One Of Tucson's Old Favorites Undergoes A Great Resurrection. By Rebecca Cook IF YOU'VE BEEN in Tucson for any length of time, you can't help but be familiar with the Cushing Street Bar & Grill. This downtown landmark, located on the edge of the historic Barrio Viejo just south of the Tucson Convention Center, has recently reopened under new management. Throughout the years Cushing Street has been a popular watering hole, attracting all manner of folk, including writers, artists, off-duty police officers, lawyers and a continual clientele of opera, symphony and theatre-goers. The umber tones of Cushing Street's interior were accentuated with a massive, antique bar, lending the place an air of understated class; the walled outdoor patio the perfect spot to while away a mild evening, perhaps listening to one of several musical acts that have performed at the venue over the years. Cushing Street was one of the many Tucson locales that helped give definition to the city, a place of character that retained a modicum of the history of this particular area, a history that was virtually obliterated when the Community Center took over. (See this week's feature story.) It has always been of concern, then, when the bar has occasionally fallen on difficult times and, at least temporarily, closed its doors. In spite of all Cushing Street's charms, I've often been left to wonder if it would ever again open for business. The latest round of doubt has been quelled with the corner spot's recent re-opening. Although the place has periodically been a restaurant as well as a bar, never before has the food commanded such attention. In this latest incarnation, Cushing Street makes an impressive bid to tempt the appetites as well as quench the thirst of its patrons. Open for lunch and dinner, Cushing Street Bar & Grill offers far more than the standard, bland assortment of bar food, usually in the guise of a few white-bread sandwiches, iceberg-lettuce salad and, of course, burgers. True, you'll find salads and sandwiches on the menu here, but mundane is hardly the order of the day. The menu is infused with the spirit of the bayou; genuine Louisiana pops up unexpectedly in many of the featured dishes here. The word "blackened" appears frequently and applies to everything from a grilled filet of fish to a burger à la Cushing. What makes this swamp-inspired inflection even more interesting is that the traditional cuisine of the Southwest is also evident. When andouille and chorizo stand side by side on the same menu, something intriguing is bound to happen. An evening repast began with crab cakes ($7.95), three small patties of flaked crab, red pepper and onion served atop a shallow pool of a red chile-spiced sauce. While this was a satisfactory beginning to the meal, it wasn't exactly a stunner: the crab retained too much of a fishy aftertaste. Salads, which are not included in the cost of an entree at Cushing Street, can be ordered additionally and split between two (or presumably more) people. The leafy portions here are huge and, depending on your particular selection, dressed in a light vinaigrette. The Mediterranean variation ($5.25) consisted of mixed dark greens, kalamata onions, feta cheese, tomatoes, red onion rings and cucumber and was more than adequate to mollify our craving for roughage. It's the entrees, however, that shine at Cushing Street. Choosing from the diverse pasta selections, we sampled the eggplant-tomato ($7.25) and the red pepper shrimp and andouille sausage ($11.25) pasta. Both were uniformly marvelous, the eggplant variety demonstrating a flavorful complexity beyond that which its simple title would suggest, and the shrimp dish consisting deliciously of shell-shaped pasta with several tail-on crustaceans and slices of andouille all tossed in a light, cheesy tomato sauce. Carbed to the max, we were very happy with our choices. The house favorite at Cushing, however, has to be Brenda's Cajun meatloaf and mashed potatoes ($8.25), to judge by the number of times I saw this dish served at other tables. Although still untried as of this writing, it's slated for the next time I'm in need of a little comfort food. The menu is virtually the same at lunchtime, with the possibility that some of the day's specials are not included until the sun dips low. Not surprisingly, perhaps, those salad and sandwich platters reign supreme earlier in the day. A salad with pan-seared tuna ($5.75) was especially tasty, with tender, fresh strips of tuna laid atop a bed of dark greens and tossed in a feathery vinaigrette. Again, although deceptively simple in outward appearance, this salad satisfied completely with its subtle flavorings. The blackened burger with gorgonzola butter ($5.75) was somewhat of a disappointment, served alarmingly cooked beyond the specified medium request and with a miserly smattering of the flavored butter. Since there's so much else that exudes quality and abundance at Cushing Street, I'm going to assume this was just an unfortunate, momentary slip-up. A ravishing dessert tray is proffered after every meal, and selections range from fruit-inspired sweets to insulin-overdrive chocolate concoctions. A whiskey-soaked peach bread pudding with a mixed berry sauce and whipped cream ($3.50) was an outstanding conclusion to one meal, and the chocolate mousse ($3.75) just the right dulcet delight to appease your sweet tooth without putting your stomach's ultimate capacity to the test. Welcome back, Cushing Street. We've missed you. Cushing Street Bar & Grill. 343 S. Meyer Ave. (Cushing Street at Meyer Avenue). 622-7984. Open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, with a late-night menu available until midnight. Full bar. V, MC, AMEX, Checks. Menu items: $4.25-$13.50.

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