Jeff's Pub...Draft Beer served at 43-degrees

The first thing you notice when you walk into the west entrance of Jeff’s Pub is that every table of the west room is full of men staring at television monitors. When we opened the door the afternoon sun sliced through the darkness, and not one of the men tilted their heads downward to see who had just entered. Each and everyone of them was too involved with the action on the screen. As Nathan and I walked through the entrance toward the bar I noticed a large sign...O.T.B. That’s when it dawned on me that these men were less interested in the pre-season National Football League game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos then they were the greyhound dog races broadcast from around the world on which they were betting.

Nathan and I passed through the wagering lounge into the center bar where Nathan ran into a friend of an old fraternity brother. They talked for a few minutes about wilder and crazier days as I watched a couple strike balls on one of the pool tables in the room. After the two frat friends exchanged business cards, Nathan and I headed for the dining room in Jeff’s Pub.

It was 2 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. Nathan and I had just come from a meet and greet with Rodney Glassman who is running for city council in ward two of Tucson. Nathan is a movie maker. He is an independent producer, location scout, videographer and one of the best directors I have ever worked with. He’s got a special attitude and outlook, the more stressful things get, the louder his contagious laugh becomes, which tends to put everyone else at ease. Nathan is working on bringing film making to Tucson in a big way so we decided to discuss it over a burger and a beer.

I ordered a pint of Blue Moon White Ale. I have never seen anything like this beer. It’s an unfiltered Belgian white ale with ingredients that include white wheat, oats, coriander and orange peel of all things. It had the look of a pulpy apple cider. I put my hand behind the pint glass to confirm that the brew was completely opaque. Unlike some lighter beers I have reviewed, I had to pull the thermometer out of the beer to read it’s temperature which was forty-three degrees.
“It looks like very dirty dishwater after a dark gravy meal,” I told Nathan. Just by the looks of it I expected a sharp, bitter taste, but for once in a blue moon I had a really smooth and delicious specialty beer.
For lunch I had a burger and fries which was as good as any such combo in town. Nathan had a chicken sandwich which he enjoyed.

As one of the dog races being broadcast ended we heard a group of men from the other room cheer. Everywhere you look in Jeff’s Pub, even in the dining room, there are video screens. Flat screens, big screens, strategically placed small screens, all broadcasting one sporting event or another. Video and film content is becoming ubiquitous in our lives and Nathan and I are trying to figure out a way for the Tucson film community, both actors and talent behind the camera to rake in on some of that action.

Someone has to take the gamble on Tucson. It’s a lot bigger gamble then wagering on a dog race. It’s a lot bigger gamble then ordering a specialty beer you’ve never tasted before like my Blue Moon White Ale at Jeff’s Pub. But maybe, just maybe, we will be as lucky.

Jeff's Pub is located at 112 S Camino Seco.