The Fenton family has become the restaurant barons of Tucson.
Bata/barbata; Fentonelli’s Pizza & Bar; Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink and Tough Luck Club keep Tucsonans fed with pizza, the likes of grilled pork chorizo verde skewers with cilantro, or drinks that really make a mark.
For Zach, Courtney and Tyler Fenton, it’s all in a day’s work. They just want what’s best for the customers. That means adhering to consistency and tweaking the recipe so subtly that maybe regulars notice.
Tyler Fenton said the key to the family’s success is the yearning to improve each day. He is certainly doing that with Fentonelli’s.
“Fairly recently we expanded the menu,” Tyler said.
“I’m so proud of the pizza we have at the restaurant now. That’s part of why we rebranded that restaurant — to scratch a creative itch for me — in February.
“We’ve made five edits to the pizza dough since then. The menu and the program offer the classics, but we’re still just always tweaking to improve.”
His sister, Courtney Fenton, agreed.
“We’re really trying to make sure that our guests are happy,” she said. “We’re playing around with specials, which has been fun. That allows our team to flex its creative juices.
“We have a rotating daily slice for lunch. We’re introducing new pizza options. That’s something that isn’t on the menu every day.”
Fentonelli’s expanded its takeout and added delivery, too. The restaurant is available for large parties and private events, and catering.
Tyler said, although he loves creating interesting pizzas, he enjoyed upgrading the cheese pizza.
“I’ve come full circle. I’m really excited about our margherita pizza,” he said.
“The classics are the ones I’m really excited about. Recently, on the menu, our most out-there pizza is Brussels sprouts pizza.”
That includes hot honey on there, which is a wink to the signature dish, Brussels sprouts appetizer that started at Reilly.
“In the modern world, Brussels sprouts on pizza is not anything super groundbreaking, but it’s definitely further from the pepperoni mushroom that we have on that menu,” he said.
As for Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink, the family recently opened the rooftop patio. Courtney is excited about that.
“We’ve had to shift hours past sunset to allow for cooler temperatures,” she said.
The first week of July, the adjacent Tough Luck Club will give its menu a facelift — something that happens twice a year.
“It’s always something that people get excited about, and something we’ve been working on for a long time,” Courtney said. “We’re really proud of it. We have rotating local artists and we switched it over to an employee. To be able to showcase their offerings in a pop-up gallery, while guests are enjoying cocktails, is great.”
Recently, a rotating gelato and sorbet menu was added to the menu, which, Courtney said, is perfect for the summer.
“We’re always striving to improve,” Tyler said. “It’s one of the fun challenges of restaurants. You have to be evolving. One thing that happened recently was we bought a new mixer for the dough. It’s a different style mixer, which produces better and more consistent dough.
“The dough is the foundation of pizza. To increase the quality, there was a great opportunity. With the gelato menu, I’m the only one making that. I’m working with a cook who can assist in that. It’s super fun and, again, given the weather, it’s great.”
He plans to leave Fentonelli’s as is, as the menu isn’t fixed. In spring and summer, the family plays with the dishes.
“We’ll change it when we feel we need to do so,” he said. “We’ll probably have a new pasta coming on the menu at some point.
“We just always strive to take what we’re learning from the other restaurants and holistically look at what we learned at home, and help the others be better. We use the cheese at Fentonelli’s that we never used at Reilly. We’re bringing it to Reilly because we like it.
Bata/Barbata is “the whole opposite end of the spectrum,” Tyler said. They change completely according to what is available each season.
“What’s on the menu one day might not be on the menu the next,” he said. “Right now, in particular, we’re at the start of a seasonal change. If someone came to this restaurant a week ago, the menu today is different. The menu is going to be different tomorrow.
“The changing of the seasons is a fun time to be here. Each week, new things are popping up. For example, cucumbers are in season. Soon, we’ll see summer squash, eggplant and chiles, then the season changes we’ll have winter squash. The menu is always in constant flux. I think it’s a particularly exciting time when it comes to those season changes.”
Barbata, the basement bar at Bata, has its own beverage program. Tyler said it’s geared to be approachable and celebrates “what we have around us.” He said the staff is working on a food menu for Barbata.
“We’re doing a weekend, late-night menu down there. That’s going to feature a burger — it’s the first time in my career that I’ve ever had a burger on the menu.
“I’m excited about that. From 9 a.m. to midnight, we’re finalizing the full menu. We’ll make a couple other smaller things. But it evolves as well.”
Tyler said it’s all in the name of customer experience.
“All these little bits don’t translate massively, and it not something we talk about opening, but it’s for the guest experience. With Bata, we expanded our purveyor list. We’re exploring how we can integrate that at our other restaurants, be it bringing in mushrooms from Desert Pearl or greens for a salad from a new vendor. All of these things are part of continually trying to be the (best) restaurant we can be in its category.
Bata | barbata
batatucson.com/barbata
Fentonelli’s Pizzeria & Bar
fentonellispizzeria.com
Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink
reillypizza.com
Tough Luck Club
