Downtown Tucson has a new dining room built around a landscape many visitors only see from a car window. At Ursa, chef Aaron Lopez is shaping a meal around the Southwest’s natural beauty, and ([1])The New York Times has now turned its attention to the restaurant. The 3,300-square-foot space opened in October 2025 at 110 E. Congress St., in the historic Central Block building, and it has quickly become one of the city’s most talked-about tables.
A first course that begins with a cactus fruit
The meal opens with a tiny, pineapple-shaped barrel cactus fruit brushed with chiltepin XO sauce. ([2])Lopez built that dish to honor his grandfather, who first taught him about the desert’s wild foods, so the opening bite doubles as a family memory.
That personal thread runs through the rest of the restaurant. Lopez and his wife and business partner, June Chee, both grew up in desert communities, and they wanted the restaurant to show what that landscape could provide. ([2])Lopez forages almost every day, and his cooking is informed by local Indigenous communities, farmers and foragers.
Where the ingredients come from
The menu draws on four American deserts: the Sonoran, Mojave, Great Basin and Chihuahuan. ([3])Lopez works with a small group of growers and gatherers, including:
- Ramona Farms, an Akimel O’odham-owned operation
- Native Seed Search, which preserves heirloom and native seed varieties
- Broken Arrow Ranch, which supplies game
- Mission Gardens and other sustainable local foragers
The restaurant’s protein choices reflect the same focus. Diners will not find beef, chicken or pork on the menu, which features wild game such as bison, elk and quail instead. ([4])Some of that game comes from Texas-based Broken Arrow Ranch, a detail that shows how far the kitchen’s sourcing reaches beyond Arizona…