A spokeswoman for California Pizza Kitchen said this morning that the company is opening a location at the Tucson Mall. An opening date has not been set, but the restaurant is expected to start hiring sometime this fall.

It should be noted that the restaurant serves far more than pizza. Recent additions to the menu include Korean barbecue tacos and clam linguini with a lemon-cream sauce. The cocktails don't look bad, either.

The Tucson Weekly, the alternative to bland daily journalism in the Sonoran Desert, has partnered with GoTime.com to launch a definitive Tucson Happy-Hour Guide—on the Web (happyhours.tucsonweekly.com), on mobile Web (hh.tucsonweekly.com) and as apps for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

“This Weekly happy-hours app may just change my life,” said Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle. “Now, when I want to find the nearest cheap booze, all I need to do is click on the app on my smart phone, and it’ll tell me where to go using GPS technology—so I can get my drink on as quickly as possible!”

The Tucson Happy-Hour Guide has up-to-date listings of happy-hour offerings from bars, clubs and restaurants across the Old Pueblo. As of now, some 150 happy hours are listed—with more being added on a constant basis.

More good news: The Tucson Happy-Hour Guide apps and sites don’t only work in Tucson; they also work in 50 other cities around the country. GoTime.com’s extensive database currently includes more than 25,000 happy hours across the United States.

The Tucson Happy-Hour Guide is completely free for both users and the listed bars and restaurants. Businesses that are not listed, or that want to make changes to their happy-hour information, can e-mail [email protected] or contact the Tucson Weekly.

“We have amazing bars and restaurants in Tucson,” said Tucson Weekly advertising manager Jill A’Hearn. “This happy-hour guide does a fantastic job of showing off the great deals they’re offering.”

Aqua Vita Natural Foods has reopened today, Wednesday, Aug. 11. The store closed about three months ago after a fire tore through the back of the building, causing about $400,000 in damage.

Owner Harmeet Singh said this morning that the store is open and stocked with the natural foods, pet supplies, personal-care products, bulk herbs and the other items it specializes in. He opened the store about eight years ago.

Visit the store’s website here.

Been wondering what's going on with the new Feast location? Read all about it on the blog that owner Doug Levy has been updating since construction started in June.

The new Feast is under construction in a lot at 3719 E. Speedway Blvd., where that beat-up Mexican-restaurant building used to be. It is expected to open this fall.

Find out when the episode of Throwdown With Bobby Flay featuring the westside restaurant airs Wednesday, Aug. 11.

More details are available here.

And here are a few pictures via the blog of a woman who attended the taping.

Chef Albert Hall called this week with an update on the various projects he and his wife, Lila Yamashiro, have going on around town.

Hall says he’s hired Odell Baskerville to be the executive chef at Acacia at St. Philip’s. Baskerville is an instructor at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Tucson. He was executive chef at the Arizona Inn for a decade before that.

“If you don’t re-create yourself every five or six years, people get tired of it,” said Hall, noting that Acacia opened six years ago. He said a new menu with a “fresher and more-local approach than what we’ve done in the past” will debut in October.

Hall is also taking over the Gardens Café at the Tucson Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The new menu there will feature artisan sandwiches, salads, quesadillas, loads of organic options, specialty teas, ice cream and other items. He and his wife (who co-owns and co-operates the businesses with Hall) are currently working on the menu.

Also in the works is an organic juice bar at the Marketplace at Acacia. Hall didn’t know when it was expected to open, but said he'll hold organic-juice tastings there when it does.

Hall and Yamashiro also head up operations at the Tohono Chul Tea Room at Tohono Chul Park.

Local-eats ambassador Kim Fox left the Moldy Pueblo in June to start a year-long food trek from Paris to Vilnius, Lithuania—all on her trusty bicycle.

"I want to visit organic farms, farmers' markets, food banks, seed banks, nonprofit agencies, Friends of the Earth representatives and other anti-GMO (genetic modified organisms) stuff. I'll have a blog site where I'll put up video and turn this into a food-journalist trip. Right now, I'm just overwhelmed that friends and supporters want to help make this trip a reality," Fox told the Weekly in May.

Fox has had some great adventures, great meals and a recent challenge. While traveling by train from Paris to Berlin, she lost her 27-year-old Mercian bicycle:

If you have not already heard, my 27 year old Mercian bicycle has been separated from me. During the night train from Paris to Berlin, the mile long train separated and the half with my bike went to Munich. The first 48 hours of this mishap left me in shock. The next day was depression and now, with great support from my hosts here in Berlin, i have hope as we are working daily trying to locate and retrieve my trusty bike-friend. I am thinking positively, but it appears that this process may take some time. I am moving forward with my project. Next week I have an appointment with Berlin city officials to discuss their kitchen waste composting system. I am going to push them to give me a tour... from kitchen to compost. Also, the organic business in Germany is one of the largest and oldest in EU. I will bring you many stories from this fantastic country. Finally, I am working on a synopsis of my French food experience... I have gleaned some great ideas for Tucson!.. Please send positive energy that I am reunited with my bike... Thank you to all for your support!

Fox's Facebook page, "Kim Fox's Food Trek," recently reported that the Mercian was found in Munich, and she's working to get it back so she can continue her trip.

To learn and see everything Fox is up to so far, go her blog at theoriginalhoe.blogspot.com.

Casino del Sol is teaming up with local restaurateur Kwang C. An to open a new Asian eatery at the casino.

The new eatery, An Del Sol, will seat 250 and serve sushi and contemporary Asian cuisine. It is expected to open the first week of October.

An currently owns and operates Mr. An’s Teppan Steak and Seafood Sushi Bar (6091 N. Oracle Road) and Great Wall China (2445 S. Craycroft Road). His 15,000-square-foot sports bar/restaurant An Congress, on the southwest corner of Congress Street and Fifth Avenue, is slated to open later this year or next year.

Here's the press release:

The owners of jaxKitchen are opening a new restaurant on the southeast corner of Kolb Road and Sunrise Drive.

The Abbey Eat + Drink is expected to open in mid-October, said Brian Metzger, who runs jaxKitchen with his wife, Sandy. It will occupy the space formerly held by La Taverna di Gavi and Cold Stone Creamery.

“I think jax(Kitchen) will be a little more contemporary on the plate and a little more polished,” Metzger said. “The Abbey will be a little more casual, while still keeping our core values at hand.”

The Abbey will seat about 80, with an additional 12 seats at the bar. It will also feature a private dining room and a covered porch.

The menu has not been finalized, and the search is on for a chef to lead the new restaurant’s culinary team, said Metzger. Lucy Cioe, executive pastry chef at jaxKitchen, will craft desserts for both eateries.

Metzger said he is confident he can hold both eateries to the high standard he maintains at jaxKitchen.

“The beauty is that we know that everyone is going to say that the second restaurant will suffer,” said Metzger. “Everything we do will be built around making that false.”

Visit the Abbey’s website here.

Timothy Stevens e-mailed us today with an update on his up-and-coming Tiki Tim’s Grill:

This giant aluminum Twinkie is the whole enchilada!

The “giant aluminum Twinkie” Stevens is referring to is the 1970s Airstream trailer he converted into Tiki Tim’s Grill. It is expected to open as early as this weekend at the Hut (305 N. Fourth Ave.).

Stevens says a couple of signatures from the Pima County Health Department are all he needs to get things started. He expects to hold a soft opening this weekend and says he’ll spend the rest of the month “working out any kinks where needed.”

Tiki Tim’s Grill will serve foods inspired by surf and island culture. Think burgers topped with pineapple, purple Peruvian potato salad and grilled pizzas, to name a few.

Stevens says a grand opening featuring live music and exotic flavors—including “the essential Kahlua pig”—is expected to take place in early September.