Downtown Tucson just added a spot that tries to be three places at once. Zeke's Pizza & Coffee held its ribbon-cutting on July 19, 2026 at 161 North Sixth Avenue, folding a hand-tossed pizzeria, a coffee bar, and a gelato counter into a single renovated building on the edge of the city center. The address spent years as the home of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona; now it runs three separate counters under one roof, and — rare for downtown — it comes with its own parking lot. Here is the July 22, 2026 New Business read on what opened and how it got here. 3 — Counters under one roof: pizza, coffee, gelato. 14,000 sq ft — Renovated three-story building at 161 N. Sixth Ave.. Jul 19 — Ribbon-cutting date, 2026. $20 — Spend at the restaurant to park free in its own lot Three Counters, One Building The concept is the hook. Rather than a single menu, Zeke's splits into three ordering points: pizza and gelato at counters near the Sixth Avenue entrance, and coffee at a counter closer to the East Alameda Street side. The pizza is hand-tossed. The coffee is a personal touch — beans from Ethiopia brewed in an Italian style, a nod to founder Ezekiel "Zeke" Gebrekidane's background. And the dessert is a shortcut most new shops can't take: Zeke's serves gelato made to the recipes of Frost Gelato, the established Tucson brand, keeping the same flavors and scoops rather than starting a frozen program from scratch. The result is a place built to catch a slice-and-a-coffee lunch, an afternoon cup, and an after-dinner gelato without changing addresses. Who's Behind It Gebrekidane is not new to the pizza business or to Tucson. Born in Eritrea, he moved to the city at 13 and graduated from the University of Arizona. For the past decade he has run Easy Tax Services AZ and the east-side location of Blackjack Pizza at 8321 East Broadway Boulevard, so Zeke's is a downtown debut built on an existing pizza operation rather than a first-time venture. The building reflects that ambition: he took a three-story, roughly 14,000-square-foot structure — far larger than a single storefront — and put the restaurant on the ground floor while setting up conference rooms upstairs that remote workers can rent by the hour, giving the second floor a working use beyond the kitchen below. The Pizza & Gelato (Hand-tossed, Frost Gelato recipes, Sixth Ave. counters): Hand-tossed pizza from one counter and gelato from another, both near the Sixth Avenue entrance. The gelato is made to Frost Gelato's recipes, so the flavors and scoops match the familiar Tucson brand rather than a new in-house program. The Coffee (Ethiopian beans, Italian-style, Alameda-side counter): A separate coffee counter closer to the East Alameda Street entrance brews beans from Ethiopia in an Italian style — a nod to founder Zeke Gebrekidane's background, and the detail that turns a pizzeria into an all-day stop. The Building (3 stories, ~14,000 sq ft, Former Big Brothers Big Sisters): A renovated three-story building that once housed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona. The restaurant fills the ground floor; upstairs, conference rooms are available for remote workers to rent by the hour. The Parking (Own lot, 140 E. Alameda, Free with a $20 purchase): Gebrekidane bought the roughly 0.39-acre public parking lot at 140 East Alameda Street, so the restaurant controls its own parking. Customers who spend $20 park for free — a genuine perk in a downtown where a space is often the hardest part of the trip. A Downtown Redevelopment Piece Zeke's is a Rio Nuevo-supported project, backed by the downtown tax-increment district and the City of Tucson; reporting put Rio Nuevo's investment in the building near $237,488. That is the same funding mechanism behind much of the eating, drinking, and event space that has filled in around Congress Street over the past decade. What makes this one notable is the parking. Downtown's persistent friction for a new restaurant is where customers leave the car, and by buying an adjacent lot rather than leaning on street spaces or a shared garage, Zeke's removes the excuse for skipping a visit. Sixth Avenue also sits within a short walk of Congress Street, the Fourth Avenue shops, and the Sun Link streetcar, so the location leans on foot traffic as much as the lot. Why It Matters for Downtown Living For anyone weighing a downtown loft, condo, or nearby historic home, an all-day spot that stacks pizza, coffee, and dessert into one walkable address is the kind of amenity that makes car-light living workable. Downtown falls in Tucson's 85701 ZIP, and the citywide backdrop is a slower, buyer-leaning market: Zillow put the average Tucson home value near $325,520 as of mid-2026, down roughly 2.2 percent year over year, while Redfin pegged the metro at about $217 per square foot with homes taking around 73 days to sell. The core's for-sale inventory skews toward lofts and condo conversions rather than tract housing, so individual sales swing widely — treat any single figure as directional. None of this is investment advice; it is physical and price context for one of the most walkable pockets in the metro, now with one more all-day anchor on Sixth Avenue. Quick reference (July 22, 2026): Zeke's Pizza & Coffee held its ribbon-cutting on July 19, 2026 at 161 North Sixth Avenue in downtown Tucson (85701). It runs three counters — hand-tossed pizza, coffee brewed from Ethiopian beans in an Italian style, and gelato made to Frost Gelato's recipes — inside a renovated three-story, roughly 14,000-square-foot building that once housed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona, with second-floor conference rooms rentable by the hour. It owns the roughly 0.39-acre lot at 140 East Alameda Street, where a $20 purchase covers parking. Hours and menus at a brand-new spot change, so confirm current details with the business before relying on any single one. The Takeaway Zeke's Pizza & Coffee is a small idea executed at an outsized scale: three counters, a full three-story building, and a parking lot of its own on a downtown block that badly needed one. It gives Sixth Avenue an all-day, into-the-evening draw a short walk from the streetcar, and it puts a vacant civic building back to work. For anyone tracking what makes downtown Tucson more livable — or just looking for a slice, a cup, and a scoop in one stop — 161 North Sixth Avenue is worth a look. Sources Tucson Foodie — "Zeke's Pizza & Coffee to Open Downtown Tucson" — tucsonfoodie.com — accessed July 22, 2026 (for the three-in-one concept, the July 19, 2026 ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m., founder Ezekiel "Zeke" Gebrekidane's Eritrea-to-Tucson background and University of Arizona education, the coffee made from Ethiopian beans in an Italian style, the gelato made to Frost Gelato's recipes, and Gebrekidane's Easy Tax Services AZ and east-side Blackjack Pizza at 8321 East Broadway Boulevard). Arizona Daily Star / Tucson.com (This Is Tucson) — "A cup of joe with your pepperoni? Downtown Tucson getting pizzeria with a twist" — tucson.com/thisistucson/eat — accessed July 22, 2026 (for the renovated three-story, roughly 14,000-square-foot former Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona building, the separate pizza, gelato, and coffee counters, the second-floor conference rooms rentable by the hour, the Rio Nuevo support reported near $237,488, and the purchase of the roughly 0.39-acre public parking lot at 140 East Alameda Street with free parking for a $20 purchase). Arizona Daily Star / Tucson.com (This Is Tucson) — "New eats! 15 restaurants that opened in Tucson this summer" — tucson.com/thisistucson/eat — accessed July 22, 2026 (for Zeke's among the summer 2026 downtown openings). Downtown Tucson Partnership — "Zeke's Pizza & Coffee" — downtowntucson.org — accessed July 22, 2026 (for the 161 North Sixth Avenue downtown location and business listing). Zillow — "Tucson, AZ Housing Market" — zillow.com/home-values/7481/tucson-az — accessed July 22, 2026 (for the average Tucson home value near $325,520 in mid-2026, down about 2.2 percent year over year). Redfin — "Tucson, AZ Housing Market" — redfin.com/city/19459/AZ/Tucson/housing-market — accessed July 22, 2026 (for the roughly $217 per square foot figure and homes taking about 73 days to sell). All figures are current as of July 22, 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.