Marana is set to get an outpost of the popular east side family-friendly Home Plate Sports Pub, a restaurant and sports bar with batting cages.
Owner Rick James said he and his partner Steve Enselmo, who have owned Home Plate at 4880 E. 22nd St. for 10 of its 50 years, bought the former Monkey Business Eatertainment at 8581 N. Silverbell Road. He would not disclose how much they paid, but he said they plan to open Home Plate Marana sometime in June.
The pair plan to subdivide the nearly 12,000-square-foot building in Marana’s Continental Ranch neighborhood into as many as five retail spaces. Home Plate will take up 4,500 square feet, James said, and his wife will open her gift basket business in 1,000 square feet.
Construction crews began working on the building last week, knocking down walls and redesigning the space. The kitchen will remain as is, he said.
James and Enselmo bought the building as is, with a completely furnished kitchen and dining room, flat-screen TVs on the walls and the arcade games that were central to Monkey Business’s theme of being a pizza and arcade restaurant.
Monkey Business closed in late January 2014, less than five years after mother-son owners Jay and David McGuire opened it. The business was a big draw for kids’ parties in Marana and did a brisk business with sports teams. But the McGuires struggled to make it work after a series of setbacks during the two-year construction including having a contractor walk off with $700,000 of their money soon after breaking ground in 2007.
Home Plate has often been described as a pub with a sandlot. Folks who want to watch sports on its numerous TVs set around the dining room mingle with Little Leaguers practicing their home-run hitting in the batting cages out back.
James said they will construct batting cages at the Marana location in a side parking lot and will build a separate restroom so that younger patrons don’t have to walk through the restaurant.
James, who runs a pool cleaning service and once co-owned the Wildcat House at 1801 N. Stone Ave., described Home Plate as not so much a sports bar as a “neighborhood family restaurant/bar.” In addition to the batting cages, it also will have pool tables, dart boards and video games. The arcade games that came with the business will be removed, he said.
Also going is the car wash attached to the backside of Monkey Business.
Home Plate’s menu includes typical pub food such as sandwiches, wings, burgers and pizza.
