Tucson chef Albert Hall is moving his prominent Acacia at St. Philip's Plaza restaurant to what will soon be the former home of Sur Real Latin American Cuisine.
The still-struggling economy is a reason cited for both changes to the local dining scene.
Friday will be the last night in business for the two-year-old Sur Real, and the restaurant's managing partner, Dean Greenberg, is promising it will be "a first-class New Year's Eve - a big, fun night."
He said he just finished ordering filets and lobsters for Sur Real's closing event, which also will feature champagne and music by a salsa band. "We have 150 to 200 New Year's Eve reservations, and we're looking for more," Greenberg said Wednesday.
Acacia will remain open at St. Philip's, 4340 N. Campbell Ave., until Jan. 13. On Jan. 14, Hall will open Acacia Real Food & Cocktails in the former Sur Real space at 3001 E. Skyline Drive, on the northeast corner of North Campbell Avenue.
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"I'm really excited about this new space. It's got an exhibition kitchen. There's a chef's table. It's got incredible views of the city," said Hall, who has operated his upscale contemporary American restaurant for six years in St. Philip's Plaza.
Hall said the move allows him to downsize his operation, going from 10,000 square feet to 6,000, and get out from under a $26,000 monthly lease. Hall said that over the past two years he fell three months behind in payments and was unable to work out a deal with the property's owner to catch up. Since October, he said, he has been on a week-to-week lease.
Rent at the new space is just over half what he now pays, he said.
"I have an opportunity to save my business, and with the current rent structure the way it is here, that wasn't going to happen," Hall said.
Greenberg, for his part, lamented that many locally owned restaurants such as Sur Real are struggling to make it because "everybody wants a discount" through deals including the Groupon website, while restaurants' costs for food are "through the roof right now."
"We'll be left with a lot of the chains," Greenberg predicted.
Sur Real's staff of about 50 was told Tuesday of the restaurant's impending closure, he said, "and there were some tears." There will inevitably be layoffs, said Greenberg, who added that he will try to find opportunities for the employees at his other restaurants here: Sam Hughes Place Championship Dining and Shlomo & Vito's Delicatessen.
As for Acacia's employees, most of its 54 jobs will move with the restaurant, Hall said.
Against the backdrop of this economy, he plans to offer a more extensive casual-dining menu, while taking advantage of the new site's expanded bar area.
The casual anytime menu will include meal-sized salads, pastas and sandwiches priced between $7 and $16.
"On the fine-dining level, for dinner we're going to be offering our tasting menu in addition to well-chosen Acacia favorites," Hall said, including Dungeness crab cakes, cioppino, and Willcox plum tomato and fresh basil soup.
DID YOU KNOW
Tucson chef Albert Hall also operates Tohono Chul Park's Tea Room, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte.
Compiled by the Star's Cathalena E. Burch, Becky Pallack and Norma Coile. Contact them at business@azstarnet.com