Meet Kim Scanlan | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Scanlan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, what do you attribute your success to?
I think the most important factor is caring about our food quality; about our service; about our team; about ensuring we have a welcoming environment to everyone; we want our guests to feel satisfied w/ their meals & service & are honored when they return & bring new people. We respect our staff for showing up. We care about what our guests say as well as our team.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My fiance Gerard and I both grew up in the Midwest. Our parents were hard working and did not have much in terms of money. But our siblings and both of us have their strong work ethic. I was actually a social worker for about 20 years and then met Gerard who had worked in the food industry since his teens. He started as a dishwasher and went right to work in a kitchen after high school. After dating a couple years, we decided to try opening a restaurant business of our own. When we found a little place hidden in a long strip mall behind several other large businesses, our broker reviewed our “financials” and chuckled. We did not have much in terms of money. But we both work really hard and have some talent when it comes to creating different meals. We wanted to have a place where everyone feels welcome; where when you walk in the door the host greets you and isn’t on their phone. Where you walk away thinking “I have never tasted anything like that!” and then tell your friends and family to come. We wanted a place where you can feel you get good value for your meal as we appreciate the people work hard and have so much going on in this crazy world of ours…that you have a warm place to get away from it for just a bit even. It was so hard those early days as no one knew who we were….

Until people like Don contacted the AZ Daily Star. He would come in first thing every morning and have his coffee and talk to Gerard. He had been in marketing during his career and he believed in us and what we were doing. The paper did an article on us. Soon after, Tucson Foodie & Tucson Weekly gave us a shout out… both platforms who support and believe in local business. We were fortunate to have hired staff who stood by us for some reason barely making a dime but believing in our food & mission & passion. We didn’t make a dime for the first two 1/2 years, but we had something really special and a growing community learning about us & spreading the word. We are so grateful to our community and to our team.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d definitely be eating breakfast at Baja Cafe! We may also check out breakfast at Nook, The Cup Cafe, & Buendia Breakfast & Lunch. And Blue Willow. We’d definitely go hiking in Sabino Canyon & in the Catalina Mountains.
We’d get a donut & various whiskies at Batch downtown. Hear music & sit outside at Hotel Congress. Maybe hit a concert at the Rialto one evening and the Fox Theater.
We’d definitely watch as many beautiful Tucson sunrises & sunsets as possible. We’d hang out w/ friends at LaCo taking in the beautiful outside patio & lights.
In the evening we’d check out yummy local brew at Button Brew House. For fun we’d hit Gentle Ben’s a U of A mainstay! Maybe get lucky and get to cheer on our men or women’s basketball teams! We enjoy Truland’s craft cocktail’s, truffle fries & burgers w/ Tap & Bottle nearby.
Shopping at La Encantada especially a local artist gallery there SAACA & 4th Ave shops & restaurants.
If there was time left we’d want to drive up Mt Lemmon and head to the Desert Museum on the other side of town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We want to dedicate our Shout Out to our Tucson community who is passionate about supporting small local businesses across our diverse community.

Website: Bajacafetucson.com

Instagram: @bajacafetucson

Twitter: @BajaCafeTucson

Facebook: Baja Cafe