Best Of Tucson®

Best New No-Cover Entertainment Mecca

La Cocina Restaurant, Cantina and Coffee Bar

It's been a bit more than a year since a new management team, headed by Joanne Schneider of Bentley's fame, took over La Cocina. What began as a series of cosmetic changes to the courtyard and restaurant menu has mushroomed to the point where entertainment can be found there at least six nights a week—and all of it is free. The schedule is anchored by its extended Friday-evening happy hour, with Greg Morton and friends playing bluegrass. There's also great blues on Thursdays, often with Stefan George and Tom Walbank. But it's the other stuff—like the late-night "Queer the Air" dance parties and live-music karaoke—that make this place such an appealing wild card of a venue.