Nimbus Bistro

After a day of sightseeing around Tucson, we stopped at Nimbus for dinner. The five of us all enjoyed our dining experience. Three of the group had the chicken and pear salad, very good, and one had the western burger which he said was excellent. His side was the sweet potato fries. I had the beef stroganoff flatbread. It was very good, tasting just like the pasta dish that I have had previously. The sirloin was tender. Service was very good. Would definitely return.

There are many other places in Tucson that I like better than Nimbus, but my family comes here once in a while because it’s a convenient location for everyone to meet. I’m not a big fan of the TVs all over the place, the monkey art, or fried food menu items, but I like the pizza and beers. Also, they’re good with kids, and mine like to play with the pizza dough, then send it off the be cooked and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.

Went for lunch. Great beer especially the monkeyshine ale. We had the Monkey Nugs as the appetizer which are tater tots loaded with cheese, pulled pork, jalapenos, etc (like nachos except with tater tots). I had the pulled pork sandwich. My daughter had the Cubano which was a Cuban sandwich on a hoagie roll. They have a monkey theme all around. Lots of TV’s and great place to watch sports.

Cool place… Stopped in on a Sunday afternoon while visiting town. The entrance is a little hidden from the street but visible once you park around the side. It wasn’t very crowded. Mostly guys watching football and a few college kids. The interior is pretty big, so
They have happy hour here daily 3 – 6, which I think is great. Most of their beers are 3.50, weeks are 3, wines are 4 I think, and they have an assortment of food in the 4 – 8 dollar range. They also offer daily specials: Sunday was BOGO pizza. I tried a flight of the nimbus beers, my favorite of which was the Dirty Guera blonde ale. The Monkeyshine was also good, but at 8% ABV, it’s dangerous. The soft pretzel comes with cheese sauce and ground mustard, both of which pair well with the bread (but obviously melted cheese wins there). The pretzel itself was light in color, which I didn’t really expect, but the texture and taste were pretzel-​y, so maybe it just didn’t get boiled very long or something.
Overall, nice place to hang out with friends for a meal and a beer. I’d come back.

Pleasantly surprised. That’s how I felt about this place. For some odd reason I told myself I didn’t like it here and hadn’t been in over two years. Uhhh. don’t know why I thought that! The décor is awesome, the food options are plentiful (tons of vegetarian and meat-​eater options), a fairly good selection of beers on tap, and loads and loads of TVs. I came to watch a UA game and one thing that struck me was how every seat could basically see a TV. The bar area has nice booths, tables and high-​tops for watching the game.
As far as refreshments, we enjoyed our Nimbus beers but also the fun beer/​spirit creations! My boyfriend now won’t drink a blonde ale without a shot of whiskey (yum!). We also got a gooey pizza-​cookie with ice cream thing that totally hit the spot. If you’re looking for a nice spot to watch the game with tons of food choices and is basically the opposite of a dive bar — this is the spot. Tons of fans here, too!

This place is a complete 360 from the Nimbus Brewery, but just as good, if not better. It’s a great sized restaurant with a huge amount of bar space, which I suppose is why it’s considered more of a bistro. The space is awesome, but the food is even better, and better yet is the beer! I LOVE their Oatmeal Stout. I could drink one, after the other, after the other… You get my point. Now pair that beer with an awesome giant soft pretzel and jalapeño cheese sauce and mustard. That’s a meal in an of itself, but I’m telling you, you won’t want to stop eating there so pace yourself. Their pizzas are delicious and made fresh to order and baked in their pizza oven. You can see it happen right before your eyes. How’s that for ambiance? Along with their pizzas and pretzels, they have a lot of other great options. The top sirloin steak sandwich was a hit with me as well. I think it might be safe to say, most food options will leave you feeling happy. On top of all of that goodness, they had wonderful service and everyone was on top of their game, making the experience that much better. With their good happy hour prices and great beer, I imagine I’ll spend a lot of this upcoming football season here.

The location is just outstanding. There is plenty of room to enjoy any game and a fantastic menu. I also have to say the servers and bartenders were all extremely friendly.
Another truly awsome part of this brewery is they carry other beers. Although I enjoyed most of their beer, I have a few other brands I normaly go for. Having a selection outside the ones they make really opens it up for everyone to enjoy. I am definitly a fan and looking forward to visiting again.

Back in my college days Nimbus was my favorite local brewery but their location left much to be desired. I am so happy that they have now created some friendly, accessible, comfortable spaces where fans can enjoy their beers… which have only gotten better with time. From reading the other reviews it sounds like we all agree that this is a pretty cool environment with great bartenders and fantastic beer. But maybe the food is not so good? Well, I sat at the bar and did not order any food so I can’t comment on that.
I did a full tasting flight when I was there with my husband last weekend and I really enjoyed the experience though I will say these guys are pretty heavy handed with the hops! Whoa, settle down fellas!!! How about making something for those of us with a more bitter sensitive palate? On the plus side, in almost all of their beers they do balance it out with some sweetness. The six four ounce pours I received were arranged light to dark which in my humble opinion was a mistake since the super-​duper hoppy pale ale should be tasted last so that the bitterness doesn’t wreck the palate. Fortunately the barkeep was Johnny on the spot with some water when he saw me make the bitter beer face after sampling that one. So, here are my impressions on what I tried… please note the opinions expressed here are entirely my own. you must try for yourself to see what you will like. You never know until you try it. That is the beauty of the craft beer movement. Each one is unique!
1. Dirty Guera — Love the beer, love the name (so perfect for a Tucson brewed blonde ale). This is light and very drinkable. If you are not a regular beer drinker then go with this one and you can’t miss.
2. Pale Ale — Description mentions «intense bitterness» and that is accurate. This beer is not messing around. I can handle some American pale ales but this was way to hoppy for me! If you are an IPA fan you’ll love it.
3. Red Ale — A bit less malt and more bitterness there than I expected. But I found it to be pretty light and drinkable and the caramel flavor came thru in the finish so overall a pretty good beer. It also had a beautiful color.
4. Brown Ale — This tastes exactly like the Oak Creek Nut Brown to me. And I mean that as a compliment since that beer has won a bunch of awards and stuff and is probably the most famous AZ beer. I love the nuttiness of course but also there’s a little sugar and spice thrown it. Really great beer.
5. Oatmeal Stout — Of course the stout was destined to be my favorite because that is just what I like. I will say that this was the most hoppy stout I have ever had. Usually a stout will have very little hop flavor. However, there was also a good amount of malt in there so it was still delicious. Also much lighter bodied than some other stouts… it’s not too heavy where you feel full after half a pint. I could drink this one all night. Which was surprising since the color was pitch black. Try holding it up to the light. Seriously, its like a black hole or something.
6. Old Monkeyshine — I sampled this one at the Strong Beer Festival in Phoenix last year and fell in love from there. Watch out, its got an ABV of 8.2%. I think the one at the festival may have even been stronger. Even if you are a light weight you need to try this beer because of the flavor. It has an awesome sweetness so that makes it very appealing to me but there is also a lot of complexity. I can’t even put my finger on exactly what it tastes like but I just know I like it!
7. Sonoran White Chocolate — This one was a bonus sample since the super nice bartender heard me say that it sounded good but I didn’t want to order a whole pint (hey, I’d already had the equivalent of 2 beers worth of sampling). Unfortunately I didn’t care for this one at all. It was too dry and the chocolate flavor tasted very artificial to me. I will say I think it is really, really cool that they offer a wide selection of beers from other breweries (esp. AZ ones) in addition to their own. Not a lot of breweries do that but I don’t know why because it just gets more people in the door who may not be fans of your beers but maybe while they are there they’ll give yours a try too!

The company boasts a brewery and a separate bistro location within the city limits. We drove the ten minutes to the bistro and found ourselves in the middle of a monkey-​muraled mishap.
Not the logo, just the impression it made.
It was everywhere; painted on the building’s side in the style of an antiquated graphic stamp, on the floor, on the ceiling and the walls, on our table, in the décor, on the bar, the beers, the bathrooms… cute. The iconic Monkey’s impressive coup de main may be the only reason for the continued survival of the business. The beer isn’t bad either, especially the… Monkey Shine? Monkey – anyone need further elaboration.
We ordered two appetizers to begin:
«Nachos Nimbus» and «Monkey Burn.»
(menu:
)
The menu brags a delicious description of the «house-​made cheese blend» that sits atop the «house-​made tortilla chips» of the Nimbus Nachos. My question, should a member of the Nimbus staff wander across this critique, is: At who’s frigg’n house was this food made?
I found a comparable «cheese blend» in that handy machine at the corner store. You know the one; you pulled the lever a couple dozen times at 3am – underage but smashed out of your mind and sick with the munchies. It is a sauce, a cheese sauce, and whether you open the large bags that hold it all together in the back of a restaurant or the back of a Volkswagen, it doesn’t belong in a bistro.
Can I get a «Circle K,» anybody.
Also, there is avocado, there is salsa, but there was not a drop of the «avocado salsa» mentioned on the menu anywhere on the dish. There was corn in my salsa, no avocado, and while there may have been chicken on the nachos as ordered – Gustavo and I debated whether the thin slivers of white spread with thrifty sense throughout were meat or, as I posited, «just our imaginations”– it certainly wasn’t enough chicken to merit it as a choice we needed to make while ordering.
Now, both my man and I have an appreciation for spicy foods. The eating of them is traditional in his culture and has always been a favorite indulgence of mine. But «Monkey Burn»…
Have you ever had the capsicum annum variety Black Pearl straight from a botanist’s garden? I have, a good friend of mine grows a few of the hearty plants. The small pepper, which does indeed resemble a tiny black pearl at its start, packs a wallop that will leave your eyes watering and your mouth begging for a piece of bread.
It rates much higher in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), coming in at 30,000, than the Jalapeño at 2,000−5,000 (google a diagram.)
After eating «Monkey Burn» I’m convinced the chefs at Nimbus have learned how to use a chili shaped cake pan to mold, bread and fry police-​grade pepper spray.
Suffice it to say, we took those to go. After I d’breaded them at home, they were so raw that I stored and used them sparingly in some homemade salsa.
The coup de grâce:
It could have been a saving grace, but the bacon mac & cheese pizza was so dry, so plain that… it’s no longer on the menu.
Maybe it was just a special, maybe too many people complained – thank Dog. It was a sauce-​less pizza, topped with too much undercooked macaroni, and then sprinkled with grated cheese and bacon. Where is that magical cheese sauce when you need it?
Seems like a great idea– requires a little more effort.
What you see is about all I fed the food baby and because hard macaroni and soggy crust hardly make for a good addition to salsa, it was a complete loss. We didn’t take it home, we didn’t get any sweets, we just left it, tipped our stuck-​up server and went on our merry way.
Will I ever try it again? Not unless its the only place in town to get the peppers I need for salsa. Do I now avoid buying Nimbus’ beers because of the experience? I haven’t had a single one since and, I’ll admit it, they were pretty good.
–Fairy Food Father
(Most importantly – can I ever feel about the majestic monkey the way I did before it so aggressively surrounded and burned me.?)

I got a groupon for Nimbus bistro and ended up trying it out for an early lunch this past weekend. We didn’t realize the entrance was almost in the back of the building and awkwardly walked into some sort of e-​cigarette lounge that is attached to the restaurant. We also tried to sit outside on the patio before realizing that there really weren’t tables out there. Seems like it would be more for later at night when I assume it turns more into a bar atmosphere.
On to the food… I was pretty impressed by the hot pretzel with a delicious cheese sauce and a hot mustard seed sauce. I recall the price being $ 6 which I thought was a bit much but I just checked their website menu and most of the prices there are lower than we actually paid, so they might have recently had a price increase. The pretzel is listed as $ 3.50 on their website. We both ended up ordering salads for lunch. As with the pretzel, the salads were both more expensive than their website has listed. Lunch size portions would have been nice because although I really liked the chicken and pear salad about half way through I was pretty tired of eating it and was full anyways. I also thought the beer was good and they didn’t mind bringing me out a sample of the Blonde before I ordered it. They do have other breweries’ beers on tap as well but they were out of the one my fiancé wanted and they instead recommended their own Pale Ale. Mine tasted a bit metallic to me but it might have been a fluke. I still drank it. We didn’t have any issues with our waiter (he was very nice although had just gotten there and wasn’t very familiar with what they had on tap that day or their specials) or our food but I noticed a table next to us seemed to experience a long delay before getting their food (sandwiches, pasta, pizza). Apparently ordering salads is the way to go. ours came out just as we were eating the last bite and trying to figure out if it was a bit much to drink the rest of the cheese sauce. Luckily our salads came with rolls so we were able to dunk those in the cheese sauce and not resort to such barbaric measures.
I can’t say I would go out of my way just to eat here again but I wouldn’t mind checking out their happy hour — prices seem good and I did really like the pretzel. I just wish I would have snagged the receipt because I am curious about the price discrepancies I mentioned above. I don’t think it’s good business to post incorrect prices on your website… its very misleading to customers.

When you realize that the good time you had at a place was because of the good company and good conversation IN SPITE of the the service, you know that’s not a place you want to hurry back to.
I met there with friends for dinner and drinks. After the rude welcome and a waitress that seemed like she’d rather be anywhere else but working, we decided to just stick with appetizers and forego dinner altogether.
Yes, it was happy hour and yes, it was busy, but that wasn’t an excuse for bad service. On the contrary, that’s when you want to shine to be sure that your first-​time patrons become regulars. Although I could clearly see that they aren’t hurting for customers, they could have gained a few more. I know that since then, I’ve told a few people to not go there.
The food and drinks were just «eh». Nothing out of this world to make me want to endure mediocre service for the sake of having that food again.
I never went back. I don’t regret it.

Not much to say here, wasn’t wow’d by this choice. Pretty basic food. Perhaps it was what I ordered, not sure. I had the chicken quesadilla per one of the prior post that ranted about the cilantro crema. It was alright, but can’t say that I would race to go back here.

Trying it out for the first time, with co workers. when we walk in the décor was very out dated and gloomy. not a place that would want to make you eat. i ordered a drink and it wasn’t what i ordered but at no time did she try to recify the mistake. so for my main entrée i ordered a porterhouse that was supposed to be 16oz, no way, it looked like a 12oz. i requested med –well it was still moving! so i brought it to the waitress attention, she was as apologetic, so i just opted for a bacon cheesburger. i should have ordered that from the get… also the drinks took forever to come, i don’t know why? the place was pretty empty. they also brought the salads out with the main course. timing was so off it wasnt even funny! this place really didn’t do it for me… sorry…

The actual brewery has better food and better atmosphere.
Love that more than the bistro. Not too much to complain about though. I had been warned about the food and difference prior to coming here, so nothing new.
I definitely can’t complain when i get my nimbus beer though.

My friends and I all went up to Mount Lemmon and came back to Tucson STARVING. Our party of 9 was seated promptly. We had a really great server (Daniel I think it was?) and he made sure we all very well taken care of! The Monkey Burn was good, there was a app that I got that once everyone saw it, most people at my table went back to re-​order it. I went to look it up on the Nimbus website and their menu is not the same as the one actually at their restaurant! Update it guys! Maybe this is the menu change you Unilocalers were talking about. But it was tater tots, meat, cheese, and just good! I don’t drink beer but there was quite the selection and my friends enjoyed what they had. I enjoyed their house white wine!
I also got their quesadilla. It was very good, but let me talk about this cilantro crema that comes with it… TO DIE FOR. I could have taken a bath in it! I just wanna dip everything in it from now on.
The Western burger (?I think that was what it was called… I am so forgetful!) was great too! Now for dessert… I was not planning on getting any because I was so full, but there was a cookie dough dessert that just got me! I ordered and the waiter came back to inform me that someone broke a glass in the vat of cookie dough. He brought me out the dessert free of charge sans cookie dough. Note the dessert really needed the cookie dough, but I was touched my his gesture!
All and all if I am ever on that side of town, I am going back. I saw posted in the bathroom that you get a free pizza if you drink happy hour at the bar. I will def wanna be trying that!

We go here all the time, especially on Tuesday nights — my kids love Magical Mr. B, to the point that he came to our house for our son’s 5^th birthday party, and they always want to go to Nimbus after soccer practice.
Beer recommendation: ask for the Chocolate Monkey = old monkeyshine + white chocolate ale. Yum.
They also just introduced a new menu and have jumped on the gluten-​free bandwagon. I eat GF by choice (except for the beer…) and was pleasantly surprised by the change. They dropped the bologna sandwich, which was a surprise, but more for the novelty than the nutritional value.
Anyway take the kids on Tuesdays and enjoy the magic!

Let me start by saying that the food at Nimbus Bistro has, in the past, just not really blown me away. I do, however, give them credit for mixing things up. They change the menu often when something does not seem to be working. They have specials at lunch, a decent happy hour and are always trying to lure customers in with promotions.
Their latest promotion was, to me, further evidence that they are truly trying to make customers happy. They are offering a pizza and salad buffet from 11:00 — 1:00 for $ 7.99. It’s an inventive option and shows an effort on the part of Nimbus management to give customers some decent, affordable options for lunch.
It’s of superior quality to, say, Pizza Hut. Did I really just compare Nimbus to Pizza Hut? Actually, the pizza was good enough that I found myself asking, «Why don’t they just take this direction with Nimbus?» We have limited pizza and beer places around here. They have had a large, varied menu in the past. Why not stick to one thing and do it well?

Been to Nimbus several times for different occasions and I just love that they let you use their private rooms for free and don’t mandate a certain $ limit be reached to avoid a room fee.
We’ve done casual board meetings in the Poker Room and just the other night I hosted a little happy hour for my home business product in the Brew Room. The staff is attentive enough to get you what you want to eat/​drink but let you carry on without bothering your guests too much.
We just had a few appetizers and drinks but I really like the atmosphere and service at Nimbus.

I always «grade» a place based on an apples to apples comparison to what I think are comparable restaurants (same style, price range, types of foods, etc). I’m sure it looks weird sometimes when I give a greasy lunch place 5 stars, and then a fancy dinner place only 3. But when I have an awesome sandwich for $ 7 versus an average dinner meal for $ 15, I’m going to give the sandwich place higher marks – sure it may not be as fancy as the dinner place or have the nice atmosphere, but compared to other greasy lunch places it kicks ass.
That said, Nimbus is one of those places I need to do an apples to apples comparison. It’s in the group of Gentle Ben’s, Old Chicago, The Frog and Firkin, etc. Beer and typical pub fare, TVs required, quiet conversation is not.
Nimbus got off to a rough start for me. When it opened I was thrilled, having spent many a lunch at the actual brewery itself over in the industrial park on the south side of town. The factory is rough, clearly the little tiny kitchen is just a extra-​money add-​on… food is all fried, the place really smells of yeast, and its HOT. But, it was convenient to where I used to work, so I used to pop over now and again.
But I always liked the beer. And their shirts.
So a Nimbus restaurant sounded like a great idea. Much like Thunder Canyon Brewery in the Foothills mall, it combines great local microbrew and casual fare.
The last two times I’ve been I’ve had their pulled pork BBQ sandwich with fries. The first time I thought the meat was tasty (good but not great in the world of BBQ pulled pork), but it had clearly been sitting on the bun for a while when it was brought out to me, for it had gone all soggy. YUCK. To me there is nothing worse than soggy bread. If I had written the review after that meal, it would have been 3 maybe even 2 stars. Also at that time, the staff being pretty green, they seemed to have trouble managing a busy night. Orders were delayed, confusion ensued.
Since then, things seem to be getting more settled. We had drinks on their patio recently for a friend’s birthday… it’s nice there are two different patios to choose from, if you don’t want the Tanque Verde traffic in your ear you can go to the parking lot side one (that includes a TV). I even noticed a small private side room that seemed to be hosting a ladies shower of some sort (my kind of baby shower, in a bar!)… something to keep in mind if you need to have a meeting!
The next time I ordered my sandwich, I asked for the bun on the side. This time tho it had no BBQ sauce added! However there were options on the table and I could still add some sauce.
They make a great quesadilla, randomly enough! My 1 year old LOVES them gobbles down the one they have on the kids menu.
Service has always been friendly, if not attentive on the more busy nights. It’s a friendly, neighborhood kind of place to watch the game and grab a reasonably good meal. It would be a 5 star place if the food was a little bit better, or the prices were a little cheaper, compared to the other «apples» around.
Support our local micro-​breweries!

«We love cooking with beer. We sometimes put it in our food.»
Casual, fun décor and a nice, relaxing place to meet with friends for food and beer.
My veggie burger was just so-​so: It was overwhelmed by the egg bun. I’ve eaten much better veggie burgers in town. They should toss the huge egg and wheat buns and come up with a smaller, robust bun. The onions were bitter and my fries were not super hot and were nothing special.
My partner liked her jalapeño veggie burger. She got the Tumbleweed onions and while they were pretty good, they were served lukewarm. Not a good thing. She enjoyed a bottle of Old Monkey Shine and loved it… noting it was a bit more potent than other beers. But she said this most happily.
Our server was great and the food arrived quickly. The place was pretty full and this was around 1:30 pm.
We will go again but will try some of the other dishes.