Students will be able to grab a sandwich, espresso and fresh-squeezed orange juice on their way to class when Wilko opens in a couple weeks directly across from the UA's Main Gate. But while it's convenient for students, owner Peter Wilke also expects the market, set to open early September at 943 E. University Blvd., to be a destination for scores more shoppers. Wilko will include items — from cosmetics to messenger bags and jewelry — available nowhere else in Arizona. If you think of campus dining as cheap food for the undiscerning young masses, you haven't been down to the University of Arizona area lately.
The UA is literally surrounded by a wide variety of restaurants. There are longtime favorites such as Gentle Ben's Brewing Co., which started serving students in 1971. New upscale dining at Bakerzin, a Singapore-based eatery that made Main Gate Square (which has more than 30 restaurants) its first American venture within the past year. Emerging franchises such as the Cheba Hut ("Where the only thing fried is an occasional customer!!!") on Sixth Street near McKale Center. And a small strip mall at Speedway and Campbell Avenue is nearly devoted to food with Miss Saigon, a bagel franchise, a coffee shop and an ice cream store.
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It's a unique area, said Dennis Arnold, who owns Gentle Ben's. Thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds walk, ride their bikes or drive past Gentle Ben's, 865 E. University Blvd., every day — "probably half our business is college students, and the other half are people dealing with reality," he joked.
There are also about 25 restaurants within 150 yards of his front door, and Arnold, who says he's lost track of all the businesses that have come and gone over the years, is curious to see how many of these new restaurants will fare, given the intense competition and longstanding challenges such as parking.
"We serve a lot of different customers," said Jane McCollum, who oversees the management of Main Gate Square for the Marshall Foundation. In addition to the thousands of students who live within walking distance, Main Gate Square draws an increasingly wide mix that includes neighbors, arts and theater patrons, sports fans, tourists, shoppers — and people just drawn by the atmosphere. Several places, including Caffé Lucé, Auld Dubliner, Frog & Firkin and Vila Thai Cuisine, offer music and/or community art.
There's still room for a couple more restaurants, she said. For example, "we really want a sushi restaurant."
The people who come to Main Gate Square expressly to shop at Ed Hardy often end up spending some money on food. "I don't think anyone just buys and leaves; they usually come and stay for awhile," said manager Ruby Randall, whose gotten adept at making dining recommendations.
The increased competition isn't lost on the UA. "We welcome it," says Nick Adamakis, the marketing director of Arizona Student Unions. A UA student in the late '80s, he remembers there were half as many restaurants around campus. The restaurants that succeed are the ones that carve out niches and provide consistently quality food, he said. "It gives students more options."
The UA now offers more than 35 different places to dine on campus, from franchises to specialty eateries such as the Highland Market next to El Portal, a residence hall complex (think groceries, rotisserie chicken, a grill menu and more open until 1 a.m.). The newest, Core, is all about salads and set to open within the next couple weeks in the main Student Union.
"You can still get your classic double cheeseburger," he said, "but you can also get a healthy salad." Students can log onto www.union.arizona.edu/ dining/healthy/index.php for complete nutritional information on everything in the campus restaurants. The Web site also makes it easy to navigate the menus to identify lowfat, low-carb, vegan and vegetarian selections.
Wilko will occupy the corner where University Drug Co. stood for about 80 years, and feature sandwiches made daily just down the street at Time Market Deli & Pizza, 444 E. University Blvd., which Wilke owns along with the B Line restaurant at 621 N. Fourth Ave.
