Tucson CitizenTucson Citizen

Cheap eats

Citizen Staff Writer
Dining

TOM STAUFFER

tstauffer@tucsoncitizen.com

1702 may be the name, the street number and the suffix of the phone number of this UA-area brewpub and pizza joint, but the number to remember is 49.

That’s how many different beers are currently on tap here. It’s an impressive selection of predominantly American microbrews and interesting European selections poured by servers who are friendly and adept at narrowing the dizzying number of choices based on your preferences.

Eric Lapie ran his Eric’s Ice Cream shop here from the mid-’70s to 2000 on the opposite end from Bentley’s in this venerable Speedway strip mall. Most recently, it was Local Dough, which featured “Bigga-Than-Yo-Face” slices of pizza, burgers and sandwiches. Lapie himself came back on board when Local Dough went under. He hired Austin Santos, one of Local Dough’s former owners, to manage the new manifestation, and they narrowed the menu to pizza, wings, bread sticks and a few salads, a narrowing that seems to have resulted in better food.

On a recent visit, we went with bacon on one slice and pepperoni on another. Though a slice with one topping will set you back $5.60, the slices are considerably larger than the “personal pizzas” available at other joints, or even medium pies for that matter. The style is New York, with a thin, floppy crust and a light touch with the sauce. The bacon was crumbled from a good, thick-sliced variety. As with the bacon, the pepperoni was generously portioned on the gigantic slices.

1702 has great suds, good food and an über-comfortable, no-attitude feel. It has the potential to become the kind of timeless hangout that current University of Arizona students will recall with fond memories after they move on, in much the same way generations of former students recall Eric’s Ice Cream.

1702

1702 E. Speedway Blvd., 325-1702,

11a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays – Fridays, 5p.m. to 12a.m. Saturdays

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