There's word that a new drinking and eating spot is setting up shop in a spot at Broadway Village, the ages-old shopping center that has taken up the corner of Broadway and Country Club since 1939.

A liquor license application has been filed for the place under the name Sidecar Bar and Lounge. A representative for Commercial Retail Advisors, which handles the business of renting out the numerous spots at Broadway Village, also confirmed the opening, saying the doors of the new lounge should be open in early 2014.

In other news at Broadway Village, Cashew Cow is opening a retail location there. I contacted owner Jeremy Shockley today and he says his little and very interesting ice cream shop should be open sometime next spring.

Shockley was at some sort of an ice cream science class in Las Vegas when I got in touch with him, so suffice it to say that this man means business. Details to come but for now he says his "indulgently healthy" gourmet ice cream is of an ilk otherwise unknown to the Old Pueblo.

Serial Grillers, the Best of Tucson 2013 Food Truck winner, had a great week. We announced that the roadside eatery was one of two local food trucks that will be featured in a future episode of the Food Channel's Eat St. Forbes made a list of the coolest 25 food trucks in the country, and SGT is one of them. It's not the "Best of.."collection, but it's a solid list of food trucks around the nation.

William and Travis Miller's Serial Grillers names its dishes with a killer-inspired theme (i.e. Boston Strangler Cheesesteak, Zodiak Burger). The business also opened up a more conventional eatery with tables and chairs.

(via Forbes)

Tucson food trucks have really become a part of the dining scene these days and two of the longest running and still highly popular trucks are Planet of the Crepes and 2013 Best of Tucson Food Truck winner Serial Grillers.

I have a problem: I'm obsessed with food trucks. 

Last night I went on my nightly walk around my neighbourhood and ended up at Tap & Bottle. There's always a different food truck parked out front, and the Lucky Girl Café caught my eye. I was staring at the well designed dry erase board and felt completely overwhelmed with the six choices I have never tried before. One of the truck cooks was standing behind me talking to someone they seem familiar with. The gentleman asked the cook what he would suggest and he replied, "I always suggest 'The Original' to adventurous."


So I ordered the Original Lucky Bun and entered Tap & Bottle to enjoy a glass of Border Land's Las Almas. Then my food arrived. I lifted the burger and the aiolis—ginger and Thai chili drip= from the red meat on to my paper plate and fingers. They gave me the works. The burger was full of  fresh herbs, pickled carrots, jicama, cucumber slices and sweet onion. I'm glad that I picked the Asian Slaw over the chips because it was such a refreshing, crisp snack.

Happy hump day, Tucson. Tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. there will be a food truck round up and live music at Cartel Coffee Lab, 2516 North Campbell Avenue. Enjoy food from Haus of Brats, The Zany Beaver, DC Jumbie, Kadooks Kadooks! Costa Rican Fusion Food Truck
Jackie's Food Court and You Sly Dog. There will be live performances from Arthur Greenland, Burning Palms and Dream Sick. Check out the Facebook event page for more details.

Today in "this world is going to kill us all sooner rather than later" news, two types of pre-packaged salads sold at Trader Joe's here in Arizona were apparently contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 (the extra letters must mean it's extra dangerous). Produced from Sept. 23 and Nov. 6, 2013 by Glass Onion Catering in Richmond, California (side note: someone must have been working on the Richmond Wikipedia page lately, because it used to be incredibly depressing; now all the bad stuff is stuck in the "crime and disaster" section, including the use of the term "mini-Bhopal"), the Trader Joe's salads in question are the "Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken" and the "TRADER JOSÉ’S MEXICALI SALAD with Chili Lime Chicken."

If you still have one of those sitting in your fridge, the USDA suggests you dispose of it immediately.

Rejoice, coffee nerds: Cartel Coffee is expanding their base of operations from their sole shop at 2516 N. Campbell Road to downtown Tucson, where they're moving into a space alongside the downtown base for Thunder Canyon Brewery.

The new space, at 210 E. Broadway has actually been in service for quite some time now, since mid-September, by way of a coffee cart inside the building. The Cartel Facebook page alludes to a number of surprises that they've got in store for patrons of the soon-to-be-completed Broadway spot.

Well, at least one of the surprises seems to be out: Word from a barista at the Campbell location is that Cartel is planning to serve pizza at the new spot; I haven't been down to the new location yet, but apparently the pizza oven installation is coming along.

Happiness is finding out that you aren't the only misanthrope running around town thinking to yourself "What is it with all this pumpkin spice stuff."

Hailey Eber at the New York Post is my new hero, calling attention to the ridiculous love consumers seem to be having lately over anything pumpkin spice-flavored. It is fall. Thanksgiving is almost here. Pumpkins are part of that holiday in the form of baked goods, but now the season has turned into what Eber describes as a "beautiful fall season with a manic overabundance of sickly sweet and irrational flavor combos."

It’s time to stop the madness. Pumpkin has become the flavor equivalent of James Franco — overexposed, ever-present, popping up in places it has no business being and, frankly, not as appealing as it once was. Enough!

The PSL isn’t tasty. The predominant flavor is a mouth-coating sweetness that sends your tongue lashing about as if possessed by Miley Cyrus. There’s a hint of spice and something that might be conceived of as pumpkin, and a too-quick endnote of coffee that hardly justifies the “latte” in the name.

Not surprisingly, the PSL doesn’t actually contain any pumpkin. Per a Starbucks spokeswoman, it’s made from steamed milk, the “unmistakable spices of fall” (cinnamon, nutmeg and clove) and “pumpkin-flavored sauce,” but no actual pumpkin. Mmmm . . . wholesome harvest goodness.

Lack of pumpkin, subtlety and balance aside, the beverage has had quite an influence on the food and beverage world. This year, McDonald’s entered the PSL market with the creatively named McCafé Pumpkin Spice Latte. According to a Golden Arches spokesman, it’s “part of McDonald’s ongoing efforts to evolve its menu with more great-tasting, relevant food and beverage choices.” Yum!

Tim Hortons has introduced an entire line of “pumpkin pie” beverages, including a pumpkin pie white hot chocolate and pumpkin pie white mocha. (A gross offshoot of the pumpkin trend has been pairing it with white chocolate, the lame cousin of the chocolate family.)

At Dunkin’ Donuts, there’s pumpkin iced coffee and pumpkin white chocolate lattes — perfect with a pumpkin pie donut. Brew pub Flatiron Hall has a boozy “pumpkin latte” on the menu made with espresso tequila, rum, and pumpkin Irish cream — in case you’re interested in having a hangover laced with autumnal cheer.

Even jokes about “pumpkin spice” are getting old. In early September, comedian Elijah Daniel tweeted that “if you say ‘pumpkin spice latte’ in the mirror 3 times, a white girl in yoga pants will appear & tell you all her favorite things about fall.” The joke went viral, popping up in countless places around the Web, so much so that Daniel later apologized for it, tweeting, “It is literally everywhere and has become the most annoying thing on the Internet.”

[New York Post]

I frequent a lot of the drinking establishments and there's always one place where I can get my drunk food fix: Rob Dogs.

You might have seen this giant pink food drunk parked at the Creative Village parking lot alongside Bumsteds Diner. Eating at Robdogs has become a routine since I started performing stand up on Wednesday nights at Mr. Head's. I came to realization during one of my fourth avenue walks with Izzy that I have never had a Robdog meal sober. She said that they don't taste the same without all the alcohol in your system. We experimented this theory and found that it's still good while not under the influence. 

The guy who seemingly wins all of Tucson's culinary competitions, Ryan Clark, is leaving the Lodge on the Desert to take over Agustin Kitchen (formerly Agustin Brasserie, which answers the question "What on earth is going on with that place?"). Clark, who also has a cookbook coming out this week, will launch the new look of the Mercado San Agustin restaurant space in four to six weeks after what the press release calls "selective remodeling and refurnishing."

The press release is below the cut.