwork and a deep-cleaned kitchen. Delgado's stated intention was to stop measuring the room against the area's upscale dining rooms: "We need to be ourselves."
The Brewery Whose Name Is Still on the Door
That handover did not happen in isolation. Borderlands Brewing started in 2011 in a century-old produce warehouse at 119 E. Toole Ave. downtown, and spent 2025 losing buildings. In April its landlord, Peach Properties, moved to lease that warehouse to Live Nation's Punch Line Comedy Club; Tucson Spotlight reported that the deal later collapsed under public objection and that Borderlands was removed from the building in June anyway, off a month-to-month lease. In May the Arizona Department of Revenue filed a lien claiming more than $250,000 in unpaid sales tax dating back to 2020. On August 5 a no-trespassing notice went up at the River Road taproom at 5605 E. River Rd., the landlord citing lease defaults the tenant had failed to cure.
- Where and When (2500 E. Sixth St., Closed Mondays, Late on Fridays): Sam Hughes, Tucson 85716. Noon Tuesday, 9 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. Friday through Sunday, with a 1 a.m. close on Friday nights.
- The Masa Is the Point (Nixtamal, $7–$15.50, Made in house): Antojitos de Masa is the section the kitchen is organized around: fried quesadillas, sopes, quesadillas al comal and huaraches, from corn handled on site rather than bought as flour.
- The Opening Event Is Over (Sept. 19, 6–9 p.m., RSVP closed Sept. 17): The grand-opening party ran three hours on opening night and required an RSVP two days ahead. The restaurant keeps regular hours from here.
- Borderlands Brews Are Back on the List ($5–$9 drafts, Guest taps, No brewing on site): The brewery's beers came off the taps when the operators changed in 2025. BRAVA's published draft list carries them again alongside guest pours. Nothing has ever been brewed at this address.
Quick reference (September 19, 2026): BRAVA at Borderlands, 2500 E. Sixth St., Tucson, AZ 85716, in the Sam Hughes neighborhood. Opened Saturday, September 19, 2026, with a 6–9 p.m. grand-opening event that required an RSVP by September 17. Partner-chefs Fernando Luévanos and Ceci Velázquez; general manager and mixologist Arnoldo Celaya. The business has been under Jose Delgado and partners since late August 2025. Menus, prices, hours and operators at new restaurants change quickly — confirm directly with the restaurant before relying on any figure here.
Why One Corner Matters More Here Than Elsewhere
For anyone weighing the blocks east of the university, this is a supply story. Sam Hughes is a residential grid laid out long before anyone planned for commercial pads, and the storefront square footage within walking distance of it is small and effectively fixed — there is no vacant parcel waiting to add more. One room changing concepts is therefore a far larger share of the neighborhood's walkable amenity than the same square footage would be almost anywhere else in the metro. Which is why a menu change on Sixth Street is worth tracking even if you never order a huarache.
Sources
Tucson Foodie — "BRAVA at Borderlands Sam Hughes opens Sept. 19 with handmade masa" by Jackie Tran — tucsonfoodie.com/news/brava-at-borderlands-sam-hughes-opens-sept-19-with-handmade-masa — published September 17, 2026, accessed September 19, 2026 (for the Saturday, September 19 opening at 2500 E. Sixth St. in the Sam Hughes neighborhood; the handmade nixtamal masa program; partner-chefs Fernando Luévanos and Ceci Velázquez; Arnoldo Celaya as Tucson-native general manager and author of the cocktail program; the $5 to $6 tacos; the Antojitos de Masa prices; the $14 shareables, $17 enfrijoladas and $20 alambre; Borderlands Brewing beer on draft; and the 6 to 9 p.m. grand-opening event with an RSVP required by September 17).
BRAVA at Borderlands — restaurant website — borderlandsmenu.com — accessed September 19, 2026 (for the 2500 E 6th Street, Tucson, AZ 85716 address; the September 19, 2026 grand opening; the weekly hours including the Monday closure, the noon Tuesday open, the 9 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday open, the 10 a.m. Friday through Sunday open and the 1 a.m. Friday close; Fernando Luévanos of Tepic, Nayarit with more than twenty years of experience and Ceci Velázquez of Asunción, Paraguay; Arnoldo Celaya as mixologist and general manager; the published draft list carrying Borderlands brews alongside guest pours; and the menu price bands for tacos, antojitos, shareables, specialties, desserts, cocktails, draft beer and wine).
Tucson Foodie — "Borderlands Brewing Co. to host its Grand Opening on Sixth Street" — tucsonfoodie.com/news/borderlands-brewing-sam-hughes — published January 19, 2023, accessed September 19, 2026 (for the Saturday, January 21, 2023 grand opening of the taproom at 2500 E. Sixth St.; the twenty taps of Borderlands beer plus rotating local guest beers; the absence of brewing at the location; and chef Maria Mazon of BOCA having created the original food menu).
Tucson Foodie — "Chef Maria Mazon & Borderlands Brewing Co. Part Ways" — tucsonfoodie.com/2023/10/10/maria-mazon-borderlands-brewing — published October 10, 2023, accessed September 19, 2026 (for the partnership ending roughly ten months after the taproom opened, for Mazon's stated reasons of focusing on her own restaurant and her family, and for her menu remaining in place at the time of the split).
Arizona Daily Star / Tucson.com — "New owner, mission for Tucson bar-restaurant near U of A" — tucson.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/article_cb159e85-ca10-4755-bb96-c942d38c8927.html — published November 10, 2025, accessed September 19, 2026 (for Jose Delgado taking over the business at 2500 E. Sixth St. in late August 2025 with partners Rogelio Quintero and Adrian Perez after several years as a minority investor; for Borderlands Brewing beers coming off the taps in favour of a rotating regional and national craft selection with local brands planned; for the kitchen employee's pitch of a tacos, burgers and hot dogs menu; for the fresh paint, new artwork and deep-cleaned kitchen; and for Delgado's "We need to be ourselves" framing).
Arizona Daily Star / Tucson.com — "Borderland Brewing weighs options after losing downtown home" — tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_c2681ea8-0c82-4811-b720-1127be9c1200.html — published May 12, 2025, accessed September 19, 2026 (for the loss of the flagship at 119 E. Toole Ave. after Peach Properties moved to lease the building to Live Nation's Punch Line Comedy Club, and for the month-to-month lease arrangement described by landlord Ron Schwabe of Peach Properties).
Tucson Spotlight — "Borderlands Brewing evicted from River Road location" by Arilynn Hyatt — tucsonspotlight.org/borderlands-brewing-evicted-from-river-road-location — published August 7, 2025, accessed September 19, 2026 (for the August 5 no-trespassing notice at 5605 E. River Rd. and the landlord's citation of lease defaults the tenant failed to cure; for the June 2025 removal from 119 E. Toole Ave. after the Punch Line deal collapsed amid public objection; and for the May 2025 Arizona Department of Revenue lien claiming more than $250,000 in unpaid sales tax dating back to 2020).
KOLD News 13 — "New company hopes to brew up some business in downtown Tucson" — kold.com/story/14254763/downtown-tucson-warehouse-hopes-to-brew-up-some-business — accessed September 19, 2026 (for Borderlands Brewing's 2011 founding in a century-old produce warehouse at 119 E. Toole Ave. in downtown Tucson).
All details are current as of September 19, 2026; menus, prices, hours and ownership at new restaurants change, so readers should confirm current information directly with the business before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- New Business
- Sam Hughes
- Restaurants
- Midtown Tucson
- Commercial Real Estate
- Small Business
- Tucson