In Depth · September 30, 2026

Fourth Avenue Chef Maria Mazon: 'Let's Literally Get Together and Just Fix It'

Chef Maria Mazon asked on Instagram what's keeping people away from Fourth Avenue. She told us parking and safety are her biggest worries. We took her concerns to the city: the mayor's office, Council Member Miranda Schubert's office and city staff all say they are reaching out to her, and the city says about 61 of the avenue's 137 parking meters can't currently take coins.

On Sept. 23, Maria Mazon, the chef and owner of BOCA Tacos y Tequila at 533 N. Fourth Ave., posted a video to Instagram with a question for her followers: "What's keeping you away from Fourth Avenue?"

"Lately, I've been seeing Fourth Avenue kind of like going downhill, and I hate that word, but that's the reality," she said. "Is it the parking? Is it the meters?"

The video drew more than 300 comments. On Friday she posted again, tagging the City of Tucson and Mayor Regina Romero, and said no one from the city had responded. So we took her concerns to the city, and we called her.

What she told us

Mazon, who has appeared on national TV cooking shows including Guy Fieri's "Flavortown Food Fight," told Tucson Daily Brief her sales on a weekend night have fallen by about half. She has about 25 employees.

She knows the economy is part of it. "I get it. The economy, I get the gas prices," she said. But parking was what she kept coming back to. Meters on the avenue used to go free at 5 p.m. and now run until 7, she said, Saturdays are now metered, and many meters don't work.

"People are already making the sacrifice to go out and save money and, you know, treat themselves or their family," she said. "And now they have to worry about parking."

She doesn't let her employees walk to their cars alone. Asked whether something specific prompted that, she said: "It's protection." The restaurant hasn't had any vandalism, she said, and she understands the police department is short-staffed.

Asked what she would change, she listed a parking structure in place of the meters, private security for the avenue so it doesn't draw on police, and cameras, "but definitely free parking." Most of all, she wants a conversation. "Let's not point fingers," she said. "Let's literally get together and just fix it."

What the city said

We sent her two concerns, broken meters and staff safety after hours, to the mayor's office, the Ward 6 office that represents Fourth Avenue, the city's public information officer and the Tucson Police Department.

The mayor's office answered Monday night. "The Mayor and our office have seen the videos posted by Chef Maria Mazon," wrote Charlene Mendoza, the mayor's chief of staff. "We are reaching out to Chef Mazon and have asked city staff and Park Tucson to do so as well."

In a statement, Romero said, "I understand how hard it is for our small businesses, on Fourth Avenue, and in other parts of our City, especially after the summer." She said her office has been meeting with the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association and held a listening session with a handful of avenue businesses this summer, "including about parking."

Schubert's Ward 6 office said it is "reaching out to Ms. Mazon and Park Tucson regarding the specific concerns she raised."

"We are asking Park Tucson to verify the condition of the meters on Fourth Avenue," the office said. "If equipment is malfunctioning, that is an operational problem that should be addressed promptly."

Asked whether businesses on the avenue should expect to hire their own security, the office said: "No." It called the report about employees walking to their cars "concerning."

The city manager's office said city staff will contact Mazon this week to discuss her concerns. Asked about safety on the avenue, spokesperson Andy Squire pointed to the mayor's Safe City Initiative, whose action plan he said the council will soon adopt.

The Tucson Police Department said its downtown district is covered by three patrol squads, about 15 officers in all, and that since 2024 it has rotated in officers from elsewhere in the city to save money. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the department said, downtown typically has about 20 officers and five sergeants on foot, bike and standard patrols.

Asked about private security, Officer James Horton of the department's public information office said, "We want businesses to make decisions that they feel are best for them." The department recommends that businesses that hire security get involved with the Downtown Tucson Partnership, which has started holding trainings with the department for business owners and security staff.

The city gave a similar answer. It "encourages business owners to make whatever decisions they feel are best for their business and their customers," Squire said, and suggests they ask TPD for a safety assessment and work with the city's Small Business Center on a safety plan.

TPD said its numbers on calls to the avenue require a public records request, which we filed Monday.

What's going on with the meters

City records back up what Mazon said about the hours.

Until this summer, meters in the Fourth Avenue district ran 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The rest of downtown moved to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, in 2025, and the avenue followed on July 1, KOLD reported. The council also voted in May to raise the hourly rate from $1 to $1.50, starting July 1.

Broken meters are a known problem. There are 137 meters on the avenue between Ninth Street and University Boulevard, and about 61 of them currently can't take coins, Squire said. Drivers can still pay at those meters with the city's mobile app or by text. Park Tucson tracks broken meters until they're repaired, he said, and makes repairs across the city every day.

We're also surveying every business on the avenue, from Ninth Street to University Boulevard, about how business has been. If you run one, you can take the survey here. Individual answers stay confidential.

Reported and written by Nicholas De Leon, with research and drafting assistance from Claude Opus 5.5; published at 4:11 PM MST on September 30, 2026. Read more about how this is made.