Jasper Neighborhood Restaurant & Bar

Years ago Jaspers was only a breakfast café, and to be fair they should have kept it that way. Burgers are only decent thing they have, and they charge extra for fries. The dinner menu caters more as bar food, but for the price I just can’t justify the mediocre flavors.
A burger with fries sets you back $ 14 bucks, and for $ 10 their «chile rellenos» is regular pepperjack cheese stuffed a midget pepper.
The staff and location are awesome, but the whole evening menu needs a restructure.

A girlfriend and I, living on opposite sides of Tucson, are always trying to find local places to meet in the middle for drinks (while the husbands put the kids to bed!). We ended up at Jasper’s on whim, and walked in pleasantly surprised to find a fun little jazz trio jamming away in the corner.
The menu looked good and the bar looked stocked, but all my friend and I wanted was a glass of wine, maybe some dessert, and a friendly staff that will let us chat for longer than average. Jasper’s met all these desires in spades.
The coconut cake was tasty and generous in size we could easily split. We sat on the front porch and talked forever. The best part was the wonderful service we got. The waitress was attentive without making us feel like we had to move along. I think her name is Katherine, and she couldn’t have been sweeter.
It was a relaxing, gracious night. We’ll be back!

Over a year since I have been back to this place… Some things just don’t change. This will be my final visit until this place closes which I would imagine will be soon…
Rude staff, okay to bad food.

Do Not Go To This Restaurant!
I bought one of the Living Social deals for this restaurant and finally used it with a friend. We were acknowledged at the door by a bartender who did not welcome us.
We ordered right away since we had viewed the menu earlier. It took over 40 minutes to get two soggy hamburgers with cold, generic crinkle cut fries (which were Extra!).
During the 40 minute wait for mediocre burgers a 4 man band was trying to set up in a tiny space about 4 feet from our tiny table. The restaurant diners were treated to screeching feedback. When our burgers arrived we were ready to leave.
The best part is the bill — It came out to LESS than the coupon value by three dollars. The waitress told us she would have to run a charge of 1.00 so it would come up on the register!
This is the worst dining experience in every way and I would recommend NOT going to this place. Is there a negative star rating? If there were, they would get a negative five but in order to publish this I am required to click a star.

After reading the reviews, I was pleasantly surprised with my meal at Jasper. A friend and I went here recently on a Friday evening. We tried to sit at the bar, but the music was so loud that before we even ordered, we moved to a table outside. It’s worth noting that although the music was loud, it was good, just not the best ambience for catching up with someone.
Once outside, we could focus on the menu and some drinks. We decided to split a bottle of wine, and the waitress let us taste both before deciding. For food, we ordered the southwest caprese, and the special of the day, the stuffed peppers. Our waitress originally told us that they were not able to make the caprese due to the quality of mozzarella; however, they were able to replace the mozzarella with goat cheese, so that we could still have the dish. The mixture of avocado, tomato, and goat cheese was a good combination, though I would like to try the original version. The stuffed peppers were filled with a creamy mixture of potatoes and mushrooms and the portion was gigantic, two whole bell peppers an order.
I really enjoyed my meal, but as a vegetarian I was limited by my options. Our waitress was friendly and extremely accommodating, I wish I remembered her name to recognize her personally!

I had a good experience dining here for lunch, and Jasper exceeded my expectations of a casual neighborhood restaurant & bar. The food was much better than I thought it would be. I guess I wasn’t expecting much, but after all– I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and the freshness of the food. Everything we ate was highly flavorful. My daughter and I shared a beef and brie sandwich, which was a little sparse on the meat, but delicious none the less. My son had a club sandwich, which was also very good, and I noticed it had a lot of ham (not like the beef and brie, which seemed to be missing a tad of meat).
Sandwiches are in the $ 9 – 10 range, but do not come with any sides. If you want a side, it’s extra– we all shared fries ($ 2.50), and had a side salad, ($ 5). We shared a flourless chocolate cake for dessert ($ 8), which was very chocolatey and rich — but not amazing (it seemed a bit stale). They also have salads and soups on the lunch menu. The service was friendly and efficient– no complaints, and our waitress was super nice.
The cool thing about Jasper is that it truly is a neighborhood place… They have something going on practically every evening of the week (even Monday)! Take note of these offerings:
Tuesday– Saturday: Happy hour from 4 – 7 PM
Monday: Film in the foothills at 7 PM
Wednesday: Geeks who drink! Happy hour from 7:30 PM to close, with trivia
Thursday: ½ off select bottles of wine
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday: Live music
I read the reviews for dinner, and it sounds great– I’ll definitely be back to try the dinner options.

This place only goes to further my beliefs that «just because your in the foothills and off of sunrise you have to be good» is a poor way to think.
I wanted to like this place really bad, but alas it was not to be.
The wife and I went on a Saturday late afternoon 1700 to be exact. the place was basically empty, it was us and two other tables.
We were not overly hungry so my wife ordered the Garden salad with the filet added and I ordered the Apache salad.
after a very long wait, 20 minutes to be exact the salads arrived. My wifes salad was devoid of the filet portion of her salad, we had to wait 10 minutes to flag down our waitress to fix the order. The waitress returned some time later with what appeared to be sliced sirloin that was obviously cooked fast on a flat top grill. The meat was devoid of any seasoning and had the infused flavor of the flat top grill imparted on it.
My Apache salad was ok but nothing to rave about. The dressing «which the menu lauds» was not much more that a flavorless blue cheese dressing with a pinkish hue. The chicken was dry and cubed as well as poor presentation.
We were greatly disappointed because there is no excuse when your establishment is not busy at all.

I’m going to have to update this review in the future because right now I’m only going off of my experience with them from a recent Unilocal Elite event, where we only sampled the coconut cake. However I wanted to review to say a couple things
1. Coconut cake = thing dreams are made of (with a delicious cream cheese center, too!!!)
2. The assistant manager/​head bartender is awesome! So friendly and personable!
3. The happy hour menu looks incredible — lots of amazing food choices and very creative drink combinations!
4. Patio. Especially this time of year, need I say anything more?!
Like I said — I’ve had very limited experience with them thus far (only sampling the coconut cake and meeting the assistant manager), but so far, great experience! I’ll update once I try them out for a «full-​blown» happy hour and let you know hot it goes!!!
Can’t wait!

Stopped at Jasper’s for a quick cocktail and bite yesterday. Loved the cozy vibe of the place and would love to come back for a happy hour when they have live entertainment.
The patio out front looked quite popular but we were in a little bit of a hurry so we sat at the bar. I’m not always a fan of sitting at a bar when I go to most places but theirs is very inviting and comfy. We ordered a couple of cocktails and appetizers. A had the Prickly Pear Mai Tai which was quite delicious with the added Disaronno. I went with the Essense of Grapefruit, a flavorful grapefruit/​vodka concoction that left me wanting more. REALLY easy drinking. We shared the Sonoran Sliders and the Southwest Caprese. Both were delicious and hit the spot perfectly.
The odd thing here is that we felt a little like we were sitting in a scene from Mean Girls or something. The vibe the servers gave was that they didn’t really care for each other too much, it was really strange. One server asked a question of another several times and was completely and obviously ignored each time. The interactions between all of them made us feel a little uncomfortable. One poor girl walked in the door and it appeared that she was there to start her shift and no one acknowledged her at all. I mean, you don’t have to like each other but don’t make your customers aware of it or uncomfortable because of it. Weird.
Aside from that Mean Girl vibe, I want to give Jasper’s 4 stars and am hopeful the atmosphere will be different next time.

Just had lunch there. Pretty mediocre. Service was slow. Order didnt arrive quite right.
I won’t rush back, too many other good places nearby.

My bf and I went on a date to Jasper a couple of months ago, and we’ll definitely be back.
We went for dinner on a Saturday night at about 530, and though we called ahead, there was no need for a reservation. There were only a few people there when we arrived, and surprise! Live music, a neat jazz quartet performed for the entire time that we were there.
It’s really pleasant inside, kind of a romantic twilight sort of feeling. The architecture is neat, too. We split a white arugula pizza and their mac & cheese, and honestly haven’t stopped talking about it since! The pizza was to die for, and my margarita went with it perfectly. They had a good selection of beers for my bf to choose from as well.
Our waiter was pleasant and the rest of the staff was busy serving customers. Seems like a well-​oiled machine! We’ll be going back soon, hopefully!

My husband and I went here for a date night dinner one night. We enjoyed a beautiful night outside on their patio with a beautiful mountain view. I didn’t have any service issues like some of the other Unilocalers… which I usually do cause I guzzle water like no body’s business! However I had a cute young girl waiting tables to get by who was very helpful to some newcomers to the restaurant. She kept my glass full and kept the wine coming. I even felt really bad for her because she had to deal with some snotty girls who couldn’t make up their mind where they «dained» to sit. But I digress…
My husband had the Chipotle Meatloaf with Chile Glaze. I think he really wished he had what I had. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. We are huge leftover fans… we didn’t even bother with that. I had the chicken tacos off their happy hour menu (great prices) and they were to die for! I also enjoyed their house red and white wines and they both did the trick! I love finding great happy hours! I also went with the reviewers and tried the Coconut Cake. Heaven in my mouth! I think this cake has magical powers or something. I am not the biggest coconut fan, but it turned me into a believer! I think we will very much be visiting Jasper again!

FYI: Jasper serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and has a happy hour menu too. This review is just for breakfast.
So, the menu reads nice, service is friendly, dogs are allowed on the patio and they even provide water bowls which is rare in Tucson. Breakfast was A-​Ok, your average veggie scramble with avocado, toast and red potatoes. I ordered a side of chicken apple sausage, and my total was shy of $ 16.00. No bevvy for me, as I had made my cappuccino at home before heading out. So, I’m feeling that’s a little steep for eggs and toast, no? The red potatoes weren’t even red potatoes. They were tiny cubes of fried potatoes and unfortunately they didn’t appear fresh at all. A change in food quality is a maker bummer in my book. After numerous breakfast visits, my opinion remains the same: the menu is very descriptive making it difficult to make a decision, but the food simply doesn’t deliver, and especially not at that price. Jasper really could be that awesome little neighborhood café on the corner, but it’s not quite reaching it’s potential.

Saturday night rolls around and we are tired of the same olé, same olé places. Let’s try something new! Yes, but where? Jaspers appears on our search, peruse the menu — looks good, live music? even better! Let’s go!
We arrive, sit at a table on the patio and Erik is our server and he is on top of everything! Jillian the manager came outside and introduced herself and we were so impressed by her and Erik.
I had the strawberry shortcake martini which is perfect for me as it is on the sweet side. Happy hour is from 2 – 7 every day and we try the fish and chicken tacos from that menu as well as the loaded fries. The tacos are super yummy! You have a choice of loaded fries three different ways and we have the green chile and cheese fries which would have been really good if the fries were not soggy — next time we will ask for them to be cooked crispy.
We then ordered the chile rellenos, mac & cheese and the meatloaf. The chile rellenos were not your typical rellenos so we were disappointed but they tasted good just not what we were expecting. The mac & cheese was SOOOOOO good as was the chipoltle meatloaf — you should order both of these dishes because you cannot just choose one! Take some home (like we did) and they were just as good the next day!
For dessert we had a piece of the coconut cake and the chocoate raspberry cake. The coconut cake is their specialty and is delish. I’m not a huge fan of coconut but this cake is worth every calorie. I read on the menu that you can purchase a whole cake and I believe this will be my next birthday cake!
The live music started at 7pm and from what Jillian told us, they have different bands playing each weekend. The music was great! The atmosphere was perfect for listening to jazz, enjoying cocktails on the patio — just perfect! We kept commenting to each other that all these people kept walking by on their way to Flemmings and what a shame because they don’t know what they are missing out on as the food is so much better here, cheaper too and with live music — doesn’t get any better than that!
We had such a great time that we came here again the next morning for breakfast and again they did not disappoint! I had the stuffed french toast and I must say this is a definite must try!
We will definitely be back — over and over and over…

I wonder if the staff at Jasper felt like they work on a sinking ship. I don’t know if I have had more terrible food experience in Tucson.
Every dish was a disaster.
The caprese salad was made with crappy, flavorless, cardboard, supermarket tomatoes– why would you do that in a dish that has so few ingredients.
The chicken on my pasta was cooked somewhere between rubber and charcoal.
The filet mignon kebabs, ordered medium rare, were seared on the outside and RAW and COLD on the inside. Our waitress never came to ask how things tasted, I get the feeling she knew :), so we had to hand the kebabs back to the bartender.
The side of rice that came with the kebabs was bland and the couple of pieces of corn seem like they were green giant frozen corn kernels. If you are going to serve rice in a restaurant make it with stock, or at least add some spices.
I don’t understand how you could own a restaurant and serve such horrible food, it is pretty disrespectful to your customers, yourself, and your community.
I wish there was a 0 star option.

Ventured up to the foothills specifically to try out a different restaurant. We had heard about Jasper’s from a friend who used to work here, and seemed like a cool place. Let’s just hope they were having an exceptionally bad night.
It started out a little rough, one of their employees put on their brakes in the parking lot and almost backed up straight into us. This is not a reflection on the food, of course (which spoke for itself).
The place was pretty empty but was a Tuesday night. We were definitely the only people under 40. My date ordered penne pasta with chicken. I have an unfortunate habit of overcooking chicken (hence the need to eat out at restaurants) so I tolerate pretty dry chicken. Sadly the chicken on this dish was rubberized. It may have had less moisture than the Gobi Desert. The dish was covered in too much oregano, which felt strangely old and crunchy. One look over the window into their kitchen confirmed oversized Sysco style tubs of seasonings. If there was any fresh seasoning in the dish, neither of us could taste it.
I ordered the filet mignon kabobs medium rare, and they came out just a touch more cooked than raw. When I tried to have the meat cooked a bit more, I couldn’t find the waitress. Finally I took it to the bartender and he returned it to the kitchen. 5 minutes later the waitress came over and offered me the dessert menu. She had no clue that the dish had been sent back. When it did eventually return the meat was cooked well and had a nice flavor. The white rice that the kabobs were served over had zero flavor. It was obviously cooked in water, not stock, and was a low quality rice in general. Also topped with dried oregano. We left that on the plate.
The wine was okay, decent selection. Their draft beers are $ 5.75/pint, with only a few options, none of which were worth that price. Dessert was out of the question.
Won’t be going back for dinner but it seems like other Unilocalers really enjoy their breakfast. For me, definitely not worth the drive.

Jasper is a great little bar and I think I’ll grow to love it. The bartender was super helpful when I was in an indecisive mood and recommended their sangria– which is a cocktail not a real sangria. It was good but I love real Sangria and this ain’t it. I also had the fish tacos which were really good, but a little heavy on the batter for me. All in all I’d try it again, it’s a cool place with fun people.

You can now add Jasper to the «Where to get Moscow Mules» list! I was surprised by staff yesterday when I was handed a copper cup! I knew exactly what that meant… they have added Moscow Mules and Dark and Stormy’s to their expanding drink menu and I was privy enough to be the first to try. Their new food and drink menu come out next week and I’m very excited given the fact that my new love is copper drinking! If you know me, you know I swear by anything with Ginger Beer in a copper mug.
Nice addition Jasper! Well done!

My husband and I went to this place twice while we were visiting Tucson and our experience was consistently awesome. The service is really friendly without being overly obnoxious and the atmosphere really does give off that true neighborhood vibe.
I would recommend trying the bloody marys, they are spot on! They even have little jalapeño stuffed olives to garnish. They really pay attention to detail with these little babies!
The food is amazing too. I tried the 3 cheese quesadilla and added bacon… SO GOOD! I mean, you add bacon to anything and it is 1000 times better, but this thing was seriously good! My only regret is not making it down the this place in time for breakfast. My husband and I got there just as the breakfast hours ended and we walked in to the smell of waffles and could do nothing more than stare in envy at the half eaten omlettes on everyone’s plates! It was torture!
If you are looking for a serious neighborhood place to frequent, this is your spot. Good food, good drinks, great staff, reasonable prices… why wouldn’t you come back?

We ended up eating here on a good day! The service was soo GREAT! The waiter was very accommodating since I was waiting for my husband to arrive. I got some school work done which is always a plus!
I had ordered the three pancake breakfast, it was perfect for someone who is not wanting to over eat. My husband on the other hand got the breakfast sandwich, and that was a HUGE plate of food!
I hear at night it is a Tapas Bar so we are thinking of going back and trying it for some drinks and dinner!
I was sad to hear the old owners don’t own it anymore, Jasper was one of our favorite places to eat breakfast when they owned it, but so far the new owners are doing ok by me!