Chicken anyone?

Lunchtime can be a great time for some tasty eats around Tucson – or a hurried grab at Cheetos from the cafeteria vending machine.

One reader sent in a host of great ideas for the new site, one of which was a feature on lunch spots in different areas around town.

The newsroom is stuck on South Park Avenue and Irvington Road, a seemingly 200 miles from anything edible.

Unless you really dig vending machine Cheetos.

One South Side restaurat was reviewed by Tom Stauffer, former Citizen staffer and awesome food writer.

But he said Hacienda del Mar lacks a major commodity: taste.

(Read review below).

Anyone know of any tasty lunch spots on the South Side?

Hacienda del Mar suffers severe flavor shortage

TOM STAUFFER

I had a pleasant introduction to this South Side restaurant in August about a month after the owners took over the estatelike building, the former home of Parrilla del Rey.

It’s downright palatial, with impressive rock work, hardwood floors, rough-hewn beams and roomy, nicely done dining areas.

I ordered the Camarones con Crema Chipotle ($10.95) and was impressed. The large shrimp were cooked to a tender texture, the cream sauce was rich and savory, and the plate was generously accompanied by rice, steak fries, a small salad and fresh tortillas.

Since that time, the kitchen at Hacienda del Mar has apparently been outfitted with a new piece of equipment – a flavor extractor.

They had it set on high on a recent visit.

My companion and I started with the Tostada Ceviche ($2.99) and the Botana Marinera ($12.95). As with everything else we ordered, the large tostada came with a large helping of ceviche, which was primarily composed of shrimp. Seeing as how ceviche is, by definition, cold-cooked in lime juice, we were somewhat perplexed by the addition of what was either mayo or some type of liquid dairy product. The resulting marriage was odd, to say the least. It came off as an accident, as if someone carrying an overly bland bowl of ceviche collided with someone carrying an overly bland bowl of cole slaw.

The botana appetizer was an even bigger disappointment. The large plate was laid out with a good 15 or so cold, tailless shrimp and 30 or 40 nickel-sized wafers of sliced octopus. My companion and I were nothing less than astonished by the complete lack of flavor in the seafood. It was like eating rubberized air.

We didn’t fare much better with the entrees.

The Tampiquena ($10.95) was a thin slab of rather tough steak. It not only lacked the traditional topping of sautéed onions and bell peppers, but also the chile seasoning that’s normally imbued in the steak. It came with a large order of refried beans and rice, both of which were similarly lacking in soul.

My companion’s Enchiladas Suiza ($9.95) was composed of two large enchiladas stuffed with chicken. The enchiladas were topped with melted cheddar and a greenish cream sauce. They looked nice, but were as flavor-challenged as the rest of the meal.

The desserts were not half bad. The flan ($2.75) was respectable, a version that blended both variants, the cakey and the custardlike. The cheesecake ($2.75), while not overly notable, had a pleasant tang and subtle sweetness.

On my first visit, the server informed me that the people who own Hacienda del Mar also own La Fresita and The Taco Shop Co., fast-Mexican joints in town. I’ve eaten at both, and found them to be of decent quality.

If they served food even remotely as lively and fresh-tasting at their estate on South Nogales Highway, the uncommonly beautiful Hacienda could become a signature destination. The service is professional and prompt, the menu has something for everybody, the portions are huge and the prices are reasonable.

They just need to do something about that giant sucking sound in the kitchen.

AT A GLANCE

What: Hacienda del Mar

Phone and address: 807-5600, 5358 S. Old Nogales Highway

Specialty: Michoacan-style Mexican

Price: Appetizers from $2.99 to $10.95; soups $6.95 to $10.95; burritos $3.95 to $6.49; entrees $8.25 to $10.95.

Bar: Full

Vegetarian options: All soups, salads and entrees can be prepared without meat.

Desserts: Tres Leches Cake, Flan, Chocolate/Chocolate Cake, Cheesecake, (all $2.95) and Ice Cream ($1.95)

Currency: Cash and credit

Latest health inspection: Passed its opening inspection Oct. 4. Has yet to undergo its first unannounced inspection.

Friday is National Pizza Party Day, as if you needed a reason to go for pizza on Friday. Honor the day by supporting these fine local purveyors of pie:

ANGELINA’S

12152 N. Rancho Vistoso Blvd., Suite 170, 742-9595, 11 a.m.-midnight Sundays -Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays

BROOKLYN PIZZA COMPANY

534 N. Fourth Ave., 622-6868, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays, noon-10 p.m Sundays

GRANDMA TONY’S PIZZA

7878 E. Wrightstown Road (886-4461), 9040 E. Valencia Road (663-1936), 7010 E. Broadway (885-7117), 2451 S. Harrison Road (721-6600), 11 a.m.-9 p.m Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

MAGPIES GOURMET PIZZA

4654 E. Speedway Blvd. (795-5977), 105 S. Houghton Road (751-9949), 605 N. Fourth Ave. (628-1661), 8295 N. Cortaro Road (572-4300), 7315 N. Oracle Road (297-2712), hours vary

MAMA’S FAMOUS PIZZA & HEROES

7965 N. Oracle Road (297-3993), 4500 E. Speedway Blvd. (319-2537), 696 E. 22nd St. (750-1919), 50 S. Houghton Road (751-4600), 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

MARIO’S PIZZA

3157 N. First Ave., 622-3668, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

PIZZAZZ! PIZZA BISTRO

1763 E. Prince Road, 325-9040, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

ROCCO’S LITTLE CHICAGO PIZZERIA

2707 E. Broadway, 321-1860, 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays

SAUCE

5285 E. Broadway (514-1122), 7117 N. Oracle Road (297-8575), 2990 N. Campbell Ave. (795-0344), 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

VERO AMORE

3305 N. Swan Road (325-4122), 12130 N. Dove Mountain Blvd. (579-2292), 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

ZACHARY’S PIZZA

1028 E. Sixth St., 623-6323, 4-10 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2-10 p.m Sundays

ZONA 78

78 W. River Road (888-7878), 7301 E. Tanque Verde Road (296-7878), 11 a.m.-10 p.m daily

The Chilled Seafood Platter was a delightful surprise, with fresh shrimp, mussels and crab, and an innovative presentation of calamari.

Casino restaurants are notorious for serving decent food in large portions and pleasant surroundings to people who have striking it rich at the top of their lists and dining a distant second.

But given Tucson’s paucity of steakhouses, this upscale offering at Desert Diamond Casino is worth the trip without the chips, particularly because it may be the Tucson area’s best tweener steakhouse.

The prices are more reasonable than the upscale a la carte steakhouses, while the fare, service and surroundings are notably superior to the kitschy, Wild West joints.

The clinchers for us were the starters and the desserts – both of which are common shortcomings at steakhouses.

The Chilled Seafood Sampler ($14.95) was impressive enough to hold its own against any freestanding restaurant, steakhouse or otherwise. The hubcap-sized platter featured four large shrimp, four large mussels, four crab claws, a good 8 ounces or so of bay shrimp ceviche, and a similarly large serving of calamari salad. The shrimp, mussels and crab were of excellent quality and freshness, and would have been worth the price of the platter. We were expecting the ceviche and calamari offerings to be little more than gestures, but they were our favorite parts of the plate. The bay shrimp were kept in the lime juice to an exacting finish, as they were nicely supple and delicately acidic.

The orange-hued calamari strips were cleverly camped in a light sauce of ginger, sesame oil and citrus, and were teamed with julienned peppers and vegetables in a vibrant, delicate Asian motif. It was one of the more innovative presentations of calamari we’ve encountered, good enough to be an appetizer all by its lonesome.

Next to arrive were generous dinner salads and a flatbread foccacia that struck us as a delicately sweet lavosh. Both of these came with the entrees.

The Rib-Eye Beef Brochettes ($19.95) entree featured 10 medallion-sized cuts of rib-eye skewered with red onion, tomato and mushrooms. The meat had been expertly charred to carry a good payoff of grilled flavor without bringing any of the bitterness from too much charring. There was an extra rich, roastiness to the meat that had us thinking truffle oil may have been in there.

We chose the middle-of-the-road sized Prime Rib as our second entree – the 12-ounce steakhouse cut ($18.95). If the cut we were served was 12 ounces, we’ve been getting ripped off at other joints, because the slab seemed notably bigger than the standard median offering. It was a good 2 inches thick, was nicely stopped at medium rare, and was delicately imbued with natural juices, rather than ratcheted up with beef stock or other enhancements. The interior pink was dense yet supple, while the gray, outer perimeter beyond the ring of fat was softer, richer and saltier – all in all, a respectable and well-roasted prime rib. The 10-ounce English cut goes for $16.95, while the 16-ounce Desert Diamond cut is $18.95.

The beef here is Sterling Silver Premium – they tell you so with little, black plastic sign skewers that the server thankfully removes tableside. It’s a status I’ve encountered at a couple of other steak joints with good but not spectacular results. This was the best Sterling Silver beef I’ve encountered, and it doesn’t hurt that they grill it with precision and serve it in impressive portions.

Rather than sautéed until limp and flavor-challenged, the seasonal vegetables that sided both entrees were colorful and firm, the zucchini a little too much so, as it was a tad bitter.

We had little room for dessert and weren’t overly enthralled with the choices until they arrived.

The two wedges of Chocolate Hazelnut Cake ($6.25) looked impossible to finish, but we nearly did just that. Two layers of cake sandwiched a light cream layer and topped with ganache, the cake came off much more sophisticated and diversely flavored than its hulking demeanor led on.

Rather than an overpowering sweetness, it was airy and ultramoist, with a mellow, milk chocolate theme and a faint but pleasing note of pungency from cream cheese (or possibly mascarpone). The Streusel Baked Peach Cobbler ($6.25) was dominated by a scoop of vanilla ice cream the size of a softball, but the skillet of cobbler beneath had me steering around the ice cream to get at the ideal match of toasty, crumbly pastry and mild, fresh peaches.

With two coffees and a club soda, the tab for the whole deal came to $73.85. If that sounds like a lot, you haven’t loaded up at a steak place lately, as that’s $30 to $50 less than what I’d expect to pay at an upscale steak joint and not much more than I would at a cowboy joint with foil-wrapped baked potatoes, store-bought dinner rolls, canned green beans and middling steaks.

You may have never ventured to a casino just to dine, but if you’re looking for a good steak and an excellent appetizer, it’s a safe bet you’ll come away from Desert Diamond’s steakhouse feeling like a winner.

If you order the Streusel Baked Peach Cobbler, work around the ice cream to get to the crumbly sweet cobbler underneath.

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AT A GLANCE

Address and phone: 7350 S. Old Nogales Highway, 294-7777

Prices: Appetizers $8.95 to $14.95; side orders $3.25; entrees $16.95 to $28.95; desserts $6.25

Hours: daily 4 to 10 p.m.

Bar: Full

Vegetarian options: Colossal Onion Bloom ($8.95), Flambéed Garlic-Cremini Mushroom ($3.25), Broccoli Florets & Gruyere Cheese or alla Polonaise ($3.25)

Desserts: Several, including Chocolate Hazelnut Cake ($6.25), Tiramisu Cake ($6.25) and Streusel Baked Cobbler ($6.25)

The Spring Lunch Features are: • Soup and Salad • Salad with Wood Grilled Chicken • Sliders and Fries • Grilled Shrimp and Strawberry Salad • Penne Pasta with Mixed Greens • Colorado Chicken Salad • Wood Grilled Cheeseburger • Firebirds Double BLT • Bleu Cheese Sirloin

They’re available 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, but not on takeout orders.

Sonora Querida Asadero is reminiscent of a hidden treasure of a restaurant in San Carlos or Rocky Point.

What: Sonora Querida Asadero

Address and phone: 4749 S. 12th Ave., 889-0923

Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily

What was ordered: Ceviche Tostada ($3), two Marlin Tacos ($3 each), Carne Rajas Tacos ($3), Caramelo ($2), Limonada ($1.50), and Jamaica ($1.50) for a total of $18.38 including tax, within our Cheap Eats goal of a meal for two for less than $20

Comments: ¡Que suave!

My 10-year-old daughter keeps telling me to stop using the word cool, because these days, cool stands for “constipated, out-of-touch, out-of-style loser,” she says. If I’m impressed with something, rather than calling it cool, I should call it sweet, she says.

I can’t call something sweet. It just sounds too cute and cuddly to be uttered by someone as jaded and misanthropic as me. Fortunately, there’s an excellent Spanish alternative – suave – which is more literally translated as smooth, but covers the same ground as cool.

And this South Side taco joint is very cool indeed.

The fare is authentically coastal Sonoran, with a nice selection of beef and seafood tacos, tostadas, tortas and sopas.

The Ceviche Tostada was probably my least favorite selection on a recent visit, which is saying something, because it was one of the better ceviche tostadas I’ve had on the South Side. Though the portions of seafood were moderate, the octopus, shrimp and fish were fresh and bouncy, the pico was mild and unassuming, and the corn tortilla was fried to order.

My companion had high praise for the Marlin Taco, noting that it was “exquisitely infused with the sensation of standing at a taco stand on the beach at Guaymas.” The marlin chunks were reddened by a tangy, zingy sauce, and the thick, flour taco shell was nicely grilled yet slightly puffy.

My favorite was the Taco Rajas. The teaming of good carne asada, fresh roasted peppers and melted Mexican white cheese had the kind of roasty, salty, slightly greasy payoff that so many beef tacos lack.

All six selections we devoured came to the table somewhat mild and unassuming, which made for ideal customization with the diverse condiment tray delivered to the table. The tray included red and avocado salsa, cilantro, onions and limes, allowing us to trick out and crank up the flavor profiles as we saw fit.

The look, feel and service here are no-nonsense. They don’t have to try to sell you on the authenticity with trinkets, decorations and other trappings. The food supplies all the authenticity you need to be transported to that little off-the-beaten-track place in San Carlos or Puerto Peñasco, the place you seek out even before you unpack the car at the hotel.

And that’s very cool, and maybe even sweet.

Service: Tableside service was friendly, prompt and bilingual, which comes in handy for gringos, as the menu is in Spanish.

Bar: no

Children’s menu: no

Web site: no

Mystery meat

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – A diner at a T.G.I. Friday’s in upstate New York says he got a little something extra with his broccoli – a severed snake head.

Jack Pendleton says he was at the restaurant in Clifton Park on Sunday when he spotted something gray mixed in with his vegetables. He realized it was a snake head the size of his thumb, with part of the spine still attached.

Pendleton says he snapped a photo with his cell phone camera and called the waiter over. He says he has no plans to sue.

A spokeswoman for the Carrollton, Texas, chain says it’s investigating. It wasn’t immediately known what kind of snake it was.

Pendleton and his girlfriend weren’t charged for their meals.

Pendeleton

It's officially time to celebrate bread pudding, which comes in many different flavors and varieties.

The first week in May is National Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Week, a great time to sample the dessert at these local eateries, though you may have some trouble getting the chefs to divulge their recipes.

BLUEFIN SEAFOOD BISTRO

7053 N. Oracle Road, 531-8500, 11 a.m. -9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Sourdough Bread Pudding with kiln-dried cherries and bourbon crème anglaise.

ECLECTIC CAFE

7053 E. Tanque Verde Road, 885-2842, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding

ELLE WINE COUNTRY RESTAURANT

3048 E. Broadway, 327-0500, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 4-9 p.m. Sundays

Warm Bread Pudding with cinnamon and golden raisins, topped with a bourbon cream sauce.

FLYING V BAR & GRILL

7000 N. Resort Drive, 615-5495, 5:30-9:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 5:30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Raspberry Croissant Bread Pudding with butterscotch ice cream

JONATHAN’S CORK

6320 E. Tanque Verde Road, 296-163, dinner from 5 p.m. nightly

New Orleans-style Bread Pudding

O’SHAUGHNESSY’S STEAKHOUSE & PIANO BAR

2200 N. Camino Principal, 296-7464, 5:30-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays

Signature Bread Pudding with bourbon sauce

MONTANA AVENUE

6390 E. Grant Road, 298-2020, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Kentucky Bourbon Bread Pudding with spiced sour cherries and candied pecans

VIVACE

4310 N. Campbell Ave., 795-7221, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Warm bread pudding made with croissants and apples in a Tuaca caramel sauce

The Rock Shrimp Ceviche is a fresh, clean appetizer with subtle, balanced flavors.

elle plays it close to the vest, from the lower-case moniker to its subtle teaming of French, Italian and California-fresh fare.

There’s an unpretentious yet elegant sense of place at work here, a harmony of the historic Broadway Village confines and the casually graceful atmosphere, service and fare that give elle a quiet yet distinct signature.

Tucson’s only Wine Country Restaurant, it offers not only an extensive selection of wines but also goes to considerable lengths to optimally pair them to a menu that draws a bead on simplicity and classic technique, tweaked with clever, imaginative notes and themes.

We started a recent visit with the Rock Shrimp Ceviche ($10), a great introduction to the subtle power that exemplifies elle at its best, a measured commitment to teaming flavors and textures that mirrors the effort spent in pairing just the right wine to just the right food. The large bowl was generously portioned with medium-shrimp that were cleanly fresh and nicely stiffened by an elegant ceviche. The teaming of cantaloupe and meticulously sectioned ruby red grapefruit and navel oranges took the ceviche’s lime to a new and different place. The lack of overwhelming acidity and spicy heat provided a refreshing, more open canvas with which to savor the sweetness of the shrimp and fruit.

Our other starter, the elle Antipasta ($12.75) was a well-balanced collection of hot coppacola, green peppercorn salami, marinated artichokes, bell peppers and mushrooms, rounded out with three thick slices of house-made mozzarella and goat-cheese stuffed peppadew peppers that were surprisingly sweet and tangy. The mild, dense mozzarella made for a good counterpoint to the salumi, which also included a sultry pile of prosciutto that wasn’t listed on the menu.

The Portuguese Short Ribs ($22) entree has long been a favorite here. A generous serving of two large ribs cut from the bone and served flat, they were sided by mashed red potatoes and braised cabbage. The braised ribs were thick and tender, trimmed to include a good payoff of fatty richness, and had notably enduring notes of cinnamon, mint and red wine, which just as pleasantly accented the potatoes and cabbage.

My companion’s Gnocchi entree ($13.25 for the petite version) initially struck us as anomalously aggressive compared to most of elle’s fare, as the salmon was strikingly pungent and husky to nose and mouth. A few bites into the dish, the supporting cast began to resonate, with a rich, French-evoking meld of red onions, roma tomatoes and roasted pine nuts in a sweet pesto cream sauce catching up with the salmon. While my companion decided the dish was a bit too bold and fishy (we switched entrees), I found myself appreciating the pedal-to-the-metal dose of rich salmon against the pillowy, ethereal gnocchi and sweet sauce to the very last bite.

A nice feature of elle is that petite versions of most of the menu selections are available, even with desserts, a break in prices and portions that I wish more eateries offered.

We finished with petite versions of Warm Gingerbread ($5.50) and Warm Bread Pudding ($5.50). The gingerbread was dense and moist, not bashful with the ginger but not overbearing, topped with a caramel sauce and sided by banana gelato. The bread pudding had an engaging degree of crisp sizzle but was still soft and supple enough to merit true bread-pudding status, unlike other versions that amount to not much more than glorified cinnamon rolls. Served with a delicately rich bourbon cream sauce, this is the one dish we should have ordered full-size rather than the petite version.

The Tagliatella Pasta with House-made Italian Sausage ($17, $12.25 petite) is a no-brainer for fans of elle’s Italian slant, and may be my favorite entree here. Also popular is the Butternut Squash Ravioli ($16.25, $13 petite), served with spinach and sliced mushrooms in a sage brown butter sauce.

While elle may not knock your socks off with bravado and bluster (the salmon gnocchi being the notable exception), it just as impressively slides them off with a smooth, sultry motion in keeping with its soft, stately surroundings.

Tucson's only Wine Country Restaurant takes as much care with its flavor pairings as it does with its wine pairings.

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AT A GLANCE

Address and phone: 3048 E.

Broadway, 327-0500

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays – Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays

Prices: Appetizers from $7.75 to $13.50, soups and salads from $4.25 to $9.75, pastas and risottos from $11.75 to $18.25, entrees from $13.50 to $30, desserts from $5.50 to $9

Bar: full

Vegetarian options: Many, including Caponata with Garlic Bruschetta ($10.75), Butternut Squash Ravioli ($13 or $17.75), Spaghetti with Broccoli Rabe ($11.75 or $16.25) and Risotto with roasted corn, haricot verts, grape tomatoes, parsley, lemon zest and goat cheese ($12.75 or $17.25)

Desserts: Warm Gingerbread ($5.50), Chocolate Pate ($6), Crème Brûlée Duo ($6), Warm Rustic Apple-Cranberry Tart ($7), New York Caramel Cheese Cake ($6), Warm Bread Pudding ($5.50), Gelatos and Sorbets ($4.50) and CheesePlate ($9)

Latest health inspection: An “excellent” rating Nov. 16, 2006. No critical violations were reported.

During June, eegee’s customers can donate $5 to CareGiver and receive a coupon card good for 50 percent off purchases for the next 12 months, a potential savings of $72 over the course of the year. The promotion, started by eegee’s in 1992, has raised more than $1 million for local charities.

The not-for-profit institute educates compassionate, quality, certified caregivers and certified nursing assistants to work in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, hospice centers and private homes.

All expenses for the promotion are underwritten by eegee’s so that all funds raised this year, including change collected in coin canisters at eegee’s 21 locations, will go to the institute’s programs and services.

During the week of Sept. 19-26, participating restaurants will offer a three-course dinner of signature dishes for the fixed price of $29 per person or $58 per couple. Those rates exclude beverages, tax and tip.

About 100 restaurants participated in last year’s inaugural event, a Phoenix-only affair; 125 Arizona eateries are expected to take part in this year’s event.

Of participating restaurants, 90 percent reported increased reservations during Arizona Restaurant Week, and 75 percent attracted new, first-time diners, according to event organizers.

More than 25 other U.S. cities hold similar restaurant weeks, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Diego.

For more information, visit arizonarestaurantweek.com.

• • •

Agua Linda Farm will celebrate its second annual Garlic & Onion Festival from 5 to 9 p.m. June 19-20.

The free event will feature live music, hayrides, onion rings, roasted garlic and other “scrumptiously stinky treats,” as well as the chance to stock up on all natural, locally grown garlic and onions.

Most of the garlic available in the U.S. is shipped from China and is often a year old by the time it gets to your local grocery store, notes Agua Linda co-owner Stuart Loew.

Agua Linda Farm is in Amado (take Interstate 19 south, Exit 42, south on East Frontage Road). For more information, call 520-398-3218, or visit agualindafarm.net.