Pretend You're in Portland
The city has come up with a yet-to-be-much-publicized idea to get people downtown. You can now hop on the Redline shuttle and be delivered to 24 stops near 100 retail businesses, 67 restaurants, 12 clubs, 11 galleries and museums, seven theaters and more. Pick up the shuttle on Fourth Avenue between University Boulevard and Eighth Street, or park at the green Pennington Street/Scott Avenue parking lot (by Café Poca Cosa) and walk to the nearby Ronstadt Transit Center to be shuttled around downtown. Free shuttles run every 30 minutes. The service is due to the Fourth Avenue underpass construction. View the map and specifics at the City Web site .
New: Silver Lining Café
Every cloud has a silver lining, and according to Silver Lining Café owner Pamela Shane, she's enjoying a silver lining in her life. Only open for the past six weeks, the café has a clientele including a lot of regulars already. You can eat healthy or smothered home-cooked breakfasts. I sat at the counter and watched her make biscuits from scratch at 2545 E. Broadway Blvd.; 326-5665; call for hours.
Coming Soon
Chick-fil-A Inc., the nation's second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain, will soon open two stand-alone restaurants in former Krispy Kreme stores, at 4585 N. Oracle Road and 3605 E. Broadway Blvd. The stores are projected to open in November and will generate approximately 65 new jobs at each location. Chick-fil-A has been in the Tucson Mall since 1996.