Teaspoon restaurant celebrates one year at its Foothills location near River and Craycroft

For residents who live, work or dine in the Catalina Foothills, Teaspoon is marking a year of serving brunch and other scratch made dishes at its location near River Road and Craycroft Road. The anniversary gives Tucson another reason to look at how local restaurants are adapting to different neighborhoods while maintaining the food and service identities that helped them build a following. For Teaspoon owner Teresa Cheung, the Foothills restaurant represents an expansion of a business that began on Oracle Road and an effort to contribute to Tucson’s reputation as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

Cheung and her sister opened the original Teaspoon in 2017 along Oracle Road. That restaurant established the business around modern takes on familiar favorites, including sandwiches, steaks and brunch. When the opportunity came to open a second location in the Foothills, the owners decided not simply to duplicate the first restaurant. Instead, they developed a concept with brunch at its center, creating a menu intended for the new location and the customers it would serve.

The Foothills restaurant has now completed its first year, bringing Teaspoon’s approach to a part of Tucson with a distinct dining audience. Cheung has said that serving the second location has required understanding and responding to a clientele different from the one at the Oracle Road restaurant. That adjustment is part of the broader challenge of expanding a locally rooted business. A restaurant can grow its reach, but it also has to preserve what customers expect while making the new location feel appropriate to its neighborhood.

At the heart of Teaspoon’s identity is its commitment to preparing food from scratch as much as possible. Cheung has continued to avoid prepackaged products, even as the restaurant deals with higher ingredient and operating costs. For her, that choice is tied to the integrity of the business and to the story Teaspoon wants to tell through its food. The approach also connects the restaurant to Tucson’s broader food culture, where local identity and preparation methods are important parts of the city’s dining reputation.

Tucson’s designation as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy carries particular meaning for Cheung. The designation recognizes the city’s food community, and Teaspoon’s menu is intended to participate in that larger culinary identity. Cheung considers it an honor to be included among Tucson businesses contributing to that community. Her focus is not only on operating two restaurants, but also on continuing to offer dishes inspired by the city’s UNESCO designation for years to come.

Cheung’s path into the food business also reflects a personal connection to Tucson. She moved to the city from New York many years ago and attended the University of Arizona, where she studied journalism before changing careers and entering the restaurant industry. That history gives her experience as both a Tucson transplant and a business owner who has developed roots in the city. Teaspoon’s growth, from its first restaurant on Oracle Road to its Foothills location, has followed that longer relationship with the community.

The first year at the Foothills site has not been without pressure. Along with the challenge of serving a different customer base, Cheung has had to contend with rising costs for ingredients and other operating expenses. Those pressures are familiar to restaurants, but they can be especially significant for a business that insists on preparing food rather than relying on prepackaged products. Even with those difficulties, Cheung has kept the scratch made approach as a central part of Teaspoon’s operation.

Community support has helped the restaurant reach the anniversary. Cheung has expressed appreciation for Tucson diners who have supported both locations and embraced Teaspoon’s expansion. She is also urging residents to continue making a point of supporting local businesses, saying that doing so can make a significant difference. For the Foothills location, that support has allowed the restaurant to complete its first year while continuing to refine its brunch focused concept.

Teaspoon’s anniversary therefore marks more than the passage of 12 months at a new address. It shows a Tucson restaurant trying to grow while holding onto its original standards, including its modern menu, scratch preparation and connection to the city’s food identity. The restaurant’s next chapter will depend on balancing the needs of its two locations, managing increasing costs and maintaining the community relationships that helped it get this far. For diners near River and Craycroft, the milestone is an invitation to keep supporting a local business that sees its future as part of Tucson’s larger culinary story.