Sweet Home Chicago
The owners of the Luke’s Italian Beef at 101 E. Fort Lowell Road are changing the name of the place to Cubbie’s to emphasize their Chicago roots, and separate themselves from the other Luke’s in town. The plan is to continue with traditional Chicago food, including the much celebrated Vienna hot dog.
Willcox Wine
The Willcox Wine Country Festival is happening from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend, May 17 and 18. The action takes place at Railroad Park in downtown Willcox. The cost is $15 for six wine tasting, a commemorative glass and live entertainment. Additional tasting tickets may be purchased. For more info: willcoxwines.com or facebook.com/willcoxwinecountry.
Party Like a Caveman
The Centurions are presenting “The Great Neanderthal Bash—A Stone Age Rampage” at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 17. Dress up in your best Fred Flintstone garb and head to Rillito Park Race Track, 4502 N. First Ave. The event includes live music, a charity casino, a raffle, food from Brushfire BBQ and plenty of libations. Proceeds from the event help support the Carondelet Health Network.
Like a Big Pizza Pie
Tucson Originals is holding a Pizza Throwdown from 5 to 8 p.m., Sunday, June 8, at Rocco’s Little Chicago, 2707 E. Broadway Blvd. Restaurants such as Magpie’s, Vero Amore, Rocco’s and Mama Louisa’s will bring their best pies for you to sample. Come and vote for your favorite. There will also be plenty of local brews to wash down all that lovely pizza. Tickets are $20, with discounts available. For more info or to buy tickets, visit tucsonoriginals.com.
Closed or Nah?
It’s been a weird week for a couple of local restaurants. The Abbey, 6960 E. Sunrise Drive, was closed via an lien by a contractor on May 8, much to the surprise of patrons and employees. Brian Metzger, Abbey owner, said the closure was due to a “bookkeeping and accounting error” and assured everyone that it would be worked out and the restaurant reopened ASAP. Sure enough, The Abbey was open again the next day. Meanwhile, the Weekly reported that downtown’s V Fine Thai Dining (aka V Modern Thai) was set to close on May 11, which seemed to light a fire under the owners’ curry bowls. As of this writing, V appears to be open, although the landlords still apparently seek to lock the doors. For more detailed accounts of what’s going on with the restaurant, visit The Range at tucsonweekly.com.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2014.
V thai is closed. I walked by today and they were moving out everything. Can’t say I’m sad.
The pizza throw down for the tucson originals will have Rocco’s, Monsoon’s Tap and Grill, Vero Amore, and Magpies. As well as desserts from Pastiche and Dante’s Fire. Liabations from only local brews..
I never lived in any city that had more restaurants closing/failing than Tucson.
Really quite sad. On the other hand, since moving here 11 years ago, I have been generally
unimpressed with the overall restaurant experience here.
Food Guy: I thought they would be by the time this came to print, but I called on Monday, incognito, and they were still stating they were open and accepting reservations.
Sam: I went back and reviewed my hand written notes, and sure enough it said Monsoons (in very poor penmanship) and I somehow transformed that to Mama L’s when typing. I guess I am still getting used to the newbs in the T.O. camp! – Thanks for the correction.
scheppta: I am sure all the cities’ restaurant turnover rates are similar, we just do an extraordinary job of covering it. Also, if you are unimpressed, either you are going to the wrong places, not paying attention or just Marco Pierre White.
No problem CJ… glad you gave us a shout out for our little pop-up event… we appreciate your support of local restaurants…