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🍣 Zu Izakaya, an eight-year-old Tempe kitchen and bar offering Asian fusion cuisine and sushi, has opened a second location in the Sprouts shopping center on the northeast corner of Tatum and Cactus in northeast Phoenix.

What’s on the menu?

Small plates ($3.50-$11.95), salads ($3.95-$14.95), ramen and other noodle dishes ($12.95-$15.95), hot pots ($13.95-$17.95), skewers ($2.95-$5.50), tempura ($7.95-$10.95), grilled meats ($13.95-$17.95), and dinner entrees ($14.95-$19.95).

The sushi menu includes nigiri ($4-$8.95 for two pieces), sashimi ($10-$20 for five pieces), classic rolls ($5.50-$10.50), specialty rolls ($9.95-$15.95), poke bowls ($13.95), and more.

A raw bar features a daily selection of oysters.

The space

Formerly home to Shogun, one of the Valley’s first sushi bars, which closed last year after 41 years in business.

If you go

📌 Zu Izakaya, 12615 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, 602-675-0512. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

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🍺 Adam and Alicia Vath, owners of home brewing supply store What’s Ale’s Ya in Glendale, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a taproom with an instructional brewery.

What’s the plan?

Eight years ago, the Vaths (pictured) approached What Ale’s Ya owner Chuck Therio with the idea of integrating his homebrew store into a taproom and brewery. Instead, Therio decided to retire and sell the store to the Vaths in 2021.

To accomplish the second part of their dream, the Vaths now have signed a lease for a new space in north Phoenix they’re calling Hopsology Brewhouse & Taproom.

Fundraising goal

Glendale home brewing supply store owners launch Kickstarter to open taproom & breweryThe Kickstarter campaign’s goal is $20,000, mainly to build a walk-in cooler to feed 20 taps. As of Wednesday, it had raised nearly $6,000.

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📺 Tim Finnegan’s, an Irish restaurant and pub in Glendale, is the latest Valley establishment to reveal it will be featured on the April 5 episode of the Food Network’s ‘‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.’’

The episode, ‘‘Phoenix Food Fans,’’ also will spotlight Bonfire Craft Kitchen & Tap House in south Tempe and CRUjiente Tacos in Arcadia.

Showtimes vary depending on your TV provider.

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🍨 Gelato Cimmino, a locally owned gelato shop that opened in Old Town Scottsdale in 2018, has launched its long-in-the-works second location on the northeast corner of Gilbert and Vaughn (just north of OHSO Brewery) in downtown Gilbert.

Owner Mario Cimmino grew up in Torre Del Greco, an Italian city well-known for its tradition of gelato.

What’s on the menu?

More than a dozen flavors of gelato, such as dark chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, cinnamon, and coconut ($4.50-$6.50). The gelatos are made from scratch using ingredients sourced directly from Italy.

Besides gelato, the menu offers a variety of coffee drinks, including affogato (gelato topped with hot espresso) and Chocolate Dream (milk chocolate gelato and chilled coffee topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings).

The space

Formerly the home of Western Audio stereo repair. It’s right next door to Creamistry, which creates customized ice creams with liquid nitrogen, and just across the street from Peterson’s Ice Cream & Cafe.

If you go

📌 Cimmino Gelato, 339 N. Gilbert Road, Gilbert, 480-457-9016. Open 1-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, noon-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday.

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🥢 Number 1 Buffet, an all-you-eat Chinese restaurant, has opened at the Gateway Crossing shopping center on the northwest corner of I-10 and 99th Avenue in Avondale.

What’s on the menu?

A huge buffet of Chinese dishes (well, mostly Americanized Chinese dishes) with a salad bar, soup station, sushi station, habachi station, and a dessert bar.

Adult prices: Lunch (until 3:30 p.m.) is $12.99 Monday-Friday, $15.99 Saturday, an $17.99 Sunday. Dinner is $15.99 Monday-Thursday and $17.99 Friday-Sunday. (Kids’ prices vary by age.)

Beverage options include sake, beer, and wine.

If you go

📌 Number 1 Buffet, 10125 W. McDowell Road, Avondale, 623- 907-2111. Open 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily.

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🥟 Lovesack Dumpling, the funky storefront eatery that opened on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix last month, is changing its name to Lovebite Dumpling.

The move comes after a lawsuit threat from furniture company Lovesac.

Lovebite offers boxes of Asian-style dumplings – pork, chicken, shrimp, or veggie – to go.

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👨‍🍳 Penne de Majorca and Fillo Mousaka will be the entrees when Romeo’s Euro Cafe in downtown Gilbert holds its weekly ‘‘Taste of Romeo’s’’ dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The dinners, held in a private dining room, feature five courses selected from the restaurant’s regular menu.

This week’s courses:

  • Choripapa: Roasted sweet potato, chorizo, and cilantro with a jalapeño garlic-lime sauce.
  • Chef Salad: Turkey, ham, swiss, provolone, bacon, olives, and artichoke hearts served over a classic dinner salad with feta dressing.
  • Penne de Majorca: Chicken breast sautéed with red bell peppers, asparagus, carrots, peas, and pine nuts with penne in a basil pesto cream sauce.
  • Fillo Mousaka : Gyros meat, roasted eggplant, and potatoes baked in a cumin-nutmeg sauce on fillo topped with kasseri cheese.
  • German Chocolate Brownie

Cost is $44 per person plus tax and tip. You can add five wine tastes for $10. RSVP: 480-962-4224.

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🍜 A Ma’s Kitchen & Pho, a family-run Vietnamese eatery focused on that country’s signature soup dish, has opened at the Chandler Ranch shopping center on the northeast corner of Chandler and Dobson in Chandler.

What’s on the menu?

Ten kinds of pho ($12.99-$15.99), including one called A Ma’s Favorite Pho with tái (rare steak), nạm (brisket), and bò viên (beef balls). You can choose between traditional or thin rice noodles and traditional or light broth.

The streamlined menu offers only two appetizers – spring rolls (two for $4.99) and egg rolls (three for $4.99) –  and no desserts.

Beverage options are limited to coffee, teas, and soft drinks.

Did you know?

A Ma’s has a daily combo deal: Your choice of pho with steak, chicken, or shrimp with an eggroll and soft drink for $15.99.

If you go

📌 A Ma’s Kitchen & Pho, 1900 W. Chandler Blvd. #15, Chandler, 480-275-8450. Open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

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📖 ‘‘Off the Air,’’ an award-winning debut mystery novel by Valley reporter Christina Estes that name-checks a number of restaurants that local diners may recognize, will be released in bookstores and online today.

Estes has worked at KJZZ radio since 2016 and has won several reporting awards, including a Rocky Mountain Emmy.

What’s the story about?

Jolene Garcia, a hard-charging Phoenix TV reporter, investigates the suspicious death of a controversial radio talk show host that brings competition from national media to the Valley.

Mentioned in the book are local restaurants such as the Chicago Hamburger Company, Dos Vaqueros, Harlow’s Café, Oregano’s, and Welcome Diner, as well as food-related businesses such as Cerreta’s Candy Company and Orange Patch.

Tony Hillerman Prize

‘‘Off the Air’’ won the Tony Hillerman Prize, awarded annually to a first-time author of a mystery set in the Southwest, in 2020, but the book wasn’t published until this year.

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