Best Outdoor Dining '95

Best Outdoor Dining

Café Terra Cotta
4310 N. Campbell Ave.

READERS' PICK: Dining on the patio at Café Terra Cotta brings together so many of the amenities of Tucson: the looming Santa Catalina Mountains; the swishing of leaves in the trees as a monsoon breeze struggles to move in; and some of the best Southwestern cuisine in, well, the Southwest. At some restaurants, the patios are cramped; dining outside means less table, less leg room, less privacy and less service. But at Terra Cotta, it's as though they picked up the walls of their desert-elegance dining room and simply moved them. During the day, the lunch crowd titters along with the fountain at St. Philip's Plaza. At night, the territory turns more romantic. Occasionally there's the extra bonus of live music in the plaza. After a distinctively Southwestern meal, no doubt accented with things like tomatillos and ancho chiles, you'll want to dally over coffee and Desert Sunset dessert--fresh strawberries with champagne Sabayon and shortbread "cactus cookies." Linger all you want; they never rush you at Terra Cotta. And if that monsoon does find its way to your table, the staff will ever so graciously relocate you inside.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Blue Willow Restaurant, Bakery & Poster Gallery, 2616 N. Campbell Ave.

STAFF PICK: Hey pardner/dude/punk/ suit/downtowner-arts-type, git on down to Wild Johnny's Wagon, a primary-colored, tin-encrusted, Rory McCarthy-designed hoot of a mobile-meals vehicle, with chow put on by none other than Janos Wilder. It's a fast, inexpensive lunch, with unusual fare that will carry you well through the day and into evening, when your taste buds will still be reminiscing about the wonderful focaccia slathered in eggplant spread, sandwiches with homemade brisket (when's the last time you put one of those in the oven?) and pasta salads with better-than-good pesto. The Wild West barbecue motif belies the sophistication in the simple menu. A roasted vegetable platter is a glorious cold dish of fresh roasted beets, carrots, onions and whatever else is fresh and on hand. We were thrilled to the gills with the bluefish sandwich and thoroughly revegetated with the big vegetarian Dagwood. If salad is the only thing you allow yourself for lunch, do it here where you can get your choice of two on a plate. And the outdoor-only service, at 150 N. Main Ave., just behind Janos restaurant on the Corbett House patio, has a round-up of nice people who aim to please. Tourists are going to eat this place up, but don't let them have all the fun--go have your own wild time.

1998 Winner: Café Terra Cotta
1997 Winner: The Cottonwood Café
1996 Winner: The Blue Willow