Restaurant Find: Zona78

I've never posted a restaurant find for any restaurants in Tucson, but in case any of you ever come here, and I'm not around to entertain you, I want you to know about one of my favorite Tucson spots. I am going to introduce you to what I believe to be the best tomato-basil soup in the city, though my other half of Two Friends Cook might disagree.

Zona78 is a restaurant that first opened in 2003, and they offer gourmet pizzas, some Italian dishes, and a great selection of starters and salads. They also offer this Roasted Tomato-Basil soup, made with local tomatoes and topped with their fresh toasted croutons. The soup is made with what I'm sure is a fair amount of cream, and I just find it amazing. When I think of going out to eat soup, all I think about is Zona78's tomato-basil soup. No joke. At lunch, you can get a grilled cheese and soup. Oh my goodness.


I also recommend this salad. For a long time, I always ate pizza from Zona78, but one day I tried their Chop-Chop salad. It's a delicious mix of contrasting flavors that work really well together. It's crunchy, a little sweet, and a little salty. Salami, pears, pecans, a fresh pear vinaigrette, amazing. Also, I'm thinking this fulfills my Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Pear, right? I ate pears, at least.


And, finally, this is Zona78's Tuscany pizza, and what their menu touts as their bestseller. It's a loaded pizza for sure, with Italian sausage, portabello mushrooms, fennel, roasted garlic, Zona's homemade mozzarella, and kalamata olives. I hope I didn't miss anything. It's a good pizza, though I didn't care for the fennel, and Aaron didn't care for the sausage. Still, pretty delicious. You can also opt for a whole wheat crust.