Sam Fox brought Culinary Dropout at The Yard to his hometown. At $11 million, it is one of the restaurant mogul’s most expensive ventures.
It was the best, worst-kept secret for months before Tucson-born restaurant mogul Sam Fox announced publicly that he had bought the old Grant Road Lumber and planned to bring his popular Culinary Dropout at The Yard concept to his hometown.
Nearly a year after he bought the lumber yard and after months of construction at a cost that was expected to top $11 million — one of Fox’s most expensive restaurant ventures — he opened Culinary Dropout on Sept. 20. The 19,000-square-foot project was his first new concept in Tucson in a decade.
In mid-December, Fox opened his first North Italia in Las Vegas. North, which has a location at La Encantada in Tucson, is expected soon to open two Texas locations — in Dallas and Austin. That would make five North locations in Texas. The Italian concept also has outposts in the Phoenix area, Colorado, Kansas and California.
