This week in Tucson’s restaurant universe:
Clock ticking on BZ’s Pizza; closing June 16
You have eight days to get your fill of BZ’s Pizza Co.’s pastas, award-winning pizzas and dripping good meatball sandwiches before the Sorell family pulls the plug on the popular pizzeria/Italian eatery.
The family decided last week to close the restaurant at 8858 E. Broadway, on the corner of Broadway and South Camino Seco, ahead of the city’s plans to widen Broadway.
BZ’s owner Mike Sorell said he worried that work that was set to start in July to move utility lines would hurt his business, which has weathered 18 months in a plaza that hasn’t had a major draw since its anchor Safeway closed.
Sorell said he and his partner/brother Brian Sorell are scouting alternative locations and have their eyes on the growing Vail area’s Walmart Supercenter plaza on South Houghton Road off Interstate 10. It is the biggest shopping center between Benson and Tucson.
BZ’s is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. through Friday, June 16. Follow the restaurant’s Facebook page (facebook.com/BZPizzaCo) for updates on a new location.
Obon on the move, hiring in Scottsdale
Tucson’s Obon Sushi + Bar + Ramen is expanding to the Valley of the Sun.
The 2-year-old downtown restaurant is opening a location in the tony Scottsdale Quarter, 15037 N. Scottsdale Road. The restaurant is now hiring all positions, from back-of-the-house cooks, chefs and dishwashers to servers, bartenders and hostesses for the front of the house.
Obon, 350 E. Congress St., opened in August 2015, anchoring the downtown entertainment district.
Downtown has three sushi restaurants: Obon; and newcomers MiAn Sushi & Asian Bistro, on the ground-floor of Tucson Electric Power at 88 E. Broadway; and PokeZone Sushi, 54 W. Congress St., both of which opened this spring.
