McGraw’s Cantina

Loved the view! Very chill place for some basic but pretty damn good food. It has all the usual suspects: artichoke dip (this is really good and served with toasted, buttery bread which was crazy tasty), burgers and whatnot. Local beers on tap and friendly service.
Sit outside — it’s much more charming with the wide open view and the sunshine — than inside, not that there’s anything wrong with inside, it’s just sort of ordinary and looks a bit haggard like it could use a little paint and maybe some remodeling/​updating.
Come for the food and the cool view. Food’s decent and it’s a great local place if you’re in this area. If I lived here, I’d be there all the time.

Great food and outdoor deck! I love the view to the south. Beer is really cold! I stop every time I visit Tucson! My Dad’s favorite place… visits several times a week.

We had our work holiday party here in the Desert Rose room. The chef worked with us to find a menu and price that we could work with our budget. The room was nicely decorated and the outside patio with heaters and fire made for a great overflow area. The food was good as well as the service.

McGraw’s has come a long way from the backwards little country dive where trophy heads decorated its walls and tipsy cowboys waxed surly at the bar. Luckily it’s held onto its down-​home charm. A restaurant where you see the chefs mingling with the customers and front-​house staff usually means food made with love. The tri-​tip sandwich is a worthy, toothsome meal with sweet waffle fries alongside. I wouldn’t bother with the chips and salsa ($ 5.50 for cold blue corn chips, plentiful), but if you stick with the meat, you won’t be disappointed. The service is genuine and attentive and you’ll feel like family before you leave.

Tucson is back with great food and view!
In town for a dog show and we’ve been back 3xs.
All different meals and high quality taste each time!

For what it is (an Old West pub/​restaurant), it’s great. It was bought sometime after the recession, and the new owners have fixed it up nicely. It’s well lit and decorated, and the view from the porch is one of the best in town. Vicki, the bartender, suggested that I try the Heart Attack Cheeseburger, and it was excellent — beef, cheddar cheese, bacon, and pulled pork, with BBQ sauce. I had the sauce on the side and it was a perfect way to adjust the amount of sauce. The fries were also excellent. This is a terrific, low-​brow place to chill, enjoy a beer and a burger, and watch the sun set.

+ Cool view from the patio
+ Artichoke dip is delicious, the bread they use will rock your world
+ Steak is eh (I would only get it on steak Tuesday’s. It’s otherwise over priced.
+ Cool little bar area
+ Pretty Divey
+ Good service — I’ve never had a bad experience.
+ Really convenient for us that live around the area (choices are limited)
— Not a lot of draft options

Artichoke dip is amazing! Beautiful view and friendly staff. Came in for Mother’s Day. Very busy but service was good.

The Dude of Food found stumbled across this place with mom. She had a burger that made me jealous I asked for the bbq tri tip sandwich until I tasted mine and then all was good. If you can’t decide on something, for what it’s worth, you cannot go wrong with the burger.
They have a few beers on tap and the Tucson Blonde was tasty enough to have 3.
The staff was nice and very easy going.
If you are in Tucson and feel like throwing an ultimate Super Bowl BBQ party at a joint that has a killer view, then you should consider renting a few jacuzzi pools and bringing them here. DO NOT forget to invite me!
You heard it here first.

Out in the middle of nowhere lies a cantina called Mcgraws! Here for lunch had a bowl of chili a bacon cheeseburger with mayo! Margaritas and Bud Lights! A special thanks to Rachelle for the great service!

Came here again, parking still is not the best, but the service was great and the tritip sandwich as well as the beer and atmosphere was Outstanding. Our server was Jason, definitely will come here again!

This steakhouse had been there forever & I live close in that neighborhood where it is at. My then-​boyfriend wanted to eat where it’s close by the house & I warned him that I haven’t ever tried this cantina since I moved in the neighborhood in ’09, the mere thought it is thriving for a long time at that hill meant something, so off we went.
The place wasn’t as full on a Friday night. There was a couple of families w kids, a few seats occupied by lovebirds, it wasn’t hectic. My date ordered a ribeye steak cooked medium well, I ordered ribs. It kinda took a while but since him & I were having conversation, we didn’t mind at all. So then my ribs came. It was served on a huge plate. They looked ok. Nothing fancy-​looking. His steak came a few minutes after. It looked NOT ok. Lol. He noted that the slab of meat has a lot more of the fat side than the meat side. He sliced & forked a piece of it & suddenly he was asking for the female server. The steak was bland. I was like, «yea, you’re just being difficult!» So then I sliced & tasted a piece of it too. I was totally speechless. The worst piece of steak I’ve ever tasted. Not kidding. It was utterly bland. No flavor whatsoever, just a piece of meat that got tossed into the fire, given one side a few minutes, tossed upside down & done! When the server came & complaint was expressed, she offered the salt & pepper shaker or have it «redone» meaning it will be shoved to the grill again & salted some more? «Are you kidding us?!» was our look…$ 25 for this & all you could do is offer the salt & pepper or have it redone… I don’t think this place really knows how to make a steak or to prep one to be cooked as a steak. What a shame. We never came back & won’t be as long as i live along Houghton neighborhood.

Found this joint using my Garmin when the two restaurants we went to earlier were discovered to be closed on Mondays. We wanted to like the place on first impression due to it’s ‘funky’ look and the inside was quite the mix of colors and Southwest décor while the CD jukebox was playing a Wille Nelson tune for the small (07) group of patrons.
My wife ordered the steak ($ 25) and I’m a self proclaimed burger connoisseur so I picked the normal cheeseburger, which the waitress claimed everyone loves, instead of the more ‘flavorful’ ones on the menu because I truly believe a burgers basic foundation is the meat patty and covering it’s essence with jalapenos, grilled onions/​mushrooms, BBQ (bleech) sauce etc can hide a shitty burger. I was right-​on the money as the burger was… plain. My wife’s steak was cooked to her specifications but was a crappy low-​grade cut not worth the price charged. The sides were… sides & nothing note worthy.
When we were asked if everything was ok I only commented on the burger. The staff explained they were breaking in a new cook and he may not have seasoned the burger patties properly. They did offer to refund my dinner but I declined and think it fair to pay for the service & experience but they offered a free dinner next time I stopped in.
I think I would like the place if I re-​visited again and that plain burger was given an opportunity to redeem itself but I don’t make out that way often…

Great atmosphere, good beers at good prices. Haven’t tried the food but it looks good and big servings us Americans love. Happy, good vibe… We will try the food next time. Hopefully it will be just as great as the atmosphere of the place. I’ll let you know of course. My husband thinks I’m weird cuz I get into Unilocaling a little too much lol.

This place has an amazing view of the city if you sit on the patio! Great for both a date night and for groups as well. Fun atmosphere and something out of the ordinary! The food and specials are awesome– would recommend this to anyone

Food: The menu has a wide variety of options on it and since I had heard good things about the steak I decided to try one. I ordered the steak medium, however when I cut into I was disappointed because it was medium well and not very juicy or flavorful. I expected much more of an $ 18 steak. The baked potato, bread and veggies were basic, nothing to brag about. Maybe, I tried the wrong thing, but from this experience I would not go back here for the food.
Service: The service was below average; our cups were empty a majority of the time, the did not come around after we got our food to check and see if we needed anything so we had to chase someone down for condiments. It was on a Friday night, so I understand they are busy, but staff up accordingly to meet the needs or have the hostess also go around and check to see how customers are.
Atmosphere: We sat on the inside, and the décor and seating was basic. The plastic old school table cloths with padding underneath made it feel very cheap and dirty. The outside patio looked nice and looked like it had a nice view, so if anyone goes there — I would highly suggest the Patio. I may go back just to sit on the patio for the view.

Great food and view. We had the pulled pork and the BBQ bacons cheese burger and sweet potato fries. The fries were perfectly crispy and salty. The sandwiches had house BBQ sauce on them which was very good. Both sandwiches were sweet and spicy all in one. This place would have gotten four stars if the wait staff was more present. Still a nice place for lunch if you’re not in a hurry.

Our party of 6 arrived here between 5:30 & 6PM, and we first went out on the patio to have drinks. What a great view, it was beautiful. I hear that when it rains you can watch the storms roll across the valley before you, must be nice. Since it’s a cantina I asked for my favorite Mexican beer, «Pacifico», and magically one appeared before me. Ahhh… Vicky had a margarita and said it was very tasty (she ordered a 2^nd, by the way, so it must have been true).
This is definitely a meat oriented restaurant, just my kind. The special was T-​Bone steaks, and a number of us ordered them. Mine was completely delicious. Cooked medium rare, tender and totally yummy. We spent a couple of hours there, just talking and having a good time. Our server, Julie, was very pleasant and didn’t bug us about anything, although by the time that we finally left, most of the tables were occupied.
Next time, I think I’ll try the Tri-​tip…

Great location for the SE side, old established place – but! Not worth going to at all. The food was mediocre at best. The service was lukewarm.
The worst part though: the sill/​frame of the window was an inch thick all across the bottom of the window with dead flies. It had to have been months since it was cleaned. Why would you leave dead flies right next to the tables? Nasty!

Great views on the outdoor patio or if you do not want to brave the heat, ask for a window seat!!! It is covered outdoors. BONUS a roadrunner requents the patio too! He was my first roadrunner so I was pretty jazzed. He lives there I have been told. McGraw’s is a bar, but has a full menu and I would not cosider it bar food at all! However, I have had much better meals else where… will I be back? Most likely as I am near the place often.
There is a small bar, which appears to have many regulars, as I have been here twice and some looked familiar. Many a pair of cowboy boots and cowboy hats to be seen. Small jukebox between the bar and dining area… flat screens playing baseball or whatever sports de’jour.
Dining area has tables and booths. Mismatched table clothes adore the tables, giving it a kitchy homey feel. Tuesday is steak night.14 bucks for steak, rosemary bread, beans and salad. My hunny loved the cliantro in the beans. We both enjoyed the extra order of onion rings too! Nice and crisp, not overly greasy or battered. Steak was rather dry and lacking of seasoning, but did have nice grill marks. I really like the rosemary chibatta roll.
Another time I had the green chili chicken, loaded mashed potatos, asparagus, salad and the rosemary bread. Two chicken breasts topped with roasted green chilis and cheese. Large portion and it was juicy. Did not care for the flavor of the mashed… perfectly cooked asparagus, excellantly seasoned, and about 7 stalks!!! The house dressing is a combo of ranch and blue cheese… I love that there are no onions and tomoatoes in the salad. just romaine, cheddar, croutons and cucumber.
They have Fat Tire and Blue Moon on tap along with a few toher selections.
Service is always friendly… they even gave him extra beans… we got there kinda late and they ran out of the sirloin right after our order and I think people were getting ny strip instead-​dang!