Rancho de Tia Rosa :: Where Mexican Cuisine Becomes a Work of Art

The Origins of Rancho de Tia Rosa

Dennis' grandmother, Rosa Elder, was born in Colonel Juarez, Mexico, in the early 1900's. She was one of 24 children from two mothers and one father who fled to Mexico when polygamy was outlawed in the United States. When Rosa was around 8 years old, she remembers Poncho Villa riding into Colonel Juarez during the Mexican Revolution and saying "Leave Mexico or Die!" With no place to go, the family migrated to Tucson to escape the wrath of Poncho Villa, where she remained during childhood and the early years of her marriage.

When Dennis was a child, his family would travel from Mesa to Tucson once a year to attend a family reunion consisting of his Grandmother brothers and sisters and all of their children. With Grandmother Rosa being one of the 24 original brothers and sisters, there was well over 120 nieces and nephews at these reunions, so all Dennis ever heard was Aunt Rosa, Aunt Rosa, Aunt Rosa, and never Grandmother Rosa.

Hearing his Grandmother called Aunt Rosa most of his life, Dennis decided to honor his Grandmother by using "Tia Rosa" as part of the restaurant name, which means Aunt Rosa in Spanish.

The "Rancho de" part of the name, which means "The Farm of" or "The Ranch of" in Spanish, comes from Dennis having gardens and greenhouses behind the restaurant where he grows 75% of the produce used in the restaurant organically. So the name "Rancho de Tia Rosa" literally means the Ranch, or Farm of Aunt Rosa in Spanish. Oh, and by the way, Dennis' grandmother still comes into the restaurant almost everyday to eat at 92 years old.


		The Origins of Rancho de Tia Rosa Dennis' grandmother, Rosa Elder, was born in Colonel Juarez, Mexico, in the early 1900's. She was one of 24 children from two mothers and one father who fled to Mexico when polygamy was outlawed in the United States. When Rosa was around 8 years old, she remembers Poncho Villa riding into Colonel Juarez during the Mexican Revolution and saying "Leave Mexico or Die!" With no place to go, the family migrated to Tucson to escape the wrath of Poncho Villa, where she remained during childhood and the early years of her marriage. When Dennis was a child, his family would travel from Mesa to Tucson once a year to attend a family reunion consisting of his Grandmother brothers and sisters and all of their children. With Grandmother Rosa being one of the 24 original brothers and sisters, there was well over 120 nieces and nephews at these reunions, so all Dennis ever heard was Aunt Rosa, Aunt Rosa, Aunt Rosa, and never Grandmother Rosa. Hearing his Grandmother called Aunt Rosa most of his life, Dennis decided to honor his Grandmother by using "Tia Rosa" as part of the restaurant name, which means Aunt Rosa in Spanish. The "Rancho de" part of the name, which means "The Farm of" or "The Ranch of" in Spanish, comes from Dennis having gardens and greenhouses behind the restaurant where he grows 75% of the produce used in the restaurant organically. So the name "Rancho de Tia Rosa" literally means the Ranch, or Farm of Aunt Rosa in Spanish. Oh, and by the way, Dennis' grandmother still comes into the restaurant almost everyday to eat at 92 years old.