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Sneak peek into Postino wine cafe Tucson, opening today

on March 2, 2020

Phoenix-based restaurant Postino WineCafe will officially open their Tucson location at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 2 at 2500 E. Grant Rd., in the same building as Snooze and across the street from Culinary Dropout.

“We loved the proximity, that it had to so many things so it was close to the university, but it was nestled in this really cool neighborhood,” said Lauren Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Upward Projects, the restaurant group behind Postino. “[..] it gets kind of a big part of a lot of different neighborhoods and energy.”

Facade at Postino WineCafe Tucson (Credit: Jackie Tran)

During the daytime, the interior is flooded with natural light with three of the restaurant’s four sides comprised of windows, many of which open wide for an airy experience. Seating comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from cozy hightop booths to lounge sofas and patio fireplace seating.

Other decor standouts include vintage pendant lamps, a bookshelf over the bar, and letter art wall with a tongue-in-cheek “wish you were here” neon sign with the last “e” intentionally flickering in and out.

On Friday, the Tucson Foodie team swung by during the soft opening to have lunch. The staff was noticeably friendly and attentive.

“The people that we have put together on this team are really special and when you come in here, we always want you to leave feeling better,” Bailey said. “So if you come in here and you’re kind of like a six on the scale of 10, you we want you to leave feeling like a 9.5, 9.9, maybe a 10 or an 11.”

Bruschetta, Brussels Sprouts Salad, Olives at Postino WineCafe Tucson (Credit: Jackie Tran)

We ordered a melange of shareable items: Crispy Cauliflower ($10), Olives, ($6.75), Meatballs & Goat Cheese ($11), Tuna Tartare ($13), NYC Grilled Cheese ($8.50), Skewers ($12), The Carpaccio ($14), Bruschetta ($15), Brussels Sprouts Salad ($11), Chocolate Bouchon ($8.50), and Salted Caramel Sundae ($8.50).

The Bruschetta board is the star as you can mix and match four different types from a selection of 12. Out of the four we had, our favorite was the Sweet ‘n Spicy Pepper Jam & Goat Cheese.

Another favorite dish was the Brussels Sprouts Salad with kale, Brussels sprouts, manchego cheese, spicy Marcona almond, bacon, lemon Manchego dressing, and dried cherry. The leaves clung onto the dressing and variety of textures easily, preventing pooling at the bottom of the bowl.

Operating hours are 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – midnight Friday, and 9 a.m. – midnight Saturday. Brunch hours are 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Sunday.

Brunch at Postino WineCafe Tucson (Credit: Melissa Stihl)

One last note: every day until 5 p.m., all glasses of wine and pitchers of beer are $5. Mondays and Tuesdays after 8 p.m., a bottle of wine and bruschetta board are $25.

Postino WineCafe is located at 2500 E. Grant Rd. For more information visit postinowinecafe.com.

Colorado breakfast chain “Snooze” to open Tucson location at Grant Rd. & Tucson Blvd.

on February 28, 2020

Colorado-based breakfast chain “Snooze” quietly announced plans to open a Tucson location in 2020.

Although the company has kept fairly hushed with details, the restaurant sign is now up on the southeast corner of East Grant Road and North Tucson Boulevard a few doors down from Postino WineCafe. Additionally, the website lists operating hours as 6:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. daily.

Facade at Snooze in Tucson (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Brothers Jon and Adam Schlegel founded Snooze in 2006 in Denver. The company opened its 40th location in 2019, with plans to open 12 additional locations in 2020.

The menu features twists on breakfast classics with dishes such as Habanero Pork Belly Benny and Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes.

Stay tuned for additional details.

Hotel, Sam Fox restaurant to be part of massive North Phoenix development

on February 5, 2020

The first phase of the City North development in Phoenix will feature multiple restaurants including one from high-profile restaurateur Sam Fox and a dual-branded hotel by real estate developer Brian Frakes.

Robert Flaxman, CEO of Crown Realty & Development, the master developer of City North and thousands of acres in north Phoenix, said Crown plans to sell 8 acres to Frakes’ company, Common Bond Development Group, as part of the deal. The parcel, which is in escrow to sell, is near 56th Street and a new street that will be called City North Boulevard.

Flaxman said the pad for the hotel and restaurants should be ready for delivery by July.

While still in preliminary planning stages, Frakes said his company will develop 22,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and then will develop a dualbranded hotel that will have 240 rooms in total.

Frakes has signed on Fox Restaurant Concepts to open a large-format Blanco Tacos & Tequila in 10,000 square feet of the space. Common Bond is looking to identify two more quality restaurant and retail concepts to join the development.

The hotel will be branded, Frakes said, but he was not ready to announce what flags it will operate under. Frakes is helping Fox develop a boutique hotel in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood, but said that project is different from what is being done at City North.

Construction on Common Bond’s retail and restaurant project is expected to start by the end of 2020 and be finished by the fall of 2021, Frakes said. The hotel will be done in the spring of 2022.

“We are a part of a greater sum,” Frakes said about all the development at City North. “There is so much going on up there. We believe it will be a city within a city.”

Frakes has previously developed several projects for Fox, including the Yard in Tempe, Gilbert and Tucson.

Fox sold his restaurant company, Fox Restaurant Concepts, to the Cheesecake Factory Inc. in July 2019 for $308 million. As part of the deal, FRC will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary and Fox will continue to lead the company.

Sam Fox opens latest Culinary Dropout restaurant in the valley, talks future plans

on April 4, 2019

The hot restaurant scene in Gilbert’s Heritage District has a big addition with the new Culinary Dropout at the Yard location that opened this week.

At 25,000 square feet, the latest Culinary Dropout location is huge – one of the largest developments by Phoenix-based Fox Restaurant Concepts to date. The project has been in the works for more than two years and Sam Fox, the restaurant’s founder, Fox has high hopes for this particular location.

“[Gilbert] is experiencing vibrant growth, and with Zinburger down the road and so many other great businesses as neighbors, it feels like the perfect fit for Culinary Dropout,” Fox said.

In late 2016, FRC and its development partner, Phoenix-based Common Bond Development obtained the rights to develop the land from the town of Gilbert and purchased the property for just over $1.1 million, according to county records.

The companies worked with Circle West Architects, Cypress Engineering and Shercon Construction to complete the $10 million project.

This is Fox’s second restaurant concept to open in downtown Gilbert, already home to a plethora of restaurants and bars. But Fox is confident he will do well there because the demand for eateries like his continues to grow in the Southeast Valley.

“We own the real estate [in Gilbert],” Fox said. “We don’t do that at most of our locations. That speaks to how important these locations are for us.”

The Culinary Dropout will be one of the first restaurants potential customers will see when entering the Heritage District from the north. The town of Gilbert also built a new parking structure near Fox’s restaurant.

“We’ve partnered with Fox Restaurant Concepts in all four of their Culinary Dropout Yard locations,” said Brian Frakes, principal of Common Bond Development. “In each project, they continue to evolve and each provides a unique experience and characteristics.”

The restaurant has two private dining rooms, which Fox said has become a big part of his business at other Culinary Dropout locations. Last year FRC closed down its seafood restaurant Little Cleo’s on Seventh Street in Phoenix so it could expand the private dining business of the Culinary Dropout location next door.

“We’ve invested a lot of money into the kitchen and staff to support private events,” Fox said.

The Gilbert restaurant is the seventh Culinary Dropout location and since it started in the mid-2000s, Fox said the concept has evolved some, but the main ideas are still there.

“We didn’t take ourselves too seriously back then,” Fox said. “We just took great quality food and played it down to make it more fun.”

Fox has found a lot of success with the Culinary Dropout brand and continues to expand, with locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Tucson, Las Vegas and Austin. He has plans for five more to open in the near future, including one coming to North Scottsdale, which will be formally announced in the coming months.

There is still room around Phoenix for Sam Fox’s concepts. Besides the upcoming North Scottsdale Culinary Dropout, Fox said he is working on a few other deals. A Blanco Tacos & Tequila is coming to downtown Phoenix and another planned further north, he said.

What’s more, Fox said there are a few new Flower Child locations in the works and he has plans for something in Gilbert’s San Tan area.

While Fox is excited about the continued growth his brands have had in Arizona, he is trying to transition from being a Southwest restaurant group, to a national restaurant group based out of the Southwest. Indeed, FRC has 11 concepts in play with more than 100 restaurants all over the U.S.

Sam Fox sets opening date for Gilbert Culinary Dropout

on February 21, 2019

Fox Restaurant Concepts has set an opening date of April 3 for its Culinary Dropout at the Yard location in downtown Gilbert.

The project, which was announced more than two years ago, is highly anticipated and will be the latest expansion of Sam Fox’s empire in his home state. It will be the seventh Culinary Dropout location.

Fox has been focusing a lot of his brands’ growth in other parts of the country over the past few years, but still is adding restaurants across the Valley.

The new restaurant, on the northeast corner of Gilbert Road and Hearn Way in Gilbert’s Heritage District, will be in a two-story, 25,000-square-foot space. It will feature indoor-outdoor seating, two private dining rooms and an outdoor entertainment area with games like cornhole and ping-pong, just like other Yard locations in Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.

Fox worked with developer Common Bond Development Group on the project. Common Bond and FRC obtained the rights to develop the land from Gilbert in 2016. Shercon Construction was general contractor for the restaurant and architecture was done by Circle West Architects.

Culinary Dropout has proven to be one of Fox’s most popular concepts. Last year FRC closed down its seafood restaurant Little Cleo’s on Seventh Street in Phoenix so it could expand the Culinary Dropout location next door into that space.

FRC will hire 190 positions for the new Culinary Dropout location. The company will hold a job fair at the restaurant March 4-9 and March 11-16. The company will hire for a variety of jobs including management positions, chefs, line and prep cooks, bakers, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, hosts, security and banquet servers.

Fox recently announced that he’ll also open a location of his Blanco Tacos & Tequila brand in downtown Phoenix at the high-profile Block 23 development later this year.

Town of Queen Creek approves Ironwood Crossing annexation

on March 9, 2018

San Tan Valley just got a little bit smaller.

On Wednesday, March 7th, the Queen Creek Town Council voted to accept the “Ironwood Crossing Annexation”, which includes both residential and commercial properties covering 1,485 acres.

The item which was listed on the council’s consent agenda read:

Consideration and possible approval of Ordinance 657-18, (Case P17-0144) “Ironwood Crossing Annexation”, a proposed annexation of numerous parcels totaling approximately 1,485 acres, generally located between Germann and Ocotillo Roads; and Meridian Road and Ironwood Drive (Road).

Ironwood Crossing Annexation committee members, Nancie Naylor and Beth Riley, spoke during the December 6, 2017 council meeting’s public hearing which kicked off the signature collection process for the effort.

On February 22, 2018, the annexation committee announced that they had collected the necessary signatures (50% + 1 property owners & 50% + $1 assessed value). A post on their website read:

Update 02-22-18

Hey Ironwood Crossing!! It is with GREAT PRIDE that the Ironwood Crossing Annexation Committee announces that we are DONE with the petition drive. It was successful, and we are moving on to the final step in the annexation process!!

On Wednesday, March 7th, at the QC Town Council meeting, the council will vote to accept us into the Town of Queen Creek! This will start the 30-day period where the annexation can be protested (Only if they are able to find something incorrect with our application and/or the petition signatures.)

If nobody protests the annexation, we will officially become part of Queen Creek on Monday, April 9th, at 8am!

If our annexation is protested during that 30-day waiting period, the clock will stop while the case goes to court. That could take approximately 5 months, however, even if STV were to incorporate in the meantime, we would still go back to the original date of April 9th to annex.

Congratulations to everyone who supported the annexation efforts and signed the petition! You rock!! We’ll keep you updated on the progress as it happens!

Now that the QC Council has approved the annexation, there is a 30-day waiting period. If no challenges to the annexation are filed, all parcels included in the annexation (numerous parcels between Meridian and Ocotillo to Ironwood and Germann) will become part of the Town of Queen Creek on April 9, 2018.

A public hearing for another annexation into the Town of Queen Creek was also held at the March 7, 2018 council meeting. The hearing was for 23 acres located at the southwest corner of Ellsworth & Empire. No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the annexation. The applicant can begin collecting signatures to annex into Queen Creek March 14, 2018.

Both the March 21, 2018 and April 23, 2018 agendas include tentative motions to approve the petitions.

If successful, this will be the fourth annexation of San Tan Valley property, by the Town of Queen Creek in less than one year.

Source

Sprouts anchored shopping center sold for $25.75 million

on December 21, 2017

PHOENIX, Arizona – Cushman & Wakefield, on behalf of Phoenix-based Common Bond Development Group, completed the sale of The Plant; a Sprouts Farmers Market anchored neighborhood shopping center. Located on the southeast corner of Gilbert and Ocotillo Roads in Chandler, Ariz., the property was purchased by Dallas-based Sarofim Realty Advisors for $25.75 million ($453 PSF).

Executive Managing Directors Ryan Schubert and Michael Hackett of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

Anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market, The Plant is a newly developed 56,831-square-foot neighborhood shopping center spanning 7.59 acres and is currently 100% leased to a complimentary collection of national, regional and local tenants. Approximately 81% of the Plant is leased to top-tier national tenants, including Dairy Queen, Café Rio and Starbucks.

“Common Bond spared no expense to create an irreplaceable neighborhood destination in the heart of Chandler and it was extremely attractive to a broad spectrum of investors,” said Ryan Schubert.

Sam Fox’s Culinary Dropout shows restaurateur can still make the grade

on September 17, 2017

Sam Fox will open the doors to Culinary Dropout at Grant Road Lumber Yard on Wednesday, Sept. 20, his first new restaurant in Tucson in a decade and one of the most expensive projects the Tucson native has undertaken since he launched his restaurant career with Wildflower in 1998.

The price tag for the 19,000-square-foot project at the former Grant Road Lumber, 2543 E. Grant Road, could top $11 million — the amount he paid to open a similar restaurant/entertainment complex at The Tempe Yard in 2014.

“Tucson is really going to be proud of what we were able to build here,” Fox said Friday, on the eve of hosting an invitation-only weekend of preview events for 1,200 that gave his staff of 250 a chance to iron out any kinks. Two more events are planned for Sunday.

“We’re excited to be here,” Fox said.

The opening comes more than a year after Fox announced in spring 2016 that he was buying the lumber yard and converting it into a sprawling restaurant and entertainment center that includes foosball tables, cornhole courts, ping pong tables, a private dining room and live entertainment. A private dining/conference room called The Coop can seat 100, or accommodate 175 in a cocktail party setting, while the dining rooms can seat a total of 500 to 600.

At Saturday morning’s lunch preview, a couple of hundred guests nibbled on plates of build-your-own antipasti with thin-sliced, spicy capicola and sherry-drizzled beets on pillows of whipped goat cheese, house pub burgers and the house special 36-hour pork ribs, slow cooked and drizzled with a slightly spicy jalapeño molasses. As they sipped craft beers and cocktails and tucked into gooey, cinnamony hunks of Monkey Bread topped with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, Fox strolled around the twin dining rooms greeting friends and strangers alike.

Tucson businessman Chris Edwards of Tucson Appliance gave Fox a big hug and asked him to pose for a picture, taking the same fingers-pointing-toward-the-camera stance Edwards uses in his ubiquitous TV commercials. He quickly hugged a woman who works with the University of Arizona athletic department who came bearing a Wildcats bobblehead for Fox’s son and greeted an employee setting up a table with Culinary Dropout T-shirts that they sold to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Fox shook hands with several people as he made his way into the kitchen, where dozens of employees brought the gastro-pub inspired menu to life, all of it from scratch. A baker checked on loaves of bread proofing in tin pans as another chef two rows of work stations over stirred a pot of soup. Fox opened the walk-in freezer where a pair of chefs trimmed cuts of meat.

“All of the proteins are prepared in the cooler,” he said, and one of the chefs smiled and nodded.

Culinary Dropout joins a handful of Fox Restaurant Concept titles in Tucson, including Blanco Tacos + Tequila and Zin Burger, the last two restaurants that Fox brought to his hometown. That was in 2007 and in the decade since, his Tucson-born, Phoenix-based company has launched several restaurants, including Sauce Pizza + Wine, which he sold to the founders of Ra Sushi in 2015; and True Food Kitchen that he launched in 2008 with Tucson health guru Andrew Weil and arguably his most ambitious restaurant project.

“Who would have thought a health food restaurant would do so well,” Fox said.

In October, Scottsdale-based P.F. Chang’s China Bistro parent Centerbridge Partners will take over the True Food health food restaurant brand with plans to bring it to markets across the country. Centerbridge, in a deal that was hashed out two years ago between Fox and the Scottsdale company, inherits the 23 True Food restaurants that Fox has opened across the country in the past nine years; two more True Food outposts are set to open next spring — one in Nashville, Tennessee, and the other in Boca Raton, Florida.

“We’ve built this great brand and now it’s time to let it go off on its own,” he said, comparing it to a parent seeing their child off to college.

Fox can imagine something similar happening with Culinary Concepts, which has grown over the past four or five years to include a location in Austin, Texas, and Las Vegas. Tucson is the sixth location, but Fox said there are four in the works, including a Gilbert project set to open in winter 2019, and projects in Denver and Nashville.

“I can see Culinary Dropout taking off in the next 24 months,” he said.

And he sees potential in growing North Italia, which is in La Encantada. There are 11 North Italia restaurants in five states, including Kansas, and there are plans to open three more in the next two years, including a second Austin, Texas, location and one in Philadelphia, Fox said.

In addition to the lumber yard property, Fox also acquired the adjacent car wash on the corner of Grant and Tucson Boulevard. He knocked down the business and has broken ground for what will be a 6,500-square-foot building that will house an Orangetheory Fitness studio, a sandwich shop and a poke bowl restaurant.

Source

Sam Fox hiring almost 200 for new Culinary Dropout

on August 15, 2017

Arizona restaurateur Sam Fox is bringing The Yard to his native Tucson, and is hiring almost 200 positions in anticipation of its opening.

Culinary Dropout, the anchor of Fox Restaurant Concepts’ Yard developments, will be hosting a job fair Aug. 21 through Sept. 2 at the new location in the former Grant Road Lumber Yard at 2543 E. Grant Road the northeast corner of Grant and Tucson Boulevard in central Tucson.

The restaurant is hiring line cooks, prep cooks, pastry cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and hosts/hostesses.

The new space opens Sept. 20.

Fox is also in the process of opening The Yard in downtown Gilbert, which will be the largest one to date. Fox paid slightly more than $1 million for the parcel.

The Tucson development will cost less than his Tempe location of The Yard, which cost around $11 million.

Source

Sam Fox expands corporate office in Phoenix

on April 3, 2017

PHOENIX, Arizona — Since 2012, Sam Fox’s corporate headquarters for Fox Restaurant Concepts has sat above The Henry, one of his signature restaurants, in a multi-tenant office complex called The Park located at 4455 East Camelback Road in Phoenix, AZ.

Recently, Fox announced the expansion of their corporate offices at The Park. Fox Restaurant Concepts and True Foods Kitchen, both part of Fox’s corporate offices, will occupy two office spaces totaling 13,673-square-feet.

Jon Rosenberg and Keri Davies of Levrose Commercial Real Estate negotiated both leases on behalf of the Landlord and Jerry Roberts of CBRE represented the Tenant.

The office expansion announcement comes as the latest in a series of announcements from Sam Fox, including the opening of Fox’s latest restaurant, Doughbird Pizza & Rotisserie, which opened on Tuesday, March 28. Also announced was Fox’s nomination for Outstanding Restaurateur for the 10th year in a row by the James Beard Foundation.

Meanwhile in the Old Pueblo, work being done by Common Bond Development Group and partner Sam Fox continues on The Yard at Grant Road Lumber, 2543 E Grant Road in Tucson, a 20,000-square-foot restaurant building that promises to be the “nicest Yard to date”. Opening is planned for Sept 2017.

Common Bond Development Group is also building a 6,825-square-foot multi-tenant retail pad on the immediate corner of this project on Grant Road with quoted rents in the “low-$40’s/SF, NNN.”

These two Tucson projects represent approximately $15 million combined investment.

For more information on the Tucson property sale see Real Estate Daily News September 9, 2016 and see early grading of the Yard at Grant Road Lumber here.

Source

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