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Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
You seem to mention every place downtown but ELLIOTT's on Congress...
There's a lot of 'trendy' new places downtown and a few stale old haunts. I'm not sure if this over-saturation of restaurants is the answer or a 'boom'. There seems to be a great deal of ambition and money thrown around...that's for sure! Too much too soon might end up with a lot of empty tables and lost possibility due to under planning and lack of direction or talent. Some of these new places have some real character. Others are just opening doors to get in on a perceived trend. With all the flashy new places driving up prices and creating long lines for so much of the same mediocrity, there's something to be said for vibe and not flash or names. Elliott's has established itself (through a great deal of downtown setbacks) as a place that seems to have always been there like an old friend despite being open a year. The scene there is very inviting and relaxed with great food and music during the week. The Congress Restaurant Renaissance has some things going on West of 6th ave too...
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
Weil. Yawn. Kingsolver. Yaaaaaawnnnn. Nabhan? Potential. Sounds sort of like a Better Homes and Gardens for the local food movement at this point. I smell stagnation and boredom and yuppie horseshit. Will there be coupons for signature Weil facial cream?
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
C'mon, Doug. We generally don't let anyone use our comment section for advertising their commercial product. Your connection to the paper (which I appreciate) is no exception. I hope the best for EBA, but you could always buy an ad, no?
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
Hey! I had a post about Edible Baja Arizona and it was deleted. That's rather petty, Dan! I have a suggestion: How about a feature story about our new magazine (an inherently good idea, not to mention the fact that your very job is the result of the efforts of yours truly)? That would be great! Barbara Kingsolver writes us a sweet valentine and Andy Weil talks about the value of local foods, Gary Paul Nabhan on our region as an exemplar for agriculture in a world impacted by climate change, et alia. Thanks!!
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
Casa Vicente has been serving amazing Spanish cuisine since 2005 and has been packing people in for tapas, wine and flamenco ever since.
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
So great to see downtown Tucson blossoming! My friends and I enjoy going downtown to all the new restaurants and watering holes. I am disappointed you didn't mention Elliott's On Congress!! It is one of my favorite places. They have great vodka infused drinks and a good menu. You missed a few others in your words of praise, too. Perhaps you can fill people in on some of the other great places to patronize downtown.
Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
I won't wait more than 20 minutes at ANY eating establishment in Tucson. We have enough restaurants, tables and seats to go accommodate the eating public.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
No, thank you. You also made a good point, some local places are absolutely pathetic. Re-heat factory for Kirkland brands, at best.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
A couple of notes from the writer
One, Toby Keith really doesn't own the place. He lends his name for some fee but this is not his place.
Two, Dan said: Ninety- nine percent of the places we review are local. But often when we review the local mom and pop places, people give us grief for it. People love to bitch.
Three, I love local places but to make such a general description is a bit misleading. Many rely on pre made ingredients, many have no concept of fresh and any number of them don't really care. I ate at a local joint just the other day that claims to use quality stuff and have passion but what we had didn't come close to good. We had to go to another restaurant after because the food was so bad.
Four, Chains generally suck from top to bottom, but that's why Toby Keith's was so surprising. I liked the food! So sue me.
Finally, thank you BurnieMack for all the love.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
How can we chill? The Tucson Summer is among us!
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Well, you two will love next week's review then, although I think the cover story might make up for it.
However, with the run of new local places opening up, I don't think we'll likely have a chain place reviewed for the run of 2013. It's not that I don't get the complaint, just that a) I don't really need to be told what a "serious alt-weekly" does or doesn't do and b) we deserve credit for our body of work. YOU GET THIS STUFF FOR FREE. CHILL OUT SOME PEOPLE.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Wow swordfish laid the smack down with that comment, Bravo!
I LOVE Rita, and yet I agree with the criticism that she received for reviewing this yokel shit show.
And Dan, I also enjoy your writings, but Coit is right, there is no need for this crap EVER. Not even 2 weeks out of the year.
Re: “Popular for a Reason”
I've never understood all the hype. Decent place, but not worth the wait.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Colt: I sort of understand what you're saying, but when we run content about local restaurants nearly every day and feature locally owned places 50 out of 52 weeks of the year in our reviews, I think you're making a lot of something out of nothing. Just because you don't care about TK's (and for the record, neither do I particularly) doesn't mean that none of our readers do.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
I spent over a dozen years working in restaurants: mostly local places, and a small handful of chains. When viewed from the inside, the differences are astounding.
Scenario A: The food on your plate has been manufactured by food scientists. It has been formulated for maximum appeal (using fat, sugar, salt), and maximum profit (using cheap product, mass production, and tight portion controls). Most likely, a factory or warehouse has processed most of the elements on your plate. Much of it has arrived frozen and will be heated by a microwave. A few finishing touches may be added to make the plate appear fresh-cooked or from-scratch, but really, you are eating a glorified TV dinner.
Scenario B: The food on your plate is fresh, from-scratch, and cooked to order. The walk-in has a whole wall of fresh produce, and another with primal cuts of raw meat. The dressings are house-made, heck, the mayo is house-made. The owner, the managers, the head chefs invest 60, 70, 80 hours a week or more into their "baby". Heated discussions are had over the best vendors to use, the right spice for that vinaigrette, the best seasonal options for the new menu. Cooks and servers have their opinions, too, they lend to the discussion, as this restaurant is a growing, evolving, living place. Yes, profit is a goal here, but at the best of these places, it is only part of the goal -- alongside with the creation of a beautiful space and delicious food.
In other words, friends don't let friends promote chain restaurants.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Toby Keith will never have to worry packing seats on a Wednesday night. They can take a few bad months, and stay open. What about local joints that struggle to pay the bills, or give employees hours? Seems to me it's clear who is more deserving of an "alternative weekly's" time and space.
I appreciate that the Tucson Weekly is "writing more about the awesome things...as anyone", but that shouldn't mean that the publication should shrug and say "good enough". If anything, this community needs a stronger voice that advocates for local flavor. And the Tucson Weekly is in the position to be that strong voice; this review shows that this opportunity is squandered.
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Coit: We try to review every new sit-down place that opens, not because we're playing favorites, but because people sometimes eat at chain restaurants. They might want to know if it's any good.
You might not want to give us the credit, but we're out there writing more about the awesome things happening as anyone, so I think it's fair to cover one of the chain joints (especially when they only have one location in town ... a little different than Applebees).
Re: “Chain of a Different Hue”
Out of all the awesome things people in this town are doing with food, you write about what amounts to a Applebees? Thank goodness you are supporting a multi-state restaurant chain. With a million dollar ad budget. If this was a serious alt weekly, you would not have wasted ink on this blow job.
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Re: “Tucson's Restaurant Renaissance”
Adam, are you back in town?