Main Gate Square: constantly changing

If there's one thing I've noticed about Main Gate Square (aka University Ave.) in the past four years, it's that things are constantly changing and always expensive.

The very first time I visited University when I was in high school, I remember there was a J. Crew store and we ate at Gentle Ben's. Well, the Gentle Ben's is still there. But J. Crew is gone, as is the White House Black Market, skateboard shop and countless other stores that followed it. Not to mention the restaurants--one slot on University changed twice in the last year because both attempts at an upscale dining experience on-campus were (go figure) too expensive for most college students. Hah.

A bunch of new places went in last year--The Cereal Boxx (a cereal restaurant: utter stupidity in types of restaurants, but I'm intrigued because you can bring your pets on the weekends now), Sultan Palace (yummy Afghan food), Saigon Pho (intriguing Vietnamese food), Villa Thai (expensive but tasty Thai food, though I've heard the service is very poor), Paradise Cafe (soups, salads and sandwiches and all of one vegetarian option--I've never been impressed although the baked goods are...good), and a handful of clothing, hat and beauty stores I never set foot in. There's also an Aveda going in now.

And Fuku Sushi. A sushi restaurant right off of campus--my absolute dream, right?

Well, that depends on how pricey it is. I can easily drive a block away to Sushi Cho for the cheapest sushi in Tucson that I've discovered to date. Since sushi is generally expensive, I guess we'll have to wait and see when Fuku Sushi opens. And also see how many veggie options there are.

See, Fuku Sushi is going into the same slot the last two unsuccessful, expensive restaurants were planted and uprooted. Perhaps the spot's cursed--it burned up two years ago when it was home to Chicken Daddy.

All I can say is, that sushi had better be tasty, and it had better damn well be $3 or less for a generous avocado roll.