The Abbey Eat + Drink

When the waiter brought a cup of cold, stale, inedible popcorn to our table, I was worried it was a bad omen for the quality of the food here. It wasn’t. The popcorn turned out to be the only thing I could find wrong with The Abbey at all.
The Abbey is a cozy, dimly-​lit restaurant hidden in Northeast Tucson. I had never been there before, but had seen it sitting at #4 in the «Best of Unilocal: Tucson» list for quite a while. I had been to other restaurants from this list before and left disappointed, so I was prepared for anything.
After much discussion of the appetizer menu, we ordered the Brie Wellington. It was baked perfectly, and accompanied by an apple chutney, lightly dressed arugula, half a bulb of perfectly roasted garlic, and some crackers. The whole thing was superbly balanced, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so eager to eat arugula.
For my entrée, I ordered the tikka masala with chicken and roasted cauliflower. The plate was gorgeous, with the rice and cauliflower forming the base, the chicken sliced and laid across the plate, and zigzags of cream across the rich orange sauce. It was probably enough food to take some home, but after the first bite I knew that wasn’t going to happen. The seasoning was perfect, the flavor was exquisite, and this was the best tikka masala I’ve ever had.
Full but unwilling to pass up dessert, we ordered an apple blueberry crisp. It had just the right amount of crunch from the nuts (pecans, I think) and a warm cinnamon-​spice flavor. At times it almost reminded me of a granola bar — or, at least, the restaurant version of one.
I have begun to suspect that The Abbey might be the best restaurant in Tucson. On top of all this great food, we had a very pleasant and patient waiter. The whole staff was very professional. I enjoyed the eclectic décor and furniture, and the way they have elevated a building that looks like it might have been a car repair shop in a previous life. The sole fault was the popcorn, which was actually inedible. If I were a «real foodie» I might have left when they brought it to the table. And that would have been a mistake.

My family and I tried the Abbey for the first time last evening after reading previous reviews. We were pleased we did.
For a cocktail I ordered the holy water, a delicious concoction of gin, vodka and triple juice, and would have liked to had a font full of it! My husband had to have one also after tasting mine. Which I finished off for him to save him from himself!
We began with the baked Brie Wellington which could have been warmer but still tasted fine. It was served with a baked garlic, a delicious apple chutney — think a spiced up, finely diced apple sauce — and arugula with a lemon vinaigrette. I love arugula it’s mildly spicy flavor complimented the sweet chutney and mild Brie.
For dinner my son had the tikki masala chicken which smelled and looked delicious, he confirmed it was. My husband and I had the beef short ribs which we shared. It was flavorful and tender — my husband declared them the best he’d ever had to which I looked at him askance. I make a good short rib buster but these had no bones and were very thick and meaty. These were served on a red pea pilaf which was fine-I’d rather have smashed potatoes — with sautéed spinach. It tasted great all together and we were very satisfied with our portions.
For dessert we shared an apple and fruit dessert, think cobbler with ice cream. Tasted every bit like homemade and it didn’t take long to finish.
We will definitely revisit this spot for another meal perhaps brunch judging from the photos. And I’ll have to have more of that Holy Water!

Disappointing service and food tonight. We’ve grown to love The Abbey and the famous butchers cut steak. Unfortunately we ventured off our normal path and tried something new.
The crab cakes were heavy with an unpleasant texture. The homemade fettuccine with chicken was tasty but not exceptional.
We went with Joe our server’s recommendation of the red velvet cake hoping to redeem the evening but it left us wanting and tasted more like a store bought desert.
When we mentioned to our server that the crab cakes weren’t very good he chose not to acknowledge the comment and pretended he didn’t hear it.
Not a stellar night at The Abbey.

Now this place is a place !
Only been there once but will return soon! Strange and scattered menu but everything was delicious. We went on a work night so we opted to avoid the cocktail menu but we plan to sample it extensively upon our return.
Tucson needs way more of these types of joints! We shared an incredible spinach salad, I had an interesting and well prepared Chicken Tikka Masala. My gf had a «Breakfast for Dinner» Biscuits n Gravy special and it was pretty darned wonderful as well.
We can’t wait to go back. The kitchen closes kinda early so we will make sure we are there early!

Mmmm… delicious.
The Abbey is a comfortable-​looking restaurant with pillows in the booths and large bay doors that open all the way up when the weather is nice. The menu is quite brief, but everything on there is done up right.
We started with an appetizer of baked goat cheese, which would have been tasty enough on its own, but this dish takes it to another level with Indian spiced tomatoes. The toasted bread is just about the perfect amount to convey this dairy delight into your face.
As we were all close friends with similar tastes, we decided to order 3 entrees to share: the hangar steak, the tikka masala, and one of the specials: fried chicken. We were surprised to find that the portions sizes ranged from large to enormous. The fried chicken was a LOT of food. It came with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a biscuit. The breading was crispy and perfect, although there was quite a lot of it (in that some bites were *all* breading). I didn’t love the cream sauce, but the other members of our party did. The potatoes didn’t really stand out to me. I’m not a big fan of biscuits, so I’m not sure I’m a good judge, but it seemed like a nice, light, flaky biscuit. The green beans were tasty and cooked perfectly. They still had some snap to them.
We got the masala vegetarian (you can add chicken for $ 5) and it was also wonderful. The cauliflower is perfectly tender and the sauce is delicious. I ended up dipping most of the other food into it after we consumed the cauliflower and the rice.
The only part of the meal that nobody really liked was the sauce on the steak. The steak itself was OK, although perhaps not as tender as I would have expected, but the sauce was overpowering. This came with some nice crisp redskins potatoes and more of the green beans.
We honestly didn’t think we’d be able to finish all the food, but we soldiered on bravely and managed to eat everything but a few green beans. Highly recommended.

Words fail me here. My family found our food (appetizers, mains, and desserts), to be not only worse than home-​cooked food but also at turns too salty, scorching hot for 20 minutes after being served, bland, texture of baby food/​assisted living food, and unimaginative.
The style appears to be something approximating southern home cooking although The Abbey calls itself a gastropub. If you have knowledge of either cuisine it will strike you as having no resemblance whatsoever to either gastropub or southern quality home cooking. In stark contrast to those hand-​wrought cuisines, The Abbey is what one fears/​expects to find in a mid-​priced national chain hotel lobby restaurant.
You know when you have lots of food left on your plate but choose not to take any home? Yeah, that bad.
The price point gives you no indication of the experience you will have here — poor to mediocre food set against an admirable feat of interior decoration that almost makes you forget you’re in a strip mall. If you miss being a road warrior and having to survive on hotel and airport food this is the place for you.

I enjoyed a nice dinner here. I had a groupon, which gave us an appetizer to share, one glass of house wine each, a dinner entrée each and a dessert to share. Our appetizer was the baked brie wellington, which was pretty interesting. It had sweet and savory elements that left you wanting a little more. The entrées were pretty tasty, as well. I enjoyed the duck & green chile enchilada while she had the fish no 2. What is interesting about some of their items (such as fish no 2 and the breakfast for dinner) is that they vary by day and you never know what you’re in for. It’s certainly an inventive to return and try more menu items. Also enjoyable was our dessert of ice cream with honey and raisins.
I do think the menu prices were a tad high, but this is a high end restaurant, after all (complete with multiple Jaguars in the parking lot). The food and service are great and this is a pretty good place for a special occasion dinner. Getting a groupon for here is a great idea, as you get an excellent deal out of it.

Clearly they get bad reviews removed… the staff is rude, they arent customer friendly at all. They would rather lose business than serve you. Purchased a groupon that was only during certain times, they refused to let me order anything until it was that time, they told me to leave. Instead of allowing me to order food or drinks and wait.
Ive worked in restaurants all my life and never had anything like this.

Save your money & time. I went tonight at 7:30pm, based on great Unilocal reviews – only 3 other tables there, but no biggie, it’s a Sunday night. Sat at the bar.
Cocktail was good, but they were out of 3 items I tried ordering, the bartender said it was because they «are rolling a new menu on Tuesday and trying to sell out of everything».
«Stacked» duck enchiladas didn’t have tortillas in them, we’re very bland, and had the consistency of baby food with meat chunks. «Mussels & shrimp» didn’t have shrimp in them, although the broth was very good. When I asked about the shrimp, the bartender told me they were probably out because if the menu change, and that she’d take a few bucks off my bill – I just wanted the shrimp, or to be told ahead of time, or for her to offer to check with the kitchen or remake it or get a manager… Something… not a freebee – which didn’t happen even though she said she would.
Bartender was complaining to a gentleman next to me about her fellow employee «spinning a broom like a baton», and didn’t seem to care about my experience.
Possible manager didn’t act like one, he was not visible interacting with guests but instead goofing around with staff. Bartender took my credit card without showing me the bill. Waste of $ 39.26 +tip, not to mention my time…
That was the worst meal/​experience I’ve had in a very long time. I’m visiting from out of town, so at least now I know to avoid the other concepts this company owns…

Tucson is skewing my Unilocal ratings up. The Abbey is a good example of why.
The beer and drink selection is curated but varied and the staff is helpful in directing you through it. Okay, it’s a little annoying happy hour doesn’t exist anywhere but in the bar. (And the area makes me feel a little underdressed, but whatever, the staff was pretty chill. Be aware it is on the upper side of «Moderate» pricing for sure.) I’m willing to forgive that because of the food.
«Lasagna» that was so not lasagna. So much more. The broth it was sitting in was worth the order. Pasta with great flavor and balance and super, super fresh vegetables. The cheese on top is worth its own line: ricotta with some kind of infused flavor (lemon, amongst other things I think) and salty, earthy parmesan.
My dad had the French toast breakfast special. It was more like crisp bread pudding with delightfully crunchy pecan praline. I don’t like normal French toast because of the texture and the want of real flavor. This completely threw out those complaints.
The music selection was weird, though — 90s Incubus, Kanye West, Daft Punk, and Iggy Azalia, amongst others. Not sure what that was about.
I probably won’t be able to make this a regular haunt but I will make it a regular visit.

I’ve been to several places that are owned by the person who owns The Abbey. Jax kitchen, Poppy kitchen and Gio tacos — I’ve always had good experiences there.
I can’t say the same about this place. This place had a host who came off very arrogant and he seemed to be annoyed that we were there.
We came for breakfast on Sunday morning. I thought it’d be a good place to bring family who was visiting.
We got there at 10:15, but the place wasn’t open til 10:30. We walked in, because the door was open, and the host was really rude about us coming in early.
The door should have been locked then!
Not only that, he made us make a reservation for brunch. We were there before anyone else! There was no line of people waiting to get into «The Abbey».
So we make the reservation for 10:30 and stand outside the restaurant til we could come in.
We get in less than 10 minutes later and order.
First off, their muffins are a rip off. Too pricey for what they give you.
Second, my wife ordered something that came with potatoes but they forgot to bring it out.
Our waiter was a nice guy and so was the woman who came around to refill coffee.
The place is nice and trendy. The food was just okay.
I really wanted to like it, but this place just didn’t do it for me.
The host sets the stage for the dining experience and the guy we dealt with didn’t deliver. I give him an F.

It’s the burgers. And the burgers. Also I want to point that the Abbey is really kid friendly. We took both of our boys here and on all three occasions it went well. They have one of the best high end kids meals out there. You get one of their incredible burgers served on a really delicious English muffin for $ 6.00 with an order of fries and a drink. This is a fantastic value
I firmly believe this is the best overall burger in Tucson. Let me know your thoughts of a better spot? The toppings are delicious, the meat is perfectly done and the way they melt the cheese, well gosh darn it is inspiring. We have also had there salads which have been excellent. I would give four stars but please up the standard on the fries. I really want to see a restaurant do a great french fry. Come on restaurants step up french fries. Also I was disappointed that the English muffins were not made on site. (Yes being super picky)

Friends and I met at Abbey for what we thought would be happy hour, but we were told it ends at 6:00 pm. This seems stingy, as a simple cocktail is $ 6.50 here. We ordered the antipasto, and I thought they’d delivered the wrong dish. A gloppy, garbagey-​looking cabbage salad with bland chick peas and some sort of dried fruit for $ 12 was almost inedible. We received a teeny ramekin with a few kernels of stale, cold popcorn as some sort of bar nibble. Is this the place with those delicious warm cookies and melt in your mouth sliders that I enjoyed a few years ago? The specials were almost humorously long, and I couldn’t help thinking that the poor waiter who had to recite them, attending to every «infusion» and «reduction» must be a Jeopardy whiz. I’m not impressed enough to spend more time at Abbey with so many reliably excellent choices in the neighborhood.

We dined here with a group of 6 right before we moved here. I was pleasantly surprised with the posh décor as I was expecting all the places in Tucson to be like El Charro. They had nice beer and wine list. We all enjoyed the duck taco appetizer. While the menu is different now, I really enjoyed the salmon. My friends salad look amazing, nice dinner size. I recently bought a Groupon, so I will update my review once I try the summer menu!

Good: Strong drinks, diverse menu, and overall general ambiance. I went with a few Bloody Marys, and their burger, which was frighteningly good. It’s basically a french onion soup burger with a bacon relish. It was legit.
Bad: «The Board.» To be perfectly honest, it’s a weak take on charcuterie (sp), and not worth the price. I want more cured meats, better cheese, and no need for salted peanuts. The pickled veg was a nice touch, as was the crostini, but everything else was a bit lacking.
Overall: I would go back, order another burger, some more drinks, and maybe try their Prime Rib brunch on the weekend.

We have been a fan of Jax for a couple of years. We had heard of the Abbey, but being on the other side of town we always frequent Jax. However, a groupon came out, so we bought it and made the trek east to The Abbey.
This is about double to three times the size of Jax. They have great views of the Santa Catalina Mountains. A lot (most) of the menu items were similar to Jax and that is a great thing. Food is very tasty. It is one of those dinners that the tastes keep amazing you through the entire night.
My wife originally ordered the trout, but talking to some sweet ladies across the isle they indicated they come early for the fried chicken (on Wednesdays) and later they typically sell out. So my wife asked the waiter to change her order and he rushed back into the kitchen and got it changed with no problem. It was well worth the change — it may be some of the best fried chicken I have ever had (I only got a taste of her meal). I have to figure out if Jax has fried chicken on any night.
The service was absolutely excellent and it was a great meal. I highly recommend this place!

The Abbey is the kind of place you want to hate to the base of your miserably rotting molars. You’ve got a restaurant with the proverbial garage door behind the bar that opens onto the sidewalk. There’s the TV hanging over the bar stuck on sports. The dinner menu has trendy «nouveau Americana» food items you just want to shove down your enemy’s throat… only if he paid — Corn Hushpuppies & Pepper Jam, Sandwich #2 (there’s no Sandwich #1), Brussels & Bacon. When you sit down to the bar, the bartender gives you a little metal thingy filled with popcorn with truffle oil. Oh… pluuuezzzz…
The Happy Hour, a marketing misnomer, features a few items, like the mysterious Sandwich #2 (which has no description) and the Abbey Burger, which are only $ 1 MORE on the regular menu. Featured drinks, such as the Blackberry Mojito, are only $ 5 during Happy Hour. There are also house wines and beers on special.
To offset the potential pomposity of the place, servers and the manager are dressed DOWN in sweats and sneakers, so that you, in your black slinky number, will feel as out of place as Ziggy Stardust at a Christian revivalist hoe-​down.
We were starving and ordered the fish special (Grouper) and Sandwich #2 — Pulled Pork on a pretzel-​like bun. Besides the truffle popcorn we were also given a nice warm pumpernickel loaf with raisins, which was not too pumpernickely. Service was a little slow at the bar — the bartender seemed to come over when he had a moment and not when I hailed him by screaming, flailing my arms, and falling off my bar stool.
While I was looking forward to a lengthy Abbey-​bashing session in this review, we were genuinely wowed by the food, and not just because we were hungry enough to eat our shoes. The grouper was cooked perfectly with a nice subtle flavor. The accompanying veggies were also very good and proportions right on. The pulled pork, which wasn’t the most flavorful pulled pork I’d ever had, was made better by the neato mosquito pretzel-​type bun. The sandwich also came with some home-​made potato chips, which were just OK. They’d been made a little while ago and tasted of oil.
But the Abbey isn’t about its potato chips but its «eat and drink», as the restaurant’s name says. The drinks were also pretty good, made with fresh ingredients, though a little on the sweet side for me, as I prefer Manhattans, Martinis, the hair of the dog that bit me. The HH Blackberry Mojito did nothing for me alcoholically, which is unusual given how hungry I was, but the Abbey Margarita was pretty good and all of the drinks seem inventive, as described on the menu.
From a restaurant that was so ripe for bagging on to this four-​star review. Like a bad relationship, I hate you, Abbey… but you know I’ll be back.

Went last Saturday at around 11am. The place was already busy! I thought 10:30 would be too early as it’s freshly opened, boy was I wrong… They said they had no tables due to reservations so we waited on the patio sofa’s. I ordered a bloody mary extra spicy and my friend ordered a blood orange mimosa. My bloody mary came with a «mini» side of lager which was a cute touch. Kinda pointless but cute. The bloody mary came out in a mason jar and was really cute. I wish it was in a standard lager glass though, only cuz it was so well made that one jar wasn’t big enough to satisfy! :)
Once we got a table (which was much shorter than the 45 minute time they quoted us– good job for that!), we got a seat on the other patio with tables. So far, so good. Then the quality just dropppppppppppppppppppped. Was it cuz I was expecting more from such rave reviews? Did it genuinely fall low? I realize now, that it really did fall low, and wasn’t my expectations… it was worse than a mom and pop. Details are below, but to be honest and fair I’ll say that the reviews for Abbey are so good that I probably will give this place another try. Perhaps it was the waitress? Or just brunch? Or just that specific day? Either way, I know that this type of place deserves a 2^nd shot. With that… here’s my review:
Our Groupon came with 2 brunch entrees and 2 mimosas. The menu clearly states that drinks are $ 6 each. Once seated at the table, I ordered a blood orange mimosa (as covered by my groupon right?). My friend finished her mimosa while waiting and didnt’ order another drink. 2 drinks covered by groupon, bloody mary is $ 6 out of pocket. cool.
My friend ordered an omelette and the waitress informed us in her description that there are veggies and ham. My friend asked hers to be removed of ham and just add extra veggies in instead. I saw the menu and wanted to try the spinach raisin hash badly but didnt want duck confit (my friend adn I are vegetarian as you can tell by requests above or thru other reviews). the baked french toast sounded good but had bacon. I asked if I could replace the duck and she said no so I went for the french toast and replace bacon (sounds easier somehow to replace THAT meat?)… she said she could do the spinach raisin hash. cool. not sure what it is but sounds good. We didnt hear from the waitress for any water refill (Hot AZ heat… on patio… NEEEEED water!) When my friends dish arrived, it was an omlette flipped in half with just sour cream-​esque sauce inside… and POTATOES. the same potatoes that were her side. Nothing creative from the chef on veggies. Nothing like we were told. So an omlette with potatoes and a side of the same potatoes. EXCELLENT? My dish came out huge! It was delicious smelling (and tasting!!!) and then the side of raisin spinach hash came with DRY shreds of DUCK on it! The waitress caught it and apologized and brought out a new batch– which was weird to be even recommended by her– it was all greasy over cooked wilted spinach with a huge handful of golden raisins on top. ODD combo. Unappetizing. I don’t even understand the flavors. If its a dish meant for duck she should say that– a waitress should know her food and flavors. Esp at a place like abbey. Suggest me something else. tell me what this hash exactly is. I was so disappointed. I still cant wrap my head around that side. who invented it? Isn’t a chef supposed to atleast know their stuff? They cant replace duck with anything even? Anyways… the french toast is amazing so get it! I dont know the hash would be good even with duck (ive eaten meat for most of my life– i cant imagine that ever begin tasty… let alone the DRY duck wasnt even moist/​juicy looking)
The service is really slow– we were there from 11 to 1pm! When I got the bill after the Groupon was applied it was $ 9 plus tax… how $ 9? my bloody mary, the only thing not covered by the groupon that was ordered, was $ 6 on the menu. I was gonna ask the waitress but with the slow service i figured it wasn’t worth wasting another 30 minutes for $ 3.
Abbey, please work with your chef + waitress. I know vegetarian patrons are far and few in Tucson but please just get a basic knowledge of your food and pairings at least. I’m not cheap, I tip well, I order drinks… please just deliver good food pairings and at least suggestions, it’ll make up for your bad and slow service. I’m not a stingy vegetarian to leave bad tastes in waitresses mouths… sigh… I’ll give you guys a shot for dinner perhaps?

Deeeelicious!!! This was my second time here, and it just keeps getting better. My husband had never been so I thought it would make for a fun date night. I took advantage of a Groupon deal which included, two glasses of wine, a choice of one out of three appetizers and two entrees. Let me start off by saying that the duck bruschetta appetizer was amazing. I could have just eaten that and been perfectly happy. Probably a good thing I didn’t because I’m pretty sure it didn’t come close to being lo-​cal, but who cares! What kind of culinary genius comes up with the mixture of soft, buttery bread, thick slice of duck, blueberries, pear, beats, and greens?! The Abby. That’s who. And boy am I glad they did. The meal just continued to get better with my pesto crusted salmon, whipped carrots (why have I never had these before???) and brussel sprouts with thick cut bacon. Two words… Mouth watering. My husband got the ribeye steak with green beans and roasted potatoes and he was salivating right along with me. He was impressed that he actually got his steak cooked as rare as he asked for, which made for the perfect steak.
If you haven’t been to The Abby, you should. Just trust me on this one. The atmosphere is fun, the wait staff is great, and the food is delicious. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Love this place! Especially the patio/​bar! What great views of the mountains and gorgeous Tucson sunsets.
Sylvia is an awesome bartender; very personable and so much fun to be around, not to mention an attentive and thoughtful!
Tonight I shared the salmon with whipped ginger carrots and Brussel sprouts. It was the perfect size to split. I could tell from the rich flavors that every ingredient was of the highest quality. I will be back soon!