At 11 S. Sixth Ave., the grocery is back. Its name is shorter and its layout is new. Johnny Gibson's Downtown Market opened there in July 2015 as the first market downtown in decades, and it closed for construction on Dec. 21, 2024. It reopened July 10, 2026, as Gibson Food Hall & Market. The new version has a revamped grocery, a craft cocktail bar and a hidden basement speakeasy. Four food vendors now share the hall: Kaiju Burger, Samurai Teppan Steak and Sushi, Don Ribs BBQ and Barrio Bites. Pearl Lounge is reached through a hidden door next to a Red Bull cooler.
The corner went dark for about 19 months. Co-owner Nick Wayne Eggman said construction ran roughly six months longer than planned. The exhaust hoods above the vendor stalls were the hardest part of the build. That pattern runs through most of downtown this fall. Nearly every opening is moving into an address people already know, often with the same name or the same people behind it. The map of downtown has barely grown, but several of its best-known rooms are being rebuilt.
The addresses you already know, and who is in them now
| Address | Known as | This fall | Status as of Oct. 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 S. Sixth Ave. | Johnny Gibson's Downtown Market | Gibson Food Hall & Market | Open since July 10 |
| 47 N. Sixth Ave. | The former Miss Saigon space | Lucky Penny BBQ | Targeting mid-October |
| 115 and 121 E. Broadway Blvd. | Pueblo Vida's taproom since 2014 | The taproom moves next door | Late fall 2026 |
| 400 N. Toole Ave. | Maynards, in the 1907 depot | Penelope Pizza and a daytime cafe | Targeted September, not confirmed open |
| 350 E. Congress St. | The former Funky Monk space | Lava Bar | Listed for fall 2026 |
| 400 N. Fourth Ave. | Bawker Bawker Cider House | Double Down on Fourth | Open |
| 100 S. Avenida del Convento | Agustín Kitchen, 13 years | Il Santo | No opening date announced |
Several of these new tenants are keeping a link to what came before. Double Down on Fourth still pours Bawker Bawker's original dry cider recipes, because the cider house left its equipment behind. At the depot, Penelope owner Jared Schwartz credited Richard and Shana Oseran with designing Maynards to feel like part of the train station. He said he plans to pay homage to it. The Weinsteins themselves connected the Agustín Kitchen space with its next operators.
Sixth Avenue is where the changes stack up
One block of Sixth Avenue shows the pattern best. Gibson's has been open since July. A short walk north, Open Container Hospitality Group is building Lucky Penny BBQ at 47 N. Sixth Ave. and Bonanza Coffee Co at 31 N. Sixth Ave., Suite 151. They are going into the space Miss Saigon used before it moved a few blocks away and became Saigon Blossoms. The two will share a large patio built on a former downtown parking lot. Lucky Penny covers just under 4,000 square feet, and Bonanza is about 650.
Owner Brock Lynch named Lucky Penny for his late grandfather, Bill "Mac" McIntosh. McIntosh was a lineman and carpenter known in his community for his generosity. The plans call for Lucky Penny to open about 4 to 10 p.m., five days a week, with later hours on Fridays and Saturdays. Bonanza plans to run about 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., also five days a week. Once both are open, this stretch of Sixth will have coffee from morning to late night, a grocery, a food hall and a barbecue dinner, all within a short walk.
The timing is tentative, and the group has said so. Friends-and-family previews are planned for Oct. 8 to 10, with a grand opening "the following weekend." Downtown Tucson Partnership lists both businesses as "Coming October 2026" but gives no day. Neither business had a phone number assigned when the June story ran. The group listed @luckypennybbq and @bonanzacoffeeco on Instagram as the ways to reach them.
Pueblo Vida is moving next door
On Broadway, the move is about as short as a move can be. Pueblo Vida Brewing Company announced on Oct. 1 that it is closing its original taproom at 115 E. Broadway Blvd. after 12 years. It will reopen in an expanded taproom next door at 121 E. Broadway Blvd., with late fall 2026 as the target. Brewing will stay in the original building. The old taproom will become a private venue for weddings, corporate events and other celebrations.
The new room is inside a neighboring historic building, and the project has been more than two years in the making. It will seat more than 100 people and have large booths, a wine program and a 14-tap bar that includes four Czech-made Lukr side-pull faucets. For the first time, the taproom will share space with a restaurant. Chef Scott Girod of Anello is opening one in a shared common area, expected in early 2027, and the plans also include a coffee partner.
"We outgrew our current taproom concept a long time ago. The new space means more seats, food on the table and more reasons for people to spend time downtown with us." Kyle Jefferson, Pueblo Vida co-founder
The brewery has invited people in for one more pint at the original taproom and says details on a farewell celebration are coming soon. No date has been announced.
Congress Street gets new rooms after dark
Congress Street is seeing the same thing at night. Since June 11, chef Daniel Scordato has run Emerald 29 beneath The Treasury 1929 at 2 E. Congress St. It is an 80-seat lounge painted deep emerald and built around a restored 1929 bank vault that once held hundreds of safe-deposit boxes. It opens 8 p.m. to midnight, Thursday through Saturday, and is 21 and over. A green light at the Congress Street entrance means it is open. On some nights the doors go dark for private events, and Scordato suggests checking social media before heading over.
Farther east, Tucson Foodie's 2026 guide lists Block A Sports Bar & Grill as open at 345 E. Congress St. #101. It comes from Grant Krueger of Union Hospitality Group and is built around University of Arizona game days. Next door at 350 E. Congress, the team behind Chela's Latin Cuisine is turning the former Funky Monk space into Lava Bar, listed for fall 2026. Around the corner at 177 N. Church Ave., Talega Cafe runs as a specialty coffee and scratch kitchen during the day. After 4 p.m., the same room becomes Velvet Cowboy, with dimmer lights and a disco ball. "We wanted it to get weirder," said co-owner Tyler Melo, who runs it with Rene Durazo.
Two familiar names on the downtown dining list need a check before any reservation. Ursa, the tasting-menu restaurant at 110 E. Congress St., took a July and August break. PHOENIX magazine reported Sept. 1 that it would return Sept. 2 with a fall menu. Penelope Pizza aimed to open its depot location in September. As of Oct. 1, Downtown Tucson Partnership still lists it as "Coming September 2026."
The busiest days of fall arrive while the new rooms are still opening
The fall calendar puts the year's biggest downtown crowds on top of these openings. Counting from Oct. 1, the busy stretch looks like this:
- Oct. 8 to 10. Lucky Penny's tentative friends-and-family previews on Sixth Avenue.
- Friday, Oct. 16. Tucson Meet Yourself opens at Jacomé Plaza, in front of the Main Library at 101 N. Stone Ave. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. Talega Cafe and Velvet Cowboy hold their grand opening the same day. If Lucky Penny's schedule holds, its grand opening "the following weekend" falls on this same weekend.
- Late fall. Pueblo Vida's new taproom at 121 E. Broadway Blvd.
- Sunday, Nov. 8. The 37th annual All Souls Procession gathers on Grande Avenue at 4 p.m. and leaves at 6 p.m. It heads south on Grande to Congress, then turns left into the Mercado District. Circo Domo begins at 7:30 p.m., and the Finale Ceremony follows at 8 p.m.
The Tucson Meet Yourself weekend will likely be the first time several of these rooms face a festival-sized crowd. Gibson Food Hall, Talega's new evening format and possibly Lucky Penny will all be open in downtown on the festival's opening day.
The All Souls finale ties back to the start of this story. Organizers ask the crowd to keep clear of the finale-site entrance at Congress and Avenida del Convento. That is the same street as 100 S. Avenida del Convento, where Agustín Kitchen served for 13 years. Il Santo, an Italian concept from hospitality veteran Vito Prencipe and fifth-generation Tucsonan Bonnie Callahan, has not announced an opening date. Unless that changes, this year's procession will end in the same Mercado District where one of its best-known restaurant spaces is still waiting for its next tenant.
If you are tracking how downtown's changes are reshaping the blocks around a home you own or are thinking about, The Bonn Team follows these openings address by address. Request a Confidential Market Consultation, and we will walk you through what is changing near you.
