In the Game

If for no other reason, you should like Gooch’s Grill because of
this statement on Gooch’s MySpace page: “Tucson Weekly is the
only reading material we allow in Gooch’s Bar!!”

Thankfully, there are also plenty of other reasons to like this
Sixth Street sports bar, in the spot formerly known as Belushe’s. There
are numerous plasma TV screens (10 in the main bar room, with a couple
of others in smaller rooms) to shout at when your team’s quarterback
makes an ill-advised pass; the outside patio is a lovely place to hang
out and catch live music; the drinks are affordable; and the food is
good enough.

Garrett and I wandered in for a weeknight dinner and seated
ourselves. Gooch’s has something of a Hooters vibe, in part because the
female servers wear tight black tank tops with “Gooch’s Grill” on the
front and “G Spot” on the back.

The menu offers pretty much what you’d expect a bar menu to offer:
nachos, wings, salads, fries, sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and fish
and chips; there’s even a small kids’ menu. We ordered the nachos with
ground beef ($7.95) to split, while Garrett decided to try the true
bleu burger (with, as the menu describes, “bleu cheese, bleu cheese and
… bleu cheese,” $7.95). I opted for the Gooch’s Italian sausage
sandwich (with Italian sausage, sweet or hot peppers, onions and
provolone cheese, $6.95).

Our food was delayed—our server apologized and cited a shift
change as the reason—but once the nachos arrived, we were
impressed. The menu notes that Gooch’s makes their own tortilla chips,
and they were wonderful. Those chips were covered with jack, cheddar,
nacho cheese, green onions and not ground beef, but little cubes
of steak. Although we had to ask our server for the missing salsa and
sour cream, the nachos were a treat.

I enjoyed my Italian sausage sandwich. Although it was just a touch
dry, the cheese, the sausage and the (slightly) hot peppers, which I
chose instead of the sweet peppers, worked together nicely.
Unfortunately, Garrett was not impressed by his burger, largely because
it was overcooked. Our server didn’t ask how he wanted his burger
prepared, and it came somewhere between medium-well and well-done,
which is not how burgers should be cooked, in our opinion. Partially
because of the overcooking, the burger was dry, which Garrett tried to
fix by slathering it in ketchup.

All sandwiches and burgers come with fries, chips or tots. I got the
fries and liked them; they’re medium-thick with a coating. Garrett
talked the server into giving him onion rings, which were quite large;
the ring I stole from him tasted just fine.

I returned a couple of days later with Adam the Art Director and his
better half, Laura, for a game-day lunch. (Fun fact: I made the mistake
of wearing a Stanford T-shirt, and a group of amped-up UA students at
an adjacent table gave me a bit of hell.) We split the grilled chicken
quesadilla ($7.95) to start. Laura picked “The Frenchy” sandwich
(basically a French dip, $7.95) while Adam ordered the Philly with
sliced steak (other options include chicken and turkey, $7.95). I
decided to give the burgers another shot and selected Ketch’s favorite
(with green chile, pepperjack cheese and a “Southwest sauce,”
$7.95).

Our server—who was competent, if, well, I’ll use the word
spacey—brought Adam and Laura’s Bud Lights ($3 each) and the
quesadilla in a timely fashion. The four quesadilla portions were
scarfed down quickly, because they were delicious; the chunks of
chicken were just the right size, and the quesadilla was grilled to
perfection. Unfortunately, it was missing the promised green
chiles.

Our sandwiches, like on visit no. 1, offered both ups and downs.
Ups: My burger this time was cooked to a perfect medium (I made a point
of telling the server I wanted it that way) and was tasty, even if the
“Southwest sauce” was almost unnoticeable; Adam liked his Philly,
largely because the mushrooms, peppers and onions added a mild kick to
the sandwich. Downs: The Philly could have used more provolone cheese;
and Laura’s French dip was rather bland, thanks to ho-hum meat and au
jus. I was also bummed because I ordered tots with my sandwich, and got
fries instead; I took a tot from Adam and found it to be rather
enjoyable.

All in all, Gooch’s Grill is a fun place with bar food that’s a hint
above average. (They also deliver that food to those located south of
Grant Road, north of Broadway Boulevard, east of Euclid Avenue and west
of Tucson Boulevard.) It’s a fine place to watch a game—and an
excellent place to do a bit of reading.

This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.