Coming Soon: Union Public House
The old Acacia spot at St. Philip’s Plaza (4340 N. Campbell Ave.) will soon be home to a new restaurant called Union Public House. We got a sneak peak at the menu from co-owner Grant Krueger, and Tucson is in for some delicious American fare when the place opens in October. There will be 30 beers on tap, handcrafted cocktails and enough televisions to make the place a game-day destination. The entire building has been gutted, and the new interior is being designed by the same company that handled Hub Restaurant and Creamery. The patio area is also being revamped with more seating and an outdoor fireplace.
Your Shave-Ice Update
When the guy at the new Shoobie’s Shave Ice, 3701 W. Ina Road, asks if you want vanilla cream added for an extra 50 cents, just nod. The creaminess turns the super-sweet goodness of Hawaiian shave ice into a mouth-watering creamsicle that’s a soothing antidote to the summer heat. For the inexperienced, a shave ice is made with snow as fine as fresh powder, which holds the flavor way better than an average snow cone. Shoobie’s serves more than 20 flavors, and Blue Bell Ice Cream, too; 744-1088.
If you find yourself in Sahuarita, cool down at DaKine Hawaiian Shave Ice. The little food trailer is in the parking lot of North Santa Cruz Park, on Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard. It’s run by the super-nice Wintch family, and serves a dozen flavors of shave ice; dakinehawaiianshaveice.com.
Penzeys Spices
My favorite thing about Penzeys Spices at 4128 N. Oracle Road is how they put certain spices in little pots to allow for a full olfactory assessment. Be careful, though: A big whiff of the more-potent varieties will bring tears to your eyes. The store stocks an amazing selection of spices from around the globe, and the prices are reasonable. The company also operates a mail-order business, although you’ll find what’s in the catalog is well-represented; www.penzeys.com.
Closed: Rhino Pub
The Rhino Pub at 1118 E. Sixth St. has closed. The building was home to Victory Bar, Belushe’s and Gooch’s Grill before returning as Rhino Pub—the name it operated under as far back as the 1980s—last fall. The building has been repainted, and we hear another sports bar might open there.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.
Just discovered Penzeys spices this weekend. Woot.
Does Congress Street extend east as far as 1118? That’s around Mountain Avenue.
Oops! The Rhino Pub was at 1118 E. Sixth St. Thanks for pointing that out; we’ll get it fixed.
I’m looking forward to a trip to the Penzeys store- their vindaloo blend turns ordinary chicken/potatoes/onion into something really special. I’ve been ordering spices from them for years.
We have had to buy our Penzey’s spices when making the trek to Scottsdale. It is so wonderful that they are in Tucson.
Penzey’s is a god-send. They have the most complete collection of spices anyone could think of, good quality and better prices. For the neophytes out there, when I started to buy Penzeys spices, I thought the blends were a way to increase margin on a commodity product. Was I wrong. the blends are the best thing in the store, the Arizona Blend is the absolute best SW spice you will ever use.
Couldn’t agree more, Scarpia B. I did some serious binge shopping there right after it opened and it’s all been great, even the “Sandwich Sprinkle,” which is not something I would typically buy. Man, I was skeptical, too, but was sooooo wrong.