How's it going? I've been in Dallas for many years, but I will be making the move to Tucson with my wife probably after the first of the year. I look forward to meeting anybody living in the area. Feel free to BM me if you want to chat about Tucson or if you have any suggestions. We are moving for her job, so I will need to find something in Tucson. I am an attorney by training with an MBA too, so any help is greatly appreciated. Now I just have to thin out the cellar before we move...
Tucson's a damn good beer city, I'd say. Tap & Bottle is one of my favorite beer bars anywhere in the country. Great tap list and it doubles as a bottle shop/place to pop a bottle and pay a small corkage fee. Growler fills too. 1702 gets exceptional beers, but I think the atmosphere is lame and the pizza is gar-bahj. Dragoon is my favorite brewery there... outstanding IPA, DIPA, mild brown, porter, etc. They have done some barrel-aged beers that I've truly enjoyed. Excellent brewery that doesn't get the credit it deserves in AZ. I also enjoy Barrio for the atmosphere, the view of the mountains and their NCAAle and BA variations of the same beer. Others like the Barrio Rojo are good too, if somewhat unexciting. Thunder Canyon is solid too and has a great tap selection beyond their own beers, it's kinda like half-brewery, half-bar (at least at the downtown location) and the food at both locales is good. A place my pops and I always hit every time we are in Tucson is Union Public House. Selection is standard but lots of taps and bottles and the food is tasty. Upscale and trendy.
There are a couple of meetup groups for beer in this town, be sure to check them out. My favorite craft bar is Tap and Bottle, they have an ever changing food truck offering for their only food (no kitchen) but there are many good beer bars here in town and most restaurants stock a quality selection. There are a number of private tasting parties every few months, don't clear out that cellar too much! http://www.thetapandbottle.com/current-tap-list/
Sad news indeed. Tucson's getting(and DFW's losing) a cool dude. We need to set up a "moving away" share for Scott, @mattisloco.
When I lived near Tucson a few years back, I always liked going to AJ's Fine Foods on the north side. Now they have BevMo and newer stuff, I'm sure. Pretty cool city.
Local shop that is great is Plaza Liquors. Also we have BevMo and Totalwine plus a few other haunts. Tap and Bottle for sure as mentioned and Noble Hops is a good place to eat and get some beer.
