In Tucson’s expansive culinary scene, Nick’s Sari-Sari Store is more than just a Filipino restaurant: It’s a community cornerstone and the realization of one family’s decades-long journey.

The only brick-and-mortar Filipino restaurant in the city, Nick’s Sari-Sari satisfies cravings for lumpia and adobo while also offering a taste of home for thousands of Filipinos living in southern Arizona.

Founded by Nick and Helen Subong in 2014, the restaurant began as a small grocery store.

Like many immigrant stories, the Subong’s journey spans continents and decades.

Helen Subong, a traveling nurse, was born in the Visayan region of the Philippines in Iloilo. She met Nick, her husband and the restaurant’s namesake, in the Philippines.

“We started off in the Philippines, then moved to England for work, and after five years there we finally moved to America in 2005,” Helen Subong told Tucson Spotlight. “It was challenging moving so far, but I worked in hospitals, which helped me adapt more quickly to the culture.”

Helen continued her nursing career in Tucson, while Nick, inspired by a growing Filipino population in nearby Willcox and Sierra Vista, opened a small grocery to sell Filipino goods not readily available elsewhere in the region.

“People would travel from out of town just to shop,” Subong said. “They started asking us why there wasn’t a place to eat Filipino food, too.”

That encouragement led to the evolution of the store into a full-fledged restaurant in 2017, when the couple purchased an eastside building that included a kitchen.

But the transition wasn’t simple. For more than 40 years, the building had been home to the Driftwood Pub and Restaurant.

“We had to do a full renovation,” Helen Subong said. “It used to be a nightclub, so we removed everything — the old walk-in freezer, the furniture — and rebuilt it from the ground up.”

What emerged was a humble but efficient restaurant where the scent of simmering vinegar and garlic from pork adobo welcomes visitors upon entering, and where loyal customers come for freshly fried lumpia and ube treats.

Helen Subong says the most popular items are Filipino classics.

“The eggrolls, or lumpia, are big with both Filipino and American customers. We do pork, beef or veggie versions,” she said. “People also love our chicken and pork adobo with the rice noodles, and our sour tamarind soup, sinigang, is one of my favorites.”

The restaurant also features a rotating menu of stews, grilled meats and sweet Filipino desserts like halo-halo and leche flan. Everything is cooked in-house, with recipes pulled straight from the Subong family’s heritage.

But behind the delicious food lies a deeper mission: cultural preservation.

Nick’s used to have company in the Filipino dining scene, but since the 2023 closure of Park Place’s Fiesta Filipina, it’s now the only brick-and-mortar option in town.

With only a handful of pop-up options, Nick’s Sari-Sari has become a hub for the Filipino American community. Families come from all over southern Arizona not just to eat, but to shop for ingredients and connect with the community.

Helen Subong said they’re deeply committed to preserving the representation of Filipino culture in Tucson.

“There were other Filipino restaurants before us, but they didn’t last,” she said. “We knew we had to have persistence.”

That persistence was put to the test in more ways than one. For years, the Subongs drove to California to source ingredients that were impossible to find in Tucson, before Nick found a trucking company.

“We used to make those trips during school breaks when our kids were little,” Helen Subong said.

That struggle has grown more complicated in recent months due to potential rising tariffs on imported goods. Supply chains have been hit hard by policy changes and inflation, which has caused an increase in food costs, especially for specialty products sourced from Asia.

Nick’s Sari-Sari is feeling the squeeze.

“It’s not just us, it’s everyone,” Helen Subong said. “We’re trying to keep our prices fair, but we have to kind of balance everything to keep the business going right without losing customers.”

Despite these challenges, the Subongs remain committed.

“It’s been hard, but it's a matter of perseverance and persistence,” she said.

As Tucson continues to grow and diversify, Nick’s Sari-Sari Store stands as a shining example of how small, family-run businesses can make a big impact—not just with delicious food, but with deep roots and cultural pride.

Nick’s Sari-Sari is located at 2001 South Craycroft Road. It's open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed on Sundays. Find more information on their website.

Griffen Engelberg is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact him at at gje1@arizona.edu.

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