Visiting Tohono Chul was the first thing we did when we arrived in Tucson. The gardens are nicely laid out and we learned a lot about local plant species. Many plant specimens were covered with sheets or topped with pots/bags, presumably to protect them from the cold. This detracted from the beauty, but is understandable. I wish we could have visited later in the year, when the plants are in bloom/fruit and the veggie garden productive. It was a good intro to cacti, but we preferred the gardens at the Arizona Sonoma Desert Museum

We spent a fascinating morning walking and learning! So much to see and experience…for visitors like us who wanted to see the charming children’s area and then learn about cacti, this is a wonderful experience. We also had a lovely breakfast at the cafe.

We had a lovely time walking around the gardens. They are well tended, and there are many photo ops. We put our name down at the bistro first, which was a good decision as the wait for a table was almost an hour. This gave us just enough time to walk the garden. Lunch at the bistro was delicious! A prickly pear margarita is highly recommended! Your garden entrance fee is good for all day, so you can re-enter if necessary.

This is a great garden! I debated between this one, and the larger one in tuscon. I was glad that we chose this one. We were able to tour in the morning, have brunch, and then still have the rest of the day to do other things. Our favorite part was the Bistro. It was one of our favorite meals on our trip. We had several dishes between the five of us. Favorites were the quesadillas, spike fries, and bottomless prickly pear mimosas.

I had not visited Tohono Chul Park for more than 12 years, since I moved away from Tucson. I’m sitting in the restaurant right now and servers are no where to be found. I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes and they seem to be gone. I was really excited to come back and have lunch here but I am disappointed in not only the service but the food seems to have gone downhill, as well. I don’t know if there is a new owner or what the problem is but I think this may be the last time I make the trip. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous, though, definitely worth seeing. It’s just too dang hot to walk it today. Not their fault. To bad, very sad.