Little Anthony’s Diner

If you have small kids, parents, grandparents, siblings, etc, and you’re all getting together for a meal, you can’t go wrong with Little Anthony’s. If there’s nothing on this menu for you, you’re on the wrong planet. Who doesn’t love milkshakes, or BLTs, or burgers? Please, you can even get a peanut butter and banana sandwich here, a la Elvis.
It’s fun, with tons of 50s memorabilia to look at, and a tiny game room for kids. Make no mistake, this is not fine dining in any way, shape, or form, but it’s all decent diner food, and a fun atmosphere.

After having a great slice of pizza here about a month ago during a Gaslight Theater show I decided to try a carry out pizza. The website advertised $ 13.95 for a large pizza with unlimited toppings, SCORE! I called in and ordered my pizza and a side of hot wings and was told it would only be 15 minutes, sweet. The girl hung up without giving me an order total but I didn’t think too much about it. My boyfriend and I headed over about 10 minutes later. He was able to walk right in and it was ready. Driving back we looked at the receipt and instead of being charged $ 13.95, it was $ 16.95 ! He didn’t want to go back for 3 dollars. The size of the LARGE pizza was anything but that, plus it was luke warm. Not sure how it could have lost it’s heat already in that short of time unless it was precooked and they just threw the toppings on after. It was very dissapointing. The wings had a good sauce flavor but were also barely warm and rubbery skinned. I live for pizza and can honestly say I won’t be back to Little Anthony’s for their pizza. There are soooo many better places to go for a slice… or 4.

The food is fresh, homemade and incredibly delicious!!! Full of fun and old-​fashioned, homespun tradition.

Food is generic greasy Sysco supplied stock. The appeal of this place must be the 50s décor and theme. Came in on a Friday for lunch. The customers were mostly white and over 50, which isn’t a bad thing, just interesting. Got the hot beef lunch platter and friend had the meatloaf plate. Had fried basket appetizer — all tasted pre frozen and bland. The hot beef was open faced bland beef covered in crazy from a mix. Potatoes and corn tasted from a can. Just all around boring and not worth coming back for. Staff was friendly though.

The food (cheeseburger)used to taste much better seven years ago! I’m back in Tucson visiting and was disappointed on the food quality here these days.
The vanilla milkshake was tasty.

Just finished up lunch at Little Anthony’s. The décor is… a little much… but the food is tasty and the wait staff is very attentive (thanks Mirza!). I’d recommend it to anyone looking for good old American diner food. :)

Little Anthony’s is an iconic Tucson institution. It’s a great place to bring your family. Tons of fun, with pizza, cheese sticks, shakes and malts etc. It has 50’s music and décor, which takes you back in time. Next door is The Gaslight Theater, which spoofs some of the most famous block buster movies you know and love. Great fun!!!

Steph’s 13^th Birthday Party with 7 of her 7^th Grader Friends… It’s gonna be a 130db Night, no doubt.

Wonderful diner, great atmosphere, secret tucked away location. Fantastic service from our waitress Mirza! The Reuben was lovely, the burgers great and the ice cream creamy.

Had the pizza, and it was delicious. The dough was nice and fluffy and the toppings were fresh.

Went out for a girls night out and had such a good time! Cute and fun place, Dawn Marie went the extra mile and made sure everything was correct and was so fun. Will return and ask for Dawn again!

We always have a great time at Little Anthony’s it is an awesome experience. Tonight we were treated extra special by Dawn. She really is the best example of the atmosphere and truly went out of her way to make us feel great.

Came here for Brunch with my Mom today as part of our weekly «lunch date» :)
While we both really enjoy the food & our server we both agreed that it looked like the booths hadn’t been replaced or even properly repaired since they first opened!
About every other booth had either duct tape on them or were very «springy»
Needless to say this restaurant is in desperate need of a face lift!

Love the old rock and roll music, and the food is great haven’t had a bad meal here ever, and I’ve been coming here for a long time.

Cool 50s diner, from what seems to be really from the 50s (that’s a good thing). They did trivia every 30 minutes for free sundaes and if you check in on Facebook you get a free drink, made it fun.
Food came out super fast… didn’t even finish our appetizer (again that’s good), got fish and chips, meatball sub, burger, mozzarella sticks chicken strips… everything was really good, exactly what you’d expect from a diner. Super cheap for 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids), an app and dessert for everyone. Desserts were excellent, s’mores sundae I loved! I will say that while our waitress was nice but she was a little flaky, forgot some things. Definitely some actors from the Gaslight Theatre working which made it seem authentic but truthfully a few were a little um different ha.
My biggest issue was when we arrived at 545 there was a 30 minute wait (no big deal typically)…told that there were reservations (at a diner???) so the 3 open tables were for them. After waiting 25 minutes we were seated after someone left… when we left, at 745 2 of the tables were yet to be filled. Just seemed really dumb to have open tables AFTER the reservation time was past. There were actually people outside waiting when we left, just weird.
Overall i liked this place, will come back, good food and fun for the family!

Short and sweet: walked in sat down, ordered water, looked at limited breakfast menu, thanked the waitress and left.
So much 50’s hoopla around that one would probably not have time to notice the very small menu nothing to write home about.
If I ever try again I would hope there is something more to their menus.
Very nice staff… I did feel bad walking out :(

Had a real blast for dinner here tonight! Our waitress was the bee’s knees, so on top of things all night… Wish I got her name! She was a mature woman, not hard to miss since it seemed like the rest of the staff were frosted squares.
My Daddy-​o and I both ordered the Hunk-​a-​Hunk Burnin’ Love Burgers… and made them doubles. Gigantic mistake with the double patties, all puns intended! Only because one patty was so very vast! No Mickey D’s floppy patties here. The burgers came out hot and tasty; meat seasoned well, fresh veggies, soft buns. Fries were cooked well too.
Daddy-​o ordered the king’s «All Shook Up» shake. It was boss!
Only real food con was the Chili… Chili is so easy to make, why use canned? And if it’s not canned, all apologies but it was kind of disgraceful. (Total chili snob in me just spoke).
So if you are lookin’ for a made in the shade night out I would say Little Anthony is a hip hang to try! Great place for the ankle biters too!

Today was our first time here. I ordered the Reuben and my fiancé ordered the C.C. Ryder fat burger. All in all it was amazing! Really great Classic American food that totally put me in a food coma. The portions were perfect, and my fiancé got the bigger fat burger. There was a generous portion of chili and the Ruben wasn’t too greasy, which is an issue with me almost every time I have.
The desert was amazing! I’m a fan of malts, and they have more than just your standard 3 favors. I had mint chocolate chip malt, nom nom nom! My fiancé had the Hot apple pie à la mode. The crust was soft and hot, and didn’t taste like preservatives. It tasted home made. It was light, and fluffy and sweet and the ice cream was flavorful and didn’t flood the plate.
All in all I had an amazing experience. The interior was full of classic posters, retro I guess. Very happy with the service. I will be coming back, and I will bring some friends!
Oh and I liked that they had a type of mini arcade inside too!

While the chrome has lost a little polish in the last 20 years, Little Anthony’s remains a Tucson icon for affordable, delicious, Americana with a blast from the past ambiance that can’t be beat.
The best buys are the kid’s all you can eat pancakes on weekends and the World’s Smallest Sundae. There’s a different special every day and the staff is always friendly and the food is consistent year in and year out.
This is the ideal place to bring the kids because there are crayons and paper on every table. The staff is very kid friendly and understand when to ask your kiddo what they want and when to ask mom or dad if it’s ok. They’re really supportive of spills and fussy kiddos. There are often hula hoop contests and other interactive opportunities.
Never ever leave without dessert, they do it right and that small sundae is less than a whole scoop in the tiniest of dishes, so it’s totally guilt free and there’s always room for it :)
Finally, if anything is ever wrong, just let them know. More than just about anywhere else, these guys will go out of their way to make it right.

After a superb exchange with the owner, we were intrigued to try Little Anthony’s again. We came by on a Tuesday night and experienced much better service, and definitely improved food. This time, we ordered a French dip, the Hunk a hunk burger, and a banana split. All were excellent. The beef in the dip was tender and the baguette looked pretty darn gourmet. Tony, the owner, actually popped by our table to chat and ensure we were having a great experience. I don’t know about you, but all I want in an evening out is good food and to support an awesome local business when we can. I feel confident in saying that Tony cares a LOT about his business, making customers happy, and being a long time fixture in Tucson. He took care of our meal and made us feel valuable. We are definitely impressed!