CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — A big burst of fire was seen in the kitchen at Inca’s Peruvian Cuisine as the chef made their lomo saltado.
“We create dishes from scratch. We imported products from Peru,” their owner Fatima Campos said.
It’s those imported ingredients from Peru that the restaurant is using in their Sonoran Restaurant Week menu. They’re featuring their causa with shrimp or chicken, ají de gallina, tallarín, and their chorrillana, which is a fish dish.
It’s their fourth year participating and every year they said this week brings in more customers.
“People from all over, not only Tucson, but also Phoenix come down,” Elena Campos, Fatima’s daughter said.
The restaurant has experienced a slow summer in terms of the amount of customers they get, which isn’t unusual, but it still makes an impact. The summer, they said, can affect their sales by bringing them down at least forty percent.
“Having this boom is really really good for us, and it’s good for all the other restaurants that are a part of the Sonoran Restaurant week,” Luis Campos, Fatima’s son, said.
Also in the Foothills, it’s El Corral’s first year being a part of Sonoran Restaurant Week.
“What we found was that this is such a good thing for the restaurant community in Tucson that we wanted to be a part of it,” Casey Wills, the president of Agro Land & Cattle Co. said.
The company runs El Corral where they’re featuring a four course dinner with a duo of appetizers, salad, choice of two entrees, and a dessert.
“We tried to pick up flavors from the Sonoran Desert when we did it, so the duo of appetizers is corn fritters and rib tips,” Wills described.
This summer has also been tough for them, Wills said, from graduation season until now. This particular week, he said, is traditionally one of the slowest of the year.
However, he said being a part of Sonoran Restaurant Week for the first year has changed that and has already brought twenty percent more customers in the first few days.
“It’s just sort of the general awareness kind of got people thinking restaurants and maybe let’s go out to eat,” he said.
Sonoran Restaurant Week runs until Sunday and he’s hoping that same momentum will stay, not just this year, but in future years.
“The entire Sonoran Restaurant Week can maybe get to be bigger and bigger every year,” Wills said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
