Noshing Around

By Adam Borowitz

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Coming Soon: Smashburger

It's called a Smashburger because fresh meat is formed into spheres and smashed flat while being cooked in butter. This apparently makes for super-tasty burgers, and has gained the Colorado-based restaurant chain Smashburger quite a following. At first glimpse, this might appear to be just another burger joint, but look at the menu at smashburger.com, and you'll see details that put it a cut above the competition: Angus beef, truffle mayonnaise, build-your-own-burger options, tons of add-ons and midrange prices put it somewhere between fast food and boutique burger shop. Tucson's first Smashburger is going in at 4821 E. Grant Road and is expected to open in mid-December.

Coming Soon: Tap + Bottle

Downtown is getting a new store and watering hole called Tap + Bottle, at 403 N. Sixth Ave. Owner Rebecca Safford says she'll have 16 beers and four wines on tap, and more than 300 bottled beers that can be purchased to go or enjoyed in-house. Safford says a new liquor law will also allow her to fill growlers. Tap + Bottle is expected to open in mid-September.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

Ari Shapiro, owner of Xoom Juice and downtown bistro and café Sparkroot, is opening a new restaurant at Broadway Boulevard and Eastbourne Avenue, near Country Club Road. Falora Pizza and Espresso will serve high-quality coffee, pizza, hand-crafted beer, wine and other things. "Falora will serve breakfast specializing in fresh-baked bread, and lunch specializing in fresh salads and artisan pizza pies, serving them on into the evenings," the press release says.

Vito's Pizza Kitchen, which closed a while back at 2921 E. Fort Lowell Road, has merged with Shlomo and Vito's New York Delicatessen at 2870 E. Skyline Drive. A press release says the restaurant will hold a reopening in August.

It looks like Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink, which is going in at the former Reilly Funeral Home at 102 E. Pennington St., is getting ready to open. It's been under construction for more than a year—which we hear has yielded stunning results in the redesign of the interior—and the owner started hiring staff last week, signaling that the opening can't be far off.