In downtown Tucson, in a renovated 1930s warehouse, you’ll find BATA—a restaurant built around fire, family, and the deep food traditions of Southern Arizona. Chef and owner Tyler Fenton, alongside his siblings Zach (CFO) and Courtney (Director of Operations), created BATA to showcase the bounty of the desert and to set a new standard for what thoughtful, community-driven dining could look like in Tucson.
For the Fentons, food has always been about connection. After launching Italian-American restaurants like Reilly and Fentonelli’s, the family wanted to go further—creating a concept that would challenge both themselves and Tucson’s culinary expectations. “With BATA, we wanted to plant our flag,” Tyler explains. “We wanted to establish a higher-level standard for kitchen culture and sourcing, to show what’s possible when you treat ingredients and people with care.”…