Mojo Cuban Kitchen & Rum Bar, shown here in an architectural rendering, is scheduled to open in early August at 1929 E. Grant Road.

 FORSarchitecture+interiors / HMG West

Tucson is about to get a full-fledged Cuban restaurant, serving up traditional dishes from the classic Cuban sandwiches to plates including the shredded beef and tomato ropa vieja and arroz con pollo — yellow rice with chicken and peas.

Mojo Cuban Kitchen & Rum Bar at 1929 E. Grant Road also will serve Cuban coffee and traditional desserts including guava pastelito stuffed pastries and stuffed churros when it opens in early August.

Mojo Cuban — pronounced mo-hoe after the classic Cuban marinade — is the brainchild of Cuban food fans Alison and Nick Schaffer, who spent nearly 18 years operating Jimmy John’s sandwich shops in Tucson; Phoenix; Orange County, California; and their native Chicago.

An expansive renovation is underway to prepare for the opening of Mojo Cuban Kitchen & Rum Bar, seen here in an architectural rendering.

Nick Schaffer said the couple moved to Tucson from Chicago in 2006 to take over the city’s only Jimmy John’s store, located near the University of Arizona.

“We flew into Tucson and fell in love with it,” Schaffer said.

Last year, the couple sold their nine Jimmy John’s restaurants in Tucson and turned their attention to their Cuban food passion.

They bought the 3,000-square-foot building on the corner of Grant and North Campbell Avenue that had been vacant since its last tenant, the Caribbean restaurant Viva El Caribe Restaurant & Lounge, closed several years ago.

The Schaffers began an expansive renovation of the building that included a new roof, upgraded electric and gas and new heating and air conditioning units.

The new Moho Cuban Kitchen & Rum Bar will be able to seat 100 inside. There's also an outdoor patio and walk-up window for takeout and third-party delivery pickups.

The restaurant can seat 100 inside and there’s an outdoor patio and walk-up window for takeout and third-party delivery pickups.

Schaffer said Mojo Cuban Kitchen will fill a void in Tucson’s culinary landscape, which includes a number of restaurants that serve Cuban dishes but none solely devoted to the cuisine.

“We’re excited to do something creative,” he said. “We love Cuban food and Tucson was ripe for that opportunity here. It’s going to be a more modern, premium-casual environment.”

Janet Balderas, former executive chef at Tanque Verde Ranch, will helm Mojo’s kitchen with Cuban native Patricia Espinosa as her sous chef. Espinosa has been a fixture at Tucson Meet Yourself for years, hosting demonstrations in Cuban food.

Schaffer said the menu is a work in progress. He and his team drew some inspiration from a taste-testing trip last month to Miami and some of the country’s best and most authentic Cuban restaurants.

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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch