The El Charro Family's Foothills Debut
Flores Concepts opened The Hills at Sunrise and Kolb in April 2026 — all-day café, pancakes to brick-oven pizza, 120 seats and Santa Catalina views.
The family behind the oldest continuously family-run Mexican restaurant in the country just opened an all-day café in the Foothills.
Tucson has no shortage of new restaurants, but it isn't every month that the family behind the oldest Mexican restaurant in the country opens a new address. In April 2026, Flores Concepts — the group behind El Charro Café, The Monica, and Charro Steak — opened The Hills, an all-day café at the corner of Sunrise Drive and Kolb Road in the Catalina Foothills. It took over the former Commoner & Co. space at 6960 E. Sunrise Drive, and it runs from pancakes at breakfast to a brick-oven dinner.
- April 2026
- When The Hills opened in the Catalina Foothills
- 1922
- Year the founding family's El Charro Café first opened in Tucson
- 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
- Weekday hours; weekends open earlier at 8 a.m.
- ~120
- Seats inside the Sunrise-and-Kolb café
All Day, Pancakes to Pizza
The Hills is built to be an all-day room. It serves brunch, lunch, and dinner from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, with casual service earlier in the day and a full sit-down dinner in the evening. The kitchen's range is wide on purpose: pancakes and café plates in the morning, then 'center of the plate' dinners built around poultry, seafood, and simple grilled meats, plus pizza from a brick oven. There's a full bar and wine list and a coffee program, so the same space works for a morning cortado, a midday plate, or an evening glass of wine — the flexible, come-as-you-are format that has become the family's signature at The Monica downtown.
The Family Behind It
The Hills comes from Flores Concepts, led by president Ray Flores, whose family has been feeding Tucson for more than a century. Their flagship, El Charro Café, was opened in 1922 by Monica Flin and is recognized as the nation's oldest Mexican restaurant continuously operated by the same family — Flin is even credited with possibly inventing the chimichanga at the downtown restaurant decades ago. The Hills is a cousin of The Monica, the family's downtown homage to Flin that opened in 2022, and it carries that all-day, neighborhood-table idea up to the Foothills. For a corridor that just lost Commoner & Co., getting a century-old local restaurant family as the replacement is a meaningful trade.
A Room Full of Tucson
The design leans local, too. The Hills seats about 120 inside, with big views toward the Santa Catalina Mountains and interiors the company describes as 'shabby boho chic' — vintage Tucson objects paired with new murals by Joe Pagac, one of the city's best-known muralists. It's the kind of build-out that signals an operator planning to put down roots rather than test the water, and it gives the Sunrise-and-Kolb corner a from-scratch destination instead of another quick turnover.
- Where (6960 E. Sunrise Dr., Sunrise & Kolb, Catalina Foothills): In the former Commoner & Co. space at the corner of Sunrise Drive and Kolb Road, at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
- When (Opened April 2026, Weekdays 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Weekends 8 a.m.–9 p.m.): An all-day room, open every day from breakfast through dinner — weekdays from 10 a.m. and weekends from 8 a.m., until 9 p.m. — that opened its doors in April 2026.
- What (Brunch, lunch, dinner, Brick oven, Full bar + coffee): Pancakes and café plates by day; poultry, seafood, simple grilled meats, and brick-oven pizza at night, with a full bar, wine list, and coffee.
- Who (Flores Concepts, Ray Flores, El Charro family): From the family behind El Charro Café, The Monica, and Charro Steak — one of Tucson's most established restaurant groups.
Why a Restaurant Opening Is a Real-Estate Signal
New restaurants aren't comps, but they are a read on where established operators see enough traffic to invest. When a century-old local restaurant group chooses the Sunrise-and-Kolb corner for its next all-day concept, it's a small vote of confidence in the Foothills retail corridor and the rooftops around it. For price context, Redfin put the median sale price in Catalina Foothills near $670,000 in April 2026, down about 3% year over year, with homes taking roughly 72 days to sell. Those are area figures, not a read on any single property, and none of this is investment advice — a good café nearby is an amenity, not a valuation.
Quick reference (July 8, 2026): The Hills is an all-day café from Flores Concepts — the family behind El Charro Café, The Monica, and Charro Steak — that opened in April 2026 at 6960 E. Sunrise Dr., at Sunrise and Kolb in the Catalina Foothills, in the former Commoner & Co. space. It's open 10 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekends, seats about 120, and serves brunch, lunch, and brick-oven dinner with a full bar, wine list, and coffee. Hours and menus change — confirm current details with the restaurant before you go.
A Hundred Years Behind a New Restaurant
Plenty of new restaurants open in Tucson every season; not many arrive with more than a hundred years of local history behind them. The Hills gives the Foothills a from-scratch, all-day room from one of the city's most established restaurant families, complete with mountain views and homegrown art on the walls. Whether you're chasing a weekend brunch or sizing up which corridors keep drawing new investment, it's worth a look.
Sources
Tucson Foodie — "The Hills to open in former Commoner & Co. space" — tucsonfoodie.com/2026/02/26/the-hills-to-open-in-former-commoner-co-space — accessed July 8, 2026 (for The Hills coming from Flores Concepts in the former Commoner & Co. space at 6960 E. Sunrise Dr., the tie to The Monica and El Charro Café, and the all-day brunch/lunch/dinner concept). Tucson Spotlight — "The Hills brings all-day dining to Catalina Foothills" — tucsonspotlight.org/the-hills-brings-all-day-dining-to-catalina-foothills — April 29, 2026, accessed July 8, 2026 (for the April 2026 opening, the roughly 120-seat room, Santa Catalina Mountain views, the 'shabby boho chic' interiors and murals by Joe Pagac, and Ray Flores as Flores Concepts president). The Hills — official restaurant site — thehillstucson.com — accessed July 8, 2026 (for current hours: 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Friday and 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday–Sunday). Arizona Daily Star / tucson.com — "Tucson's The Monica inspires new Catalina Foothills cafe" — tucson.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/article_e9b456ff-b124-4bb3-84d3-464a8554755b.html — accessed July 8, 2026 (for the menu range from pancakes to brick-oven pizza, 'center of the plate' poultry, seafood and simple meats, full bar, wine list and coffee service, and the corner of Sunrise and Kolb location). El Charro Café / Wikipedia — "El Charro Café" — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Charro_Café — accessed July 8, 2026 (for El Charro Café opening in 1922 under Monica Flin, its standing as the nation's oldest Mexican restaurant continuously operated by the same family, and Flin's link to the chimichanga). Redfin — "Catalina Foothills Housing Market" — redfin.com/city/21800/AZ/Catalina-Foothills/housing-market — accessed July 8, 2026 (for the Catalina Foothills median sale price near $670,000 in April 2026, down about 3% year over year, and roughly 72 days on market). All figures are current as of July 8, 2026; hours, menus, and home values change, so confirm current details 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
- The Hills
- Flores Concepts
- El Charro Café
- Catalina Foothills
- Sunrise Drive
- Restaurant
- Tucson
- Local Business
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