Tombstone restaurants are scattered through town. Most are on Allen Street in the historic district, a few are a little farther out along Allen, and others sit a block off it on Fremont or Toughnut. Whether you want lunch between gunfight shows, a steak dinner, or breakfast before you head out for the day, there is somewhere in walking distance.
Since living and having a business in Tombstone, we have eaten at most of the restaurants here. We have our opinions and our recommendations, and we know how our local friends feel about the various places. Here is what we and they say. Menus and hours change, so for anything time-sensitive see our current Tombstone events guide or ask at the door.
Lunch and dinner: the local list
Most Tombstone restaurants serve lunch and dinner from the same menu. We have listed each one once, with notes on how it does at either meal.
Crystal Palace Saloon
Allen Street, northwest corner of Fifth. The Crystal Palace serves the typical burgers, fish and chips, sandwiches and a kids’ menu, plus pizza and daily specials. They make cute little milkshakes for kids. The wait staff is very good, though when the place gets busy it may take a few minutes before anyone greets you. If regular patron Bob is at his corner seat at the bar, he may well help you out voluntarily, and give you a little history detail while he is at it.
We have eaten here often enough that it is our regular place to meet friends. It is not our favorite restaurant, but it is pretty good for lunch. The dinner menu is shorter than the lunch menu. We like gathering in a building with this much history; our Crystal Palace guide has more about the saloon today.
Johnny Ringo’s Saloon and the Depot Steakhouse
Both are at the corner of East Allen and 10th Street, under the same owner, a little off the main beat of town. Drive east on Allen to 10th and turn left; there is plenty of parking. Johnny Ringo’s is our place for pizza night with friends, and many locals say it is the best pizza in town. They have been saying so for years.
The Depot Steakhouse is, in our opinion, the best restaurant in town. The steaks are fabulous. We have never had a bad meal here, and often a great one. Their Mexican food is the best in Tombstone too, especially the chile relleno, the taco salad and the combo plates. Platters, salads, burgers and seafood round out the menu. Locals know it as the place for dinner.
The O.K. Cafe
220 E. Allen Street, at the corner of Third. The O.K. Cafe is first a breakfast place (see below), but it serves lunch too, with the usual burgers, steaks and soups and a daily special worth asking about. They cook with better ingredients than most, such as olive and canola oil and natural spices, with no MSG. They also carry Tombstone sarsaparilla.
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon
417 E. Allen Street. A fun, touristy place to eat, with plenty to draw you in. You can take a Western-style photo to bring home, dressed in their cowboy hats and wild rags, and even get “hung”. The movie Tombstone plays on the TVs while you eat, and there is often live entertainment. The food is not bad; I love their salads. The menu is varied and usually pretty good, and we have eaten here often enough. The saloon stays open late.
Their history is skewed, though. There never was a saloon called Big Nose Kate’s, and we have our doubts about “the Swamper”. The building was the Grand Hotel, which burned in the May 1882 fire. Only the front arches and the bar from the basement saloon survived.
The Longhorn
501 E. Allen Street, the southeast corner of Fifth, right in the center of town. The Longhorn serves every meal of the day. The wait staff usually mentions the specials; ask if they do not. The food can be hit and miss. We have had dinner here often enough, and it is sometimes quite good, sometimes not very, and usually in between. We would not call it an excellent Tombstone restaurant, and our friends mostly agree, though some rate it a little higher than we do. Prices are average, service is good, and they serve alcohol. You will see locals in there for dinner fairly consistently.
Puny John’s BBQ
11 S. Fourth Street, between Fremont and Allen. Something a little different, and it is good. We have eaten here quite a few times and can recommend it, and locals eat here regularly. Ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork, with six kinds of barbecue sauce, served as plates or sandwiches with sides, soft drinks, beer and wine. Take a look at the specials board.
Mario’s Bakery Cafe
On the south side of Allen Street between Fifth and Sixth, easy to find. Check the board for hot sandwiches, paninis and pizza, all with an Italian slant, and the bakery case for the day’s pastries. There is indoor seating and some outside on the patio next door.
Vogan’s Alley Bistro
Allen Street, just west of Fifth. Vogan’s has a lot of history behind it. A saloon and bowling alley stood here in 1881, and the prisoner Johnny Behind the Deuce was held here while a lynch mob gathered outside. Today’s bistro has a bar and serves lunch and breakfast. Friends who have eaten here give mixed reviews: service up and down, food pretty good but not great value. There is often live music in the afternoon.
Tombstone Mercantile Ice Cream Shop
Allen Street near Sixth. A cool little place that takes you back to the drug-store soda fountains of the 1950s. Besides ice cream, which is all we have had and which was very good, they have a simple menu of hot dogs, soup, sandwiches and soft drinks at reasonable prices. Sit at the vintage bar, brought here from a 1913 building in Warren, the company town that is now part of Bisbee.
Grandma Fudpuckers
525 E. Allen Street. Ice cream and fudge for your sweet tooth, plus an assortment of lunch items that also work as an early, light dinner. It tends to stay open a little later than most places in town. We have only had their sweets, so we cannot say how the food is.
Ethan’s Coffee Corner
Inside the Tombstone Antique Mall at 720 E. Fremont Street. A sweet treat and a caffeine pick-me-up at lunchtime; see the breakfast section below for more.
Doc Holliday’s Saloon
Not particularly suitable for kids, and not a Tombstone restaurant in the traditional sense. It is mainly a bar with some simple food: hot dogs, pizza, starters and snacks. It opens early and closes late, so it is the stop when everything else is closed.
Breakfast in Tombstone
The O.K. Cafe
Northwest corner of Allen and Third Streets. This is the principal Tombstone breakfast restaurant, where many locals meet in the morning. Reasonable prices for good food, and much better than just OK. Nice touch: extra napkins right on the table. The breakfast menu has a varied selection. If we go out for breakfast, we often come here, as do our friends, who are there almost every early morning. Not us; I am too grumpy that early. They stay open into the afternoon for lunch.
The Longhorn
Southeast corner of Fifth and Allen, in the middle of town. All the typical breakfast items a Tombstone restaurant should have, and most visitors end up here. Generally good, but it can be quirky. We have had breakfast here when family came to town. Our son likes it, but Bill’s pancakes seemed to disintegrate on the fork.
Vogan’s Alley Bistro
Allen Street just west of Fifth. A limited breakfast menu of bacon and eggs, pancakes, French toast, coffee and juice. One reviewer we know said it was fine.
Ethan’s Coffee Corner
Inside the Tombstone Antique Mall at 720 E. Fremont Street. For a late breakfast wake-up this is the place: wonderful pastries, fresh baked bread and all kinds of coffees and teas, plus hot chocolate and mochas. We have stopped in here and loved it.
Coffee Plus
On Fourth Street just down from Allen, next to the U Scream ice cream shop. A small coffee shop with pastries. We have not tried it ourselves, and we have heard the service can be less than hospitable.
Stampede Breakfast Restaurant
18 Toughnut Street, just west of Sumner, behind the Stampede RV Park. A very small, breakfast-only place. We heard it was pretty good and went in on that recommendation, but it was packed, so we ate elsewhere. The trouble with a place this small is getting a seat.
Snacks and treats
These are not quite Tombstone restaurants, but they may be just what you need.
U Scream 4 Ice Cream
On the east side of Fourth Street, just around the corner from Allen. On warm summer days there is a line out the door. Many flavors, plus Italian ice, snacks and soft drinks. We have had their ice cream a time or two and can highly recommend it.
Convenience stores
For coffee, coffee cake or doughnuts on the run, the local convenience stores will do. Our Tombstone town guide shows where they are.
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