Risky Business

When I walked in, I was surprised at how crowded this place was on a Thursday evening. By the time I left, the reason was obvious: good food in a very casual setting, with friendly service. We started with the artichoke dip, and I ordered the jambalaya — both were excellent! I also tried one of the ribs that my nephew ordered, and it was pretty tasty as well.

This place is perfectly fine and nothing exceptional, but sports bar options on the northeast side are limited so we will likely be back. I would recommend the machaca benedict as a brunch entrée, although 12 bucks is a bit steep for these parts. They have a pretty extensive beer selection, although price points are also north of what you’d expect in Tucson. The atmosphere is odd – I couldnt tell if they were going for upscale or dive – and they need to splurge for HD receivers on all of the TVs for football. All in all, its a solid B.

Walked in at 5:15 on a Friday for a quick bite. This wasn’t our first visit, we eat at Risky’s often and knew we could be seated immediately. The restaurant wasn’t busy and several booths were open. But much to our dismay they are now reserving booths for phone in reservations. Guess if you want a booth you better call ahead… yes, you read that correctly, please make a reservation at Risky’s.

Really enjoyed the food here, even if the ambiance was a little off. Our food came out on time and correct was ordered. Actually the whole reason I came here was for loaded potato skins, which I couldn’t find in town anywhere. Here they were more like wedges, but they were so delicious anyway. Also good salads! But not really a ‘healthy’ establishment. ;)

Risky is the type of place I feel comfortable traipsing in dirty and hot from a long mountain hike, and best of all they are kind enough to let dogs hang out just outside the patio. Even famished from our grueling hike, neither of us could finish our expansive salads. The oriental doesn’t pack any surprises, but the perfectly-​grilled, thick-​sliced chicken breast drizzled with a rich peanut dressing hit the spot. My partner’s sirloin salad was a daunting mountain of grilled beef over motley greens, and while both of us arrived ready to gnaw on the table legs, we had to ask for boxes. The drinks are potent, and my friendly canine pal was the recipient of many a kind head pat as he waited patiently for a stray morsel. The service is friendly and Risky is the kind of neighborhood bar where the patrons are greeted by name and the staff feels like family.

I think this place is pretty awesome. The service has always been quick and the nachos and potato skins are always perfect. When I’ve ordered ahead the food was always cooked just the way I liked and with lots of flavor! Great job Risky Business!

Risky! I stop in here every couple of months, usually for lunch, so I’m not sure why I haven’t reviewed them yet. It’s the sort of place that’s reliable and fast, although I’ve never been there during a busy meal.
This week, I was in the mood for a salad and hadn’t had any luck recently at my favorite salad spot, so I thought I’d see how Risky does. My dad has mentioned their salads to me a few times. I chose the Cobb salad, as it sounded like the best option on the salad menu.
I prefer when the kitchen tosses in the dressing, but I’ve had bad luck with over-​dressed salads lately, so I was actually a little relieved when they brought me the salad with two cups of dressing on the side. And doubly-​relieved when I only used 1 of those dressing cups and spent part of my salad worried that I had over-​dressed it myself.
The Cobb salad was gorgeous, with cascades of bacon, blue cheese, chicken, egg, and tomatoes over leaves of fresh lettuce, with a miniature loaf of warm fresh bread on the side. The blue cheese was a little too strong for me, although I ate a fair amount of it. I certainly didn’t regret my order.
My sole complaint with Risky Business is that while the food is good, it feels a little more like a chain restaurant — more in the same vein as Chili’s — than anything else. The food is good, but nothing stands out. But I think it merits the occasional visit from anyone eating lunch on the far-​East side.

Good kid friendly atmosphere. Typical bar food. Very consistent. A lot of TVs… Good for watching sports. The Cookie Monster is a good incentive for clean kids plates.

This place has a serious problem with their audio visuals. I appreciate they are trying to be a sports bar but their TV is so loud you can’t even talk to the person next to you! When the commercials come on prepare to be blasted out of your seat! After four requests for them to turn down the volume we gave up and boxed our food to go. Food is great by the way… the environment and service needs to be better managed however.

We’ve been eating here off and on for some time and have always found the food fresh and the menu eclectic. We’re only disappointed once with an entrée and it was immediately redone without issue. The manager on duty then visited the table to make sure that everything was satisfactory. Great lunch and dinners for the family and adult late night drinks w/​a friendly crowd. A good choice for East Side dining.

Good Happy Hour is until 7:00. Not a lot of places to eat on the Eastside of town. Had a cheese quesadilla on the happy hour menu. It was very large with nice sides. Shared a chicken chopped salad. It was fresh and came tossed with ranch, had just enough. The bread stick was stale. Service was good. There where not many people there. It was on a Monday around 5:30. We will go back.

Great food and great service! I have been coming to this location for a few years now. I used to live closer to the Craycroft location, which is now closed, but I refused to go there because they always messed up my food. From forgetting the cheese on a cheeseburger to serving raw breadsticks. I had enough with that location and gave this one a try instead. Needless to say, I haven’t had those issues at this location. Their chicken taco salad is huge and delicious, ask for extra salsa because it goes great with the salad. Their lasagna is great, they put a spice in it that I can’t quite pin but it makes it unique. Their grilled cheese, spinach artichoke dip, and pot stickers are also a must try. My boyfriend has tried their swordfish (I believe it was a special, I don’t think it’s on the menu) and he was very happy with it.

I wish this location was as good as the swan location. The last few times I was in the food is just average. Steak salad was tough and bland with chewy fat. The wings were dry and overcooked or freezer burnt ! I don’t know which!
Go here to drink and watch a game.
Order some wings first, if they can’t get those right, skip the main course.

Tuesday is the day to go!!! I had the coconut shrimp & Hawaiian rice… sooo good!
Good beer, too! Went back again on Sunday (today) had the same because — it was wonderful on Tuesday! Well, they must have a different chef on Sunday because what I had DID NOT compare to the deliciousness of Tuesday’s meal. The ‘Happy Hour’ discount on drinks tempted me to get a martini (Bombay Sapphire): I told the waitress — a gin martini, Bombay, with olives. When I got my drink, it was made with Sauza gin or another brand…, it’s sweeter than Sapphire, & I know the difference. So when the waitress came back, I ask if she heard me say Sapphire…(she may not have), she questioned my question & then said «I put in Bombay Sapphire — I’ll show you.» & she went off to get a piece of paper that had the order on it. OK, that means nothing to me… I just wanted to know if she heard me. What the bartender did — only he knows… but it wasn’t Bombay Sapphire!

I recently visited this location for the first time with a small group (5) of friends on a Sunday afternoon. The staff was friendly and greeted us immediately at the door. We were seated at a table in the bar area, which appeared to be where most customers were, which was fine with us.
The service was good, our drinks were refilled promptly and food came out quickly. I was a little disappointed to not have any nutritional information provided online for their menu items as that is something I look for to aide in my meal choice. I opted for the chicken caprese salad, which come out looking beautiful, but less salad-​like than I had envisioned. Upon posting a photo of my meal on instagram/​Facebook, I had a friend question which location I was at because her caprese salad always looks very different from the one I received.
The meals my friends received were beautiful and delicious as well.
The staff kindly allowed us to sit and chat for quite awhile and there were no issues with separate checks.

This was the first time my family and I had ever been here, and it will likely be our last. We had no idea the restaurant was incapable of managing crowds. Whomever the general manager is should be fired. Seriously. After sitting at our table for 15 minutes without any type of service we were told the kitchen was severely backed up. So, we said we would put in our appetizer and dinner order at the same time. Nope. The server said she WASN’T ALLOWED to put in any entrée orders until the kitchen caught up. So, instead of telling people at the door there would be a wait, the continued to seat people without giving the kitchen a chance to catch up. After an hour of waiting for our food, I asked that our food juat be boxed up to go.
AT NO POINT DID A MANAGER COME OUT TO APOLOGIZE TO GUESTS. Who is this person? Regardless, they need to take some lessons in restaurant management and leadership instead of putting their poor, short-​staffed wait staff out on the floor to apologize for them. That’s what a lot of people would call cowardice. I just call it pathetic.
On the plus side, the food is actually pretty good. It’s just a shame the rest of the restaurant experience is atrocious.
Bottom line: Do yourself a favor and swing by the McDonald’s up the street instead.

Went to watch the U of A ASU game. The place was busy. We saw about 5 empty tables from the window. We went in and the guy seating people said we were welcome to come in but there would be no service. They obviously could not handle the crowd. We ended up going down the street to a place equally busy. We got our drinks and food in about 5 minutes. Risky executed about as well as U of A did.

This is the place to go with friends for some basic American/​Italian grub on a Friday night. Fun bar area with plenty of televisions and a huge liquor selection, great pizza options, exciting décor, and quick/​friendly service. The food is a bit on the heavy side, but there are lighter options if you look for them. I typically will drink several of their lemonades simply because it’s one of the last places on Earth that serve a great FRESH lemonade that isn’t MinuteMaid.

This place is more about drinking and fun with friends than it is about food. Great for watching the big game… not so much for date night :)

Stopped by Risky’s after working out yesterday, so I was more than ready for a beer and some grub!
I ordered the tomato soup, which was delicious, and the veggie tacos, which I love. The food did take a long time to get to us, which was strange because they weren’t that busy.
Ah well, it was time to chat and catch up with my friend. If you’re looking for menu with a ton of variety and cold beer, this is the place.