Gastropubs in Tucson

“Great food and atmosphere. It’s great to go somewhere local and get a taste of Louisiana! It’s been a long time since I’ve had gumbo, and it didn’t disappoint. And the hush puppies were great and we ended up getting an extra order. I look forward to trying more of the menu!“

“In my first, ever, visit to Arizona Inn’s ‘bar’, I was impressed; and I wish the Arizona Inn wasn’t so far (20 miles) from my home, or I’d go there regularly.

The food was (almost) uniformly superb and generous of helpings, the waiter was friendly and helpful, and the ‘bar’ was a nicely decorated, light and airy, and fine place to dine with a friend and her companion for her birthday (they treated us!).

So, not wanting to ‘look a gift horse in the mouth’ … as some of us used to say … allow me to caution you on a couple of things about the Arizona Inn … at least its Bar and Patio.

Basically, the ‘caution’ is one thing: The Arizona Inn tends to, in my view, under-season their food. Maybe this is because they are catering to their client’s health awareness. But, for whatever reason, the three dishes which ‘suffered’ most from this were the reuben, the vichyssoise, and the potato salad.

The potato salad simply did not have enough salt. Maybe this was because the people who go there, most often, are watching their salt. But, a properly seasoned food shouldn’t need added salt. Picky, yes, I know.

The vichyssoise was, to my taste, to be avoided. It lacked flavor of any kind, not salt, not leeks, it did not even taste like potatoes and, whatever the green liquid on top was, it had no taste. It did have a nice, pleasing, remarkably smooth consistency, so it was pleasing on the palate. But no taste.

The reuben was, for what it was (which is not a reuben) one of the tastiest sandwiches I’ve had in a long time, perfectly toasted, and tasty. But, it lacked sour kraut (or at least enough that I could taste it), it lacked thousand island dressing (or at least enough that i could taste it) and the ‘rye’ bread had almost no discernible rye taste. To me. My wife said she loved it, however. And, I did enjoy it very much too. But, it’s like the time I ordered “crème brûlée” in a restaurant in Pasadena … when it was served, it was made with CHOCOLATE pudding! I asked, and the man said “That’s the way we make it.”. As if that was a reason to omit the description ‘chocolate’ before ‘crème brulee’.

Anyway, the reuben was worth eating, and very much so. It just wasn’t what most people will think of as a reuben.

‘I highly recommend the Audubon Bar & Patio. Just avoid the vichyssoise, and get more sour kraut for the Reuben. :-)“

“Because it’s across town, I don’t get there as often as I’d like but when I do, it’s absolutely delightful and makes me feel decadent—from perfectly-portioned appetizers to intriguing cocktails, they have it all. Writing this reminds me that I need to go again!“