Ocotillo Cafe

We ate lunch here during our day trip. Most of the food is made to order. There is lots of variety to chose from for both food and drinks. All of the employees we interacted with were very friendly and helpful.
I got the mushroom Burger and onion rings and they were REALLY good. Everyone was very happy with their food.

1^st of all… to those that say, «it’s a bit pricey for what you get»…YOU’RE EATING A VERY TASTY BORDERLINE GOURMET MEAL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!!! Not downtown Scottsdale. We went on a busy Saturday. Weather was perfect, 80 and sunny, place was packed, service great, food and drink superb! The price wasn’t an issue… seriously. Ocotillo Café, keep up the good work! We will ALWAYS stop in when we visit and we ARE members so we visit often. Plan an entire day at the DESERT MUSEUM. So much to see and do for all ages. My only wish for Ocotillo Café… please offer/​stock an IPA beer. Thanks!!!

This review is not a review of the restaurant which is wonderful. This is intended to let theamaent at the desert museum know that the phone number for the café on the Unilocal site is wrong and request that they change to correct number which is 520−883−5705.
I hope anyone trying to make a reservation as we have used this number which will ring directly into the café. Otherwise if they try the existing number they will get the operator who transfers them to an inactive voicemail box and no one responds. That was the case today when we called three times to make a reservation. Finally, the operator heard my plea and found someone who knew the correct number as I mentioned above and I did resch someone even after hours who took my reservation.
Please social media person for the ASDM, get it corrected and let me know so I can retract this review and give a review that is based on something other than trying to make a reservation for this weekend.

the setting was great and the waitstaff fine, but unfortunately I did not get what I ordered. I wanted the mahi taco, but there were no sauces other than just the fish and the paco de gallo. very dry and boring.

The Desert Museum is not your typical museum and the Ocotillo Café and this is not your typical museum restaurant. I’d go there even if it weren’t part of the museum (hence the five-​star rating).
At first glance is seems pricey for a museum restaurant but the food is absolutely worth it. The meal started with warm focaccia accompanied by a garlic/​cilantro/​pistachio pesto. I really like nut-​based pesto/​salsas but this was as good as I’ve had. Fortunately we were able to restrain ourselves from filling up on that, because the entrees were even better.
My wife had an excellent bison burger (nicely cooked mean, brioche bun, and good toppings including «superb» bacon). I had a vegetarian tamale which was equally good: well-​seasoned masa in a banana leaf and a really tasty mushroom/​spinach/​tomatillo filling. The grilled veggies on the side were nicely done (great fresh red/​orange peppers in particular). To top it off, the marinated kale is the first kale I’ve eaten for pleasure rather than as an obligation to my GI tract.
It’s a pleasant space and the service was good even when the restaurant got crowded.

Every time when I get a chance, I come to this restaurant!
Nice and professional staff and cozy atmosphere!
Their pesto and pork-​chicken tacos are unbelievably delicious!
Awesome wine and relaxation !

The food just isn’t on par with the prices.
My wife and I went here for lunch the other day.
I had the Maui tacos ($ 12), which had decent seasoning, but the fish itself was way overcooked and extremely dry.
My wife ordered the Pasta al Pomadoro ($ 13)and it came with burnt garlic. Literally large pieces of burnt black garlic everywhere. Not just a few pieces, all of the garlic in the dish… as you can imagine, the taste was just too bitter, my wife had to send it back.
She ordered the Greek Salad ($ 17) instead, which was not bad, but expensive for what it was.
The service was good.
We would recommend going next door to the cafeteria (Ironwood Terrace), their food is better for the prices…

The Sonoran Desert Museum is one of our favorite places in Tucson. I’m so glad my wife suggested we do lunch for Valentine’s at the Ocotillo Café. The pre dinner fresh baked focaccia bread and garlic cilantro pesto was mouth watering. We usually try not to eat too much bread prior to dinner but I could not get enough of this.
Carol said the pumpkin seed blue corn crusted chicken breast was tops! My wok charred salmon was mouth watering and one of the best salmon plates I’ve ever had, even tho it was farm raised and not Wild.
See photos posted.
We will return!

What’s a pretty classy, white table cloth and linen napkin restaurant doing in a museum of the desert? Making some tasty lunches, that’s what.
It’s air-​conditioned, and the bread and cilantro spread pre-​meal was really good.
I got the kobe burger, my friend ordered the gnocchi and we both had a good meal from those choices.
Service was excellent and if you prefer to dine outdoors, you have that option. It’d be worth it to become a museum member just to be able to enjoy this restaurant every now and then. The location is amazing, but maybe a bit of a struggle for those who don’t like to walk more than a short distance on dirt paths through the Sonoran desert. Also, there are better options at the museum for small kids than Ocotillo Café. Not much on the menu for them and not the atmosphere for screaming toddlers.

My best friend came to visit so of course the thing you must do I go to the Sonoran musuem. We got hungry after being outside for a couple hours and walked over to the café. The cilantro pesto was amazing, to the point that I started day dreaming about making it at home. I had fish and my friend had fish tacos. My dish was delish! Not much more I can say. Will definitely go back next time we are out there. I definitely recommend it.

First the Desert Museum is one of my favorite places in Tucson. I’ve never eaten at the Café but the screaming school kids made eating anywhere else impossible. My parents are visiting from out of town so we ducked in to the Café to have some lunch. It was a really nice surprise. I had the Cobb Salad, my mother had the quiche and my dad had the pumpkin chicken. The food was good, not great, but for museum fare it was way above average. I really enjoyed my Cobb Salad the ingredients were fresh and it wasn’t drowned in dressing.
The Bad: It was a bit pricey. There seemed to be some service issues and I don’t think that the café is open all the time so they were out of certain things (i.e. wine). This might say more about me, but a civilized lunch is not complete without a glass of wine.

Who knew you could find a fine dining restaurant on the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum property in Tucson?
Our dining experience at the Ocotillo Café was delightful — beautiful décor, lovely patio, good food and nice service.
Once seated we were brought a loaf of warm bread. Although the menu had some intriguing dishes I opted for the bacon-​swiss quiche. While tasty, the quiche was unusually chewy. It was attractively served on a fresh fruit platter. The coffee was great!
In hindsight I should have been more adventurous and ordered one of the other menu offerings with Sonoran cuisine which did look very good. A lesson for a future restaurant visit!