Kingfisher Bar & Grill

Being from Delaware, I’m accustomed to excellent seafood. But, I have to say, Kingfisher ranks among the winners and would easily compete with the best that the East Coast could offer. Try the Oysters and Mussels. Absolutely perfect in every way. Also, had the Flounder special and was likewise perfect. Highly recommend coming here if you are in the Tucson area, you will not be disappointed.

A friend and I went there for happy hour. Great happy hour prices! But… our mussels were SO gritty and full of sand. So gross.

Classic old school class. Casual elegance. Delicious and rock solid menu items, Great presentation. Great service. Kingfisher is a sure thing anytime. Perfect for out of town guests. FYI: the Lobster Roll is NOT a sushi roll but lobster salad on a bun. Not my favorite but that’s just me. Everything else is worth exploring.

THANK GOD. That this is a 5 star restaurant w/​o the 5 star clients, 5 star atmosphere, 5 star location OR 5 star prices. But in every other aspect this is a 5 star restaurant. The servers are first class and the food is better than SF, NY and Chicago. In fact the grilled/​chilled shrimp is perfect. Grilled enough for the grilled taste but chilled so not over cooked. The oysters are about as fresh as anywhere outside of Appalaciacola or SC or NC. We went on my birthday and they brought us a lemon almond olive oil cake with a rich cream topping that was the best dessert ever. If I lived anywhere close to here I would go weekly. NO DOUBT in my mind.

Dive Bar/​Gastropub. Heard its great for happy hour specials. Came for a late dinner and craving salmon. Got the Cedar Plank Salmon. Cooked nicely and had good flavor, unfortunately wasn’t very memorable. Atmosphere very dark but fitting for the place.

Best selection of wine ever, but the seafood here is amazing. The mussels, oysters & fish is wonderful, but the salads hold their own as well. The warm red cabbage salad makes your mouth water just to think about it. YUMMMY!

Our server was extremely considerate and professional. The food was good, the bloody marys were out of this world!

I had the special of the day — swordfish with broccolini. It was great! Someone at my table had ordered the lobster roll and the bun was too dry. The lobster wasn’t that special either. The food is overpriced and they have small serving sizes. The service is great there.

My husband and I eat at Kingfisher just about every weekend and we always enjoy a great meal and excellent service — highly recommend!

My first experience at Kingfisher and I am extremely disappointed with the fish and chips. I basically paid $ 16 dollars for a plate of extremely over fried bland fish and fries that were picked out from the very bottom of the fry basket. In general the food just had a bad oil taste and spent the drive home just plain feeling sick.

Great seafood with excellent daily specials. I’ve had lunch numerous times and I’ve never been disappointed. Wow, now that look at my review, it sounds like one of those paid fake reviews. Only downside I can think of is that there are are not too many non-​seafood choices. However, the ribs, burger and chicken are decent options if you have a non-​seafood fan in the group.

Took my sweetie there for Valentines day. We had oysters and shrimp cakes as appetizers, both were excellent (oysters were tasty but extremely small). I had the bouillabaisse and she ordered the sea bass and both of us were completely satisfied, by far the best seafood we have had in Tucson. A little pricey but we will definitely be going back.

My husband and I have had some fantastic meals in Tucson and we were looking forward to a meal here. I ordered the roasted chicken and I could not believe that someone could cook a chicken this badly. It ended up being boiled and it was so tough that it felt and tasted like leather. But it got worse because when I asked to send it back, the waiter looked at me with judgment and asked if I actually tasted the food. I ignored that remark and asked to order something else. He came back with the late night menu (since it was past ten) and the options were limited but I ordered the fish cakes out of desperation. By the time I got the fish cakes (which were buttery and heavy but delicious), my husband had already eaten his entire meal. My husband ordered the overpriced sea bass that was also heavily buttered (cooked in a style from the 70’s) and bland along with a shot of mescal (fifteen bucks) that was a few millimeters barely filling the bottom of the glass. My husband and I have been to more affordable places with much better food and service.

I went to Kingfisher for their Fat Tuesday event. The first thing that I noticed was that they don’t have a host/​hostess. I find that to be very unprofessional. The person that I went with and I shared the baked clams and the catfish. We ended our meal with the bananas foster. The clams were nothing special. My favorite food in NOLA is their clams. I thought that paying $ 15 for five odd-​tasting clams was very underwhelming. The catfish (priced at $ 19) was nothing special. The only thing that made it interesting was the sauce on top. The bananas foster was the best part of the meal. However, I don’t know why they are charging half of $ 30 for a dish that isn’t that expensive to make. Basically, I totally felt completely ripped off at the end of my experience. The cocktails were delicious. Tucson never fails when it comes to their mixology. They were also priced at $ 10.50 a pop. Are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous.

Tiny wine glass, limp chips, high prices. Sorry! We have friends who recommended it. Maybe it was a bad night. They did have a parking guard, which is a nice touch.

Went for early dinner to try the fish and chips.
So far the best fried fish we’ve had since being in the Tucson area.
Definitely would return to try some of the other menu items. The service was excellent.

I had dinner with Peers this week and hadn’t been in maybe a year. The service was very good. However the lobster roll was so salty that was all I could taste. The bun was dry and crumbly. Definitely not the lobster roll I was craving all day. Later I ended up getting sick and lost a day at work. I also didn’t like the way the place smelled when I walked in. I hope they can turn things around.

This time around I think I had the best meal I have had any where in a long time. The special: pan seared sole over butternut squash fried polenta and sautéed kale. Topped with a blood orange gastric. Marvelous. The total flavor for each bite was wonderful. Service was good.
Ok. Always enjoy it here. First time sitting in the bar. Good selection of drinks and other beverages. Great atmosphere. Like the music etc. had the oyster Rockefeller. A favorite. Served on a bed of sea salt. They always feature unique and tasty deserts. Tried a lemon tart. (Had a long name and description). Tried a virgin mojito. Very very good. Parking is always tough. But hey. Worth it. Always enjoy how they serve the oysters. Nicely done.

The first time I came here was for an employee friends and family holiday party. I remember how genuine and timeless the atmosphere felt that I decided to include Kingfisher on my list of restaurants to visit when I’m in town.
Parking is great due to a dedicated parking lot behind the restaurant. Once inside, you’ll notice classy yet non-​intimidating scenery making it an upscale casual appeal.
We sat at the bar and the bartender working was great. He provided excellent customer service and was very easy to have a conversation with. I ordered the Kingfisher Burger and it was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. When I asked for medium rare, they gave me exactly that. The shoestring fries get hard to dip in ketchup but I chose to have them over regular fries because I like the crisp. I paired my meal with a beer that the bartender helped me choose based on what I like and he couldn’t have done a better job.
If you want a quality, good-​portioned meal, friendly staff, and a genuine atmosphere, come to Kingfisher and join the family.

This is one of my top 5 restaurants in Tucson. I have dined here over 10 times and am finally writing a review. Kingfisher is my favorite date night spot with my husband, a very classic upscale feel. They have purely the best service, which is hard to find in Tucson. They offer tasty drinks, a well curated wine list and rotating beers on tap. The menu is ever changing, especially in the summer when they go «on tour». The bar area is quaint, but the bartenders make the best dirty martinis! :) Over time, I have loved all of my meals here including the Scottish salmon, trout, ciopinno, macadamia crusted fish, oysters, lobster roll, crab cakes. This summer they had a creole BBQ shrimp and grits that was phenomenal. On the current menu, the house smoked trout is divine. For those non-​fish eaters, they do have burgers and chicken and such, which I am sure are also prepared well!

My Dad, former stepmother and I dined here Friday night and had absolutely abysmal service. This was my second time here and the same waiter who served my husband and I the first time took our orders. I don’t recall any issues with the service that first time, but that’s likely because my husband and I ordered drinks, appetizers, and entrees.
Why do I say that? Because my stepmother and I ordered only appetizers this trip, and the look that crossed over our waiter’s face SCREAMED «Oh, great. Geezers AND cheapskates. Not going to make anything on this table.» Whereupon he turned us over to table-​runners/​bussers. I would be fine with that if they were prompt. But we sat waiting for our second round of drinks — with empty glasses in front of us — for a full twenty minutes. Two of our meals hit the table a full hour after we sat down, with one of them «forgotten» and following a few minutes later. We ordered a third round of drinks when the meals came, and when five minutes passed with no drinks, I motioned our waiter over and told him that if the current drink order was going to take twenty minutes like the last one had to not bother bringing them because we’d be done with our meals. I didn’t yell, but he could tell I was one unhappy camper and WHOOSH, he had the drinks in front of us thirty seconds later. (They were obviously sitting at the bar waiting to be picked up.) He also offered to buy us dessert, which we declined.
This is an older guy who is presumably a seasoned, fine dining waiter. For him to have made such an arrogant presumption about how much he’d make off of our table and to tailor his (non) service accordingly is unforgivable. I will never dine here again.
BTW, our check came to $ 140. My stepmother — who was employed in the hospitality industry in Tucson and elsewhere for many years, and who is quite well-​off — was treating and would normally have tipped him more than 20%. Assumptions are just stupid.

Kingfisher is just flat-​out iconic (as my 17 check-​ins here attest). This time around we indulged in Fannie Bay oysters, and I swear I could taste the salt sea air from the Oregon Coast. My partner had the escarole soup, which he claims hit it out of the park even though it’s made with salad. The lattice apple pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream was a well-​executed classic conclusion. KF was once again jam-​packed mid-​week, a testament to its timeless approach to quality. The exuberant beret-​wearing birthday group in the bar was straight out of a Portlandia episode. I have to give a shout to the warm cabbage salad with fresh pecans. Little tender cabbage florets, thick chunks of bacon, tangy citrus vinaigrette… what a winning salad! If only they had bike racks outside :)

First time in Tucson — Kingfisher was recommended and did not disappoint! Be sure to sit in the bar and have Jim (20 year veteran) make you his world class cocktails. Favorite: Tio Borracho :)
Thank you, Jim!

Wrote a long review, somehow didn’t save, will keep it short this time.
Dinner on a Friday was packed, as expected. For such a busy night, service was very good. Our server was attentive, helpful, and very friendly. The only setback was it took a while for our drinks to arrive, but again, it was busy.
My folks ordered oysters, mussels, and shrimp cakes and loved them all. We were curious about the use of shrimp over crab, but were very pleased with the results. The lemon aioli and sriracha gave them a nice kick.
I ordered the salmon. A nice, big piece served on a cedar plank with potatoes, chutney, and brussels sprouts. The fish was a little underseasoned, but overall a good dish.
Will be back to check out happy hour because the bar was packed. As was the parking lot. Street parking off Grant can feel a little shady at night. But if it’s good enough for Ron Barber and his wife to frequent on a Friday night, it’s good enough for me.

Love the Food, Love the atmosphere, used to work next-​door to them for convenience, and I ASKED MY WIFE to MARRY ME in the Restaurant.
— love the late hours
— love the oysters
— the personally service is amazing
— when they do «tours» of regions the food can’t be beat
If you have a chance, enjoy this place its worth the trip.

I have yet to find a compelling reason to come back here other than one of my closest buds loves this place. I will have to continue trying until I find something I like.

I didn’t eat dinner here (wish we had!) but we had drinks & dessert in the bar. Great selection of alcohol & wine/​beer. But the best thing of all was the coconut buttermilk pie. It was out of this world. Maybe one of the best pies I’ve ever had. Great job, guys! And our server (I forget his name but he was awesome) recommended it so thanks to him as well!

My girlfriend and two of our friends came here for late night happy hour last Sunday after I got off work. The three of them had never been before so I was nervous about how the experience would be received.
Much to my surprise, it was a great bar evening. Each of us enjoyed a drink or two and the Grilled and Chilled Shrimp, fries, and Orange Ricotta cake. The food items were wonderfully prepared and the plating was beautiful. Service was great as well. I look forward to returning in the near future.

Service: 2 stars mediocre
My server had a pretentious accent and tone. My ceramic new vase has more personality. They should make Emma, my bus gal a server. Much more interesting convo. I know, a LA guy calling someone pretentious. Whatever haters.
Dinner selections:
Pinot Grigio
½ dozen oysters (2 each of gulf — medium sized, salty, canadian — clean, fresh, and Washington — smaller, firm). Not kumamotos but surprisingly decent for a dessert city.
Lobster bisque — real crab meat, check. Base can use a tad more seasoning. Wait, weird but seems to get more savory closer to the bottom. Not sure why they would not blend for a more consistent flavor profile throughout.
Lobster roll: Burnt roll, not a good way to start. Onions, celery, tomatoes are fresh giving it a nice texture. Crab is canned as far as I can tell. Overall a very decent roll.
Ambiance and décor needs some updating — 2 stars. Food was decent overall is commendable and proper — tack on 2 additional stars. Everything considered I give this a solid 4.5 stars.

Appetizer — Clam chowder: Honestly one of the weirdest and worst chowders I’ve ever had. I couldn’t even make it through the whole bowl.
Entrée — Lobster roll: The lobster roll came with a side of coleslaw and shoestring fries. I’m a french fry lover. Unfortunately, I didn’t love these fries. They were okay, but nothing to write home about. The coleslaw was very vinegary. I wasn’t a fan. Ohhhhhhh but that lobster roll!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! Talk about DE-​LI-​CIOUS!!! The lobster roll alone will get me back to Kingfisher’s for a second chance!