Restaurants in Oro Valley

El Parador's modern glass façade proves somewhat deceiving; upon entering the restaurant, guests are transported to a provincial Mexican town where tropical foliage casts shadows on walls of rustic adobe. The name—which loosely translates to a place of luxury and warm hospitality—suits this interior as well as it suits an outdoor patio accessible through elegant french doors. If they can pry their eyes away from the scenery, guests can explore a menu that encapsulates the vibrant flavors of traditional Mexican cuisine, from the fried tortilla shells of chimichangas to the rice and flavors of homemade chile relleno. As chefs skillfully fill and furl tortillas, bartenders mix tangy margaritas and mojitos to heighten each dish's robust flavors.

El Parador also has five themed rooms - including a fireplace room and the south atrium with room for up to 130 - available to rent free of charge and with room for up to for parties, family gatherings, breakfast meetings, and escaped zoo animal reunions.

Dancing flames erupt from teppan grills, illuminating the captivated faces of diners seated around the tabletop grill. The roaring fires are tamed by Sakura's highly skilled chefs, who playfully flip spatulas in the air before sizzling up plump morsels of teppanyaki steak, chicken, and seafood. Behind the sushi bar, chefs fold fresh fish into both raw and cooked specialty rolls, which reporters from Tucson Weekly lauded as "some of the most delicious seaweed, sweet vinegar rice and raw fish concoctions imaginable."

Kimono-clad waitresses glide through the lively dining rooms, bearing plates of sushi, vegetarian and vegan dishes, and colorful specialty cocktails. In the sports bar, the walls grasp massive flat screens and hundreds of pictures of the owner posing with local celebrities—from weather girls to the neighborhood grocery’s bag boy of the month. Towering chrome heaters warm the tabletops of the expansive outdoor patio, where colorful lights and hanging flags set the stage for live music performances each night.

The Empire Pizza and Pub staff assembles a mix and match of 23 ingredients—including barbecue sauce and genoa salami—atop 13 New York-style pizzas. Their efforts helped earn the eatery a Best Pizza nod in 2011 by Metromix. They name their specialty pies after notable places in New York, such as Soho’s white pizza with tomatoes, basil, and parmesan and the Jackson Heights slathered in barbecue sauce and sprinkled with chicken, green pepper, and onion. By preparing the pies, subs, and salads for carry-out, delivery, or serving them at the restaurant as late as 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday (11 p.m. other days) and as early as 835 B.C.E., the staff accommodates diners of many tastes and schedules.

The arena in which the team’s servers operate features exposed-brick walls lining the narrow layout. A bar at the back pairs libations with pizzas, while vintage lights illuminate the copper ceiling.

At My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, cooks browse timeless Greek recipes before grilling, broiling, and baking the food that has powered the Hellenic Republic for generations. Although they source ingredients from local producers and grind their own beef in-house whenever possible, they also spotlight the region's iconic flavors by importing kasseri cheese and doling out draft pours of Greek beers.

After carving tender slices of lamb and beef off the towering rotisseries for gyros, the cooks spend their evenings roasting skewers of chicken, shrimp, and vegetables and baking meticulously layered pans of moussaka. Throughout mealtimes, the restaurant keeps diners immersed in the Mediterranean experience by playing a mixture of traditional and modern Greek music while dancers navigate the tables and fire blowers relight any out-of-reach chandeliers.

Head chef Aaron May, a Culinary Hall of Fame inductee, presides over the kitchen of May’s Counter as the diner-style eatery turns out made-from-scratch southern cuisine. With bluegrass music thrumming in the background, diners delve into the kitchen’s trademark fried-chicken-topped waffles, or nosh on corn dogs surrounded in waffle batter. Red stools line the counter at the full-service bar, manned by bartenders equally willing to mix sophisticated cocktails or slide a cold PBR into a brown bag. As they feast, diners nestled in cozy booths can watch sports competitions unfold on flat-screen TVs, rather than watching their water glasses compete for the title of most transparent.

Consecrated to the cosmos, Sky Bar is a solar-powered café in the daytime and an astronomy-themed bar by night. The café's solar installation uses 323 solar panels to eschew the consumption of fossil fuels and help keep the planet healthy. At night, the focus turns to celestial bodies other than our own, as images from the bar's rooftop telescope are projected inside to create a cosmic ambiance. On open-mic nights, local and traveling musicians take the stage under the auspices of host DJ Odious, whose vinyl collection includes a 7-inch cut from Saturn's rings.