The corner of East Seventh Street and North Sixth Avenue has long been overshadowed by the hip-and-happening North Fourth Avenue and East Congress Street.
But that could dramatically change when 蜜柚直播鈥檚 first restaurant anchored by pickleball courts opens later this month.
at 340 N. Sixth Ave., a sprawling multipurpose entertainment complex that takes up a city block, with five pickleball courts, a full-service restaurant, an outdoor live music stage and a beer garden, will open on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
鈥淲e鈥檙e changing the traffic pattern of how this area gets used,鈥 said , a partner in the project with developers Scott Stiteler and Rudy Dabdoub. 鈥淚 think Fourth Avenue has its history and steady players, and Sixth Avenue has had some growth. Now people are going to say, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 going on on Fifth Avenue?鈥欌
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颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 takes up nearly an acre of the four-acre Corbett Building lot bordered by Fifth and Sixth avenues and Seventh Street, just off the path of the months-old Maclovio Barraza Parkway that bypasses downtown.
The area is home to the neighboring and on North Sixth Avenue and, if you venture a couple of blocks down to East Sixth Street, artisan pizzeria. But most of the nightlife migrates to North Fourth or Congress, home to at least a dozen bars and live music venues, as well as a plethora of restaurants.
颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 could alter that dynamic.
鈥淚 think the timing for 蜜柚直播 to have something this size, indoor outdoor, it seems to be just right,鈥 said Stiteler, who bought the Corbett Building in 1999 but held off on developing it while he and his 蜜柚直播-based Loveblock Partners 鈥 founding partner Stiteler, Dabdoub, Omar Valle, Christina Rosete, Chris Hodgson and Nick Fox 鈥 focused on their 鈥淐ongress and Fifth鈥 projects downtown including the Hub, Playground, Connect Coworking, One North Fifth apartments and the AC Marriott Hotel.
Stiteler and Dabdoub broke ground on 颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 2陆 years ago with the goal of building a 4,000-square-foot restaurant and 12,000-square-foot covered patio on one end of the property and create event space at the old J. Knox Corbett Lumber Yard building on the other end. The 90-year-old building, which had endured fire and flood damage in recent years, had been abandoned for 10 years.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know what to do with the middle, but once we were under construction with the restaurant, at that point pickleball was becoming very popular,鈥 Dabdoub said. 鈥淚t was an evolution. We started out with a restaurant 鈥 then we traced our steps and came up with 颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚.鈥
The scope of the project expanded to include three outdoor pickleball courts and two inside the Corbett Building, an outdoor music stage that will host local singer-songwriters and acoustic artists and a beer garden with 16 taps including local brews from Barrio, Moto Sonora, Pueblo Vida, Crooked Tooth, Dragoon, Borderlands, Dillinger and 1912 Brewing Co.
颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 also will have Ray Ray鈥檚 Sonoran Spirit Tea and a variety of cocktails, many of them crafted with Whiskey Del Bac spirits.
While pickleball is an obvious draw, Stiteler and his partners say the heartbeat of 颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 is the full-service restaurant, helmed by Executive Chef Omar C. Huerta (Wildflower, North Italia, Rio Cafe).
Huerta had input in finalizing the menu, which was curated by Jasper and his former Fox Restaurant Concepts colleague Christopher Cristiano, the longtime Fox corporate chef. Jasper and Cristiano were partners in Fox and left the company after it was sold to Cheesecake Factory in 2019.
The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner and weekend brunch, with a menu of sandwiches, salads, entrees and burgers including the bacon and poblano barbecue 鈥淕ronk鈥 burger, a nod to former University of 蜜柚直播 and New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski. There鈥檚 also the 鈥湴浯前鸪俪兮檚,鈥 with roasted mushrooms and blue cheese.
Dinner entrees include prime rib and seared salmon, and meal-worthy salads include the 鈥淎ngry Italian鈥 with spicy salami, and the 鈥淪idewinder鈥 with crispy chicken, bacon and roasted corn dressed in a jalape帽o ranch.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to satisfy all of the (tastes) of 蜜柚直播. Tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, entrees,鈥 Jasper said.
In the spacious dining room, 蜜柚直播 muralist Joe Pagac covered one wall with a Norman Rockwell-esque mural depicting people eating and playing pickleball. He created a second mural, of Bridget Bardot, on corrugated metal salvaged from Twelve Tribes Reggae Shop. That bright blue mural greets guests when they pull into the 192-space parking lot.
Corrugated metal walls from Twelve Tribes is repurposed throughout 颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚, including the outdoor bar where 蜜柚直播 muralist painted a larger-than-life image of Twelve Tribes鈥 late owner Dennis 鈥淧apa Ranger鈥 Francis.
Francis鈥檚 shop was located for years at 345 N. Fifth Ave.
鈥淭hat kind of stitches it all together, connects it all,鈥 Stiteler said.
Francis鈥檚 son, Jahmar Anthony, said his father would be blown away to see his legacy live on in a place that was integral to his family and his 30 years promoting reggae and the reggae culture in 蜜柚直播. Francis died last August at the age of 66.
鈥淗e never would have thought it would be a restaurant and music venue,鈥 said Anthony, a reggae and hip-hop artist who goes by the stage name who grew up in his father鈥檚 shop. 鈥淭his right here means so much. There are going to be hundreds of thousands of people coming out there every year.鈥
The nod to Francis鈥檚 place on that property was part of Stiteler and Dabdoub鈥檚 plan to retain much of the space鈥檚 history and character.
Inside the Corbett Building, which was built in 1930 to house the family鈥檚 lumber and hardware business, the partners left bare the stucco and brick interior walls of the building. With the exception of replacing some damaged wood, the original bow trusses also remain unchanged.
The rustic feel of the space contrasts with the twin regulation-size pickleball courts that take up most of the main floor.
鈥淎ny time you can marry old and new, it鈥檚 special. It鈥檚 hard to do well,鈥 said Stiteler, who estimated the project鈥檚 cost at more than $10 million. 鈥淭his will forever change the intersection.鈥
Stiteler, who has been developing projects in 蜜柚直播 since 1994, said 颁辞谤产别迟迟鈥檚 is one of his favorite projects.
鈥淚 have not felt as good about a project in my career as this one,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 am surrounded by positives. The people we have. The concept. The location. The time of year that we鈥檙e opening. This building tells a story when you walk into it and it tells the story every time.鈥