So, you're new to UA. And you're new to Tucson. Here at the Wildcat Arts desk, a group of people you will no doubt come to know and love, we have compiled a little list of the best things around town to help guide your way through the Old Pueblo. These picks represent the opinions of the Arts staff. While they are debatable, they are, undoubtedly, correct.
Best Dive Bar - Buffet Bar versus Golden Nugget Tavern
When trying to tap into a rich resource like Tucson dive bars, hitting the main nerve is a moral imperative. While the debate rages on, of Tucson's collection of legendary dive bars, the Buffet Bar and Golden Nugget Tavern stand out from the rest.
We faced off the two, head-to-head, and the winner was The Buffet Bar. It has been open since 1934 (opened the day after Prohibition was repealed). It was the first to sell 500,000 gallons of Original Coors and is Coors' number one account in Arizona. It is also the place to be for your 21st birthday! On that special day, they give you a yard of beer, a shot (your choice) and a Polaroid of you with your drunken, hoodlum friends. Hungry? No problem - for a dollar you can get a Kosher beef hot dog cooked in the crock pot (which is full of, you guessed it, Original Coors).
The Buffet is a dive bar that delivers an unforgettable evening. Whether it's sloshed patrons trying to organize drunken chicken-fighting after last call or arguing Socialist political views with an ex-Navy SEAL, you are guaranteed a memorable evening. Or, at least one your friends will get to tease you about.
Best Coffee Shop - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea versus Epic Cafˇ
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MICHELLE DURHAM
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Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea
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While you may not be able to dive into a bar, you certainly can dive into one these two top-notch coffee houses that we again placed in a head-to-head (or is that filter-to-filter?) match for the title of Best Coffee Shop.
Featuring the best cup o' joe in town - that can be refilled for a cheaper price than its competitor - Bentley's grabs the nod as the best place for that pesky caffeine fix. While Epic does indeed have those comfy couches and chairs and its primo locale on Tucson's famous Fourth Avenue, it is still slightly bettered by the casual and friendly atmosphere of that closer-to-campus coffeehouse.
Both places are good to hit the books or just chat with friends, and both to feature menus with a variety of selections - we send our regards to Bentley's' giant cake slices and Epic's sticky buns - but Bentley's has all the makings of a first-rate coffee shop that will make you one of its many loyal patrons.
Best Pizza - Zachary's
Located just south of campus, at 1028 E. Sixth St., this student favorite serves up the most substantial, do-you-expect-me-to-finish-that pan pizza in town. You can get it by the slice, but why bother? The leftovers are a must-have for any dorm room fridge. The move to the other side of Sixth Street has brought a bigger, more open atmosphere that makes the often 45-minute wait for a pizza worth your while.
Best Place for a 3 a.m. Craving - The Grill
At this hour, your options are slim, so opt for style over substance. And The Grill has got loads of style. It may not have the best food (the tater tots being a notable exception), but with its desirable downtown locale (100 E. Congress St.), its hip wait staff and its hilarious menu - the trip is worth it just for a quick read - The Grill embodies the laid-back attitude and colorful diversity of Tucson at its best.
Best Movie Theater - Cineplex Odeon Catalina Cinemas
This is a middle-of-the-road choice on our part. While it may not have the luxuriousness of the 20-screen, stadium-seated Century Theaters at El Con Mall or the art-house mystique of The Loft, Catalina represents a combination of the two. Its marquee at 2320 N. Campbell Ave. displays a good mix of blockbuster hits with smaller, independent features, all at a cheaper ticket price than El Con. Moreover, its weekend midnight movies - replaying classics like "The Shining" - fill a little bit of the void left by Gallagher Theatre, UA's now-defunct on-campus movie house.
Best Meal on Campus - On Deck Deli
With the new food court in the awkwardly named Student Union Memorial Center looking like it belongs in Tucson Mall, our choice naturally tends toward the least franchise-y offering. Besides that, though, On Deck simply features tasty, you-make-it-your-way sandwiches using a variety of fresh breads, meats and fixins' at a reasonable price. It's a great, low-calorie meal amongst all the fatty, greasy fast food offerings of the rest of campus. A staff recommendation: smoked turkey on nine-grain bread.
Best Club - Skrappy's
A good venue ideally should book a diverse array of performers and have a good atmosphere that makes concert-goers feel welcome and comfortable. There are many to choose from in the area of bars in the downtown area, but the locale that puts on the widest array of concerts and events would have to be Skrappy's, 201 E. Broadway Blvd. The one and only "youth empowerment" venue in Tucson caters to every type of music, especially if you like it loud and in your face.
Best Record Store - Zia Record Exchange
By far the only place to find a wide array of new and used CDs and a great place to spend all of your parents' hard-earned money would be Zia Record Exchange, 3370 E. Speedway Blvd. From Fugazi to Fu Manchu, Zia has you covered in every department. And what's even better is that the company does not employ suit-and-tie stiffs to annoy you with their knowledge about the new N'Sync album or any other act full of ex-mouseketeers.
Best Gallery - Carbonbase
While this is a debatable selection, being a student-run newspaper, we have opted for the student-run Carbonbase Gallery, 101 W. Fifth St. Originally opened last year as a venue to exhibit the art of the six co-founders, Carbonbase has since featured the work of several UA students - including the Wildcat's own illustrations editor Josh Hagler. Carbonbase's continual support of student work compels us to return the favor and continue our support of them.
Best Getaway from It All - Mount Lemmon
When the brick and chain-link fence surroundings of UA start to pick away at your nerves, take in a little healing dose of nature. Offering hiking, rock climbing (Lemmon and the surrounding Catalinas are among the premier climbing sites in the world), skiing in the winter and much more, Lemmon has enough to keep even the most active outdoorsman scrambling to catch his breath. It would be remiss of us to leave out that at an elevation of several thousand feet, the heat of Tucson becomes quite a bit more tolerable.
Best On-Campus Attraction - Campus Recreation Center
Journey to the center of the rec. Whatever your uses for it - racquetball, indoor track, basketball, its sports clubs, the weight room, and on and on - the Rec Center, 1400 E. Sixth St., is truly one of the perks of the UA. It's a good way to drop that "Freshman 15" or make sure you never get it in the first place, and besides, you pay a fee to keep it running just by attending this university, so you might as well take advantage of what it has to offer. An added bonus: it's one of the best places to people-watch on campus, especially now that the Mall is fenced off.
Best Video Store - Casa Video
There's no contest here - comparing Blockbuster to Casa is like comparing Joel Schumacher to Kevin Smith. Truly one of the things you'll miss about Tucson after you graduate, Casa Video, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd., with its 20,000 in-store titles on two floors, is practically guaranteed to have any film you're looking for, whether it be the latest Adam Sandler or a classic Fassbinder. Casa also has free popcorn and two-for-one Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Best On-Campus Oddity - Mall preachers
We don't know if the construction on the Mall will impede their sermons, but there is nothing like a little salvation on your way to class. Surely, one of campus' more bizarre attractions, the mall preachers - religious fanatics spouting scripture and damnation to passing students - will draw a crowd and your interest. You can ignore them, you can argue with them, but you cannot forget them.
Best Off-Campus Oddity - the Lumberjack statue
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MICHELLE DURHAM
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The Lumberjack statue
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Located at the corner of Stone and Glenn with seemingly no reason for being there, the lumberjack (whether he be the folklore Paul Bunyan or an NAU lumberjack) towers above pedestrians and passing cars. At Christmas, his owners replace his axe with a candy cane and according to rumor, it is a hazing ritual to have new Tucson cops handle reports of a "huge man with an axe" on Glenn and Stone. Bunyan is certainly among the more memorable of Tucson's curious architectural landmarks, and well worth a look.
Best Place to Pull an All-Nighter - Coffee Etc.
Open 24 hours, this Glenn and Campbell eatery is students' first choice for late night study sessions. Sure, the library is quieter, but they won't keep your coffee mug full to the brim until those early morning hours. With its delicious desserts, breakfast all day and casual atmosphere, Coffee Etc. offers the perfect atmosphere for cramming for your linguistics midterm.
Best Bookstore - Bookman's Used Books and Music
Specializing mostly in the sale of used books, Bookman's, 1930 E. Grant Road, is also the place to find CDs, movies, magazines, video games and more. What makes this the best bookstore in Tucson? You can sell your books back and make a decent profit - and the store's 25 cent book rack is a worthwhile venture. All-in-all, the store's laid back atmosphere and wide selection of books and entertainment make Bookman's the Wildcat's vote for best bookstore in town.
Best Sandwich - Beyond Bread
Granted, there are plenty of places in Tucson to grab a quick sandwich but this place is the best, hands down. Beyond Bread, 3055 N. Campbell Ave., bakes it own fresh bread on a daily basis along with offering a huge selection of cold and hot sandwiches along with soups and salads. Highly recommended is the Maya's Market- a great hot, vegetarian sandwich - or the Bart's Bag, a cold sandwich piled high with roast beef on a baguette.
Best Desserts - Raging Sage Coffee Roasters
This cute little coffee shop brews some damn good coffee, but its desserts are even better. Try a fresh baked Sage pecan with jalapeno honey jelly scone and a cup of coffee for a morning pick-me-up and a slice of carrot cake, or a "Super Natural" brownie with a hot mocha in the evening for a sweet after-dinner treat. Either way, Raging Sage, 2458 N. Campbell Ave., gets the nod for best, fresh desserts.
Best Ethnic Food - Sinbad's
You have not tasted good middle-eastern food until you've tasted Sinbad's, 810 E. University Blvd. This quaint, family owned restaurant offers a wide selection of sandwiches and entrees, all with homemade ingredients. We recommend the chicken shwarma sandwich (extra tahini sauce) with a fattoush salad and a side of hummus. Not only is this place tasty but it's inexpensive, too. Sinbad's is the king of foreign food in this town.
Best Way to Ruin your Day - Turn Left on Park from Speedway
Why? Well, because there is no turn arrow. Despite the campaign promises of many an ASUA candidate (Cisco Aguilar, we're looking in your direction), there remains no turn arrow to lessen the half-hour wait to make that left. Obviously, stoplights are a little out of the university's jurisdiction, but still, this is ridiculous. With all the updates being made to University Boulevard, you would think they want to make it easier to get there. Maybe next year.
Best Thing You Missed - (tie) Gallagher Theatre and The Cellar
Home to cheap movies and midnight screenings, this on-campus venue is a much-missed attraction that the university has scrapped for the sake of its new union. Hopefully, the plans for a theater at Park and University in a few years time will make up for the loss of the much-beloved Gallagher. And how could one not miss the venue that played host to Smashing Pumpkins before they hit it big? A low-lit, laid-back space where one could go to rest or read, The Cellar needs a companion venue in the new union.
Best Thing You're Getting - Integrated Learning Center
Best Tier Class - Classics 220: Classical Tradition 1 with Prof. Jon Solomon
Best Part of the Wildcat - Police Beat
Best Reason to Sleep through Class - Do you need a reason?
Best Reason to Avoid Campus at Noon - "Bear Down Arizona" blaring from the Administration Building
Best On-Campus Concerts You Missed - Dave Matthews Band in '97, Counting Crows in '01
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Arizona Daily Wildcat file photo
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Counting Crows at Centennial Hall
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Best Concerts You Won't Miss - Eve 6 at CatFest, Los Lobos at Centennial Hall
Most Ghetto Dorm - Stadium
Biggest Rip-Off - Bowl of Fruit at Cafˇ Pariso, 820 E. University Blvd., (though we do love its coffee)
Best Weekend Adventure - Se–or Amigos in Nogales, Mexico
Worst Thing about Tucson - drivers, radio stations, flooding, the smell that hits you at Sunset Rd. at I-10
Best Thing about Tucson - Discovering it for yourself
Best Place to get a Speeding Ticket - Broadway Blvd. between Campbell Ave. and Euclid Ave.
