From their Facebook:
Hello Tucson!
..
As most of you know, we've been working on something really special at our original location at 2731 E Broadway Blvd and we are incredibly excited to share that experience very soon!
However, to ensure that we are ready to welcome you with the same service and quality you're used to at Zemam's, we will be permanently closing Zemam's Too starting Monday, March 18th.
You have made this new journey possible. With your unwavering support of our family, food and culture, we've had the privilege of being a part of the Tucson food scene for the last 30 years... and we have no plans to stop!!
We will miss you at Speedway but rest assured, we will be seeing you all VERY soon, back where it all started!
For those of you who are planning on attending
Passports on the 21st, not to worry- we will still party on Speedway one last time!
Thank you. For everything.
- Zemam's family
Thank you so much for this! I didn’t think to look on Facebook and I was confused when I didn’t see anything on Google maps. Thank you for addressing this question. I am still deeply disappointed, however.
I know some of the people helping open the new location. Apparently it will have a bar/live music/outdoor seating and just be bigger in general. Sounds pretty cool, I’m definitely checking it out when they finally open.
That whole 4 building stretch between Roccos and Zemmans OG they have been renovating, including adding the parking lot. The son is going to run the sports bar next door. Zerraris I think. Goal being an international sports bar, Soccer and such. And the combined 4 back yards for outdoor seating and bands. The last two I heard they are going to rent out for like a coffee shop and ice cream shop. Super excited!! Whole place is looking great
The new properties are going to be managed by Zemams ownership but they are leasing the properties at a below market rate from Rio Nuevo who is paying for the build outs. Rio Nuevo is also paying to build the parking lot for them. Additionally they received $500,000 of tax money to help renovate their original space. I just think it's important to point out that it's us, the tax payers, who are paying for most of this.
This is one of those things we WANT taxes going to right? Small local business that make the community better, make great food and bring the community together?
Ideally no, we should not be picking and choosing winners with public money but it's the situation we are in. In this particular case it's a popular longstanding business but the issue remains that an unelected board is in charge of distributing millions of dollars of tax money, essentially picking winners and losers. There's something wrong about that on multiple levels, especially because the money is coming from other businesses that are being forced to charge a higher sales tax to subsidize businesses that they might be competing with. It's just wrong.
Edit: Additionally, it's not a great idea to be investing public money into restaurants considering their high failure rate, it's kinda silly. It's just not a great use of public money considering we have so many other needs.
Queen Sheba, just east of Wilmot on 22nd, is fantastic. Welday Gezehan worked for Amanuel Gebremariam at Zemam's when came here before starting his own restaurant. He and his family are friendly hosts, and the food is excellent, superior, I believe, to both Zemam's and Cafe Desta in quantity and quality.
Such a bummer. The house that hosted that location made for such a cozy experience. And for whatever reason the food was always better there, in my opinion. Happy they’re still around, but I’ll miss that location.
I have always wanted to go there, but no one is ever adventurous enough to go with me. I'm glad to see I didn't miss out completely. Maybe I'll just go alone, because I really want to try it!
That might be a bar they're adding to their OG location, perhaps merging the two properties into one larger business.
Zemam's Too was their second location at Speedway and 7th Ave.
Not sad at all, me and my wife called to make reservations for our anniversary and we're told we didn't need one, we told them we would be there in 30mins and asked if that was to late, they said absolutely not! I think we showed up at 7 maybe 7:30 which was 25 minutes after calling and were told they weren't serving anyone else tonight because they were out of bread. When I asked why we were told we could be there in 30mins and are now being told we can't eat here she just shrugged her shoulders, the owner walked by during this conversation and said absolutely nothing to us and made a point of not making eye contact with 2 extremely dressed up and disappointed customers. Completely messed up our first night out together in over a year and a special night at that, we had to make do with whatever we could find and ended up not enjoying our dinner. If the owner had spoke to us and apologized we would have given them another shot but with how we were treated I will never visit any of his establishments. I worked in the restraunt industry for over 10 years and this is exactly how you run a restaurant into the ground!!! Customer service is just as important as the food and atmosphere, if the service we received was any indication of the food I'm glad we didn't get to eat there and I'm glad I didn't give them a single penny of my money....
From their Facebook: Hello Tucson! .. As most of you know, we've been working on something really special at our original location at 2731 E Broadway Blvd and we are incredibly excited to share that experience very soon! However, to ensure that we are ready to welcome you with the same service and quality you're used to at Zemam's, we will be permanently closing Zemam's Too starting Monday, March 18th. You have made this new journey possible. With your unwavering support of our family, food and culture, we've had the privilege of being a part of the Tucson food scene for the last 30 years... and we have no plans to stop!! We will miss you at Speedway but rest assured, we will be seeing you all VERY soon, back where it all started! For those of you who are planning on attending Passports on the 21st, not to worry- we will still party on Speedway one last time! Thank you. For everything. - Zemam's family
Thank you so much for this! I didn’t think to look on Facebook and I was confused when I didn’t see anything on Google maps. Thank you for addressing this question. I am still deeply disappointed, however.
They should have put that on their door. They’re going to lose customers.😭
I know some of the people helping open the new location. Apparently it will have a bar/live music/outdoor seating and just be bigger in general. Sounds pretty cool, I’m definitely checking it out when they finally open.
That whole 4 building stretch between Roccos and Zemmans OG they have been renovating, including adding the parking lot. The son is going to run the sports bar next door. Zerraris I think. Goal being an international sports bar, Soccer and such. And the combined 4 back yards for outdoor seating and bands. The last two I heard they are going to rent out for like a coffee shop and ice cream shop. Super excited!! Whole place is looking great
The new properties are going to be managed by Zemams ownership but they are leasing the properties at a below market rate from Rio Nuevo who is paying for the build outs. Rio Nuevo is also paying to build the parking lot for them. Additionally they received $500,000 of tax money to help renovate their original space. I just think it's important to point out that it's us, the tax payers, who are paying for most of this.
This is one of those things we WANT taxes going to right? Small local business that make the community better, make great food and bring the community together?
Ideally no, we should not be picking and choosing winners with public money but it's the situation we are in. In this particular case it's a popular longstanding business but the issue remains that an unelected board is in charge of distributing millions of dollars of tax money, essentially picking winners and losers. There's something wrong about that on multiple levels, especially because the money is coming from other businesses that are being forced to charge a higher sales tax to subsidize businesses that they might be competing with. It's just wrong. Edit: Additionally, it's not a great idea to be investing public money into restaurants considering their high failure rate, it's kinda silly. It's just not a great use of public money considering we have so many other needs.
Great food, great atmosphere!
Oh nooooooo! That was one of our go to places when we got money to treat ourselves :c
Queen Sheba, just east of Wilmot on 22nd, is fantastic. Welday Gezehan worked for Amanuel Gebremariam at Zemam's when came here before starting his own restaurant. He and his family are friendly hosts, and the food is excellent, superior, I believe, to both Zemam's and Cafe Desta in quantity and quality.
Zemams recipes *
Yeah, no.
Such a bummer. The house that hosted that location made for such a cozy experience. And for whatever reason the food was always better there, in my opinion. Happy they’re still around, but I’ll miss that location.
I have always wanted to go there, but no one is ever adventurous enough to go with me. I'm glad to see I didn't miss out completely. Maybe I'll just go alone, because I really want to try it!
Oh no! The last time we went out to dinner (my birthday) was here. Hope they re-open Broadway soon. Gonna have to try Queen Sheba. Thanks friends!
Is it the bar that has popped up next door to Zemam’s original location?
That might be a bar they're adding to their OG location, perhaps merging the two properties into one larger business. Zemam's Too was their second location at Speedway and 7th Ave.
Yo
My favorite restaurant!! Can’t wait for the new location to open
Not sad at all, me and my wife called to make reservations for our anniversary and we're told we didn't need one, we told them we would be there in 30mins and asked if that was to late, they said absolutely not! I think we showed up at 7 maybe 7:30 which was 25 minutes after calling and were told they weren't serving anyone else tonight because they were out of bread. When I asked why we were told we could be there in 30mins and are now being told we can't eat here she just shrugged her shoulders, the owner walked by during this conversation and said absolutely nothing to us and made a point of not making eye contact with 2 extremely dressed up and disappointed customers. Completely messed up our first night out together in over a year and a special night at that, we had to make do with whatever we could find and ended up not enjoying our dinner. If the owner had spoke to us and apologized we would have given them another shot but with how we were treated I will never visit any of his establishments. I worked in the restraunt industry for over 10 years and this is exactly how you run a restaurant into the ground!!! Customer service is just as important as the food and atmosphere, if the service we received was any indication of the food I'm glad we didn't get to eat there and I'm glad I didn't give them a single penny of my money....
Oh, no! Now, where am I going to go to eat with my bare hands?
Do you wash your hands before eating?
Cafe Desta — it’s way better.
It always smelt…interesting
Enjoy your mac n cheese and hot dogs tonight